Video Clips

Quoted moments from Alaska public meetings, hearings, and press conferences.

Frank Koshykatas

“make sure starting September 11th at Thunder Mountain Middle School you come see Kututh Lagaaw, the Tlingit-Russian battles... you can get the tickets online, ptalaska.org”

Sealaska Heritage Institute: A Panel Discussion with the Tlingit Opera Creative Team | Sealaska Heritage · Aug 28, 2026

Madeline Sayet

“if you come in and you're like, what does this literally mean? And some of the words are made up. Like, it's a, it's a much less joyous experience than if you hear the sounds, hear the poetry, watch the performers, and let it wash over you and receive whatever it is that you receive”

Sealaska Heritage Institute: A Panel Discussion with the Tlingit Opera Creative Team | Sealaska Heritage · Aug 28, 2026

Rosita Worl “while we acknowledged that indeed Sitka was the homeland of the Kiksádi and also the Kogwantán, we said that we know that the Kiksádi have had a difficult time because the Russians are living there right in their homeland.”

Sealaska Heritage Institute: A Panel Discussion with the Tlingit Opera Creative Team | Sealaska Heritage · Aug 28, 2026

Rosita Worl “We mean no disrespect to the Kiksádi because we know their very valiant kaxian. Kaxian was very significant in winning that war with the Russians. So I want to say this to our people. I want to say to the Kiksádi that we admire you.”

Sealaska Heritage Institute: A Panel Discussion with the Tlingit Opera Creative Team | Sealaska Heritage · Aug 28, 2026

Vera Starbard “If you want to come in jeans, great. If you want to come in a ball gown, I'm dressing.”

Sealaska Heritage Institute: A Panel Discussion with the Tlingit Opera Creative Team | Sealaska Heritage · Aug 28, 2026

Rosita Worl “when we decided first to publish the Tlingit-Russian Wars, edited by and published, written by Dick and Nora Downhauer and that Russian lady, Lydia Black, we had the same issue arise. Do these stories belong to the Kiksutí? And we had a discussion and we said, that it was the first time that all of our clans united and all of our clans, you know, went to war.”

Sealaska Heritage Institute: A Panel Discussion with the Tlingit Opera Creative Team | Sealaska Heritage · Aug 28, 2026

Rosita Worl “We mean no disrespect to the Kiksádi, but we also want to acknowledge and celebrate that our 50 independent autonomous clans were able to unite”

Sealaska Heritage Institute: A Panel Discussion with the Tlingit Opera Creative Team | Sealaska Heritage · Aug 28, 2026

Vera Starbard “For understanding it, it will be entirely sung in Tlingit, which is pretty exciting. It will be the first opera entirely sung in Tlingit. There will, however, be some things for most of the audience who won't understand fluent Tlingit. There will be a program which will show the summary of the entire thing, so you can follow scene by scene”

Sealaska Heritage Institute: A Panel Discussion with the Tlingit Opera Creative Team | Sealaska Heritage · Aug 28, 2026

Vera Starbard “There will also be— spoiler— a bit of a storyteller who will be explaining pretty much the whole story before you even begin. That was also a tradition for Tlingit performing arts, that you would have oratory or storytelling before you even performed it.”

Sealaska Heritage Institute: A Panel Discussion with the Tlingit Opera Creative Team | Sealaska Heritage · Aug 28, 2026

Ed Littlefield “in a way, that's what we're doing here with this Tlingit opera, is we are honoring, at its core, Tlingit music and culture and story, but sharing it in a way that is contemporary.”

Sealaska Heritage Institute: A Panel Discussion with the Tlingit Opera Creative Team | Sealaska Heritage · Aug 28, 2026

Frank Koshykatas

“opening at some— on September 11th at Thunder Mountain Middle School. We're very, very excited.”

