SEALASKA HERITAGE INSTITUTE 2017 Highlights

1 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Copyright © 2018 Sealaska Heritage Institute About Sealaska Heritage Institute • 4 All rights reserved. Letter from the President • 5 SEALASKA HERITAGE INSTITUTE 105 S. Seward St., Suite 201 Juneau, Alaska 99801 Programs 907.463.4844 • www.sealaskaheritage.org Art • 7 Education • 27 ISBN: 978–1–946019–24–0 Culture and History • 43 Advocacy • 55 Cover art of herring egg harvest by Tlingit artist Michaela Goade from Sealaska Heritage Institute’s Baby Raven Reads book Let’s go! A harvest story. Cover design by Kathy Dye. Communities Served • 59

Design and composition by Kathy Dye. Donors • 63

PHOTO CREDITS Financials • 73 Photos by Brian Wallace and Nobu Koch except for the following: page 4 by Ken Graham; page 5 by Scott Areman; page 7 by Sierra Wilson; pages 8–13 by Sydney Akagi; page 16 by Boards and Committees • 77 Rich McClear; page 17 by Steve Brown; page 18 by Kathy Marvin; page 19 by Davina Cole; page 20 of masks courtesy of Lemon Creek Correctional Facility; page 21, bottom, by Ronnie Fairbanks; page 22, bottom, by Eva Rowan; page 25 by Sydney Akagi; page 32 by Jasmine Staff • 79 James; page 51, lower right, courtesy of Sara Jacobsen; pages 54 and 84 by Getty Images; page 55 by Kathy Dye. Those Who Have Gone Before Us • 81

2 // 2017 annual report 3 LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

When I look back on 2017, I think about all of the people who have walked with us on this journey to perpetuate Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian art, languages, and cultures for nearly 40 years. Sealaska Heritage has succeeded because of the Elders, donors, artists, educators, authors, volunteers, and other supporters who have helped us along the way. Thank you for all that you do.

Thanks also to our Board of Trustees, Council of Traditional Scholars, Native Artist Committee, and Southeast Regional Language Committee for guiding our work. And to Sealaska for providing us the annual base support and funds to leverage and use as matching money for grants that help sustain our educational, language, art and cultural programs.

When I reflect on 2017, I will think about the artists and authors who came to us to produce our children’s books SHI President Rosita Kaaháni Worl. through Baby Raven Reads and about all of the families who enrolled in that program. Their participation helped us prove that Baby Raven Reads has been a success in boosting early About Sealaska Heritage Institute literacy in children. Their collective work and the work of our Sealaska Heritage Institute is a private nonprofit founded by Sealaska in 1980 at staff prompted the Library of Congress to bestow our Baby the urging of Elders to ensure the survival of Southeast Alaska Native cultures. Raven program with its 2017 Best Practice Honoree award. SHI’s goals are to promote cultural diversity and cross-cultural understanding through public services and events. SHI also conducts social scientific and public I will think about Bruce and Gretchen Jacobsen of Seattle 31,300 and their teenage daughter, Sara, who implored her parents policy research that promotes Alaska Native arts, cultures, history, and education TOTAL PEOPLE statewide. The institute is governed by a Board of Trustees and guided by a to donate a Chilkat robe they had purchased years ago to SERVED IN 2017 Council of Traditional Scholars, a Native Artist Committee, and a Southeast the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian. In a stunning display of Regional Language Committee. Its mission is to perpetuate and enhance Tlingit, generosity, the Jacobsens donated it to Sealaska Heritage, and in Haida, and Tsimshian cultures of Southeast Alaska. SHI operates from the Walter 2017 we welcomed the Robe and the Spirit of Our Ancestors Soboleff Building, an educational facility in Juneau opened by SHI in 2015. home. Because of them, Native people will be able to study an ancestor’s sacred masterpiece for many years to come.

4 // 2017 annual report 5 We have a dream to make Juneau the Northwest Coast art capital of the world and to designate our art as a national treasure. The year 2017 was a reminder of all of the people who are with us on this journey. The most spectacular display of support came during our 2017 Tináa Art Auction, which raised $200,000 for SHI’s programs. To the artists, donors, art collectors, volunteers, sponsors, and all of the other people who gave to the auction, your support means the world to us.

Thank you to the people across Alaska and in New Mexico who are working with us to grow art programs in Southeast Alaska and Santa Fe. In 2017, we signed agreements with the University of Alaska Southeast and school districts in Juneau, Klawock, and Hoonah to expand Northwest Coast art programs. The pact builds on an earlier agreement between SHI, UAS, and the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe to establish a four-year Northwest Coast art program. ART PROGRAM I will think about all of the dedicated language learners and teachers who enrolled in our new program to teach Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian languages in 2017. They are the people who are fighting to Sealaska Heritage sponsors programs to teach ancient art keep our languages alive. And I will think about our beloved Tlingit forms, expand markets for Northwest Coast artists, and to scholar and author Nora Keixwnéi Dauenhauer, who walked on before educate others about Native art. SHI’s goals are to make us in 2017. She and her late husband, Richard, laid the foundation for Juneau the Northwest Coast art capital of the world and to the people who are perpetuating the Tlingit language today. establish Northwest Coast art as a national treasure. SHI’s

Native Artist Committee guides art programming. Sometimes I think our work seems daunting and that we never have enough time. But when I reflect on 2017, I will think about all of the • Tináa Art Auction people of like mind who are with us on this journey and of the giants • Artists in Residence who came before us upon whose shoulders we stand. • Workshops • Mentor-Apprentice Programs 3,040 • Northwest Coast Art High Schools PEOPLE & University Program SERVED IN 2017 • Native Art Markets Rosita Kaaháni Worl • Arts Excursions President • A Tribe Called Red Concert

6 // 2017 annual report 7 TINÁA NATIVE FASHION SHOW

SHI’s 2017 Tináa Art Auction was a huge success and included work by some of the country’s most noted Native artists. Forty-two artists and donors gave pieces, raising nearly $200,000 for art and culture programs. It included a Native Fashion Show which featured pieces by eleven designers. Opposite: Canoe Breaker: Southeast Wind’s Brother by Robert Davidson at auction in 2017. Tináa Art Auction

8 // 2017 annual report 9 Thunderbird Mask by Ray Watkins at auction in 2017.

Tináa Art Auction

10 // 2017 annual report 11 Song of the Night, Reflection, Sleepless Shadow, Leaping Forward by Susan Point at auction in 2017.

