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Southeast Region: Native American Perspective and the Classroom Experience by Ted A. Wright : by Ted A. Wright, Southeast Alaska Tribal College When I am asked to represent the Native view on one or another issue, I usually say something like, "It really isn't fair for me to try and speak for Indians, indigenous or Native peoples. Just like it wouldn't be fair for me to ask you to speak for all Caucasian, Euro-American, middle-class men from the Northwest." I typically add that I can speak about Native peoples, insofar as I have studied my own and others. But even then, the information I provide is generalized from a variety of sources and interpretation of information, especially when it has to do with Native tribes, is a risky business. So, the question becomes, to what extent can I represent Indian peoples and how do I approach the issue in practice, as a teacher? Well, for one thing, I have studied Native groups other than my own. It would be impossible to teach and learn in a Native American Studies program or a tribal college if we were confined only to talking about our own tribe, clan or community. But the issue here is one of perspective, not knowledge. It is possible to have access to and familiarity with a vast store of information about Native peoples and indigenous life ways, but to speak from a group's perspective a person pretty much has to be a part of that group. And even then, each group has different and competing voices. For example, among my people I am considered mixed-blood and somewhat non-traditional, depending on whom you ask. I might also be labeled as over-educated, elite, middle-class-one who has been away to school and come back home. Also, I am a northern Kogwaantan (wolf clan), transplanted by virtue of my grandmother's journey to the middle of Tlingit country-Sitka. Well, you get the picture. Now we are talking issues of identity and group affiliation. And in the era of self-determination and casino gaming, these are muddy waters in which to wade. It would be impossible to teach and learn in a Native American Studies program or a tribal college if we were confined only to talking about our own tribe, clan or community. So let's simplify what is decidedly a complex issue. There is tremendous diversity among Native American peoples, certainly more so than within the general American population. The reason for this is that American Indian and Alaska Native peoples, through their cultural, political and social institutions, tend to reject the notion that we should melt into the all-consuming culture that is America in the 20th and 21st centuries. Does that mean we don't wear Levi's or drive sport utility vehicles? Or that pizza doesn't taste good and we don't watch baseball? Hardly. It just means that we try harder than most to maintain an intact culture, one that is distinct from the American way. We sing our songs, dance our dances and eat our foods. We want to remember our own histories, practice our own brand of spirituality. We want to be Native in a society that tries to dominate and assimilate. But it isn't necessarily true that Indian people understand how different we all are, one tribe to the next, even considering our similarities. . . . Alaska Native peoples, through their cultural, political and social institutions, tend to reject the notion that we should melt into the all-consuming culture that is America in the 20th and 21st centuries. . . . We sing our songs, dance our dances and eat our foods. We want to remember our own histories, practice our own brand of spirituality. I was reminded of this again a while back when I read an article about a presentation on tribal sovereignty by a Lac Courte d'Oreilles tribal councilmen published on the American Indian Policy Center website. The Councilmen said: We are seen as different and we are different. American Indians have a special legal relationship with the United States government . . . The way of life for Native Americans is different. Tribes have worked to maintain their sovereignty because American Indians want to maintain their traditional ways . . . We're not a part of the melting pot. We are a proud people. Many people do not understand this, creating conflict and misunderstanding. There is a lack of accurate information about American Indians in mainstream educational institutions. Schools generally do not teach about traditional American Indian values and beliefs, or about the legal and historical basis of tribal sovereignty. Often times, questions that non-Indians ask about American Indians reflect cultural, legal and historical misunderstanding . . . We're continually asked by non-Native people "why don't you want to bring wealth and possession to your people?" and "Why do you continuously pursue and promote the treaties from so many years ago?" Questions of this sort reveal ignorance about the relationship between Indian tribes and the U.S. government, and differences in values. This ignorance could be reduced if more schools taught accurate information about American Indians. One of the reasons I read the article is because I noticed in the beginning that the speaker is from the Wolf clan of the Ojibwe people. I thought, hey, I'm from the Wolf clan of the Tlingit people. I also served on the tribal council for my people in the mid-80s. And I have had an abiding interest in the issue of sovereignty. So I felt like I had a lot in common with the Ojibwe councilmen, like he was my counterpart from a different tribe. Well, his statements are reasonable and he has obviously thought deeply about sovereignty and why he fights the battles he does. But after I read it a second time, I began to think about how much the speaker generalized and the wheels started to turn. On a napkin (I was at a restaurant) I began to list his statements that reflected a Native American perspective: We, American Indians, Native Americans, Tribes: _ are seen as different and we are different, _ have a special legal relationship with the United States government, _ want to maintain . . . traditional ways, _ are not part of the melting pot, _ are a proud people. As you have noticed, the speaker also discusses the fact that many of the misconceptions about Indians could be remedied if schools would provide students with accurate information. But this begs the question, "What is accurate information and who decides?" I agree with the Ojibwe speaker that we are seen as different, our tribes have a special relationship with the U.S. government; we want to maintain our traditional ways; we are not part of the melting pot in the sense that we are in the pot and striving not to melt and, of-course, we are proud to be who we are. But from my point of view, the truth about perspective lies in the details. Getting and using accurate information about tribal, Indian people is not simply a matter of sharing the most common set of facts, or providing a superficial description. To illustrate this point consider my own people, the Tlingit. How would I help apathetic, less eager students learn about my people's politics, history, language, culture and more to the point, their perspective? After all, there are about twenty sub-regional and community groupings within our extant panhandle territory and dozens of related and unrelated clan and clan house affiliations within each of those sub-regions. Even to begin to talk about larger issues of Tlingit tribal history, politics, law, spirituality and language, the basic cultural family and clan connections must be covered. And yet, when Tlingit people themselves get up in front of a group and say the Tlingit this and the Tlingit that, they sometimes forget they are only talking for the Wolf people of the Salmon Stream Tribe of the farthest north Tlingit people, for example. There are a few Elders that do not forget this, but they are seldom invited to speak at the kinds of gatherings where people talk about Tlingit people as a generic sub-set of Alaska Natives inhabiting the Southeast panhandle. . . . make certain your students aren't afraid to ask direct questions about comments that over-generalize and categorize issues and people. Your students will be better for it and it is possible that the speakers will be better for it as well. So, what's a teacher to do? When I first started in education, nobody had a clue. Nowadays we understand that sticky issues of Native or indigenous perspective are actually opportunities for students to take on a subject in-depth. So don't be afraid to bring people like me into your classrooms. But do make certain your students aren't afraid to ask direct questions about comments that over-generalize and categorize issues and people. Your students will be better for it and it is possible that the speakers will be better for it as well. I am inviting teachers I work with to use materials developed through the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative-in cooperation with the Southeast Alaska Tribal College and a number of school districts-to open an ongoing dialogue about S.E. Native peoples through an in-depth analysis of the places they live and the cultures they still maintain today.