Sealaska Heritage Institute: A Panel Discussion with the Tlingit Opera Creative Team | Sealaska Heritage · Aug 28, 2026

Vera Starbard “We never wanted it to be inaccessible to anyone. We don't want it to feel inaccessible. Certainly everyone here is not the dress up in the ball gowns and go in your top hat kind of thing to the opera.”

Sealaska Heritage Institute: A Panel Discussion with the Tlingit Opera Creative Team | Sealaska Heritage · Aug 28, 2026

Madeline Sayet

“the pictures that we've sort of structured into each scene also tell the story. So in any scene, we've worked really hard to make sure that the narrative of the scene is actually being broken down into a series of images”

Sealaska Heritage Institute: A Panel Discussion with the Tlingit Opera Creative Team | Sealaska Heritage · Aug 28, 2026

Vera Starbard “this was, for me, my introduction into it was 8 and a half years ago. We had to go back and do the dates. 8 And a half years ago, I was attending a premiere opening night at Perseverance Theater, and Dr. Rosita Worrell comes, sits by me in the lobby, And she's like, "You know, we really should have like the battles of Sitka in an opera form."”

Sealaska Heritage Institute: A Panel Discussion with the Tlingit Opera Creative Team | Sealaska Heritage · Aug 28, 2026

Rosita Worl “That we hold dear is clan ownership of our land. We say we don't care who owns Western title, to our lands. We still own these lands. We own our stories. We own our songs.”

Sealaska Heritage Institute: A Panel Discussion with the Tlingit Opera Creative Team | Sealaska Heritage · Aug 28, 2026

Chris French “Our agenda, our one agenda item for tonight. Is to discuss an ordinance amendment to the procedures and timelines for declaring and filling assembly vacancies. And we had a little hiccup this time around, so I'm glad we're right on it to address it.”

Kodiak Borough: Assembly Work Session of August 27, 2026 · Aug 27, 2026

Chris French “Across the board. Okay, if I can get it done by Thursday, I'll add it to the agenda. Fantastic. We have a couple of light agendas Um, so this would be— it's a good time to clean things up.”

Kodiak Borough: Assembly Work Session of August 27, 2026 · Aug 27, 2026

Ed Littlefield “in a way, that's what we're doing here with this Tlingit opera, is we are honoring, at its core, Tlingit music and culture and story, but sharing it in a way that is contemporary.”

Sealaska Heritage Institute: A Panel Discussion with the Tlingit Opera Creative Team | Sealaska Heritage · Aug 27, 2026

Ed Littlefield “the process for this was Rune gave— Vera gave Rune language. Rune translated it and then double translated it, got it back to Vera. It got sent to me. I composed a scene all the while they're moving on the second scene.”

Sealaska Heritage Institute: A Panel Discussion with the Tlingit Opera Creative Team | Sealaska Heritage · Aug 27, 2026

Frank (Moderator)

“I think people are going to be so surprised in the best way possible when they come and see this opera and see Indigenous excellence really put in the forefront”

Sealaska Heritage Institute: A Panel Discussion with the Tlingit Opera Creative Team | Sealaska Heritage · Aug 27, 2026

Vera Starbard “the people who carried this forward, the people who had to keep this in secret, we were not allowed to do our performing arts for generations. So many of these things were literally illegal for us to do. Our regalia was torn, was burned.”

Sealaska Heritage Institute: A Panel Discussion with the Tlingit Opera Creative Team | Sealaska Heritage · Aug 27, 2026

Vera Starbard “It will be the first opera entirely sung in Tlingit. There will, however, be some things for most of the audience who won't understand fluent Tlingit, there will be a program which will show the summary of the entire thing, so you can follow scene by scene”

Sealaska Heritage Institute: A Panel Discussion with the Tlingit Opera Creative Team | Sealaska Heritage · Aug 27, 2026

Vera Starbard “8 And a half years later is still pretty quick for an opera, but I don't think she would have let us do a second longer.”

