Professors Paul Ongtooguk and Jackie Cason discuss Alaska Native voices and environmental conservation movements in Alaska. Topics include Alaska Village and Native Corporation jurisdictions, John Muir's legacy, the Sierra Club, and the book The Firecracker Boys by Dan O’Neill. Paul Ongtooguk is the director of Alaska Native Studies at UAA. Amongst his many research projects, he designed and contributed to the websites alaskool.org and akhistorycourse.org. He currently teaches the course Alaska Tribes, Nations and People in AKNS. Jackie Cason is professor in the UAA Department of English. Her courses include Critical Thinking; Writing and Rhetoric; and Narrative Nonfiction. This event is held in celebration of Indigenous Peoples Day,
Dinjii Vadzaih Dhidlit: The Man Who Became a Caribou is a new bilingual volume based on a series of oral interviews with Gwich'in elders living in rural northeast Alaska and the Yukon Territory. Richly illustrated, the book covers a wide range of topics based on traditional harvesting and use of caribou from ancient to contemporary times. It also reveals traditional beliefs and taboos about caribou and includes a detailed naming system for caribou anatomy, conversations about potlatches and sharing, as well as personal experience stories and traditional stories. The book was made possible by research grant from the National Science Foundation and a publication grant by the Alaska Humanities Forum. Craig Mishler is a cultural anthropologist and folklorist who has worked continuously in Alaska since the late 1960s and is the author, co-author, and editor of eight books, including Neerihiinjìk: We Traveled from Place to Place: The Gwich'in Stories of Johnny and Sarah Frank (2001) and The Blind Man and the Loon: The Story of a Tale (2013). Kenneth Frank is an elder, indigenous scholar, and a fluent speaker of the Gwich'in language. He was raised in Venetie, Alaska, lived for many years in Arctic Village, and now resides in Fairbanks. Kenneth is in frequent demand for drum making and singing workshops and is the leader of the Di'haii Gwich'in dancers. Allan Hayton is the Language Revitalization Program Director at the Doyon Foundation. A Gwich'in translator, he grew up in Arctic Village, and is the son of Lena Pauline Hayton from Fort Yukon, Alaska, and James T. Hayton from Natick, Massachusetts. Other project team members and collaborators for the project include Crystal Frank, and Caroline Tritt-Frank.
Editors and contributors to the bilingual books Akulmiut Neqait / Fish and Food of the Akulmiut (University of Alaska Press) and Yuuyaraq/The Yup’ik Way of Being (Alaska Native Language Center)-- Ann Fienup-Riordan, Alice Rearden, Marie Meade and Mark John--discuss the Yupik way of life. Akulmiut Negait, details the lives of the Akulmiut living in the lake country west of Bethel, Alaska, in the villages of Kasigluk, Nunapitchuk, and Atmautluak. Akulmiut Neqait is based in conversations recorded with the people of these villages as they talk about their uniquely Yup'ik view of the world and how it has weathered periods of immense change in southwest Alaska. “For centuries, the Akulmiut people, a Yup’ik group, have been sustained by the annual movements of whitefish. To this day, many Akulmiut view not only their actions in the world, but their interactions with each other, as having a direct and profound effect on these fish. Not only are fish viewed as responding to human action and intention in many contexts, but the lakes and rivers fish inhabit are likewise viewed as sentient beings, with the ability to respond both positively and negatively to those who travel there.” Yuuyaraq / The Yup'ik Way of Being presents bilingual stories, traditional tales, and qanruyutet (oral instructions) shared by elders from throughout southwest Alaska as part of the Yuuyaraq curriculum project. Yuuyaraq embodies a way of life in which sharing is central -- sharing of food, of stories, of knowledge. In what they say, elders provide a window into a uniquely Yup’ik view of how the world works and what it means to be a real person. And they have done so with their young people firmly in mind. Ann Fienup-Riordan is an anthropologist who has lived and worked in Alaska for more than forty years. She has written and edited more than twenty books on Yup’ik history and oral traditions. Alice Rearden is an Alaska-based translator and oral historian. Alice Rearden is from Napakiak, Alaska and is a fluent Yup’ik speaker and expert translator ans oral historian. Marie Meade was raised in Nunapitchuk, Alaska teaches at UAA Alaska Native Studies Dept. where she teaches Yup’ik language and culture. She also works and travels with the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers. Mark John, originally from Toksook Bay, is well known and well respected throughout the region as a commercial fisherman, active subsistence hunter and fisherman, and fluent speaker of the Yup'ik language. Receiving his BSW and MSW from the University of Alaska, he is also a gifted leader and administrator, and has worked slowly and carefully to realize Calista Elders Council’s potential.