Keyword(s): Volume 8, Issue 5

Southeast Region: SEANEA Update by Andy Hope : The Southeast Alaska Native Educators Association elected a new board of directors and officers in January. Here is the list of officers and board members for 2004: Officers Ted Wright, Chair I was born and raised in Sitka where I graduated from high school in ’74, and then went to college for several years in-between some years of work. I graduated from Southern Oregon State with a degree in education/English and another in educational administration from Penn State. I worked for the Sitka Tribe and then moved over to Mt. Edgecumbe High School as an English teacher and basketball coach. I worked for the Commissioner of Health and Social Services as a special assistant and then returned to Penn State to finish a Ph.D. in education theory and policy. Somewhere in there I got married, had a son, got divorced, had two dogs, saw some of the world, managed the Sitka Tribe, worked several years as a consultant in Juneau, Sitka and other places, taught at Southern Oregon University, ran the Sealaska Heritage Foundation, spent a year in Anchorage at UAA, did some other stuff, came back to Sitka and Juneau to develop a tribal college and now I am working on a regional Native charter school. I’m Eagle/Kaagwaantaan. My Grandmother is Jennie Wright (98 years young and still having a good old time at the Sitka Pioneer Home). There will be a test later. Happy trails. Roxanne Houston, Vice-Chair My name is Roxanne Houston and I am Tlingit and Iñupiaq. My Tlingit name is Wooshdei.dioo and I belong to the Kaagwaantaan Clan. I am the daughter of Roscoe and Vivian Max Jr. and granddaughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Paddock and Roscoe and Harriet Max, Sr. My husband, Dennis, and I will celebrate twenty years of marriage in the fall and between us we have five children: Joshua, Katrina, Jeremiah, Dennis, Jr. and Jacob. I received my Bachelors of Education in elementary education from the University of Alaska Southeast, in August of 1995. I applied and received a Hawkins Fellowship to attend the Pennsylvania State University in January of 1996. In December of 1996, I received my Masters of Education in educational administration. I am currently employed as a tribal recruitment coordinator for the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium. I serve as a council member for the Sitka Tribe of Alaska. I am honored and look forward to serving on the Southeast Alaska Native Educator’s Association board. Gunalcheesh! Rhonda Hickok, Secretary I was born in Anchorage, Alaska and grew up mostly in Glennallen and Valdez. My mother is from Holy Cross and my father was from Beaver. I am Athabascan, Iñupiat and Aleut. I am married and have three children: two boys in high school and a daughter in the third grade. My higher education began at UAA and I eventually earned my Bachelors of Education through the University of Alaska Southeast. Currently I am finishing up a Masters of Arts in cross-cultural studies through the University of Alaska Fairbanks. At present, I work for the University of Alaska Southeast, Center for Teacher Education as the director of the PITAS program. Prior to that I worked as a junior high teacher for the Copper River School District (going back home was fun!) and as a secondary social studies teacher for the Juneau School District. I also worked as the Indian Studies and Title VII ESL/LEP director for the Juneau School District. During my time at the Juneau School District I was a teacher in the Early Scholars Program, which is a joint program between the University of Alaska Southeast and the Juneau School District that aims at increasing the participation of Alaska Native students in higher education. I miss the classroom environment and hope to someday be back in the trenches of education. Laurie Cropley, Treasurer I am Tlingit, a daughter of Mabel Moy and Ike Cropley, T’akdeintaan, Raven. I am an advisor/counselor at Sheldon Jackson for Native students in Sitka employed under SJC’s Title III grant. I graduated from this infamous but historic 125-year-old college with a degree in human services. I currently produce KCAW-FM’s “Indigenous Radio”, serve on the associated alumni board of Sheldon Jackson, serve as secretary of Sitka ANB Camp #1 and serve on the presidential search committee for the Sheldon Jackson College president. (Please forward candidates names from Alaska for this permanent position.) Board Members At Large: Ronald E. Dick PhD My father is A-ni Tsalagi (Cherokee Western Band) and my mother is German. When we moved to Sitka, we enrolled the girls (Collauna and Chohla) in the Sitka Native Education Program where they grew up Tlingit. Vicki Bartels adopted me into the Eagle Moeity, Chookaneidi Clan. I have a B.A. in psychology and a Ph.D. in forest resources. I have been a college professor for over 25 years and I have been active in Southeast Alaska Native education for 19 years. My highest priority now is to help develop the Southeast Alaska Tribal College. Mary Jean Duncan I was born in Juneau and raised in Yakutat by Maggie Harry, my very wise, old grandmother whose Tlingit name was Neechx yaa nas.at of the Kwasshkakwaan Clan. I am from the Raven Clan and my moiety is (chaas) Humpy. My house is the half moon house (Dis Hit). I grew up in a Tlingit-speaking environment which I had to leave at the age of six. I could understand Tlingit as a little child, but it wasn’t long before my first language was forgotten in a new English-speaking environment. My grandmother taught me that it is very important in our Tlingit tradition to know one’s name, moiety, clan and protocol. She taught me that this is the way things are, this is the way it must be and gave me an understanding of what was right and wrong, of identity and place that has stayed with me like a seed that would grow when I was ready to find it. I am currently teaching fifth grade and the head teacher at Angoon Elementary. I have been teaching elementary for thirteen years. As an educator, what I find most satisfying in the classroom is that moment when my students comprehend a concept (the “Ah ha!” moment). In my teaching practice, I strive to find ways to “hook” my students, spark their natural curiosity and keep them interested in learning more. I am familiar with the Macintosh computers that my school is currently using. I integrate technology into my curriculum by using computer programs to rehearse word processing, create multimedia projects and student-directed research on the Internet. Students gain valuable computing skills through the integration of technology. I look forward to the many new techniques I can learn and bring home to students at Angoon Elementary and my colleagues at both the elementary, middle and high school. Andy Hope My Tlingit name is Xaastanch. I am a member of the Sik’nax.ádi clan of Shtax’héen Kwáan, X’aan Hít (Red Clay House). My father’s clan is Kiks.ádi X’aak· Hít (Point House) of Sheet’ka Kwáan. I was born and raised in Sitka and have lived in Juneau since 1988. I graduated from Juneau-Douglas High School in 1968 and received a Bachelors of Education from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1979. I am currently working on a Masters of Arts in cross-cultural studies. I have served as Southeast regional coordinator for the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative since December, 1995 and took on the Teacher Leadership Development coordinator position in September, 2003. I have served as chair of the Southeast Alaska Tribal College board of trustees since 1999. Rhoda Jensen My name is Rhoda Jensen from Yakutat, Alaska. My Tlingit name is Naat’see and I am Kaagwaantaan Wolf. I am the child of Iñupiaq Roscoe H. Max, Jr. of Pelican, Alaska. I am the grandchild of Lukaax.adi Joseph H. Paddock. I am very proud of being born and raised in Pelican, Alaska which is a community that my grandfather helped build (he was a piledriver) in the late 1930s. In 1991, I married Jonathan Jensen of Yakutat and we are the proud parents of Jocelyn, Cody and Jonathan, Jr. I have worked for the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe since 1999 as the JOM/education director and recently took over the tribal environmental planner position. I consider myself a strong advocate for education for all our Native peoples. I also consider myself a Tlingit language advocate and have continually looked for funding to rekindle our language for our children’s future. I currently am the ANB/ANS Camp #13 secretary and hold a seat on the Yakutat Indian Education committee. I look forward to serving on the Southeast Native Educator’s Association board (SEANEA). Gunalcheesh! Marie M. Olson I was born in Juneau, Alaska. I attended elementary BIA schools in Juneau and Douglas and Alaska High School at Wrangell, Alaska. I graduated from Garfield High School in Seattle, Washington. I have been married and divorced, with one daughter and three sons (one deceased, 2003). I attended Berkeley University in 1970 and 1971 on a Ford full scholarship and earned a BLA degree from UAS, cum laude. I have also completed 200 plus credits of continuing education courses. I have worked for Pacific Telephone Company in San Francisco and Communications Workers of America (executive board member of Local 9410, SF, CA). I managed overall operation of Alaska Native Arts and Crafts in Juneau, served as executive director of Southeast Community Action Program, Southeast Elder for AKRSI, board member of AKABE/ BMEEC and volunteer for HeadStart/Auke Bay Elementary School. I teach a graduate class on Cultural and Intellectual Property Rights for UAF; author a Tlingit Coloring Book and own Card Shark Cultural Consultant.