Sealaska Heritage Institute: A Panel Discussion with the Tlingit Opera Creative Team | Sealaska Heritage · Aug 27, 2026

Vera Starbard “This is both a performance, but also a statement, and sort of line in the sand, like, nope, we're still here, we're gonna be here, we're gonna continue pushing our art, and pushing what we can do with it, while we listen to our ancestors, and bring those traditions forward.”

Sealaska Heritage Institute: A Panel Discussion with the Tlingit Opera Creative Team | Sealaska Heritage · Aug 27, 2026

Ed Littlefield “While it doesn't have 100% Tlingit melodies, it is— at its core, it is Tlingit.”

Sealaska Heritage Institute: A Panel Discussion with the Tlingit Opera Creative Team | Sealaska Heritage · Aug 27, 2026

Rosita Worl “Sealaska Heritage Institute really believes in traditional ownership of clan-owned property. We have been willing to go to the courts, we have filed lawsuits against the largest corporations in the United States, England, and Europe, and Italy to protect our intellectual property.”

Sealaska Heritage Institute: A Panel Discussion with the Tlingit Opera Creative Team | Sealaska Heritage · Aug 27, 2026

Frank (Moderator)

“this belongs because our music and our language and our art is world-class. And this is a showcase of how our art, our language, our music is world-class.”

Sealaska Heritage Institute: A Panel Discussion with the Tlingit Opera Creative Team | Sealaska Heritage · Aug 27, 2026

Vera Starbard “Perseverance and SHI met from day one working together. Rosé was very clear on, like, we need a theater partner to do this, but we're gonna find the resources to make this happen, and she did.”

Sealaska Heritage Institute: A Panel Discussion with the Tlingit Opera Creative Team | Sealaska Heritage · Aug 27, 2026

Ed Littlefield “100%, this opera wouldn't be what it is without Rory. So I wanted to give him a shout out.”

Sealaska Heritage Institute: A Panel Discussion with the Tlingit Opera Creative Team | Sealaska Heritage · Aug 27, 2026

Jim Anderson “even though your revenue, you don't have a gain in revenue, you have those core staffs at those schools that are no longer competing against every other school and the same amount of money.”

Anchorage School Board: 8/26 ASD School Board Ad-Hoc Committee Meeting · Aug 26, 2026

Rachel Blakeslee “I think there's just this heavy focus that school closures mean closing the deficit, and that is not what it means.”

Anchorage School Board: 8/26 ASD School Board Ad-Hoc Committee Meeting · Aug 26, 2026

Rachel Blakeslee “many seem to believe that school closures are the thing that will solve these massive budget deficits that we've faced year after year. It is the idea that if ASD would just close some more schools, we'd be done with it, this conversation of the deficit.”

Anchorage School Board: 8/26 ASD School Board Ad-Hoc Committee Meeting · Aug 26, 2026

Jim Anderson “71% of the community supported closing and combining schools. What we also see though, and we've seen it during community conversations, town halls, other surveys is people do recognize that a better education level of service is important.”

Anchorage School Board: 8/26 ASD School Board Ad-Hoc Committee Meeting · Aug 26, 2026

Paul McDonogh “I think the president and the board did a really good job at articulating the large picture challenges. That right-sizing has faced and the ways that this committee is empowered to push through those challenges, especially the ways that we've defined the guiding principles and the scope of work to be much more focused on instructional opportunities, which is, I guess, our word for the superintendent saying levels of academic service. Where we're trying to predominate that right-sizing this year is going to be more studied with the basis of getting good services to kids, less than the savings of some budget result.”

Anchorage School Board: 8/26 ASD School Board Ad-Hoc Committee Meeting · Aug 26, 2026

Jim Anderson “we all know that everyone in Anchorage does not watch school board meetings. Back in 2022, although we started right-sizing as part of the budget process, we did really engage with the community and the board on, on the reality is that it wasn't just about money, it was about the levels or education levels of service in the efficiencies within the district.”

