NW 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 in Juneau
CELEBRATION: “Together We Live in Balance” — Application Deadlines remaining in May: Whether you’re a Native artist, filmmaker, a foodie, dancer, or just eager to be a part of Celebration 2024, we have something for everyone! While the deadlines have already passed for the Juried Youth Art Exhibit, the Dance Groups, and the Juried Film…
Read MoreIndigenous Future Educators
Indigenous Future Educator (IFE) is a paid summer internship program that provides high school and college students with experience as a Youth Day Camp Counselor with the support of a cohort. This is a 7-week, full-time paid internship in Juneau. Sealaska Heritage Institute initiated “Indigenizing Education for Alaska (IEA)” to grow the number of Alaska…
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 MoreCelebration 2024 Set for June
SHI will sponsor an in-person Celebration from June 5-8, 2024, which will mark the 42nd anniversary of the event, first held in 1982. The dance-and-culture festival in Juneau will feature dance group performances and associated events, including a Juried Art Show and Competition, a Juried Youth Exhibit, an Indigenous Fashion Show, a Native Artist Market,…
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 MoreIndian Arts & Crafts Act (IACA)
Testimony heard in last of a nationwide series of consultations with Indigenous people, per SHI article published 8/18/23. Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) and the Institute of American Indian Art (IAIA) are urging the federal government to hold off on implementing proposed amendments to the Indian Arts and Crafts Act (IACA), a truth-in-advertising law that prohibits…
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 MoreCelebration 2008 Video
Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) has digitized and posted on YouTube video of Celebration 2008. Celebration is a dance-and-culture festival first held by SHI in 1982 that has grown into the world’s largest gathering of the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian people. The 2008 event featured 52 dance groups from Alaska, the Lower 48 and Canada. At Celebration 2008, SHI…
Read MoreNews from S’us’ Héeni Sháak
SCLT Community Dedication and Naming Ceremony for S’us’ Héeni Sháak Neighborhood: The ceremony took place May 13th in the central parking area of the neighborhood at 1410 HPR. There were also public tours of the two under-construction homes. 1318 HPR is a nearly complete two-bedroom in a one-story layout and 1350 HPR is a three-bedroom…
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…
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