Keyword(s): Volume 9, Issue 2

Southeast Region: S’áxt’: Incorporating Native Values in a Place-Based Lesson Plan by Vivian Martindale : In many Native American communities, plants have medicinal, spiritual and cultural value. They aren’t just some green things that grow in the woods or in your front yard. According to Tlingit oral traditions, Raven created man from a leaf. At first Raven was going to create man from a rock, but then man would have lived forever and that wouldn’t have been right, so by using a leaf man could move faster and also man would die. This story illustrates the importance that plants have in the lives of the Tlingit people. One such plant, which is highly valued among the Tlingit people, is found predominantly in the temperate rain forests of Southeast Alaska. This plant is sacred to the Tlingit people. The Tlingits call it s’áxt’; science calls it Oplopanax horridum (Araliacea) and local residents call it devil’s club. The s’áxt’ is also related to the oriental ginseng and is sometimes called Alaska ginseng. According to Alaska’s Wilderness Medicines many different Native peoples in Alaska use this plant for a variety of reason: cold, flu, fever, stomach ailments, tuberculosis and poultices for wounds such as black eyes and burns. Modern pharmaceutical, naturopathic companies and other researchers are studying the plant for its commercial medicinal values. Their studies reveal that s’áxt’ may possibly have hypoglycemic capabilities because the plant contains a substance similar to insulin (Viereck 1987). Many Elders believe that the plant will also prevent cancer or help in healing many types of cancers. In Southeast Alaska, among the Tlingit people, the s’áxt’ plant was used by shamans and contains very powerful medicine and “when placed above doorways and on fishing boats it is said to ward off evil”(U.S. Forest Service). In the past, devil’s club was associated with shamanism. “Shamans may carry a power charm made with spruce twigs, devil’s club roots and their animal tongue, acquired during their quests. During the quest (a novice who feels called to shamanism quests for his power) a novice goes into the woods for one or several weeks, eating nothing but devil’s club” (Alaska Herbal Tea 2002). Devils’ club can be found in small or very large patches throughout the woods or beach areas. The plant likes wet, but filtered soil. S’áxt’ grows up to eight feet tall and the large maple-like leaves and stalks of the plant are stems are covered with stickers, similar to slivers of glass or wood that can easily get under the skin or through light clothing. Stickers from the plant can cause infection and pain if not removed immediately. The plant also contains blooms of berries in the summer. “These berries are not edible by humans but bears do eat them” (U.S. Forest Service). According to local harvesters “The roots and shoots of devil’s club are edible,” however, the stage for harvesting the plant is in the spring when the stalks first sprout new green growth. This is the best time to harvest the roots and new shoots, which can be ground into a powder and made into tea. Some Elder sources say that in late summer or fall you can harvest the bark from the stalks and the root-stalks. It is best to consult the local Elders rather than rely on conventional scientific documents or public agencies. Despite this, the U.S. Forest Service advises, “The leaf spines, though visible, are soft and pliable at this stage. Once they stiffen, however, the shoots should NOT be eaten.” The leaf clusters may be nibbled raw, or added to omelets, casseroles and soups like a spice. “One or two is enough to add a unique tang to a common meal” (U.S. Forest Service).” Hence the reason I have chosen the subject of s’áxt’ is so I may illustrate how educators can create a lesson plan that will enable the introduction of one or more of the Tlingit values, as outlined by Elder Dr. Walter Soboleff, into the curriculum. The Native values, according to region, can be found on the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Alaska Native Knowledge Network website located at www.ankn.uaf.edu. Dr. Soboleff lists these values: °ª Respect for self, others including Elders * Remember our Native traditions, families, sharing, loyalty, pride and loving children * Responsibility * Truth and wise use of words * Care of subsistence areas, care of property * Reverence: Haa Shageinyaa * Sense of Humility * Care of the Human Body * Dignity: Yan gaa duuneek * Peace with family, neighbors, others and nature As well, this lesson explores the concept of “naturalist intelligence” as outlined by Howard Gardner. By enhancing the student’s naturalist intelligence a curriculum such as this guides the students to the understanding of how their Native values work in everyday life. The naturalist intelligence “refers to the ability to recognize and classify plants, minerals and animals including rocks and grass and all variety of flora and fauna” (Checkley: 9). Author and educator Karen Roth examines this intelligence in her booklet The Naturalist Intelligence: An Introduction to Gardner’s Eighth Intelligence. Implementing the eighth intelligence into the classroom setting is accomplished by introducing students to the practicality of the natural world—one that they can relate to their own lives in their own regions. Many local Elders are rich with this intelligence, able to identify, classify and relate the plants to the spiritual and cultural workings of the Native communities. By utilizing this naturalist intelligence, Elders and educators can introduce the Native values into the classroom and community. Roth introduces educators to the various ways with which a classroom could implement this intelligence. In one method, Roth outlines a model based on four stages. This model, designed by David Lazear, is used to awaken the naturalists’ intelligence. “. . . he suggests the naturalist intelligence be triggered by immersing the student in the natural world of plants, animals, water, forests, etc., using the five senses” (Roth 1998). First, there is the “Awakening” stage, which is accomplished through immersion. The second stage is called “Amplify” and in this stage the intelligence is strengthened through practice, such as learning about where the plant grows and why. The third stage, “Teach,” is “using specific tools of this intelligence and applying them to help learn”; it is the stage when your objectives are achieved (17). “Transfer” is the fourth stage. This is when students apply the naturalist intelligence beyond the classroom. In other words, students will be thinking about how to view their Native values beyond what they have learned about the s’áxt’. By enhancing the student’s naturalist intelligence a curriculum such as this guides the students to the understanding of how their Native values work in everyday life. Through the study of the abundant and highly recognizable local plant, students will be able to recognize how the Tlingit values play out in their everyday lives. In A Yupiaq Worldview: A Pathway to Ecology and Spirit, Dr. Angayuqaq Oscar Kawagley points out how important it is for students to acquire knowledge from the experiences in the world around them. Kawagley contrasts this relation to the whole with the Western classroom that may pose an “impediment to learning, to the extent that it focuses on compartments of knowledge without regard to how the compartments relate to one another or to the surrounding universe” (1996:87–88). It is knowing about the plants in our environment, such as s’áxt’, and how to use that knowledge in our environment that makes the knowledge we seek worthwhile. Therefore students, searching for knowledge in their natural environment, will flourish and be able to apply new concepts to their familiar place. To begin, the introduction of Native values need not be difficult. I suggest a dialogue to open up the discussion about the values and how they are transmitted from one generation to another. Students will be able to see the difference between rigid book learning and field-based or place-based learning models. Then introducing a teaching unit that will tie in one or more of those values will get the students to thinking about how those values are transmitted through daily life. In the article “The Domestication of the Ivory Tower: Institution Adaptation to Cultural Distance”, Barnhardt illustrates how the field-base environment is prime for learning. The field-based program outlined by Barnhardt is “a reality-based, collective learning process ” (4). In a field-based program Barnhardt points out the benefit to both teachers and students when the students are required to participate in experiences. The experiential learning environment is not detached, but thrives in the interactions between people and their experiences. This place-based or field-based environment is key to relating the Native values to the curriculum and to the outside world. S’áxt’: Incorporating Native Values in a Place-based Lesson Plan Grade Level Middle school, high school and possibly college level Course Objectives Utilizing placed-based education to introduce the Tlingit values (see list of values above) Curriculum Area Math, science, art, writing, language and cross cultural studies Objectives: 1. Working with Elders: a. Elders explain the cultural significance of s’áxt’: spiritually, medicinally, etc. (value: reverence, care of human body, responsibility, dignity). b. Elders can show students the best places, times and type of plants to harvest (value: care of subsistence areas, peace with the world of nature). c. Elders can talk about the methods of harvesting and assist with this in the classroom and outside the classroom (value: remember Native traditions, responsibility). 2. Proper identification of s’áxt’, its habitat, uses and preparations. 3. Introduction to Tlingit terms for the parts of the plant and words and phrases associated with the activities. 4. The role of s’áxt’ in art: beads and/or rattle and then translate to ceremony (value: dignity, remember traditions). Activities and Methods: Harvesting & Preparation A. Harvesting the s’áxt’ 1. Have Elders or other local plant experts assist with appropriate harvesting tools, what types of plants to look for, appropriate clothing such as gloves for protection, thick pants and coats (value: care for human body). 2. Roots: Dig up long, straight pieces that are 1/2" thick or larger. 3. Make sure there is a time for thanking the plant for its gift (value: care, respect, reverence, truth). B. Explore methods of preparation: 1. Salve or ointments: One method is to shave the bark off the stalks and boil with canola oil, strain it, mixed it with beeswax. Afterwards this mixture is poured into empty medicine containers for use as a salve (value: care of human body, sharing). 2. S’áxt’ tea: The roots and greenish inner bark can be shredded and dried or fresh steeped into tea (value: humility, peace). 3. Roots: a. Students can peel, roast and then mash the roots. b. Wash the roots as soon as possible with a plastic bristle vegetable scrubber. Then peel off the root bark with a knife and place on screens to dry (value: sharing, respect, peace). 4. Making Beads, Jewelry or Deer Hoof Rattles: a. Pauline Duncan’s instructions for Deer Hoof Rattles can be found on the ANKN website (value: remember, reverence). b. Beads: Beads are made from dry stalks of s’áxt’. They are cut from the stalk, hollowed out and then dried. They can be painted or left natural. The twine for stringing the beads is usually made from mountain goat (value: sharing, humility). Resources • Local Elders • Local plant experts: Elders, U.S. Forest Service, local medicinal healers, herbalists • Pauline Duncan’s Tlingit Curriculum Resources: Picking Berries can be located at http://www.ankn.uaf.edu/Tlingit/PaulineDuncan/Books/Berry/devilclub.html • Alaska’s Wilderness Medicines: Healthy Plants from the Far North by Eleanor Viereck (can also be found on the ANKN website) • A good kitchen and work space for making salves, beads, etc. • Harvesting tools: knives, small shovel, cooking implements, beeswax, oils • Other books illustrating what the plant looks like, paper and pencils for on-site illustrations Evaluation Evaluation methods should be culturally and community relevant. Students can keep a journal or write about what values they observed in action. As well, students should be able to produce salve, brew tea, know the basics of harvesting and prep procedures and also to be able to make a piece of jewelry or art from the plant. Afterwards students should be able to relate what they have done, at every step of the way, to one or more of the Tlingit values. . . . educators and Elders should be constantly considering where and how values can be incorporated into learning activities. In conclusion, educators and Elders should be constantly considering where and how values can be incorporated into learning activities. At first it might be necessary to point out where the values might fit in, however, as the lesson and the relationships with the Elders progress that will no longer be necessary. Prior to undertaking the lessons, have the students be aware that they are looking for those values. At the end of each day, excursion or lesson, students can be asked what values they observed at work and how they might pass on those values to others or apply them in their daily lives, stressing that almost all the Tlingit values can be applied in one way or another to any daily living situation. Raven knew what he was doing, creating man from a leaf. By using the simplicity of a leaf, Raven connected us to our environment forever weaving Native values into our creation thus into our lives. Editor’s note: Reference list available upon request.