Tináa Art Auction

12 // 2017 annual report 13 Artists in Residence

Clockwise from top: SHI sponsored artists-in- residence Lily Hope, Alison Marks, and Fred Fulmer in 2017. Lily spent many hours in 2016 working on the robe above when her mother, the renowned weaver Clarissa Rizal, passed away. Opposite: In 2017, Lily celebrated the completion of the robe in a public ceremony at Sealaska Heritage. It was then handed over to the Portland Museum of Art, which had commissioned the piece.

14 // 2017 annual report 15 Mentor-Apprentice Program

In October 2017, Dachxhanx’ee Yán Yáagu (Grandchildren’s Canoe), adorned with the handprints of children as well as a Raven and Eagle design applied by Mark Sixbey, officially received its name and launched from the Sitka University of Alaska Southeast ramp with eight paddlers. Above, from left: The canoe was carved by apprentices T.J. Young, Tommy Joseph, and Jerrod and Nicholas Galanin with their mentor, master carver Steve Brown (not pictured) in 2016. Sealaska Heritage partnered with Sitka National Historical Park to make this 27-foot, Northern style ceremonial canoe from a log donated by Sealaska in an effort to preserve the ancient endangered knowledge of making the traditional watercraft known as dugouts. Opposite: SHI in 2017 sponsored workshops on how to make model dugout canoes in Kake and Klawock, taught by Brown. MODEL DUGOUT CANOES IN KAKE AND KLAWOCK

16 // 2017 annual report 17 In 2017, Sealaska Heritage sponsored a mentor-apprentice program to perpetuate the SPRUCE-ROOT WEAVING endangered, ancient art practice of spruce-root weaving. Students first learned to gather and process spruce roots through teachers Mary Lou King and Janice Criswell. Later, master weaver Delores Churchill with support from assistant instructor Corinne Parker taught them advanced weaving techniques and false embroidery.

Mentor-Apprentice Program

Churchill took the students to the Alaska State Museum to study historical masterpieces made of spruce root. From left: Corinne Parker, Hans Chester, Kathy Marvin, Delores Churchill, Janice Criswell, Mary Bernhardt, Yolanda Fulmer, and Deborah McLavey.

18 // 2017 annual report 19 Below: SHI in 2017 provided business classes and Northwest Coast art carving classes to Alaska Native residents at Juneau’s Lemon Creek Correctional Center. The goal is to connect them to their culture and to give them a means to earn an income before and after release. The program also was provided to community members.

Workshops SHI offered workshops through its Jinéit Art Academy Youth Program in Craig, Juneau, Sitka, and Top right and above: In 2017, SHI sponsored a workshop on how to make copper tináas (shields) Angoon in 2017. The goal of to a group of visitors as part of its goal to promote cross-cultural understanding. this three-year program is to expose Alaska youth to high- quality Northwest Coast art programming. 20 // 2017 annual report 21 Sealaska Heritage in 2017 signed an agreement with the University of Alaska Southeast (UAS) (left) and school districts in Juneau, Klawock (below), and Hoonah to teach Northwest Coast (NWC) art. In part, the partners will develop a two-year associate’s degree program in NWC art at UAS and award scholarships to applicants; develop a NWC Arts Career pathway for students in four high schools in partner communities; and train math and art teachers to develop and field Native Art Markets test curricular resources on NWC art integration in math.

NWC Art University Program

SHI operates numerous Northwest Coast art markets and sells Native art through its Sealaska Heritage Store. Proceeds support artists and fund art-and-culture programs.

22 // 2017 annual report 23 A TRIBE Cross-Cultural Understanding CALLED RED

SHI offers art excursions to school children and participates in the national Ensuring the Arts for Any Given Child program—which was founded by the Kennedy Center to create equitable access to arts education programs for K-8 students. In 2017, SHI SHI co-sponsored a performance by A Tribe Called Red, an Indigenous music group from opened its doors to more than 350 children in 2nd Canada that is earning critical acclaim in the global electronic scene. and 3rd grade through that program.

24 // 2017 annual report 25 EDUCATION PROGRAM

Sealaska Heritage works with universities, school districts, and other educational institutions throughout the region to teach people about Southeast Alaska Native cultures, as studies have shown that integrating culture into schools has improved academic achievement. SHI also promotes early literacy in Alaska Native children, publishes children’s books, awards scholarships, and operates a Native language program.

• Baby Raven Reads Literacy Program • Math and Culture Academy • Latseen Programs 12,044 • Cultural Orientations & PEOPLE Education Conference SERVED IN 2017 • Language Program

26 // 2017 annual report 27 WINNER: NATIONAL BEST PICTURE BOOK In 2017, SHI published ten new culturally-based children’s books through Baby Raven Reads and Baby Raven Reads distributed them to libraries, schools, and Head Start programs in Southeast Alaska. This was significant, as so few children’s books exist that reflect the region’s Native worldview.

SHI sponsors Baby Raven Reads, a program that promotes early-literacy, language development, and school readiness for Alaska Native children up to age 5. SHI’s Baby Raven Reads book, Shanyaak’utlaax: Salmon Boy, which was published in 2017, went on to win the 2018 American Indian Youth Literature Best Picture Book Award from the American Indian Library Association. Other Baby Raven Reads books published by SHI in 2017 included The Woman Who Married The Bear; The Woman Carried Away By Killer Whales; Am’ala; Let’s Go! A Harvest Story; Picking Berries; Native Values: Living in Harmony; Haida Baby Eagle; Haida Baby Raven; and How Devil’s Club Came to Be, which was reviewed by American Indians in Children’s Literature as a recommended title.

28 // 2017 annual report 29 BABY RAVEN READS GOES TO Baby Raven Reads WASHINGTON!

The Library of Congress selected Sealaska Heritage Institute’s Baby Raven Reads literacy program for its 2017 Best Practice Honoree award, making it one of 15 programs in the world to receive the honor that year. The awards honor organizations that have made outstanding contributions to Baby Raven Reads includes family events, which improve increasing literacy and encourage the development of innovative methods early literacy skills by translating cultural strengths into home for promoting literacy and wide dissemination of the most effective literacy practices. A study by the McDowell Group found the practices. The institute in 2017 secured funding to expand the program to program was effective and that the majority of respondents an additional nine communities in Southeast Alaska through 2020. observed improvement in their children in nine categories.

30 // 2017 annual report 31 Left and bottom: Students at SHI’s 2017 Latseen Hoop Camp, which teaches basketball skills and the Tlingit four core Latseen Programs cultural values; below: students at SHI’s 2017 Latseen Running Camp, which aims to strengthen body, mind, and spirit and to further connect Alaska Native people to Haa Aaní — “our land.”

