This is Tongass Voices, a series from KTOO sharing perspectives from the homelands of the Áak’w Kwáan and beyond.
Every Celebration, a dance group is asked to lead. That means they write a song that all groups dance to during Grand Entrance and Grand Exit – the dance ceremonies that bookend Celebration.
Though this year’s lead dance group has deep roots in Southeast Alaska, it was formed in 2005 in Anchorage by leader Se’iga Liimii Marcella Asicksik. The group performs songs in Sm’algyax, the Ts’msyen language.
The song Leqpquinm Gumilgit Gagoadim Ts’msyen Dancers wrote is called “Na Gatgyed,” which means “Enduring Strength.”
Listen:
This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.
Se’iga Liimii Marcella Asicksik: I’m Se’iga Liimii. I’m the dance group leader for Leqpquinm Gumilgit Gagoadim Ts’msyen Dancers in Nigyooks, Alaska — Anchorage, Alaska.
I’m Ts’msyen. My mom is Ts’msyen and Yupik, my dad is Ts’msyen and Haida. And so I was missing dancing and didn’t see Ts’msyen representation in Anchorage, and so I called what Ts’msyen peoples I knew in the area, found a location for us to meet, and we formed into a group. But we’re mixed: Lingít, Haida, Ts’msyen, Diné, Yup’ik, Iñupiat.
It’s a really big honor to be selected. We’ve been working really hard, fundraising to get to Celebration. We had the honor of creating a new song in Sm’algyax for Grand Entry and Grand Exit that we’re gifting to all the dance groups who participated this year. So it was an honor to put that together and just represent the Ts’msyen people in general.
We saw that the theme this year was “enduring strength,” and so I had this big dry eraser board, and I was like, “Okay, where do we find our strengths?” And so we wrote everybody’s ideas on the dry eraser board, and I work with Sm’algyax speaker from Kitsumkalum (British Columbia), Sagoo Lit’aa, and I told him, you know, the list that we made, and asked for his help and translated to Sm’algyax, and that got us the three verses for the song.
The first verse is “The reason for my joy is my blessing.” The second verse is “I find my strength where I live from my clan.” The third verse: “I find my strength where I’m where I live from the land,” and then all our different traditional foods, and I keep going.
Celebration events will broadcast live statewide on KTOO 360TV and stream on Sealaska Heritage Institute’s YouTube channel and ktoo.org/tv. You can also watch live on KTOO’s Roku and AppleTV apps.
Disclosure: KTOO’s production department is contracted to provide television and streaming services during Celebration 2026. It operates independently from the news department.