Keyword(s): Volume 9, Issue 2

Southeast Region: The Southeast Alaska Tribal Resource Atlas by Andy Hope : The Southeast Alaska Tribal Resource Atlas is an ongoing project that has many components and has been several years in the making. Beginning in January 2004, presentations of the atlas will be made to tribes, Elders, clan and clan house leaders, educators and other interested parties. These presentations will continue throughout the winter and spring of 2003-2004. Each of these respective individuals, groups and organizations will be requested to endorse publication of the atlas for educational purposes. The atlas has been developed in the noble traditions of reciprocity, sharing of knowledge and generosity. Here are some of the components of the atlas: The Southeast Alaska Native Place Name Project In 1994 the Southeast Native Subsistence Commission (SENSC) initiated a three-part project to document Native place names in Southeast Alaska. The project has been funded largely through the National Park Service Heritage Preservation Fund grant program, with additional support from Native, state and federal entities and covers all of Southeast Alaska's Native communities from Yakutat to Hydaburg. The Southeast Alaska Tribal Electronic Mapping Project This project started in the summer of 2002. The purpose of the project is development of place-based education materials for educators. Objective: Provide GIS maps and technical support to facilitate access to the Southeast Alaska Native Placenames Database, including integration with existing data on subsistence use areas, development of regional and community-based maps for use in classrooms, internet mapping and other place-based education activities. The Angoon, Kake and Sitka Cultural Atlases The ANKN web site contains the Angoon and Kake cultural atlases. These links require a user name and password that can be obtained at www.ankn.uaf.edu/oral.html. The Sitka Atlas is accessible at: www.sitkatribe.org/placenames Space precludes a complete acknowledgement of those that contributed to development of these atlases in this article. Such acknowledgements are included in above-referenced links. The Traditional Tlingit Country and Tribes Map The Traditional Tlingit Country Map/Poster was the culmination of more than 25 years of research. It was initially published in draft form in 1997. There have been four printings of 1,000 since 1998. I began compiling a list of Tlingit tribes, clans and clan houses in 1972. Initially, this list was part of a manuscript on Tlingit clan and clan house at.óow, or crests. At.óow translates "our belongings or possessions". www.ankn.uaf.edu/TlingitMap/index.html The Herman Kitka Traditional Ecological Knowledge Series This is a collection of 13 CD-ROMs originally recorded in winter 1996 at UAS Juneau as part of Anthropology 354, Culture and Ecology, co-taught by Professor Thomas F. Thornton and Herman Kitka, Sr. The CD-ROMs were produced and edited by Arlo Midgett, UAS Media Services and Thomas F. Thornton under a grant from the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative, with additional support from the Sitka Borough School District and the Sitka Tribe of Alaska. The series is cross-indexed category, topic, format, disc number and by clip. www.ankn.uaf.edu/tek.html The Place-Based Education Resources for Southeast Alaska Educators Web Site The goal of this project is to provide Alaska educators with access to online and print resources to assist them in creating place-based curriculum for Alaska schools. This site includes the I Am Salmon curriculum project materials. Of particular interest are the "Aakwtaatseen/Alive in the Eddy" materials. These materials will be added to the Place-Based Education Resources web site in January 2004. This material is based on a story told by Deikeenáak'w of the Kookhittaan in Sitka in 1904 and transcribed by John R. Swanton in 1904 and published in Wanton, Tlingit Myths and Texts (1909) as Story #99. The story was transliterated into modern orthography by Roby Littlefield and Ethel Makinen. The material was edited by Roby Littlefield, Ethel Makinen, Lydia George, Nora Marks Dauenhauer and Richard Dauenhauer. This site can be found at: http://pec.jun.alaska-edu:1680/salmon The Tlingit Elders Traditional Education Checklist The Tlingit Elders Traditional Education Checklist was originally published by Tlingit Readers in 1976 in the appendix of Beginning Tlingit. Beginning Tlingit. It has been re-printed a number of times, most recently in 2003 by Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI). The checklist was originally published in the 1991 SHI edition. Among the contributors to the checklist are the following Tlingit Elders and educators: Jessie Dalton, Katherine Mills, David Kadashan and Henry Davis-T'akdeintaan of Xunaa Kwáan; George Davis-Deisheetaan of Xutsnoowú Kwáan; Forrest DeWitt-L'eeneidí of Aak'w Kwáan; Walter "Babe" Williams-Chookaneidi of Xunaa Kwáan; Walter Soboleff-L'eeneidí of Xutsnoowú Kwáan and Austin Hammond-Lukaax.ádi of Jilkoot Kwáan. The draft reflects feedback and input received from Tlingit Elders. It is difficult or impossible to know everything on the list. Probably no single Elder knew all of it. The checklist was endorsed by the Southeast Alaska Tribal College Elders Council in October 2001 and by the SEATC Board of Trustees in the spring of 2002. The checklist will be published in poster form in a joint venture with SEATC Elders and Trustees and the Southeast Alaska Native Educator Association in January 2004.

Keyword(s): Volume 9, Issue 1

Southeast Region: Goosú wé Drop outs? Where Are the Native Drop Outs? : by Andy Hope In the previous issue of Sharing Our Pathways, Ted Wright documented an average 59% loss in Alaska Native enrollment for Juneau Douglas High School for the graduating classes of 2000 to 2006. This time period represents students enrolled in school from 1996 to 2003. Many of these Alaska Natives enroll in GED programs. In a one-year period, from 2002 to 2003, a total of 4,723 enrolled in GED programs. Of those, 1,395 or 29.6% were Alaska Natives (695 women, 700 men). Of the 1,860 GED diplomas issued in that time frame, 879 or 47.2% went to Alaska Natives. The challenge is to develop data collection systems to track high school dropouts and those that do not complete a GED program. Recent observation of the court and health care systems indicate that many of these drop outs enter into the correctional system. The December 2002 Department of Corrections Offender Profile shows that 1,338 of the 3,625 offenders in institutions (36.9%) were Alaska Native. For probationers/parolees, 1396 of 4927 were Alaska Natives, or 28.3%. Based on this data, it appears that many Natives in the correctional system are public school dropouts. Many of these people are low income or homeless and many should be mental health referrals. Too often, Alaska Natives do not have effective advocates and are caught in what District Court Judge Peter Froehlich, recently described as a “vortex.” They lack the resources to comply with court orders, treatment programs and probation requirements. The existing drug, alcohol and mental health treatment programs also lack adequate resources to provide quality, health-oriented treatment and counseling. Some of the treatment programs, given the funding cuts over the last several years, are forced to rely almost totally on clients referred to them from the courts for operating revenues. The results are easily predictable. The probationers/parolees don’t have the money to pay the treatment agencies and are recycled back into prison. Native children in the public school system need support, scaffolding and encouragement. How can we begin the effort to change this situation? I believe that it will take a concerted effort by the Native community, working in conjunction with judicial, educational and health care institutions. We can begin by developing advocacy training programs. This project could bring Native organizations together in partnerships with other organizations to provide training to enable Native family members to interact effectively with the education, judicial and health systems. Native children in the public school system need support, scaffolding and encouragement.1 Parenting education is also needed, but we should broaden participation to include families, given the enormous challenges.2 A related program could be a Native inmate education program. The prison system is a black hole, educationally and otherwise, for Native inmates. A Native inmate education program could bring education programs with an indigenous worldview into the prison system in Alaska. The initial focus would be on curricula developed over the last several years by Native educators. In Southeast this would include the Native Oratory project, the Math in Tlingit Art project, the I Am Salmon project, the SE Tribal Resource Atlas project and the Math in Indigenous Boat Building project. What kind of partnerships are required to address the issues outlined in this essay? I envision a coalition of Native families, Elders, storytellers educators, health care providers, human service providers, healers and community organizations working with their counterparts in the state judicial system and the health care and educational systems. There are existing resources and programs in place and these resources could be allocated to start a pilot program, at the very least. Editor’s Note: 1. Teachers can integrate the many suggestions and approaches for supporting Native children in public school from the Guidelines for Preparing Culturally Responsive Teachers for Alaska’s Schools booklet. 2. Guideline #2 for Parents, outlined in the Guidelines for Nurturing Culturally Healthy Youth provides parents ideas for supporting their children. Both of these booklets are published by and available through the Alaska Native Knowledge Network.