Editors and contributors to the bilingual books Akulmiut Neqait / Fish and Food of the Akulmiut (University of Alaska Press) and Yuuyaraq/The Yup’ik Way of Being (Alaska Native Language Center)-- Ann Fienup-Riordan, Alice Rearden, Marie Meade and Mark John--discuss the Yupik way of life. Akulmiut Negait, details the lives of the Akulmiut living in the lake country west of Bethel, Alaska, in the villages of Kasigluk, Nunapitchuk, and Atmautluak. Akulmiut Neqait is based in conversations recorded with the people of these villages as they talk about their uniquely Yup'ik view of the world and how it has weathered periods of immense change in southwest Alaska. “For centuries, the Akulmiut people, a Yup’ik group, have been sustained by the annual movements of whitefish. To this day, many Akulmiut view not only their actions in the world, but their interactions with each other, as having a direct and profound effect on these fish. Not only are fish viewed as responding to human action and intention in many contexts, but the lakes and rivers fish inhabit are likewise viewed as sentient beings, with the ability to respond both positively and negatively to those who travel there.” Yuuyaraq / The Yup'ik Way of Being presents bilingual stories, traditional tales, and qanruyutet (oral instructions) shared by elders from throughout southwest Alaska as part of the Yuuyaraq curriculum project. Yuuyaraq embodies a way of life in which sharing is central -- sharing of food, of stories, of knowledge. In what they say, elders provide a window into a uniquely Yup’ik view of how the world works and what it means to be a real person. And they have done so with their young people firmly in mind. Ann Fienup-Riordan is an anthropologist who has lived and worked in Alaska for more than forty years. She has written and edited more than twenty books on Yup’ik history and oral traditions. Alice Rearden is an Alaska-based translator and oral historian. Alice Rearden is from Napakiak, Alaska and is a fluent Yup’ik speaker and expert translator ans oral historian. Marie Meade was raised in Nunapitchuk, Alaska teaches at UAA Alaska Native Studies Dept. where she teaches Yup’ik language and culture. She also works and travels with the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers. Mark John, originally from Toksook Bay, is well known and well respected throughout the region as a commercial fisherman, active subsistence hunter and fisherman, and fluent speaker of the Yup'ik language. Receiving his BSW and MSW from the University of Alaska, he is also a gifted leader and administrator, and has worked slowly and carefully to realize Calista Elders Council’s potential. --
Children's book authors Barbara Jacko Atwater and Ethan J. Atwater (How the Raven Got His Crooked Nose), Phyllis Adams (Gingerbread Moose and Alaska Boots for Chelsea) and Cindy Baldwin (Sarah's Days) talk about the Alaska Native traditions they share through writing modern children's stories. Carols Sturgulewski, with Alaska Center for the Book, actrs as moderator. Topics will range from who "owns" a story, to bridging urban-rural and generational divides, to working with illustrators and publishers. Barbara Jacko Atwater was raised in the village of Pedro Bay in southwest Alaska. A retired teacher, she has worked with her son Ethan to share the stories passed on to her by her great-uncle, respected Dena'ina elder Walter Johnson. Phyllis Adams was born in Fairbanks and raised in Nenana. A retired Anchorage schoolteacher, her first stories were created for her grandchildren, to share traditional values adapted to contemporary settings. Cindy Baldwin grew up in the Athabascan region of Alaska, with Yup'ik, Aleut, German and Russian ancestry. Her children's picture book is a cautionary tale about enjoying nature within limits. This event is sponsored with Alaska Center for the Book and is held in celebration of Alaska Native/American Indian Heritage Month.