In 2017, SHI sponsored its annual Latseen Leadership Academy, a program designed to provide engaging culturally-based education and activities for high school students in support of their future academic and personal success with a focus on rigor, relevance, and relationships. The goal of the program is to teach students the art of leadership through the development of self-knowledge and physical and spiritual strength.

32 // 2017 annual report 33 Math and Culture Academy

In 2017, SHI sponsored its annual Math and Culture academy, which teaches math skills through Northwest Coast art and culture. Through the program, nearly 40 students from Angoon, Klukwan, Hoonah, and Juneau learned math concepts by creating small fish traps, wood cuffs, and halibut hooks.

34 // 2017 annual report 35 NATIVE LANGUAGE MENTORS AND APPRENTICES

Language Program

Sitka team. From left: Apprentice Lakrisha Metlakatla team. From left: Apprentice David Brady, Mentor Ethel Makinen, Liaison Lillian R. Boxley, Apprentice Kandi McGilton, Mentor Young from Sitka Tribe of Alaska, and Sarah Booth, and Gavin Hudson of SHI’s Apprentice Kassandra Eubank-Littlefield. Southeast Regional Language Committee.

Juneau teams. Left: Apprentice Michelle Martin, Mentor Florence Sheakley, and Apprentice Mary Folletti. Right: Apprentice Michael Hoyt, Mentor Paul Marks, and Apprentice Kyle Worl.

In 2017, SHI kicked off its three-year Haa Shuká Community Language Project to perpetuate Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian languages. The program pairs language apprentices with language mentors. Top: In 2017, SHI announced its mentor-apprentice teams in Hydaburg, Metlakatla, Sitka, and Juneau. Above: Hydaburg team with Benjamin Young. From left: Apprentice Bonnie Morris, Mentor Cherilyn Holter, Young of SHI’s Southeast Regional Language Committee, and Apprentice Andrea Peele.

36 // 2017 annual report 37 LANGUAGE APPS

In 2017, SHI produced two new games for its Tlingit Games Language Program app. Ax Hídi (My House) (bottom) teaches more than 70 Tlingit words for items commonly found in a home. The new game Move the Murrelet (below) teaches positional phrases in Tlingit. Both games include quizzes and a new feature to allow players to track their highest scores. SHI also added a quiz feature and score tracking component to its Learning Tlingit app (left). Available in app stores and on SHI’s website.

SHI in 2017 published a workbook for students studying Tlingit that teaches words and concepts through imagery. The volume, Beginning Tlingit Workbook, was written and compiled by X’unei Lance A. Twitchell, a member of the institute’s Southeast Regional Language Committee and assistant professor of Alaska Native languages at the University of Alaska Southeast (UAS). It is an extension of the landmark book Beginning Tlingit, which was edited by the late Richard and Nora Dauenhauer and published by SHI. Beginning Tlingit Workbook is part of an ongoing effort to revitalize Tlingit.

38 // 2017 annual report 39 In 2017, SHI continued its annual program Thru the Cultural Lens, which provides cultural orientations to educators and school administrators. It is critical to incorporate Native cultures into schools because studies have shown that Native students do better academically when they are exposed to their culture in class. Below and bottom: SHI staff with educators who participated in a 2017 cultural orientation.

Cross-Cultural Understanding

In 2017, SHI kicked off its first cultural education conference in an effort to improve academic success of Native students by giving educators tools to effectively understand and teach people from other cultures. The three-day event, Our Cultural Landscape: Culturally Responsive Education Conference, featured nationally- known keynote speakers and nearly 50 breakout sessions. Above: Keynote speaker Dr. Christopher Blodgett. Right: Keynote speaker Zaretta Hammond.

CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE EDUCATION CONFERENCE 40 // 2017 annual report 41 CULTURE AND HISTORY PROGRAM

Sealaska Heritage curates exhibits and develops and oversees scholarly research projects that support SHI’s mission. These projects contribute to the increase of knowledge about Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian cultures and history and to the development of school curriculum materials and lesson plans. Other activity areas include language transcriptions and translations, publications, visiting scholars, and a lecture series.

• Exhibits 7,810 Above: Tlingit mask by Doug Chilton, Tlingit. • Collections PEOPLE Alaska Native Masks: Art & Ceremony exhibit, 2017. SERVED IN 2017 Opposite: Hands of some of the artists whose work was featured in the exhibit. • Research

42 // 2017 annual report 43 Exhibits

SHI curates exhibits for the public to promote cross-cultural understanding. In 2017, SHI curated its first statewide exhibit: Alaska Native Masks: Art & Ceremony, which featured pieces by some of the most renowned Alaska Native artists of our time. The exhibit included 50 masks from the Iñupiat, Yup’ik, Alutiiq, Athabascan, Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian and explored their ancient and current uses.

SHI in 2017 invited nine artists who had loaned masks and whose work was featured in the exhibit to discuss some of the main themes of the show as well as broader topics related to their work as Alaska Native artists. From left: The panel included Preston Singletary, Larry Ahvakana, Drew Michael, Perry Eaton, Robert Davidson, Earl Atchak, Art Oomittuk, David A. Boxley, and Mick Beasley (not pictured). Watching Boats by Alvin Amason, Alutiiq. Alaska Native Masks: Art & Ceremony exhibit.

44 // 2017 annual report 45 Raven Mask British Columbia Alaska Native Masks: Art & Ceremony exhibit.

Exhibits Alaska Native Masks: Art & Ceremony exhibit. Clockwise from top left: Feather Woman by Preston Singletary, Tlingit; The Dark Side by Perry Eaton, Alutiiq; Male with Labrets by Lawrence Ahvakana, Iñupiat; Walrus Dance Mask by Earl Atchak, Cup’ik.

46 // 2017 annual report 47 Left: Celebration 1982. In 2017, SHI completed a project to digitize videos documenting the first ten years of Celebration, a biennial dance-and- culture festival first held in 1982 that has grown into one of the largest events in the state. The footage is available for study at SHI’s archives.

Collections

Sealaska Heritage houses rare books, historical photographs, audiovisual recordings, manuscript materials, and ethnographic objects that document the history, culture, heritage, art, and language of the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian people. Most of the recordings are unique and cannot be found in other libraries, archives, or repositories. SHI makes these materials available to the public for research to promote scholarship. In 2017, SHI received 56 new objects and nine batches of archival material through acquisitions and donations. Collections are stored in a climate-controlled vault at Sealaska Heritage Institute and cared for by a professional staff. Top right and above: In 2017, SHI received a grant to restore an old Tlingit box drum in its collection and to make infrared scans to reveal the original formline design on the sides. The Above: Crab of the Woods (Frog) Hlk’iian q’uusdanin, a bronze piece by Haida master artist restoration was done with permission from the T’akdeintaan Clan, Mt. Fairweather House, which Robert Davidson acquired by SHI in 2017 for its ethnographic collection. repatriated the drum in 2010. From left: SHI Culture and History Director Chuck Smythe, Ron Williams of the T’akdeintaan Clan and his wife Julie, and Robert Starbard of the T’akdeintaan.