Keyword(s): Volume 9, Issue 3

Southeast Region: Alaska Native Studies at Sheldon Jackson College by Jan Steinbright Jackson : Alaska Native Studies at Sheldon Jackson College provides academic coursework and support for Native students enrolled at SJC. "In effect, we're providing student support similar to that provided by Rural Student Services at UAF and academic programs similar to UAF's Native Studies program" says program director Dennis Demmert. The academic program has three goals: (1) to inform students of the "special relationship" between Native American tribes and the federal government and of the many contemporary issues derived from that relationship; (2) to provide knowledge of diverse Native cultures of Alaska; and (3) to assist students and school personnel in establishing effective communications across cultures. Fall 2002, offerings include Introduction to Alaska Native People, The Alaska Native Land Settlement Act, Alaska Native Art History and Cross-cultural Communications. In addition, the Native Studies program is assisting other academic programs at Sheldon Jackson to incorporate relevant knowledge about the Native community into their coursework and requirements. "There's Native-related information that is relevant to each academic program at SJC, whether it's education, human services, business or environmental science," says Demmert, "and graduates from each program should be informed of Native issues in their areas of expertise." Student support is provided by two advisor/counselors, peer advisors and tutors. "Students aren't always ready for the transition to college," says counseling coordinator Michael Baines, "so our job is to help them get oriented and to monitor their progress as they make the adjustment to college. Nearly 30% of the Fall 2002 enrollment is Native American." The Native Studies program provides a computer lab and a lounge for Native students and ongoing activities through a Native Culture Club. The club has sponsored fund-raising activities and plans other activities throughout the year. Native Studies has advised the Sheldon Jackson College library on books relevant to Native Studies and the library has developed a strong collection on Native culture and contemporary issues in the Native American community, with emphasis on Alaska. Native Studies has a staff of five and is funded under the U.S. Department of Education's Title III A. "There's Native-related information that is relevant to each academic program at SJC, whether it's education, human services, business or environmental science . . . "

Keyword(s): Volume 7, Issue 5

Southeast Region: Getting From Here to There: Vision for a Southeast Alaska Tribal College by Ted A. Wright : I have been thinking about tribal colleges and what it will take to establish and maintain such an institution in Southeast Alaska. In other states where tribally-controlled colleges have been established, enrollment grew as academic and support programs were developed and as awareness of the tribal college advantage spread through the region. Even though my visits to tribal colleges have only been for a week or two, I have seen and heard a lot of evidence that they work. For example, one study showed that students who attend a tribal college: * Take less time than others to graduate, * Stay in school and finish more often than other enrolled students, * Have an ending GPA that is half a point higher than mainstream graduates, * Carry less debt with them after they have completed their studies and * Are more likely to stay in or return to their home areas after graduation. The author of this study believed that the benefits of tribal colleges result from the fact that they provide a non-competitive environment where group and cooperative learning is emphasized and in which hands-on, inquiry-based methods prevail. A Carnegie Foundation Report on tribal colleges concluded that most tribal college faculty practice instructional methods that recognize rather than ignore the importance of traditional ways of knowing and of Native culture. More to the point, the tribal colleges recognize that all students need more than technique and a degree to succeed in life. They need pride in their heritage and an understanding of who they are, as well as the belief that they can make valuable contributions to their families and communities. With this philosophy at the heart of their missions, tribal colleges offer classes specific to the cultures of the tribes they serve, as well as more general courses in Native studies and regular academic subjects. In this way, tribal college students gain a stronger sense of self while they earn a degree and take advantage of the opportunities higher education can provide. Many of them go on to successfully pursue further studies at mainstream institutions. After hearing a message similar to this, a fellow member of an ANCSA corporation board on which I once served asked me why we would need a tribal college when existing institutions already have a hard time getting enough students through their doors. My answer then and now is that I believe there are a significant number of people in our educational system that want and need more than what the existing institutions have to offer. To be specific, I believe there are at least three classes of students that Southeast Alaska Tribal College (SEATC) could serve, regardless of whether they are just out of high school or are adult learners: * Those who want to take college classes and learn more about the world around them but from an Alaska Native cultural perspective. (These are continuing education students with academic or artistic/cultural rather than vocational interests.) * Those who go to college with the intent to pursue a degree or certificate and are attracted to the tribal college because of its focus on Native culture and its abiding interest in their success. (These students would matriculate at the Southeast Alaska Tribal College and, depending on their goals, transfer to UAS or Sheldon Jackson College.) * Those who would otherwise not view college as an option, either because their secondary school experience was not positive, or because they believe college is too hard. (For these students, the tribal college could work with high schools in a two-plus-two or charter-school-to-tribal-college program that is more in tune with their needs.) The existence of this population is hard to prove by surveying people's opinions about what they might study or why current institutions have failed them. In fact, this is one of those times where you just have to have faith that, if you build it step-by-step, they will come. In my observations, most tribal colleges that have come into existence have done so more as a result of someone's vision and faith than due to their collection and analysis of data. Still, the leadership of the tribal college movement in Alaska is working to compile basic data about the numbers of American Indian and Alaska Native students who drop out of high school, drop in and out of college over many years or exit college altogether. Even in the absence of definitive data, we know that too many of our students are not staying in school and are either not going to college or exiting after a certain point. If, as I claim, a tribal college is part of the solution to this problem, how do we get there from here? My personal vision for Southeast Alaska Tribal College starts with the already-established Board of Trustees, which includes a significant number of Elders and is truly representative of our tribes. In terms of curriculum, I envision programs that align basic content with the cultural standards developed through the Alaska Federation of Natives, the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative and the regional Native Educator Associations. This kind of alignment is especially critical for training teachers and would necessarily be a part of programs offered to those who would teach Native language, culture and the arts. As far as how we would teach, it is more true now than ever that our Elders and our Indian Education Program and JOM graduate's roles must be front-and-center with an eye toward institutionalization. I also envision several Alaska Native charter schools throughout Southeast that would serve as a pipeline to the tribal college. The junior and senior year of the charter high-school experience would then include prerequisites for a SEATC Associate of Arts (AA) degree that is compatible with those offered by UAS and Sheldon Jackson College and articulates with their bachelor's degree programs but features an Alaska Native Studies emphasis and maintains a consistent focus on the relationship between Native and non-Native views of the world. The question of whether there is a need for additional degrees and certificates beyond those already offered can only be answered as the SEATC management meets with regional employers and representatives of UAS and SJC. It is possible, for example, that the tribal college could offer specific classes within the UAS and SJC degree programs, at least to the extent that a Native perspective is seen as an advantage in the workplace for those degree/certificate seekers. Even apart from this kind of cooperative programming, I believe there is a niche for the Southeast Alaska Tribal College. Of course, the only way to prove this is to create the tribal college. On a related note, I have observed an interesting phenomenon in recent years, and I think it warrants a comment. The University of Alaska Southeast and Sheldon Jackson College, along with other colleges, universities and non-profit organizations in Alaska, continue to receive what will amount to many millions of dollars to recruit and retain Native students, train Native teachers, create curriculum that reflects Alaska Native values and to help largely Native districts improve their schools. These grants to "Alaska Native Serving Institutions" are almost always directed by non-Native individuals who, though good, honest people, do not have the whole benefit of our Native and tribal perspective. Plus, you have to ask yourself, when are we going to get to the point where these millions of dollars for Native programs will actually be provided to and controlled by tribal, Native organizations and institutions? We have made tremendous progress toward self-governance in areas like housing, health and social welfare; but in education we seem to lag behind. Perhaps I am too impatient and lack perspective. Then again, maybe this state of affairs needs to change and a tribal college is the best way to get there from here. Southeast Alaska Tribal College Campus, Juneau Sheldon Jackson College campus, Allen Auditorium

