Alaska Native Arts & Culture

Organizers relied on advice from the state Department of Health and Social Services to postone the state’s high school basketball tournaments.

If all goes as planned, eight more scholars will selected this summer and enrolled in the fall into the second year of the immersive program. Come 2022, a total of 16 people should be certified by the state to teach Lingít, Xaad Kíl or Sm’algyax.

The Cama-i Dance Festival in Bethel has been postponed until fall 2020 out of concerns over the coronavirus.

Organizers of the Arctic Winter Games in Whitehorse, Yukon, made a decision to cancel the event over coronavirus concerns. The cancellation sent shockwaves of disappointment across the Arctic Circle.

The National Archives in Seattle is slated to close. It warehouses federal documents obtained from states across the Northwest. And it’s especially important for Alaska.

The 2020 Native American $1 coin is currently only available online, but Alaskans are advocating for a wider release.

A fossil of a marine reptile in Southeast Alaska has officially been declared a new species and Tlingit elders have named it after a well-known creature in their traditional stories.

“We see ourselves or we see the little tiny tot at powwows or protests or ceremony as Baby Yoda, you know, learning the way,” said Simon Moya-Smith.

The signs are one more nod to indigenous people and culture in Juneau in a string of similar public gestures, big and small. 

As a cultural interpreter, John Lawrence tries to answer any questions people might have. Some questions are about paint. Other questions are harder.