This is Tongass Voices, a series from KTOO sharing weekly perspectives from the homelands of the Áak’w Kwáan and beyond. When Gigi Monroe started Juneau Drag in 2014, the city quickly embraced the art form — a performance of exaggerated gender, with flashy costumes and, often, choreography. Its roots are in spaces that the LGBTQ+…
Community
After a year rocked by tragedy, Sitkans gather to grieve
In a two-hour vigil at the University of Alaska Southeast boat ramp on Saturday, more than 80 Sitkans and visitors gathered to share stories of loss.
Tongass Voices: Dr. Paul Weiden on 20 years of cancer care in Southeast Alaska
For the past two decades, Dr. Weiden would travel to Juneau monthly to see patients who might have otherwise flown to Seattle to see a specialist. He also provided remote care for patients in other Southeast communities.
Tongass Voices: Dak júus Rob Yates on teaching and learning the Haida language
Dak júus Rob Yates teaches the language of the Haida people, X̱aad Kíl. According to the most recent statewide report, there is only one person alive who has spoken X̱aad Kíl since birth. There are two other highly proficient speakers. Yates says he isn’t one of them yet, but he’s still working to breathe life into the language.
Report: Southeast Alaska is projected to lose nearly a fifth of its population by 2050
According to a recent report by the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, it’s due to a mixture of increased outmigration and deaths outnumbering births in the region.
Tongass Voices: Ariel Estrada on the fast and furious nature of his one-man play
Ariel Estrada wrote a one-man play that’s coming to Juneau this week. In fact, it’s the world premiere of Full Contact, a play that stretches from his father’s immigration to Southeast Alaska, to teaching LGBTQ+ self-defense at a martial arts dojo in New York City. The show’s run in Juneau kicks off Wednesday with a pay-as–you-can preview.
Tongass Voices: Moria Johnson-Sidney on the stabilizing force of carving a yaakw
Moria Johnson-Sidney shares how carving has added stability to her life during a tumultuous time.
Tongass Voices: Skaydu.û Jules on bringing Lingít into other traditional practices
Originally from Teslin, Skaydu.û Jules now lives in Juneau, where she’s training to become a Lingít language teacher and hopes to one day help carve a canoe solely speaking Lingít.
Tongass Voices: Wayne Price on the past — and future — of yaakw carving
Master Carver Wayne Price has been instrumental in bringing the Lingít artform back over the last forty years while training the next generation of dugout canoe carvers.
Juneau group home for women in reentry and recovery reopens after demolition
T’áa Shuyee Hit Haven House is now accepting applications for up to nine residents.