Keyword(s): Volume 6, Issue 2

Southeast Region: Haida, Tlingit, Tsimshian Relationships by Andy Hope : Excerpted from Sacred Forms, a work in progress For some reason, Haida clans (and some Tsimshian clans) claim crests opposite from their Tlingit counterparts. That is, Haida Raven moiety clans claim Tlingit Eagle moiety crests and vice-versa. When a Haida is adopted by a Tlingit clan, they are adopted by the opposite moiety. The Taalkweidi and Kaasxakweidi Tlingit Raven moiety clans of Wrangell were originally Haida Eagle moiety clans. The Tsimshian Gaanahada claim the same crests as the Kiks.ádi, Kaach.ádi, Gaanax.ádi, Gaanax.teidi and Teehittaan. The Laxk'eiboo (Wolf People) clan of the Tsimshian, who correspond to the Tlingit Teikweidi and the Tsimshian Ganu.at are said to be descendants of the Tlingit Neix.ádi. The Tlingit Raven crests Raven, Sculpin, Frog, Starfish and Sea Lion are claimed by Haida Eagle moiety clans. Haida Raven moiety clans claim the wolf. Many crests were obtained as gifts, were purchased or were claimed in warfare. Nearly 300 years ago, groups of Haida began migrating to Alaska from Graham Island off the coast of British Columbia. After settling in Alaska the Haida clans adopted a modified version of the Tlingit clan house system. The Haida differ from the Tlingit in that all clan houses in some villages belonged to clans of one moiety, though clans of both moieties resided in each village. Haida villages also have chiefs, and clan houses had individual owners. Individual ownership of clan houses is prohibited by Tlingit common law. The Alaska Haida Raven dominated villages were Klinkwan, Sukkwan and Koinglas. Eagle dominated villages were Howkan and Kasaan. Once settled in Alaska, the Haida began breaking away from the main groups, founding new clans in the manner of the Tlingit. Kaigani was named after a summer camp where they met European fur traders and explorers. Of the K'yak'aanii Eagle moiety, the Yaadas broke into five groups and the Ts'eihl Laanaas and the Sgalans formed four each. The Yaadaas were probably an offshoot of the Sdasdas. The K'yak'aanii Raven moiety broke off in the following manner: the 'Yaakw Laanaas broke into four groups; the Kwii Taas into six; the Gaw Kaywaas into two and the Taas Laanaas into four. A chart of the Haida crests and clan houses associated with each moiety is being assembled and will be made available to schools and communities throughout southeast Alaska. Anyone wishing to participate in the development of this chart/poster should contact Andy Hope at fnah@uaf.edu or 790-4406.

Keyword(s): Volume 8, Issue 2

Southeast Region: I am Salmon Action Plans by Xaastanch Andy Hope : The I am Salmon staff development workshop held in Juneau, March 17-18 was a success. The teams produced action plans for the time period, March 17-August 31. These action plans will be refined and adjusted over the next several months. Participants were Angie Lunda and Dianna Saiz with Floyd Dryden Middle School; Phil Miscovich, Sally Kookesh and Colby Root with Angoon School; Lianna Young, Nancy Douglas, Peggy Cowan and Henry Hopkins with the Juneau School District; Arnold Booth and Marie Olson from the Southeast Alaska Native Rural Education Consortium (SEANREC) Elders Council; Nora Dauenhauer and Richard Dauenhauer with Tlingit Readers; Michael Travis, an independent contractor and Andy Hope, Southeast regional coordinator, AKRSI. Angoon Action Plan The Angoon team will: * Arrange a three-day technology staff development workshop in Angoon, with Henry Hopkins of the Juneau School District as facilitator. Chatham School District will fund Henry's travel from AKRSI MOA funds. This workshop should take place before early May. The workshop should include presentations on the Native plant multimedia project and website development training. The Angoon team will invite Lydia George (SEANREC Elders Council), Jimmy George, Mary Jean Duncan and Shgen George to participate, as well as any other interested teachers and the Chatham District technology coordinator. * Participate in a staff development academy on the cultural standards. This academy is tentatively scheduled for August 21-22 in Juneau and will be sponsored by the Juneau School District. Credit for this academy should be jointly provided by the Southeast Alaska Tribal College and Alaska Pacific University. * Participate in the Rural Education Academy in Fairbanks, June 2-3, 2000. Andy Hope and Henry Hopkins will coordinate a presentation on the I am Salmon project. * Participate in I am Salmon presentations in Seattle in July in conjunction with the World Music and Dance Festival. * Coordinate with the Angoon Culture Camp in planning summer educational opportunities. * Coordinate with the Juneau School District to ensure that teachers from Angoon participate in the Tlingit Language Adult Immersion Camp scheduled for Klukwan in July. * The Angoon School has a Japanese intern this spring. The Angoon team will request the intern's assistance in establishing communications with the I am Salmon teams in Japan. Juneau Action Plan Angie Lunda will: * Coordinate production of 3-D topographic maps of the Juneau area. * Utilize resources such as the Haa Áanee book to document Native place names and traditional land uses in the Juneau area. * Organize field trips to streams in the vicinity of Floyd Dryden School in the Mendenhall Valley as part of her stream ecology unit this spring. Students will participate in water quality testing, fish camp lessons and write comparison/contrast essays. * Work with the Juneau School District Tlingit Language Seminar group to integrate Tlingit words and phrases into the stream ecology unit. Dianna Saiz will: * Develop a language arts production, a shadow theater performance that will utilize Tlingit language. She will consult with playwright-producer David Hunsaker on shadow theatre production techniques. * Utilize the partnership salmon story to produce a salmon poetry anthology. Nancy Douglas and Lianna Young will assist Angie in integrating fish camp curriculum into Angie's classroom. Angie Lunda/Dianna Saiz/Lianna Young will develop a quilt project in which students produce and exchange salmon quilt squares. Group Recommendations Michael Travis and Henry Hopkins will develop an I am Salmon Southeast Alaska website. How about using the term Raven Creator Bioregion instead of Southeast Alaska? Or will that be perceived as an act of secession? The website will be housed in the UAS server at the Auke Lake Campus in Juneau. Nora Dauenhauer will draft a proposal to transcribe and translate Tlingit language tape recordings of the late Forrest DeWitt, Sr., a member of the Aak'w Kwáan, (traditional tribe of the Juneau area) L'éeneidi (Raven moiety) clan. Micheal Travis will develop an electronic version of the Tlingit Math Book. Andy Hope will arrange for a short-term contract with Jimmy George, Jr. for technical support for the I am Salmon teams for developing Tlingit language software. It is recommended that each team purchase a high quality digital camera for use in producing multimedia presentations. It is recommended that Elders be compensated $150 per day, with a minimum honorarium of $75 for partial days. Some Good Books * Igniting the Sparkle: An Indigenous Science Education Model by Gregory A. Cajete * Earth Education: A New Beginning by Steve Van Matre * Village Science and Village Science Teacher's Edition by Alan Dick * Understanding By Design and the Understanding by Design Handbook by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe Those interested in obtaining copies of the Village Science books should contact Dixie Dayo at fndmd1@uaf.edu The One Reel Wild Salmon website is now online in draft form. The URL is www.onereel.org/salmon. I have been in contact with representatives of Carcross School in Carcross, Yukon and Yupiit School District. I anticipate that teachers from those districts will be forming I am Salmon teams in the near future.

Keyword(s): Volume 5, Issue 3

Southeast Region: My Turn by Ted Wright : As our schools start another year I would like to send a heartfelt thanks to the many faculty, administrators, staff, parents and students who have worked tirelessly to provide and take-part in a first-class education. Thank-you or, in the first language of Southeast Alaska, gunalcheesh. While I really do appreciate the progress made toward better schools and smarter students, much work remains to be done, so I would also ask policymakers and people in positions of influence over our educational systems to take time to reconsider the process and product of schooling. If the kind of education we are providing is adequate, why does the urban-rural gap seem to be growing? And why do many of our political and financial leaders seem to misunderstand the plight of Alaska Natives in general and the importance of subsistence in particular? Even among Alaska Natives I wonder about an educational system that produces leaders who haven't learned to look several generations ahead to consider if their decisions are sound, but instead focuses their attention only on earnings and dividends. I wonder, for example, if any of the Native leaders who are advocates of unbridled development have asked their most knowledgeable Elders about the possible long-term impacts on their people's way of life. At what point did we forget that traditional education-knowledge about who we are and how we live in a particular place-is at least as important if not more important to our survival than a mainstream standards-based education? I know when I forgot-it was when I went away to earn a graduate degree and stopped hearing the voice of my grandmother and other Elders. It was when I decided that a credential bestowed by a prestigious institution was more important than the truth about the world in which I would live. It was when I decided that what I do is more important than where I live and who I am. It has been hard for many of this generation to redefine ourselves as Alaskans when we are so unaware of even the basic facts about who we are in relation to the place we live. In this respect, our education has failed us and we didn't even know it. That is the bad news. The good news is that it is not too late to change the system for our children and grandchildren. I have a few suggestions. To start, let's elect legislators who will recognize the importance of investing in our schools and have the foresight to mandate that districts statewide offer classes in Alaska Studies. Let's allocate funds to pay Alaska teachers the best salaries in the country, and then train them to make their methods and curriculum materials place-based and culturally relevant. If such training is an option, like an endorsement in reading, then let's pay teachers who complete such training more than those who do not. And at the college level, support for programs and pedagogies infused with a local and regional worldview is a good first step. I believe it is possible to not only keep our kids in Alaska after high school, but also to provide them with an education that helps them make sense of the complex issues that we all face now and in the years to come. The future of Alaska is its children. I would humbly suggest that to ensure a bright future, we have got to substantially change our schools. Not only does this kind of change need to begin now, but it has to begin with each and everyone of us.