Alaska authors discuss their books and writing in different genres. Jane Harper discusses Unequally Divided, her novel based during the Vietnam era (2:40-23:10), Phyllis Fast discusses her forthcoming mystery Red Paint Woman (23:58-38:40), and Jan Harper Haines discusses her family biographyr Cold River Spirits (39:01-1:24:20). Here is a brief description of the authors: Jan Harper Haines’ Cold River Spirits: Whispers from a Family’s Forgotten Past is a classic in Alaska literature. It brings together stories from the life and times of her Koyukon Athabascan mother and grandmother. Her cousin, Professor Emerita Phyllis Fast, is an anthropologist and author of the acclaimed Northern Athabascan Survival Women, Community, and the Future. Her current focus is writing Alaska Native mysteries. At this event, she presents her newest book, Red Paint Woman. Alongside Phyllis is her sister in law, Jane E. Harper, who was born in North Carolina and raised in Pennsylvania. Her novel Unequally Divided is a vibrant novel portraying difficult choices of love and life’s direction during the tumultuous Vietnam era
How is everything poetry while nothing is poetry? How does teaching others govern one's own creative process? Are poets different from writers of other genres? These questions coupled with poetry readings are the focus of this unusual literary event where taking in poems makes poems. Jon Davis is the author of four full-length poetry collections—Improbable Creatures, Preliminary Report, Scrimmage of Appetite, and Dangerous Amusements; five chapbooks; and Heteronymy: An Anthology. Davis also co-translated Iraqi poet Naseer Hassan’s Dayplaces. He has received a Lannan Literary Award in Poetry, the Lavan Prize from the Academy of American Poets, the Off the Grid Poetry Prize, and two NEA Fellowships. After teaching for 27 years, he founded the MFA in Creative Writing at the Institute of American Indian Arts and directed it from 2013-2018. David Foster Wallace referred to Jon Davis’s poems as being “off-the-charts terrific!". Alaskan poet Joan Naviyuk Kane is the author of The Cormorant Hunter’s Wife, Hyperboreal, The Straits, Milk Black Carbon, A Few Lines in the Manifest, and Sublingual, She is the recipient of a Whiting Writer’s Award, the Donald Hall Prize in Poetry, and numerous fellowships. A Harvard National Scholar, she became 2018 Guggenheim Fellow in 2018.
Jane E. Harper's Unequally Divided is a vibrant novel portraying difficult choices of love and life’s direction during the tumultuous Vietnam era. The story takes place in Columbus, GA, near the Fort Benning Army base and highlights the struggles of soldiers training for war while depicting the era's history with flashes of music, religion, domestic abuse, and women’s issues. Author Jane E. Harper was born in North Carolina and raised in Pennsylvania. She earned a bachelor's degree from Auburn University, taught middle school in Georgia, Utah, and overseas. Later, she moved to Alaska and pursued a career in accounting. Author and anthropologist Phyllis Ann Fast presents her book The Dire Wolf Alliance, A Native American Saga is a story told by spirits Baasee’ and Grandfather Kwaiikit, which help Deloo come to grips with her own recent widowhood. Phyllis Ann Fast, born in Anchorage, is of Koyukon Athabaskan and white American heritages. She earned numerous academic degrees including a B.A. in English from the University of Alaska, an interdisciplinary Master of Arts from UAA, and a PhD in Anthropology from Harvard University. After teaching at UAF and the UAA, she retired Professor Emerita in 2014. Her previous books are Half-Bead of Fundy and Midnight Trauma. She currently resides in Washington State.