48 // 2017 annual report 49 In 2017, Bruce and Gretchen Jacobsen of Seattle (left) stunned Sealaska Heritage staff when they donated a valuable Chilkat robe to SHI. The Jacobsens purchased the robe in 1995 and donated it to Sealaska Heritage at the urging of their teenage daughter, Sara (opposite), who saw a similar robe in an art book and realized the significance of Chilkat robes to Northwest Coast tribes. After a week of “relentless” pressure from Sara, the Jacobsens gave the robe to SHI because Collections the institute has a robust program to revitalize ancient art practices and weavers would be able to study it.

Top: The Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian people, who consider the robe to be sacred, welcomed it home in an emotional ceremony in 2017; Right: Sara Jacobsen, who persuaded her parents to donate the robe, with her sister, Anna (left); Above: the robe is now available for study at Sealaska Heritage Institute. Master Haida weaver Delores Churchill and weaver Kay Field Parker examined it and noted the presence of expertly formed circles, very difficult to do in weaving, and both mountain goat wool and commercial yarn. 50 // 2017 annual report 51 Research

SHI sponsors lectures as a public service and to encourage study of Indigenous cultures and to promote cross-cultural understanding.

Left: In 2017, Dr. Steve Langdon gave a lecture on the prominent Jilkáat Tlingit leader Kaal.axch titled Kaal.axch’s Endeavors: A Preeminent Jilkáat Tlingit Leader and the Coming of the Americans.

Below: Independent historian John Cloud gave a lecture on the partnerships between scientists and Alaska Natives that emerged in an effort to map Alaska after the United States acquired the state through the Treaty of Cession in 1867. Sealaska Heritage Institute participated in a study of the DNA in ancient skeletal remains, and a paper, 10,000 Years of Genetic Continuity, released in 2017 found evidence that the indigenous groups living today in southern Alaska and the western coast of British Columbia are descendants of the first humans to make their home in northwest North America more than 10,000 years ago. The studies were based on 10,000-year-old remains of a young Native man found in 1996 on Prince of Wales Island in Southeast Alaska, two other archaeological finds, and DNA studies in British Columbia..

“Our analysis suggests that this is the same population living in this part of the world over time, so we have genetic continuity from 10,000 years ago to the present,” said University of Illinois anthropology professor Ripan Malhi, who led the study with University of Chicago Postdoctoral Researcher John Lindo; Penn State University Biology Professor Michael DeGiorgio; Sealaska Heritage Institute President Rosita Worl; and University of Oklahoma Anthropology Professor Brian Kemp.

The findings, reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, also suggest that these early American peoples had a complex population history, the researchers reported.

“We supported DNA testing because we believed science ultimately would agree with what our oral traditions have always said — that we have lived in Southeast Alaska since time immemorial,” said Worl, who also is an anthropologist. “The initial analysis showed the young man was Native, and now further studies are showing that our ancestral lineage stems from the first peopling of the region.

“Science is corroborating our oral histories.”

52 // 2017 annual report 53 SHI CULTURAL AMBASSADOR MISS ALASKA USA 2017!

ADVOCACY PROGRAM

Executive staff monitors and advocates on public policy issues and funding at the federal, state, and city government level. Staff advocates on matters related to education, arts, and culture programs. In 2017, SHI advocated to:

Arts • Establish the arts as an arts industry under state policy • Require the State of Alaska to use Alaskan artists for its Percent for Art in Public Places program • Amend federal and state legislation to include arts and As part of SHI’s advocacy program, the institute named Miss Alaska USA 2017 Alyssa London a SHI cultural ambassador to promote cross- crafts as eligible for voc-tech training programs cultural understanding. London was the first Tlingit to hold the title • Establish Juneau as the Northwest Coast Arts Capital and and at the Miss USA competition, she wowed the audience with a designate NWC arts as a national treasure Tlingit-style gown designed by Joey Galon with a killerwhale design by • Amend the Migratory Bird Treaty Act regulations to Preston Singletary—and she introduced herself in Tlingit to a worldwide authorize sale of arts with migratory bird feathers audience! She made the top ten and made Alaska very proud. The Miss • Stop a national ban on all ivory sales and oppose website USA competition was Alaska’s most-streamed event in 2017. bans of ivory/seal/sea otter sales • Assist with Elizabeth Peratrovich coin and celebration 54 // 2017 annual report 55 SHI is advocating for a tax credit for collectors who return sacred objects to tribes, as the Jacobsen family of Seattle did in 2017 (see page 50).

Culture • Establish a tax credit for collectors who return sacred objects to tribes • Protect subsistence harvests • Protect cultural objects and prohibit export of sacred objects • Promote Native cultures through SHI Cultural Ambassador Alyssa London, Miss Alaska USA 2017

Education • Promote HCR 19, which urges Governor Bill Walker to issue an administrative order declaring a linguistic emergency • Support the extension of the Alaska Education Tax Credit Program • Raise funds through the State of Alaska to build a Native art campus • Raise funds for education through the State of Alaska capital budget • Support the Higher Education Act Reauthorization Alternative Teacher Training Certification to allow Native people in small communities to work remotely to earn teaching degrees • Address naming issue with Juneau high schools’ mascot

SHI advocates on behalf of Native people to secure funding to teach skin- Funding sewing classes, expand markets for fur products, and to protect artists • Increase federal funding for Native arts, education, and language programming from e-tailers who in the past have banned certain fur products through • Protect SHI’s tax exemption status with the City and Borough of Juneau misapplications of federal law. A large national e-tailer banned sea otter • Support funding for the National Endowment for the Arts, the National products because the company’s management mistakenly believed otter Endowment for the Humanities, and Institute of Museum and Library Services populations were endangered in Southeast Alaska.