Keyword(s): Volume 7, Issue 4

Southeast Region: Opening the Box of Knowledge by Andy Hope : Southeast MOA partners and tribal representatives met in Juneau the week of September 10, 2001 for a tribal watershed/GIS/cultural atlas workshop, a Southeast Alaska Tribal College organizational meeting and the planning meeting for the Southeast Native/Rural Education Consortium. A number of key presenters were not able to make it to the watershed workshop because of flight restrictions, so we will try to get the group together again in mid-November. The group participated in two teleconferences during the workshop. The first teleconference was with Jane Langill and Judith Roche of One Reel in Seattle to discuss the I Am Salmon curriculum project. Following is a brief description of the project: I Am Salmon: International Educational Program A multidisciplinary, multilingual, multicultural, multinational educational program for educators and children in salmon cultures around the North Pacific Rim. Following a challenge from Dr. Jane Goodall in 1994 and an international writing project held in 1998 with schools in Seattle and Japan (The Neverending Salmon Tale), an international team of educators met at Sleeping Lady Conference Center in 1999 and developed a pilot project for schools in Alaska, Canada, Oregon, Washington, Japan and Russia. Schools are creating and sharing work in many disciplines on the theme of salmon in local culture. The multilingual "I Am Salmon E-Learning Website" launched September 2001. Details can be obtained at www.onereel.org/salmon. From First Fish: One Reel's Wild Salmon Project One Reel had scheduled The Icicle River Children's Summit for September 19-23 in Leavenworth, Washington. Teachers and children from around the North Pacific Rim (including representatives from Washington State, British Columbia, Alaska, Japan and Kamchatka) were to meet for the first time to share materials and knowledge developed over the last two years. This meeting has been postponed, possibly until late spring of 2002. The Alaska representatives will be Inga Hanlon, a fifth grade teacher, and two of her students from Yakutat City School along with Lani Hotch, a high school teacher, and nine students from Klukwan School. In the meantime, I will continue to work with our Alaska I Am Salmon partners to link with One Reel's new website, http://iamsalmon.org, to offer access to curriculum resources. Our second teleconference was with Tom Thornton, who was stranded in Ontario, Canada on September 11. Tom serves as the director of the Southeast Alaska Native Place Name Project, which serves as the foundation for the Cultural Atlas project in which tribes and school districts work in partnership to develop multimedia educational resources. I am encouraged by the commitment of our respective partner school districts: Chatham School District (Klukwan and Angoon Schools) Hoonah City Schools, Sitka School District and Yakutat City Schools. Additionally, our tribal partners (Sitka Tribe of Alaska, Chilkat Indian village, Angoon Community Association and Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska) have immeasurably strengthened our effort. Juneau School District is a valuable partner that continues to support projects like I Am Salmon. Our next task will be to schedule a staff development workshop and a GIS consortium meeting to work on various curriculum projects. We will also begin building an I Am Salmon listserv in conjunction with the ANKN. The events of September 11 overshadowed our meetings. The Southeast Alaska Tribal College organizational meeting was rescheduled for October. Though we weren't able to formally organize SEATC at this time, the people that did make it to Juneau decided to have a work session to develop recommendations for the SEATC trustees to consider when they finally do meet. The working group developed the following draft mission statement: "The mission of SEATC is to open our ancestors box of wisdom, knowledge, respect, patience and understanding." The Box of Knowledge serves as the logo for SEATC as well as a guiding metaphor. In Tlingit, Yaakoosgé Daakakóogu means "The box of knowledge that will be opened when people come to this college." I anticipate ten tribes will be founding members of the SEATC and representatives of those tribes will elect the board of trustees.

Keyword(s): Volume 6, Issue 5

Southeast Region: Reading Poles by Andy Hope : Southeast Region: Reading Poles The following article originally appeared in Raven's Bones Journal, Vol. 5, No. 1, Nov. 1996. by Andy Hope The Tlingit occupy the northeastern Pacific coast of Alaska, the northern part of a region commonly referred to as the Northwest Coast (of the North American continent), which reaches from Yakutat, Alaska to the mouth of the Columbia River. Because many of the tribes that inhabit this culture area are related in one way or another, I refer to the Northwest Coast as the Raven Creator Bioregion. The Tlingit are one of many aboriginal groups in this bioregion that continue the tradition of pole carving. To appreciate Tlingit pole art, one must understand Tlingit social organization: what Frederica de Laguna refers to as ". . . the fundamental principles of . . . clan organization, . . . the values on which Native societies are based," that is, the names and histories of the respective Tlingit tribes, clans, and clan houses. The seventy-plus Tlingit clans are separated into moieties or two equal sides-the Wolf and the Raven. Tlingit custom provides for matrilineal descent (one follows the clan of the mother) and requires one to marry one of the opposite moiety. The clans are further subdivided into some 250 clan houses. To underscore the duality of Tlingit law, Wolf moiety clans generally claim predator crests, whereas Raven moiety clans generally claim non-predator crests. For example, the Kaagwaantaan, a Wolf moiety clan, claim Brown Bear, the Killer Whale, the Shark and the Wolf as crests. The Kiks.áàdi, a Raven moiety clan, claim the Frog, the Sculpin, the Dog Salmon and the Raven as crests. Tlingit totem art is utilitarian as opposed to decorative art. Tlingit pole art depicts clan crests and histories. With the introduction of steel and iron implements among the tribes of the Northwest Coast, totem poles became numerous. Numbers of them could be seen in the more southern villages. But before modern tools, it is said, Totem poles were rare, not only on account of the difficulty in making-as stone and wood were used for tools-but the desire to keep them strictly distinctive as a reason for the scarcity. One often hears it said by the older people that originally totem poles were used inside of houses only, to support the huge roof beams. The carvings and painting on them were usually those of family crests. Those posts were regarded with respect very much as a flag is by a nation. Even when the Chilkats had acquired modern tools with which to make totem poles they did not fill their villages with tall poles like some other tribes, chiefly because they wanted to keep to the original idea. The figures seen on a totem pole are the principle subjects taken from traditional treating of the family's rise to prominence or of the heroic exploits of one of its members. From such subjects crests are derived. In some houses, in the rear between the two carved posts, a screen is fitted, forming a kind of partition which is always carved and painted. Behind this screen is the chief's sleeping place. -Louis Shotridge The Museum Journal, 1913 Archaeological field work has shown that the Northwest Coast decorative art form originated approximately 3,000 to 3,500 years before present, with appearance of decorated tools. In early seventies, a bentwood burial box was illegally taken from a cave at the west arm of Port Malmesbury on the west central part of Kiuiu Island in central southeast Alaska. The US Forest Service eventually recovered the box and turned it over to the Alaska State Museum in the early 80s. The box is of sacred significance, since it is associated with a burial. It is decorated on all four sides, with a killer whale form on one side and a half human, half bird (with a humanoid head) figure on two sides. The box was radio carbon dated in 1992 at 780 years before present, plus or minus 80 years, which makes it the oldest example of true northwest coast formline art. The Port Malmesbury burial box discovery establishes that northwest coast formline existed well before contact with Europeans and was established well before metal tools were available. Some anthropologists had theorized that northwest coast formline was only established after exposure to metal tools brought by Europeans. What is significant in terms of art that the cultural pattern appears to be coalescing during this initial period. Symbolic modes of graphic expression have not emerged. Certainly to judge from available archaeological evidence, a distinctive coastal style did not begin to crystallize until about 1500 BC. We can only infer that the accumulation of historical and mythological traditions by the corporate lineages of northern coast villages was approaching the threshold where graphic symbols of corporate identity became meaningful. Implicit here is the assumption that graphic symbolism expressed in art works, requires a base of shared cognitive modes, belief systems, etc., which must develop to a certain point, perhaps over several millennia, before it can be meaningfully expressed in art works. -George MacDonald Indian Art Traditions of the Northwest Coast Types of Poles Mortuary These poles usually depict one figure, the main clan crest of the deceased. The ashes of the deceased clan member being memorialized by the pole are traditionally placed at the base of the back of the pole. The Raven Mortuary pole comes from the Prince of Wales Island in southern southeast Alaska. It was moved to the Sitka National Historical Park at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries . Crest or history of poles These poles have multiple figures, representing clan crests and symbols depicting clan history. This type of pole is prevalent in southern southeast Alaska southward along the British Colombian coast to Puget Sound, where the Douglas Fir and Red Cedar trees necessary for carving large poles are more accessible. Raven Memorial Pole These poles are read from the top figure down. The Kiks.ádi clan of the Raven moiety. A replica of the pole stands in Totem Park in downtown Wrangell, Alaska. House Poles House poles are usually six to eight feet tall and usually have one clan crest figure, and are placed in the corners of the clan house. Screens House screens depict clan crest symbols. They are usually wall size and are placed at the back wall of clan houses, though in some cases a smaller screen is placed at the front entrance of the clan house. The Kiks.ádi Naas Shagi Yéil (Raven Creator) pole from Wrangell, Alaska "The topmost figure is that of Naas Shagi Yéil and the highest of the Tlingit mythological beings that lives on a mountain about the headwaters of the Nass River. He is seated on the day box containing the sun, moon and stars in the front of which is carved and painted to represent the mythical sea spirit, Gunakadeit. Below this is Yéil, the Raven creator, who changed himself into a hemlock needle and was swallowed by the daughter of the guardian of light, which resulted in the rebirth of the raven child who stole the sun, moon and stars to prepare the earth for man, whom he later created. The female figure, indicated by the labret in the lower lip, is the mother who was carried up to the sky to escape the flood caused by the jealous uncle, to be pierced with his bill to sustain him until the waters subsided. The next figure below, which in the form of a raven, was named by informer as Ch'eet (murrelet) on the back of which the Raven tell, when dropping from the sky, and which carried him and the mother safely ashore. The female figure with the large labret through the lower lip at the base is "Old woman underneath," who, seated on a post, supports the earth. In her hands she carries a club for protection against the enemies of mankind who would drag her away, thus destroying the world. In the dualistic creed of the Tlingit, all nature has two existing and opposing forces which beset one on every hand." -George Emmons The History of Tlingit Tribes and Clans, n.d. Illustration by Joanne George This pole is on display at the Sitka National Historical Park. Raven is portrayed on this memorial column, distinguished by his rather large, slightly hooked beak. The carving is in the style and is believed to have come from the village of the Takjikaan on Prince of Wales Island. In Sitka, the Tlingit placed their memorial poles on the ridge behind their village (along present-day Katlian Street) overlooking the channel. Memorial poles, along with house posts, are among the oldest forms of totem poles. Illustration by Mike Jackson Kiks.ádi Naas Shagi Yéil (Raven Creator) pole from Wrangell, Alaska Illustration by Joanne George The house poles illustrated above right come from the SheeAtiká Kwáan Tlingit Tribe. They are owned by the Kaagwaantann clan of the Wolf moiety. They come from Gooch Hít. The poles are housed at the Sitka National Park in Sitka, Alaska. Illustration drawn by Harold Jacobs The screen above is from the Huna Kaawu Kwáan Tlingit tribe. It is owned by T'akdeintaan, clan of the Raven moiety. It comes from Yéil Koot Hít (Raven's Nest House). It is said to represent the man who guided boats into the entrance of Lituya Bay. The screen is housed at Sheldon Jackson Museum in Sitka, Alaska.

