Fairbanks police officers start sewing beaver hats with elders at Denakkanaaga

Three Fairbanks Police Department officers began sewing beaver hats with Alaska Native elders at Denakkanaaga on Tuesday, Nov. 3, starting the latest Caps for Cops session.

Detective Lane Bonham, Officer Kent Zheng and Officer Dylan Howard took part. Miranda Wright (Koyukon Athabascan) led the lesson, with help from Edith Thomas (Gwich'in), Deanna Houlton (Koyukon Athabascan) and Lolly Carpluk (Yup'ik).

The afternoon started with lunch provided by Denakkanaaga. Executive Director Sharon McConnell then spoke about the program's history and how the department first brought the idea to Denakkanaaga several years ago, the department said.

The program began in 2023, the department wrote on Oct. 7, 2024. Elders teach officers to make beaver skin hats they can wear on duty. The department said the program gives elders a chance to share their culture and traditions and get to know the officers who serve their community. Denakkanaaga said that day it is "pleased to be able to meet and teach" officers "about our Native traditions and cultures."

The last round began Jan. 26 with three officers and Chief Ron Dupee, who made an otter hat instead of beaver, the department wrote.

Denakkanaaga is a Koyukon Athabascan word meaning "Our People Speak." The group describes itself as the voice for Native elders living in Interior Alaska. Jack Wholecheese, a Denakkanaaga board member, told a Feb. 19 Alaska Board of Fisheries meeting that it was incorporated in 1983 to serve as a voice for Native elders in the Doyon and Tanana Chiefs Conference regions.

The department said it will share photos when the hats are done. Last November, the elders hosted a celebration once the hats were finished, as is the tradition, and former participants came wearing their own beaver hats, the department wrote.