56 // 2017 annual report 57 COMMUNITIES SERVED IN 2017 COMMUNITIES SERVED

Sealaska Heritage is based in Juneau and offers programming regionwide. The following is a sampling of some of SHI’s 2017 programs by community:

Baby Raven Reads Yakutat In 2017, SHI secured funding to expand its award-winning Baby Raven Reads early literacy program to nine additional Klukwan Skagway communities, including Angoon, Craig, Hoonah, Klawock, 10 COMMUNITIES Petersburg, Saxman, Sitka, Wrangell, and Yakutat. SERVED

Opening the Box: Math and Culture Academy In 2017, SHI offered its math academy to students from 5 COMMUNITIES Juneau Hydaburg, Klawock, Angoon, Hoonah, and Juneau. SERVED Haa Shuká Community Language Learning Project Hoonah In 2017, SHI expanded its mentor-apprentice Tlingit language Angoon program to include languages of the Haida and Tsimshian and funded language teams in Metlakatla, Hydaburg, Sitka, 4 COMMUNITIES and Juneau. SERVED Kake Sitka Petersburg Thru the Cultural Lens: Cultural Orientations for Educators In 2017, SHI held its first culturally-responsive education Wrangell conference for educators regionwide. SHI funded travel for educators from partner schools in Hydaburg, Klawock, 5 COMMUNITIES Klawock Angoon, and Hoonah. SERVED Craig Passages In 2017, SHI gave training on the cultures of Alaska and Metlakatla Hydaburg the sociopolitical context in which Native children are raised and socialized to school superintendents in partnership with SERRC: Alaska’s Educational Resource Center. Through the project, SHI gave cultural orientations to superintendents from Kake, Craig, Hoonah, Kodiak, Skagway, Sitka, Wrangell, and Klawock. SHI also developed two language apps: Tlingit 8 COMMUNITIES Language Games and Learning Tlingit. SERVED

58 // 2017 annual report 59 COMMUNITIES SERVED IN 2017 COMMUNITIES SERVED

Jinéit Art Academy In 2017, SHI offered Northwest Coast art workshops to youth in Craig, Sitka, Angoon, and Juneau. Through the program, SHI also sponsored a mentor-apprenticeship program on how to harvest and prepare spruce roots Yakutat taught by Janice Criswell and Mary Lou King. Later, master weaver Delores Churchill taught students how to weave with Klukwan Skagway spruce roots. The mentor-apprentice team was comprised of students from Yakutat, Sitka, Ketchikan, Hoonah, Craig, 8 COMMUNITIES Sitka, Angoon, and Juneau. SERVED

Model Canoes: Mentor-Apprentice Program Juneau In 2017, SHI sponsored workshops on how to make models of the traditional canoes known as dugouts. The workshops were taught by artist Steve Brown and offered in Kake and 2 COMMUNITIES Hoonah Klawock to twelve apprentices. SERVED Angoon Haa Latseen In 2017, SHI sponsored Northwest Coast art workshops to Kake Sitka more than 50 residents of Lemon Creek Correctional Center 1 COMMUNITY Petersburg and other art students in Juneau. SERVED

Any Given Child Wrangell In 2017, SHI offered art excursions through the national program Any Given Child to more than 350 school children 1 COMMUNITY Klawock to promote cross-cultural understanding. SERVED Craig Artist-in-Residence Program In 2017, SHI hosted four artists at its building in Juneau as Metlakatla 1 COMMUNITY Hydaburg part of its artist-in-residence program. SERVED

Latseen Leadership Academy In 2017, SHI sponsored its annual Latseen Leadership 1 COMMUNITY Academy in Angoon. SERVED

60 // 2017 annual report 61 DONORS

Sealaska Heritage Institute is a nonprofit organization and relies on public funds and private donations to provide programs for the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian and the general public. For nearly 40 years, Sealaska Heritage has been committed to accountability and transparency while stewarding Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian cultures and serving as a catalyst for our future. We follow best practices in governance, donor relations, and programming activities to fulfill our mission. The institute is a 501(c)(3) organization and all contributions are tax deductible. SHI gratefully acknowledges our 2017 donors:

$1,500,000–$3,500,000 • Sealaska • U.S. Department of Education

$100,000–$300,000 • Administration for Native Americans • National Park Service

$25,000–$60,000 • Bering Straits Native Corporation Institute of Museum and Library Services

$10,000–$25,000 • Alaska State Council on the Arts • Museums Alaska • Benjamin Schleifman • Robert Davidson • David A. Boxley • Spirit Wrestler Gallery

$5,000–$9,999 Thunderbird Mask by Ray • Alaska State Museum • Native Voices Rising Watkins, donated by the • Duane Pasco • Phyllis Fast artist. Tináa Art Auction. • Louise Kadinger & Crystal Worl • Preston Singletary

62 // 2017 annual report 63 $2,500–$4,999 $250–$499 • Boyer Towing, Inc. • Jerrod Galanin • Alaskan Brewery Co. • Kari Metz-Jabalde • Carolyn Kleefeld • Juneau Arts and Humanities Council • Alison Marks • Kathryn Scribner • City and Borough of Juneau • Nathan Jackson • Art Torres • Kaylin Anderson • Delores Churchill • Ray Watkins • Breeze Inn • Kinsie Young • Janine Gibbons • Christopher Smith • Marlene Johnson • Elgee Rehfeld Mertz, LLC • MEBS Global Reach • Kaawu Oyster Co. • Pint Size Productions, LLC $1,000–$2,499 • Kari Groven • Shgen George • Alaska Permanent Capital Management • Mark Kiessling • Andrew Tripp • Miss Scarlett’s Flowers • Chuck Smythe • Pack Rat Antiques Up to $249 • Da-ka-xeen Mehner • Richard Peterson • 2 Friends Galleries • Barbara Denney • Dawson Construction, LLC • Ronnie Fairbanks • Aaliyah Starr • Barbara Pastorino • Ed Davis • Rosita Worl • Aaron Johnmeyer-Wright • Benjamin Mallott • Edward K. Thomas • Sonya Kelliher-Combs • Agnes Borden • Benjamin Nathan • Ken Skaflestad • Tlingit Haida Regional Housing • Albert Frank, III • Benjamin Schultz • Lani Hotch Authority • Almadalia Castaneda-Felipe • Beth Ketah • Lee Kadinger • Alyssa London • Beverly Kerr • Amelia Gage • Blake Rowan • Amy Poulos • Bobbie Meszaros $500–$999 • Andrea Trzaskos • Bohnert Conway • Alaska Litho, Inc. • Michael Hall • Andrew Peters • Bonar & Bessie Cooley • Amalga Distillery • Michaela Goade • Angela Moran • Bonnie Edmondson • American Seafoods Company • Nancy Barnes • Anita Brown • Bradley Fluetsch • Anthony Mallott • Nicholas Galanin • Ann Riordan • Brendan Dunne • Brandon Selenak • Paul Johnson • Anna Waller • Brian Ackerman • Chloe French • Perkins Coie • Anonymous • Brian Hughes, Jr. • Corinne Parker • Rachael Demarce • Antone Araujo • Bruce Jones • Council of Alaska Producers • Renee St. Onge • April Heesacker • Bruce Williams • Debbie Frank-McLavey • Richard Poor • Arlene Flores • Byron Charles • Donald Gregory • Rico Worl • Arlene Henry • Byron Mallott • Jeane Breinig • Robert Moore • Audrey Fields • C&C Steamway Services, Inc. • Jennifer Younger • Salon Cedar • Aurele Legere • Callen Richert • John Dexter • Steinbrueck Gallery • Aurelia Castaneda-Felipe • Candace Turi • Kathy Dye & Brad Fluetsch • Steve Langdon • Barbara Bird • Cara Gilbert • Lois Chichinoff Thadei • Teresa Schimanski • Barbara Cadiente & Norval Nelson • Carl Backford • Marcus Gho • Timko Int’l Co. • Barbara Churchill • Carla Knapp • Maria Williams