Ann Fienup-Riordan and Alice Rearden siacuss their new book, Qanemcit Amllertut/Many Stories to Tell: Tales of Humans and Animals from Southwest Alaska. This bilingual collection shares new translations of old stories recorded over the past four decades through interviews with Yup’ik elders from throughout southwest Alaska. Some are true qulirat (traditional tales), while others are recent. Some are well known, like the adventures of the wily raven, while others are rarely told. All are part of a great narrative tradition, shared and treasured by Yup’ik people into the present day. This is the first region-wide collection of traditional Yup’ik tales and stories from southwest Alaska. The elders and translators who contributed to this collection embrace the great irony of oral traditions: that the best way to keep these stories is to give them away. By retelling these stories, they hope to create a future in which the Yup’ik view of the world will be both recognized and valued. Qanemcit Amllertut/Many Stories to Tell is published by University of Alaska Press. Ann Fienup Riordan and Alice Rearden have worked on numerous publications together. Their book, Anguyiiim Nalliini, A Time of Warring, The History of Bow-and-Arrow Warfare on Southwest Alaska was published in 2016 by University of Alaska Press in 2016.. This event is sponsored with Alaska Center for the Book. It is held in celebration of Alaska Native/American Indian Heritage Month.
Dr. Steve J. Langdon presents Kaalaxch's Endeavors: A Preeminent Jilkáat Tlingit Leader and the Coming of the Americans. Kaalaxch was an esteemed and prominent leader (“chief”) of the Jilkáat Tlingit who lived in Klukwan on the Chilkat River in northern southeast Alaska. At the time of the assertion of jurisdiction by the United States government in 1867, he had acquired a reputation as a preeminent leader due to his achievements in establishing his clan and the Jilkáat Tlingit as powerful forces in southeast Alaska and beyond in northwest North America. As governmental and military officials of the United States prepared to enter the region, they sought out information from various American, Russian and British sources to orient themselves to conditions they would face and Kaalaxch‘s name, achievements and reputation came to their attention repeatedly. In fact, Secretary of State Seward took it upon himself to travel to Klukwan in 1869 to meet with Kaalaxch. This presentation discusses the career of this remarkable leader who endeavored to sustain Tlingit sovereignty and culture without endangering Tlingit lives in violent encounters with the colonizing US interlopers who sought to intimidate and subject the Tlingit people to military authority. Guest speaker Steve J. Langdon, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, UAA. He is the recent recipient of the Denali Award, an award given to a Non-Native person who has demonstrated strong commitment, dedication, and service to the Alaska Native Community and to Rural Alaska.
Founders of Aurora Pride, an Indigenous LGBTQ2 (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and Two-Spirit) support group, Jenny Miller, Will Bean and Tuigana McDermott come together to discuss “Two-Spirit Identity” and its distinct meaning in Alaska Native and indigenous communities. Jenny Miller created “Continuous,” a photographic portraiture series documenting the experiences of Alaska Native LGBTQ2 Two-Spirit peoples from distinct tribal backgrounds. She is Inupiaq and was raised in Nome. She graduated from the University of Washington with a BFA in Photomedia and a BA in American Indian Studies. Will Bean lives in Anchorage with family roots in Wainwright, AK. He has a Liberal Studies, Business minor, B.A. in Business from Alaska Pacific University. Tuigana McDermott is a nursing student at UAA. Her family is from Wainwright, AK. She has lived in Illinois and currently lives in Anchorage. (Note: the volume may have to be raised to hear better.) --
Ilarion Larry Merculieff (author of Wisdom Keeper: One Man's Journey to Honor the Untold History of the Unangan), Aron Crowell (The Arctic Studies Center's Yakutat Seal Camp Project). Esther Koezuna (Inupiat artist and skin sewer from King Island), and Shaaxsaani (a Tlingit artist using traditional materials in contemporary ways) discuss their work and relationship with seals. (Note, Aron Crowell's presentation about Harbor seals is also posted in iTunes) This event is held in honor Agnes and Ted Mayac Sr. and in celebration of Alaska Native/American Indian Heritage Month. Agnes and Ted Mayac grew up in the now abandoned village of King Island, 90 miles northwest of Nome and 309 miles off the coast of the remote Seward Peninsula. Agnes Mayac is a renowned skin sewer known for her beautiful slippers, and Ted Mayac Sr. is a highly acclaimed traditional ivory carver and artist. Both are deeply involved in preserving their King Island heritage and are members of the King Island Traditional Dancers. The books on the table feature Wisdom Keeper and the recently published book, Up Here: The North at the Center of the World--from the Anchorage Museum and edited by Julie Decker-- which includes the essay “Unmiksok” by Ted Mayac Sr. This event is sponsored by the Alaska Center for the Book and the UAA Campus Bookstore.
