Indigenous Culture
RSSAlaska Native language revitalization, cultural events, Native Youth Olympics, dance groups, repatriation, elder knowledge, place-name restoration
Alaska Native ivory carvers can now sell their work in all 50 states
A new federal law lets Alaska Native artists sell walrus-ivory handicrafts in all 50 states, fixing a mess where anti-elephant-ivory bans accidentally swept up legal Native carving
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
An Unalakleet playwright brings Alaska's hardest truths to the stage
An Unalakleet playwright turned her work in suicide prevention into The Bird Blind — a story of abuse, addiction, and survival in an Iñupiaq village, told in its own voice.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read
Registered Alaska Native artists can keep selling fur on Etsy
Registered Alaska Native artists can keep selling fur on Etsy after Sen. Sullivan won an exemption — but unregistered makers are still cut off when the ban starts August 11.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
A new book makes the case that saving the Haida language now means 'immerse or die'
A new Sealaska Heritage book argues the Haida language is down to one option — full immersion — and that saving X̱aad Kíl is itself an act of tribal sovereignty.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Two Indigenous peoples, linked by a migratory bird, trade what they've learned
A Māori delegation shared a model of health at Sealaska Heritage — spirit, mind, body, and family as four walls of one house — with the people who once learned language revival from them.
by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
The Army apologized for bombing a Tlingit village. It only took 156 years.
The U.S. Army formally apologized for its 1869 bombardment of a Tlingit village — the standout in a year Sealaska Heritage Institute spent building a culture's permanence into stone and record.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Drums from Japan and West Africa, together on one Anchorage stage
Japanese taiko group Chokoma joins Anchorage's Oni iLu West African drummers at Discovery Theatre Aug. 1 — two thunderous traditions, one stage. Tickets $32.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Rough water off Alaska's Arctic and Northwest coasts, easing by Sunday
Small craft advisories are up for Alaska's Arctic and Northwest coasts through Friday — winds near 25 knots, seas to 7 feet — before things calm down by Sunday.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
SHI book documents the fraught origins of three Juneau totem poles
Sealaska Heritage Institute released a book on Juneau totem poles. It details how the Forest Service commissioned Native art while seizing Native land.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
A Juneau artist beads a warrior, a relative, and a record
A Tlingit artist told a Juneau audience her beaded robe is more than art — it's at.óow, a clan relative with spirit, carrying an ancestor's story to generations she'll never meet.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
French anthropologist reframes Tlingit foodways as living relational system, not subsistence
A visiting anthropologist echoed what many Alaska Native people say: "subsistence" misses the point. Tlingit traditional foods are about connection, not calories.
by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
A Tlingit robe turns a warrior's last stand into sacred clan property
A Juneau artist is beading the story of a Tlingit ancestor who fought a giant octopus into a clan robe — a piece that will become at.óow, sacred property with a soul.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Juneau to host world premiere of first Tlingit opera
Juneau hosts the world premiere of Ḵutulagaaw, the first Tlingit opera in recorded history, Sept. 11-20, performed entirely in Tlingit language.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
Tlingit & Haida Unveils Revitalized Veterans Totem Pole in Juneau
The Central Council of Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes held a ceremony to unveil a revitalized veterans totem pole at Southeast Alaska
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Supreme Court narrows damages path in prison religious-rights cases
SCOTUS just made it harder for prisoners to sue individual guards for money over blocked religious practice. Alaska settled under this law in 2019.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Interior youth learned to tan hide and to save a life
Moose hide tanning, fiddle dancing, CPR, and naloxone — TCC's youth summit taught Interior kids their traditions and how to save a life, all in one weekend.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Nalukataq season carries Alaska whaling traditions into summer
Nalukataq celebrations honoring bowhead whale hunts move across five northern Alaska communities from mid-June through early July, distributing whale meat and muktuk to mark the tradition.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
NOAA says dead pregnant fin whale arrived in Seward on cruise ship bow
NOAA confirmed the Seward whale was a 61-foot pregnant fin whale found on a cruise ship's bow. A necropsy is underway, and federal law enforcement is investigating.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Kodiak Island artifacts set to leave Maine museum under NAGPRA
Ten Alaska Native cultural objects held at a Maine museum must be claimed by July 4, 2026, or transfer to Alaska tribes may proceed under federal repatriation law.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
First Peoples Fund fellowship open to Alaska Native artists through July 15
Alaska Native artists can apply through July 15 for a First Peoples Fund fellowship that provides grant money, business training, and mentoring to help independent artists build sustainable livelihoods.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
St. Paul Island artists retell Kipling's 'White Seal' from Unangan perspective
Kipling wrote "The White Seal" about the Pribilof without Unangan voices. St. Paul artists are fixing that.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
BSNC placed 16 interns across its operations — building homegrown management
Bering Straits Native Corporation placed 16 interns across its operations this summer, including returning participants pursuing business degrees, to build management talent from shareholders and descendants in the region.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago2 min read
Anchorage clinic offers kuspuk, beading, and talking circle classes
Southcentral Foundation's Traditional Healing Clinic in Anchorage offers Alaska Native cultural classes like kuspuk sewing, beadwork, and talking circles as part of its health care model that blends traditional healing with modern medicine.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago2 min read
Angoon youth dancers perform at Celebration following Navy apology
Angoon youth dancers performed at Celebration 2026 days after the U.S. Navy formally apologized for the 1882 bombardment that killed children and destroyed the Tlingit community's winter food stores, an apology the community had sought for decades.