64 // 2017 annual report 65 • Carlene Newman • Claude Cowart, Jr. • Diane Kytta • Florence Reynolds • Carmaleeda Estrada • Claudette Curtis • Diane Miller • Floyd Fulmer • Carmelita Walter • Claudia Gregory • Diane Smith • Frances Rader • Carmen Katasse • Connie Beemer • Dianna Novela • Francis Ihnat • Carol Borchers • Connie Dunn • Dolores Garza • Francisco Gloria • Carol Dixon • Connie Lambert • Donald Kasbohm • Frank Katasse • Carrie Sykes • Consuelo & Bill Parham • Donna Cordova • Frank Watson • Carter Jacobsen • Corrine Garza • Donna Drake • Fred James • Catherine Bremner • Craig Weisner • Donna Knight • Fredrick Gardner • Cathleen Nevers • Curtis Diama • Dora Jacobson • Gary Faber • Ceasar Fernandez • Curtis McQueen • Dorothy Willard • Genevieve Johnson • Cecelia Jenkins • Cynthia Kito • Douglas Peratrovich • Genevieve Schmidt • Charlene Robertson • Darrel Verney • Edward Barker, Jr. • George Esquiro, Sr. • Charles Cook • David Barden • Edward Hess • George Jim, Jr. • Charles Gordon • David Grant • Edward Kalkins, III • George Walters • Charles James, Jr. • David Howard • Edward Sarabia, Jr. • Georgiana Gauthier • Charles Lindoff • David Leask • Edward Thomas • Gerald Dronen • Charles Martin • David Russell Jensen • Eileen Magnuson • Gerald Slover, Jr. • Charles Spall • David Stallings • Einar Haaseth • Gilbert Bradley • Cheri Moy • Davina Cole • Elaine Frank • Glenn Hamar • Cheryl Klein • Dawn Norton • Eleanor Dailey • Gloria Ehler • Chris Meserve • Dawn Young • Elizabeth Cook • Gordon Greenwald • Chris Smith • Deandre Howard-King, Jr • Elizabeth Galler • Grady Wright • Christina Morrison • Deborah Cleland • Ellen Greig • Harley Finney • Christina Sherman • Deborah Leaks • Emily Beiniek • Heather Hintze • Christine & Charles Horan • Deborah McLavey • Erwin Anselm • Heleena Collins • Christine White • Deborah Stewart • Esteban Demmert • Helen Desjardin • Christopher Azizeh • Debra Bolanos • Estra Weaver • Henry Beasley, Jr. • Christopher Cropley • Debra McLaughlin • Ethel Lund • Hilary Martin • Christopher Sargent • Debra Murray • Eva Bradley • Inga Hanlon • Cindi Larson • Delores Flygare • Faith Golden • Irene Koch • Cindy Preter • Dennis Randolph • Faith Guthert • Irene Lampe • Cindy Thomas • Derek Duncan • Faleene Worrell • Irene Shea • Clara Garcia • Derik Frederiksen • Felipe Delcampo • Irene Skyriver • Clara Harris • Diana Kodad • Florence Moore • Irma Hutchinson

66 // 2017 annual report 67 • Irving Wright • John Epan, Jr. • Katherine Capozzi • LaVina Vansickle • Jack Olsen • John Gillen • Katherine Hardy • Lawrence Gamble • Jacqueline Kookesh • John Gubatayao • Kathleen Lea • Lawrence Jorgensen • Jade Araujo • John Norris • Kathleen McClurken • Leah Janisieski • Jaeleen Kookesh • John Novela • Kathleen Miller • Lee Breinig • James Bremner • John Pennell • Kathleen Powell • Lee Wallace • James Duncan • John Phipps • Kathleen Shea • Leiani Eiford • James Sund • John Tonemah • Kathleen Warden • Leilani Halvorsen • Jania Garcia • Joia Ingram • Kathryn Hoyt • Leroy Demmert • Janice Heaton Sheufelt • Jon Duncan • Keely Linn • Lewis Zastrow • Janice Shafer • Jona Ferguson • Keith Howard • Lillian Worl • Jasmine James • Jonathan Yates • Kellie Goodwin • Lincoln Landers • Jason Brune • Jose Luis Castaneda-Garcia • Kelly Greene • Linda Wynne • Jason Kito • Joseph Emery • Kenneth Cameron • Lindsay Carron • Jean Adams • Joseph London • Kenneth Lewis, Jr. • Lisa Bauschelt • Jean Vavalis • Joseph Mallott • Kenneth Southerland • Lisa George • Jeanetta Weedman • Joseph Orazio • Kerri Thomas • Lisa Grogan • Jeanne Berretta • Joseph Roberts • Kevin Lambert • Lois Deyo • Jeanne Maughan • Joseph Ross • Kevin Starnes • Lois Thadei • Jeffrey Davis • Josephine Rubio • Kimberly King • Lorene Taylor • Jeffrey Furlow • Joshua Steele • Kimberly Macloud • Lorenzo Cox • Jennifer Dailey • Joyce Freiberg • Kimberly Shurtleff • Loretta Ness • Jennifer Treadway • Joyce Troyer • Kimi Boal • Lori Stedman • Jerome Duruz, Jr. • Judith Andrist • Kingston Wilson • Lorie Pruett • Jesse Caster-Eldridge • Judith Mason • Kristina Garrity • Lorin Booth • Jessie Morgan • Judith Ramos • Kristina Loy • Lorraine Doucette • Jill Meserve • Julie Charlton • Kristine Ginger • Lou Hillman • Jilliene Bolker • Julie Smith • Kurtis Stuckey • Louise Clark • Joanne Triggs • June May • Lance Doake • Louise Kadinger • Jody Brouillette • Kanaan Bausler • Larry Davis • Lucinda Leask • Joella Blomstrom • Karen Giroux • Larry Gordon • Lydia Henry • Johan Dybdahl • Karen Kiener • Larry Sanders • Lyric Swain • Johanna Alimorong • Karin Skone • Laura Grabhorn • Madeline Brainard • Johanna Mitchell • Karla Olsen Smith • Laura Watson • Marelda Abney • John Bird • Karyn Douglas • Laurie Miller • Margaret Bueing

