Sitka Tribe Family Activities
Sitka Tribe of Alaska Social Services Department invites STA Tribal Citizens and their families to register for Summer 2024 activities June 15th 2-5:30pm – Wildlife Cruise July 27th 1:30-5:30pm – Beach Excursion Sept. 12th 2:30-5:30pm – Wildlife Cruise Space is limited and Registration Required. Visit bit.ly/4dHwPf5 or call Jean Swanson at (907) 747-3968. 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫…
Read MoreCalling all Local Artists!
The Indigenous Peoples Day Planning Committee has an opportunity for you! We’re looking for someone to design our logo for our program this year! Based on popular vote, this year’s theme is: “Linking Generations: Our Ancestors, Us and Our Future” For artists who are seriously interested, please email mkurzer@safv.org for guidelines and additional information. Now…
Read MoreArt Students Craft Xóots Piece
Students in Ms. Manewal’s Glass & Tile class and Advanced Formline students of Mr. Skultka’s collaborated to transform this red cedar brown bear into a work of art using glass and and tile. “Buddy” was originally carved on the SHS CNC router in 2018 during an open house. The bear will soon be located at…
Read MoreOnline Dictionary: Three Languages
Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) has launched a new online dictionary that allows users to search for words and phrases in Lingít (Tlingit language), X̱aad Kíl (Haida language), Shm’algyack (Tsimshian language) or English, and to browse words and phrases, and also to listen to heritage language speakers pronouncing the entries. You can hear a word pronounced…
Read MoreNW Coast Beginning Basketry
“Art S183 Harvest and Preparation of Basketry Materials” – Saturdays and Sundays from April 27 through May 5 from 9am-5pm at Sealaska Heritage Arts Campus, Textile Room 2, Downtown Juneau. Capacity is limited. Class cost is $25 (There is an additional fee of $90 for students seeking UAS credit.) Previous experience is not necessary to…
Read MoreCelebration 2024 Design Winner
SHI announces winner of Celebration 2024 Art Contest. Five other entries were chosen for honorable mentions. An artist from Seattle has won Sealaska Heritage Institute’s (SHI) competition to visually represent this year’s Celebration, a huge, dance-and-culture festival held every even year in Juneau since 1982. The artist, G̱at X̱wéech (Nick Alan Foote), won with his…
Read MoreXóots Elementary School
According to a March 8, 2024 article by KCAW’s Robert Woolsey, “Baranof Elementary School in Sitka has a new name. The Sitka School Board voted unanimously on Thursday (3-6-24) to make the change, culminating a lengthy discussion on a different-yet-related topic: The need to make cultural education a more immersive experience in Sitka for everyone.…
Read MoreDocumenting Tlingit Gesture System
Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) is launching a groundbreaking new program to document 100 gestures used in Tlingit communication identified nearly 40 years ago, to recover other gestures still known and used by Tlingit elders, and to investigate whether similar structures existed for Haida and Tsimshian languages. Documenting the practice, known as the Tlingit Gesture System…
Read MoreNative Pollinators, Plants & Gardening
Here is some valuable information from Yakutat Tlingit Tribe about pollinators, plants & gardening! What are Pollinators? Pollination is the first step that creates new generations of plants, and is the fertilization of a plant’s female organs. Pollinators are the agents which facilitate fertilization, moving pollen to the ovule of another plant. Common pollinators include…
Read MoreTraditional Foods & Seasonal Harvest
Seasonal harvest allows us to be active, learn about local flora/fauna, and obtain nutrient dense foods. There are numerous wild foods that we can harvest over the course of the year. Lingít X’áax’i (Crabapple) Harvesting: Crabapple trees have reddish-green, oblong berries in the fall. Look for trees or shrubs along the coast. Preparing: Crabapples can…
Read MoreSitka Tribe’s Kayaaní Commission
Sitka Tribe of Alaska’s Kayaaní Commission meets the Last Monday of Every Month from 6:30-8:30pm. All are welcome to attend, including STA Tribal citizens, plant knowledge holders, and anyone who wants to learn about harvesting plants. The August meeting will be Monday August 28th – Join the meeting in person at the STA office at 204…
Read MoreArctic Institute Colonialism Series
“Indigenous peoples have inhabited the Arctic since time immemorial, establishing rich regional cultures and governance systems long before the introduction of modern borders. The Arctic Institute’s 2022 Colonialism Series explores the colonial histories of Arctic nations and the still-evolving relationships between settler governments and Arctic Indigenous peoples in a time of renewed Arctic exploration and…
Read MoreRaven as Trickster & Cultural Hero
Sealaska Heritage Institute will sponsor a lecture series on “Raven as Trickster and Cultural Hero” by traditional Tlingit and Tsimshian storytellers. Free event to be offered in-person and virtually. The series will end with an academic review of Raven stories by a scholar of Northwest Coast culture and history. All lectures will be held in-person…
Read MoreT&H Central Council and Tanana Chiefs
Two large Alaska tribal organizations have announced their departure from the Alaska Federation of Natives. Per a May 10, 2023 piece by Rhonda McBride on Alaska Public Media, the announcement met with a range of responses from Native leaders. According to McBride’s article, “each (organization) cited different reasons for parting company with AFN.” Tlingit and…
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