by Melinda Communities.Newsadded 3mo ago2 min read
Navy SEAL returns to Southeast Alaska after 28 years
Retired Navy SEAL Command Master Chief Nathan Mitchell returned to Southeast Alaska after 28 years, completing a canoe journey with his son to Celebration 2026. • Mitchell spoke about Alaska Native military service, noting the demographic serves at five times the national average. • He addressed veteran mental health, urging those struggling with PTSD to seek support from fellow veterans.
by Melinda Communities.News3mo ago2 min read
Cook Inlet Tribal Council opens four-week communication workshop
Cook Inlet Tribal Council starts a four-week communication workshop Monday at its Anchorage office, blending Western communication theory with Alaska Native cultural values and focusing on active listening and intentional speech.
by Alaska News3mo ago1 min read
Traditional Healing Clinic hosts Alaska Native cultural classes this week
Southcentral Foundation's Traditional Healing Clinic hosts Alaska Native cultural classes this week in Anchorage, including porcupine quillwork, Ahtna language, beadwork, and food preservation. • Classes meet at 4 PM at 4320 Diplomacy Drive and require online registration through the clinic's portal.
by Alaska Newsadded 3mo ago1 min read
Kodiak Alutiiq Dancers honor late elder at Celebration 2026 performances
Kodiak Alutiiq Dancers honored late elder Margaret Roberts at Celebration 2026, performing traditional and newly written pieces that document ancestral knowledge and cultural revival across Alaska and Hawaii.
by Lucas Brownadded 3mo ago2 min read
Celebration 2026 opens in Juneau with canoe arrivals, cultural speeches
Sealaska Heritage Institute opened Celebration 2026 in Juneau on Wednesday with traditional canoe arrivals from eight Southeast Alaska communities and speeches centered on cultural resilience and overcoming external and internal challenges.
by Melinda Communities.Newsadded 3mo ago2 min read
House passes Alaska Native walrus-ivory protection bill
House passed legislation allowing Alaska Native artists to sell walrus-ivory handicrafts nationwide, overriding state bans that had criminalized traditional art protected under federal marine-mammal law.
by Alaska Newsadded 3mo ago2 min read
Tanana Chiefs Conference sets June family events in Fairbanks
Tanana Chiefs Conference hosts a resource fair June 5 in Fairbanks and a cultural activity night June 29 with crafts, drumming, and family workshops.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
Southcentral Foundation offers cultural education classes in June
Southcentral Foundation's Traditional Healing Clinic offers Alaska Native cultural classes in late May and early June, including Ahtna language, traditional food prep, and craft skills like kuspuk sewing in Anchorage.
by Alaska News3mo ago1 min read
Haida fashion designer Dorothy Grant to sign career monograph at Alaska State Museum Friday
Haida fashion designer Dorothy Grant signs her career monograph at Alaska State Museum Friday from 4 to 5 pm during First Friday, with free museum admission from 4 to 7 pm.
by Melinda Communities.News3mo ago1 min read
Alaska Native Heritage Center collects traditional foods for typhoon relief
The Alaska Native Heritage Center is collecting traditional Native food donations for about 1,600 people displaced by Typhoon Halong in Western Alaska, with drop-off instructions available at its Anchorage campus.
by Melinda Communities.Newsadded 3mo ago1 min read
Sealaska Heritage Institute names seaweed contest winner at Celebration
Christina Weber won Sealaska Heritage Institute's seaweed contest at Celebration 2026 in Juneau, judged on freshness, color, taste, and texture as part of a traditional Native food competition.
by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
TCLL graduates first 8th grade class after years of Tlingit immersion
Juneau's Tlingit immersion program graduated 8th graders who delivered speeches in Tlingit after years of fluency growth. • Students moved from reluctant speakers to confident communicators in the language. • Program is free for all students and partners with Sealaska Heritage Institute. • Graduates received traditional headbands and advance to high school.
by Melinda Communities.Newsadded 4mo ago3 min read
Inupiaq craftsman revives nearly lost qayaq-building tradition
Lou Logan will present on his 18-month project building a traditional Inupiaq qayaq at the Alaska State Museum, working to recover construction techniques that were almost entirely lost due to cultural loss and assimilation.
by Alaska News4mo ago3 min readKodiak artists face Sunday deadline for 26th Crab Fest Art Show
The Kodiak Arts Council and The Frame Shop are accepting submissions until May 17 for the 26th annual Crab Fest Art Show, which will exhibit May 22-24 at the Kodiak Harbormaster building with both physical and virtual components.
by Alaska News4mo ago1 min readNew Forensic Methods May Help Alaska Museums Identify Ancestors
Alaska State Museum and Sheldon Jackson Museum will host a virtual meeting on May 19, 2026, featuring a University of Alaska researcher presenting new forensic methods to identify ancestral remains and connect them to descendant communities as part of NAGPRA compliance efforts.
by Alaska News4mo ago2 min readDouglas man to share journey building traditional Inupiaq qayaq
Douglas resident Lou Logan will present on his 18-month experience building a traditional Inupiaq qayaq at the Alaska State Museum on May 16.
by Alaska News4mo ago2 min read