68 // 2017 annual report 69 • Margaret Cerafici • Milton DeAsis • Rebecca & Mitchell Brooks • Rosalie Perkins • Margaret Richard • Mindi Miller • Rebecca Brandt • Roselee Sam • Marianna Bethel • Miranda Belarde Lewis • Rebecca Brooks • Roxanne Peele • Marigold Lindoff • Miranda Worl • Regina Clemons • Ruth Maslowski • Marilyn Arrington • Misty Mounts • Regina Tordillos Stone • Sally Kookesh • Marilyn Wyckoff • Mitchell Brooks • Renee Ivester • Sally Smith • Marjorie Peterson • Mitchell Glover • Rhonda Shumway-Luna • Sam Kito, Jr, • Mark Kaeding • MK Macnaughton & Susan Haymes • Ricardo Worl • Sandra Holmes • Marlene Cesar • Morgan Howard • Ricardo Worl, Jr. • Sandra Kuhnau • Marsha Murphy • Myla Odom • Ricardo Worl, Sr. • Sandra Samaniego • Martin Environmental • Myrna Torgramsen • Richard Kilmer • Sasha Korthuis • Martin Perez, Jr. • Myron Martin • Richard Marvin • Savannah Starr • Marx Sterne • Nikander Shane, Sr. • Richard Potolicchio • Serena Alsup Hart • Mary Hammer • Nobu Koch • Richard Rose • Shannon Fluetsch • Mary Jones • Ole Taug • Richard Vanderbeke • Shannon Partin • Mary Ratliff • Olga Simpson • Richard Wilkin, III • Shannon Winterton • Mary Richey • Olivia Jaspers • Rita Gage • Sharon Adkisson • Mary Russell • Patricia Alexander • Rob Hoyt • Sharon Jacobsen • Matthew Castillo • Patricia Mackey • Robert & Virginia Martin • Sharon Knopp • Matthew Martin • Patricia Parris • Robert Crane • Sharon Zurfluh • Mavis Shaw • Patricia Richey • Robert Fenn • Shauna Briggs • Maxine Moore • Patrick Anderson • Robert Hardin • Shawn Eby • Maxine Richert • Patrick Hamilton • Robert Kerstetter • Shea Jackson • Maya Araujo • Patrick Kadas • Robert Maynard • Sheila Fluetsch • Melanie Greer • Patrick Marvin • Robert Sivertsen • Sherrie Hymer • Melanie Reeder • Paul Smith • Robert Walters • Shirley Bailey • Meredith Hunt • Peggy Ackerman-Sedivy • Robert Wild • Shirley Connelly • Meribeth Traynor • Penney Elzey • Roberta Cantrell • Shirley Mulvihill • Michael Douglas • Penny Gage • Roberta Gulledge • Sidney Edenshaw • Michael Hoyt • Peter Schaeffer • Roberta Wilcox • Sierra Wilson • Michael Kinville • Philip Taylor • Robin Gage • Silje Haven Marr • Michael Miller • Ptarmica Garnick • Robin Gallagher • Skylar Taug • Michele Metz • Rainbow Heritage Foundation • Roderick Farquhar • Stephan Flores • Michelle Demmert • Ray Murray, Jr. • Ronald Angus • Stephanie Frank • Mildred Thompson • Raymond Thiemeyer, Jr. • Ronald Williams • Stephanie Walkup-Birkhead

70 // 2017 annual report 71 • Stephen Henrikson • Thomas Yester • Steven Kuchinski • Tiara Light • Steven Stivers • Timothy Van Horn • Stuart Jaspers • Tj Cramer • Susan Anderson • Todd Antioquia • Susan Andrianoff • Valentin Cox • Susan Love • Vaughn Storm • Sylvia Dalton • Velvet Hix • Symsi Manuel • Verdi Brogdon • Tamara Buoy • Victoria Canul-Dunne • Tamera Chavarria • Vincent Jameson • Tammie Hanson • Violet Fisher • Teahonna James • Virginia Kuhlman Sealaska President and CEO Anthony • Teresa Bollinger • Vivian Mork Mallott addressing attendees of SHI’s • Teresa Mally • Voshte Demmert-Gustafson 2017 education conference. Sealaska is a major funder of SHI. • Teresa Timo • Wallace Marvin • Terese Bingisser • Wayne Jackson • Terri Perkins • Wendy Glidmann • Terry Gesulga • Western Auto Marine • Terry Hosford • William Seward FINANCIALS • Theodora Castillo • William Wilson, Jr. • Theodore Demmert • Wilma Fergestrom • Theresa Smeltzer • Zina Ballard Sealaska Heritage is a regional Native nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation and relies on public funds and private donations to provide programs for the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian, and the public.

In 2017, Sealaska donated $1,553,914 in cash and in- kind services to SHI. The institute leveraged this and raised an additional $5,911,920. In total, SHI generated $7.5 $7,465,832 in 2017. The donations and grants funded million SHI programs, which served a total of 31,300 people. TOTAL AMOUNT RAISED IN 2017 SHI provided work to nearly 300 people, including 37 employees, 72 contractors, and 178 artists. Eighty percent of them were Sealaska shareholders or spouses.