Anchorage School Board: 8/26 ASD School Board Ad-Hoc Committee Meeting · Aug 26, 2026

Margo Bellamy “that educational piece needs to be front and center because for me personally, it's about the quality of service that we can give to every kid.”

Anchorage School Board: 8/26 ASD School Board Ad-Hoc Committee Meeting · Aug 26, 2026

Margo Bellamy “that whole education piece around the benefit of closing and consolidating. It's not just about money.”

Anchorage School Board: 8/26 ASD School Board Ad-Hoc Committee Meeting · Aug 26, 2026

Jharrett Bryantt “I've also met people that share your perspective, that they feel that school closures are the panacea for major financial issues. But I was also interested by the many comments I saw in the post-bond survey where people in the open responses were very forthright that it's less about the school closures generating a huge influx of revenue”

Anchorage School Board: 8/26 ASD School Board Ad-Hoc Committee Meeting · Aug 26, 2026

Jim Anderson “There is, there is a money piece on the first year or two, that's true. By year 5, it's really probably not about the money at all.”

Anchorage School Board: 8/26 ASD School Board Ad-Hoc Committee Meeting · Aug 26, 2026

Jim Anderson “So there is a measure of financial gain especially in an era where we have less money nearly every year.”

Anchorage School Board: 8/26 ASD School Board Ad-Hoc Committee Meeting · Aug 26, 2026

Tim Powers

“The legislature has already appropriated this money in the budget cycle this last year. We did use a sole source justification, Section 040 exemption for this procurement. KTO has unmatched infrastructure. They already possess the technological setup, the broadcast equipment, and the institutional knowledge and have a working agreement with the legislature that's spanned for over a decade already. It's impractical to put this out for competitive bid.”

Alaska Legislature: Joint Legislative Council, 8/25/26, 11am · Aug 25, 2026

Tim Powers

“Transitioning to a new vendor would require costly duplication of infrastructure and risk disruptive delays to service that the public relies on. Because this contract value exceeds $50,000 in a single fiscal year, Council action is required to approve the contract.”

Alaska Legislature: Joint Legislative Council, 8/25/26, 11am · Aug 25, 2026

Tim Powers

“KTOO, who has provided longstanding public service in broadcast of the legislature by means of gavel-to-gavel coverage of the House and Senate floor sessions and committee meetings. They are essential for transparency for the legislature, for the public in this state, and due to the loss of federal funding last year, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting cut, KTO approached the legislature to secure funding to provide this service continuing.”

Alaska Legislature: Joint Legislative Council, 8/25/26, 11am · Aug 25, 2026

Sara Hannan “Hearing and seeing no questions, I'm going to remove my objection. Ms. Geary, please call the roll on the motion.”

Alaska Legislature: Joint Legislative Council, 8/25/26, 11am · Aug 25, 2026

Sara Hannan “I'm going to object for purpose of discussion and ask Chief Technology and Outreach Officer Tim Powers to provide information and take questions. We also have in the room with us Justin Shoman, who is President and General Manager of KTOO Public Media, and he is available if we have other questions.”

Alaska Legislature: Joint Legislative Council, 8/25/26, 11am · Aug 25, 2026

Sara Hannan “Yes. Chair Hannon. Yes. 8 Yeas, 0 nays. With 8 yeas and 0 nays, the motion has been adopted.”

Alaska Legislature: Joint Legislative Council, 8/25/26, 11am · Aug 25, 2026

Jeremy Zidek “they're going to be at our Disaster Assistance Center tomorrow where you can apply, apply in person. Uh, we'll be there from 10:45 5 to 5 tomorrow, 10 o'clock to 5 on Tuesday, and 10 to 4 on Wednesday.”

Alaska DNR Forestry: Mukluk Fire Community Meeting - 20260823 · Aug 24, 2026

Jeremy Zidek “One of our biggest priorities here are for people that are— do not have housing, to provide them with that temporary housing.”

Alaska DNR Forestry: Mukluk Fire Community Meeting - 20260823 · Aug 24, 2026

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