This is Aron Crowell's presentation for the event Seals and Alaska Native Life. Aron Crowell is director of The Arctic Studies Center's Yakutat Seal Camp Project. Note, the podcast of the event is also posted in iTunes. The event, Seals and Alaska Native life also welcomes Esther Koezuna (Inupiat artist and skin sewer from King Island), Shaaxsaani (a Tlingit artist using traditional materials in contemporary ways), and Ilarion Larry Merculieff (author of Wisdom Keeper: One Man's Journey to Honor the Untold History of the Unangan) discuss their work and relationship with seals. The event is sponsored by the Alaska Center for the Book and the UAA Campus Bookstore.
Ann Fienup-Riordan and Alice Rearden present Ciulirnerunak Yuuyaqunak/Do not Live Without an Elder, The Subsistence Way of life in Southwest Alaska. Ann Fienup-Riordan is an anthropologist who has lived and worked in Alaska for more than forty years. She has written and edited more than twenty books on Yup’ik history and oral traditions. Alice Rearden is from Napakiak, Alaska and is a fluent Yup’ik speaker and expert translator and oral historian. In October of 2010, six men who were serving on the board of the Calista Elders Council (CEC) gathered in Anchorage with CEC staff to spend three days speaking about the subsistence way of life. The men shared stories of their early years growing up on the land and harvesting through the seasons, and the dangers they encountered there. The gathering was striking for its regional breadth, as elders came from the Bering Sea coast as well as the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers. And while their accounts had some commonalities, they also served to demonstrate the wide range of different approaches to subsistence in different regions. Ciulirnerunak Yuuyaqunak/Do not Live Without an Elder, The Subsistence Way of life in Southwest Alaska was published by University of Alaska Press . More than simply oral histories—their stories testify to the importance of transmitting memories and culture and of preserving knowledge of vanishing ways of life
In The Tao of Raven, using the story of Raven and the Box of Daylight and relating it to Sun Tzu's Art of War, Ernestine Hayes expresses an ongoing frustration and anger at the obstacles and prejudices still facing Alaska Natives in their own land, while sharing her own story of attending and completing college in her fifties and becoming a professor and a writer. Ernestine Saankalaxt’ Hayes belongs to the Kaagwaantaan clan of the Eagle side of the Lingit nation. Her first book, Blonde Indian: An Alaska Native Memoir received the American Book Award in 2007 and was chosen as the 2016 Alaska Reads selection. Ernestine Hayes received her MFA in Creative Writing and Literary Arts from UAA and is an assistant professor of English at UAS. This event is sponsored with Alaska Center for the Book.
Professor Emerita Phyllis Fast is an anthropologist, artist and mystery writer. Author of the acclaimed Northern Athabascan Survival: Women, Community, and the Future, her current focus is writing Alaska Native mysteries. At this event she discusses Half-Bead of Fundy and Midnight Trauma, which take place in Fairbanks, Alaska. • Half-Bead of Fundy: They wanted her beaded jacket at any cost. It was up to Alaska Native, Deloo Goode, to figure out what was so important about her mother's beading—or else be killed like the innkeeper at the Secret Spirit Inn. • Midnight Trauma: Someone has killed a teenager at a bead shop in remote Fairbanks, Alaska. Moreover, the owner, Earlene, is missing and the shop keeps getting broken into. Deloo Goode and her mother try to unravel the mysteries surrounding the bead shop. Phyllis Fast‘s heritage is Koyukon Athabascan and white American. She was born in Anchorage, in 1946 to Elsie and Oscar Fast, graduated from East Anchorage High School. Her academic accomplishments include earning a B.A. in English from the University of Alaska, an interdisciplinary Master of Arts from UAA, and a PhD in Anthropology from Harvard University. After teaching at UAF and UAA, she retired Professor Emerita in 2014. She now lives in Washington.