72 // 2017 annual report 73 Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2017 (Summary Financial Statement—compiled from audited report)

2017

Unrestricted Temporarily Permanently restricted restricted Total Revenues and Support Contributions and Grants 4,528,461 2,045,138 - 6,573,599 Sales, Dues and Fees 404,869 - - 404,869 Total Investment Income/(Loss) 5,331 12,499 - 17,830 Net Assets Released from Restrictions 2,055,120 (2,055,120) - - Total Revenues and Support and Net Assets Released from Restrictions 6,993,781 2,517 - 6,996,298

Expenses Program Services 4,928,098 - - 4,928,098 Support Services - Management and General 1,275,480 - - 1,275,480 Resource Development 123,826 - - 123,826 Total Expenses 6,327,404 - - 6,327,404

Change in Net Assets 666,377 2,517 668,894

Net Assets, Beginning of Year 23,764,172 1,955,738 191,000 25,910,910

Net Assets, End of Year 24,430,549 1,958,255 191,000 26,579,804

74 // 2017 annual report 75 Left: Council of Traditional Scholars. BOARDS & COMMITTEES Below: Native Artist Committee member Delores Churchill with artists TJ Young and Stephen Jackson. Board of Trustees Council of Traditional Scholars • Marlene Johnson, Chair • Ken Grant, Chair • Albert Kookesh, Vice-Chair • Ruth Demmert • Joe Nelson (ex officio) • Joe Hotch • Jeane Breinig • David Katzeek • Barbara Cadiente-Nelson • Paul Marks • Shgen George • Ted Valle • Nathan McCowan • Joe Zuboff • Mike Miller • Lee Wallace • Maria Williams Southeast Regional Language Committee • X’unei Lance Twitchell • Ruth Demmert Native Artist Committee • Gavin Hudson • Steve Brown • Benjamin Young • Delores Churchill • Nicholas Galanin • Nathan Jackson Development Committee • Da-ka-xeen Mehner • Nathan McCowan, Chair • Marlene Johnson (ex-officio) • Jeane Breinig • Barbara Cadiente-Nelson • Maria Williams

Board of Trustees. From left: Lee Wallace; Maria Williams; Barbara Cadiente-Nelson; Nathan McCowan; Marlene Johnson, Chair; Jeane Breinig; Joe Nelson (ex officio); Mike Miller; Shgen George; and Albert Kookesh, Vice Chair (not pictured).

76 // 2017 annual report 77 STAFF

• Dr. Rosita Kaaháni Worl, Ph.D., • Tammie Hanson, Retail Manager President • Katrina Hotch, Education Program • Kaylin Anderson, Human Resources Manager and Administrative Director • Tamara Ikenberg, Grant Writer • Mason Auger, Research Associate • Lee Kadinger, Chief of Operations • Nancy Barnes, Education Project • Nobu Koch, Publications Specialist Coordinator • Jackie Kookesh, Education Director, • Phyllis Carlson, Deputy Education outgoing Director • Heather McClain, Research Specialist • Rachael Carlson, Education • Tammy Meachem, Assistant Retail Store Administrative Assistant Manager • Davina Cole, Arts Assistant • Jill Meserve, Language Project • Ralphenia Dybdahl, Executive Assistant Coordinator • Kathy Dye, Media Specialist • Bobbie Meszaros, Development Officer • Carmaleeda Estrada, Operations Officer • Natasha Phillips, Lead Retail Sales • Amy Fletcher, Media and Publications Associate Director • Kathy Powell, Receptionist • William Geiger, Research Specialist • Mary Richey Sell, Art Program Manager • Tess Giant, Early Education Specialist • Kevin Shipley, Education Director • Donald Gregory, Facilities and Special • Chuck Smythe, Ph.D., History and Projects Coordinator Culture Director • Kari Groven, Art Director • Jennifer Treadway, Archivist

Some of SHI’s staff on Halloween, 2017. The themes were “Spice Girls” and “NSYNC” or “in-sink,” as in stuff you would find in a sink (including a plug, front row, metalic costume).

78 // 2017 annual report 79 THOSE WHO HAVE GONE BEFORE US

On September 25, 2017, the world lost a giant. Nora Keixwnéi Dauenhauer, Lukaax.ádi and beloved Tlingit author, poet, and scholar, passed away at the age of 90.

Nora, with her late husband Richard Dauenhauer, made significant contributions in preserving Tlingit oral traditions through their award-winning Tlingit Oral Literature Series. Nora’s first language was Tlingit, and she didn’t speak English until she was 8. As a fluent Tlingit speaker, she was instrumental in developing the Tlingit orthography and language books that students use today.

Nora and Dick worked in a field that often required many years of documenting, transcribing, and translating to produce a single finished work, and yet they were prolific. Their Tlingit Oral Literature Series published through Sealaska Heritage included Haa Shuka, Our Ancestors: Tlingit Oral Narratives; Haa Tuwunáagu Yís, for Healing Our Spirit; Haa Kusteeyí, Our Culture: Tlingit Life Stories; and Anóoshi Lingít Aaní Ká: Russians in Tlingit America, The Battles of Sitka 1802 and 1804, the latter co-edited with the late Lydia Black. At the time of their death, they were close to finalizing the series’ fifth book on Raven stories.

Their scholarship was remarkable. Both Haa Tuwunáagu Yís, for Healing Our Spirit and Anóoshi Lingít Aaní Ká: Russians in Tlingit America, The Battles of Sitka 1802 and 1804, won the prestigious American Book Award.

80 // 2017 annual report 81 Their scholarship also extended to language revitalization. Not long ago, people worried the Tlingit language was dying because only elderly people spoke it. In recent years, a small group of young Tlingit language students emerged and some are now teaching the language in schools. That is in no small part due to Nora and Dick, as they produced the landmark Tlingit language books that are in use today. Their language books published through Sealaska Heritage included Beginning Tlingit; Lingít X’éináx Sá! Say it in Tlingit—A Tlingit Phrase Book; Sneaky Sounds—A Non Threatening Introduction to Tlingit Sounds and Spelling; and Tlingit Spelling Book—Aan Aduspelled X’úx’.

Their work paved the way for later important works, such as Dictionary of Tlingit; Beginning Tlingit Workbook; and Lingít X’éináx Áx! Hear it in Tlingit—A Tlingit Mini Phrasebook and CD.

Nora won other accolades for her life’s work. In 2012, the Governor of Alaska named her Writer Laureate, making Nora and Richard, who earned the title in the 1980s, the only married couple in the country to both hold the award.

Nora also gave the gift of mentorship to so many young Tlingit language and history students.

“She really got people to examine the beauty of Tlingit,” University of Alaska Southeast Native language professor Lance Twitchell told the Juneau Empire. “She’s built the foundation (of Tlingit literature) … She was an incredible poet. She was an incredible intellectual.”

Gunalchéesh Nora for a life well lived. You and your life’s work have meant the world to us. As you cherished us, we cherished Richard and Nora Keixwnéi Dauenhauer, 2012. you. We will miss you terribly, but we are grateful for the work you did on this Earth.

82 // 2017 annual report 83 Miss Alaska USA 2017 Alyssa London and SHI Cultural Ambassador competing at Miss USA 2017. Photo taken moments after she threw off a killerwhale-design robe to reveal her gown.

84 // 2017 annual report