Native Culture

In this NEA Big Read keynote event, playwright Vera Starbard, poet Joan Naviyuk Kane, and novelist Don Rearden discuss the power of art in a colonized, indigenous Alaska. Through an examination of their own work and the Big Read selection, Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel, the panel will discuss the notion that “survival is…

On September 1, 2017 Jackson Polys (aka Stephen Paul Jackson and Stron Softi) gave an artist talk about his work on the Seward shame pole that was raised in Saxman Totem Park in April, 2017. Jackson’s Seward pole is the third iteration. The original pole was erected after Secretary of State William Seward’s 1869 visit…

Alaska State Writer Laureate Ernestine Hayes for a discussion of her writing that examines our society’s histories and heroes from a deeper perspective. Hayes is the author of The Tao of Raven and Blonde Indian and a professor at the University of Alaska Southeast. It was recorded on Friday August 4th at 7pm At the…

As the 150th anniversary of the Alaska territory’s purchase from Russia approaches and the capital city prepares for a new statue commemorates the deal’s chief U.S. negotiator, historians reflect on William Henry Seward’s impact on Alaska and its indigenous people. For some, he’s a symbol of American imperialism and colonialism.

The Alaska Native Sisterhood celebrated its 100th anniversary in October 2015. The Sisterhood began as an auxillary of the Alaska Native Brotherhood, which had been founded three years earlier in 1912. However, women’s organizations did exist in Southeast previous to the founding of the ANS, but many of them eventually organized under the Sisterhood, establishing…

On this Forum@360: Living the Language, Tlingit speakers and educators discuss how to live the language, what does it mean, how can we incorporate language into our homes, into our community, and what are the tools to get us there. Featured speakers are: David Katzeek – Tlingit speaker and clan leader Marsha Hotch – University…