Ilarion Merculieff is an Unangan, Aleut, raised in a traditional way on St. Paul Island in the Bering Sea. His memoir, Wisdom Keeper, One Man's Journey to Honor the Untold History of the Unangan People, brings Unangan traditional knowledge, Aleut history, and sacred teachings to light in order to address critical changes throughout the world today. Ilarion Merculieff is the co-founder of the Indigenous Peoples’ Council for Marine Mammals, the Alaska Forum on the Environment, the International Bering Sea Forum, and the Alaska Oceans Network. He has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Buffet Finalist Award for Indigenous Leadership, the Environmental Excellence Award for lifetime achievement from the Alaska Forum on the Environment, Rasmuson Foundation award for Creative Non-Fiction, and the Alaska Native Writers on the Environment Award. In addition, he is co-author of Stop Talking: Indigenous Ways of Teaching and Learning, published by UAA and APU in 2008. Wisdom Keeper is published by Penguin/Random House.
Dr. Kristin Hanson’s book Alaska Native (Iñupiaq) Translations and Transformations of Protestant Beliefs and Practices: A Case Study of How Religions Interact, has recently been published by Edwin Mellen Press. It explores how has and how can Inupiaq spirituality-culture inform and shape the immigrant Christian system, as well as the lives of Inupiat who have embraced Protestant beliefs. The book is based on an ethnographic study of two Anchorage congregations that have notable Seward Peninsula-Norton Sound Inupiaq representation within them. And includes an introduction to the early missionary history of the Seward Peninsula-Norton Sound region, including first-person glimpses of village life, difficult urban transitions, and multi-faceted racism. Dr. Kristin Hanson teaches world philosophies and religions at UAA. She earned her Ph.D. in Religion and a Certificate of Women's Studies at Emory University. Joining the discussion is Sheila Randazzo (UAA Native Student Services), Curtis Ivanoff (Covenant Church Alaska) and UAA students Hunter Dill and Brittany Burns. Please note: The event presentation is also posted in iTunes and can accompany the audio podcast.
Dr. Kristin Hanson’s book Alaska Native (Iñupiaq) Translations and Transformations of Protestant Beliefs and Practices: A Case Study of How Religions Interact, has recently been published by Edwin Mellen Press. It explores how has and how can Inupiaq spirituality-culture inform and shape the immigrant Christian system, as well as the lives of Inupiat who have embraced Protestant beliefs. The book is based on an ethnographic study of two Anchorage congregations that have notable Seward Peninsula-Norton Sound Inupiaq representation within them. And includes an introduction to the early missionary history of the Seward Peninsula-Norton Sound region, including first-person glimpses of village life, difficult urban transitions, and multi-faceted racism. Dr. Kristin Hanson teaches world philosophies and religions at UAA. She earned her Ph.D. in Religion and a Certificate of Women's Studies at Emory University. Joining the discussion is Sheila Randazzo (UAA Native Student Services), Curtis Ivanoff (Covenant Church Alaska) and UAA students Hunter Dill and Brittany Burns. Please note: The event audio is also posted in iTunes and can accompany the presentation.
The fascinating book Anguyiim Nalliini/Time of Warring draws on little-known oral histories from the Yup’ik people of southwest Alaska to detail a period of bow-and-arrow warfare that took place in the region between 1300 and 1800. The result of more than thirty years of research, discussion, and field recordings involving more than one hundred Yup’ik men and women, Anguyiim Nalliini tells a story not just of war and violence, but also of its cultural context—the origins of place names, the growth of indigenous architectural practices, the personalities of prominent warriors and leaders, and the eventual establishment of peaceful coexistence. The book is presented in bilingual format, with facing-page translations, and it will be hailed as a landmark work in the study of Alaska Native history and anthropology. Ann Fienup-Riordan is an anthropologist who has lived and worked in Alaska for more than forty years. She has written and edited more than twenty books on Yup’ik history and oral traditions. Alice Rearden is an Alaska Native, Alaska-based, translator and oral historian. Marie Meade is an Alaska Native and Yup'ik translator and teaches at UAA in Alaska Native Studies.