Keyword(s): Volume 3, Issue 5

Southeast Region: SEATC & SEANEA by Ted A. Wright : Becoming Native to a Place The mission of the Southeast Alaska Tribal College (SEATC) and the Southeast Alaska Native Educators (SEANEA) is to open our ancestors box of wisdom, knowledge, respect, patience and understanding. The box of knowledge is a Tlingit metaphor that reinforces the need to pass on to our children the wisdom and strength of our culture through education. Among the goals of SEANEA are to put in place programs and resources to inspire and assist educators in all districts of the region to use Southeast Native culture in their classrooms and schools and also to realize that the community and surrounding area are their best resources for effective learning. These are worthy and fitting goals. Among the clans and tribal communities of Southeast Alaska, education has traditionally been built upon an intimate knowledge of diverse people in relation to culturally and historically unique places. The tribal college in Southeast Alaska will soon develop certificate and degree programs founded on principles of place-based education, inspired by and modeled after traditional Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian ways of knowing. For this reason, the programs of SEATC will be designed around a deep understanding of place. In this way, students who matriculate at the tribal college and take science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) courses will become more aware of their place in traditional and modern societies. As their knowledge of the area in which they live grows along with their understanding of the world outside, students will gain personal wisdom and live with increasing respect, patience and understanding. In a like manner, the Southeast Alaska Native Educators Association will work with districts to help teachers develop a pedagogy of place and infuse their curriculum with local and tribal wisdom. As funding and connections between districts and teachers grow, the standards we use to measure student progress will blend academic and cultural priorities, methods, and resources. Current Programs The Southeast Alaska Tribal College and the Southeast Alaska Native Educators Association have developed two core curricular programs to date: I Am Salmon A multilingual, cultural and national curriculum project with participants in Japan, Russia, Alaska, Yukon, British Columbia and Washington, designed to develop a sense of place (in one's watershed) and a sense of self (in the circle of life) and an understanding of how they are connected. I Am Salmon teams are developing curricula and other resources including Tlingit cultural atlases, electronic Tlingit language and salmon part drills and Tlingit plant and salmon units. At the higher education level, SEATC will use project curriculum to reorient their classes toward a Native and Tlingit perspective and to train faculty in the development of courses more in line with the mission and worldview that will inform all the college's programs. GIS Cultural Place Names Mapping Recognizing the importance of documenting traditional ways of knowing based on an intimate relationship of Native people to their homelands, the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative has sponsored cultural mapping projects in each region of Alaska. In the Southeast region, digital atlases with Tlingit place names and numerous culturally-relevant links have been developed with several communities still in the process of establishing their maps. Once completed, educators will have a geographic, cultural framework for building curriculum and guiding instructional practice. The importance of these atlases lies in the process it takes to complete them. Educators work with Elders and local culture-bearers using technology to document the importance of specific places through stories, songs and art passed down through generations. Though some of the knowledge contained in these maps has to be protected from the general public, the majority of information provides an invaluable framework for college faculty to immerse students in local culture as they put Western knowledge into Alaska Native perspective. The SEATC/SEANEA partners will expand the use of Geographic Information Systems, cultural mapping technology and web-based course development to enhance science, technology, engineering, math, social studies and other offerings. Planned Academic Programs * Grade 11-14, Alaska Native School-Within-a-School, in cooperation with Southeast school districts, Alaska Department of Education and the University of Alaska Southeast. This would include development of a GED program as well as an expanded Early Scholars program. The school-within- a-school would provide a seamless transition to college. * Development of a Tlingit language teacher certificate program in cooperation with the University of Alaska Southeast, Alaska Native Language Center (UAF), Sealaska Heritage Institute and Southeast tribal ANA grantee partners. * Work with the University of Alaska to offer Alaska Native and Rural Development and Cross-Cultural Studies degree programs through the tribal college. This would entail a concurrent effort to have UAF/UAS or some other institution to agree to formally sponsor SEATC as a candidate for accreditation. * Join with the Preparing Indigenous Teachers for Alaska Schools (PITAS) program and the School of Education at the University of Alaska Southeast to recruit and train teachers in traditional place-based pedagogy and practice. * Develop a Native theatre/storytelling program in partnership with Ilisagvik College, Perseverance Theatre and the University of Alaska Southeast. The partnership will build upon existing, successful, programs such as Beyond Heritage (Perseverance Theatre), the Barrow Theatre Ensemble and the Associate Degree Program Partnership with UAS and Perseverance Theatre. Partnerships for Today and Tomorrow SEANEA/SEATC University of Alaska Sheldon Jackson College Southeast Alaska School Districts When considering the resources it takes to develop unique programs such as those described here, SEATC and SEANEA leaders acknowledge the importance of training, technology and strong partnerships between multiple educational institutions and tribal communities. For this reason, the focus will remain on nurturing partnerships that will stand the test of time. In this way, our institutions as well as our students will become native to this place.

Keyword(s): Volume 7, Issue 3

Southeast Region: Southeast Alaska Tribal College is Launched by Andy Hope : The Southeast Alaska Tribal College (SEATC) has been in the planning process since late 1997. SEATC has been an active partner in a statewide tribal college planning project that has been supported by the Kellogg Foundation and the National Science Foundation through the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative. SEATC is a founding member of the Consortium for Alaska Native Higher Education. In early 1999, interim trustees were appointed by the Southeast Alaska Native Rural Education Consortium; the interim trustees formally incorporated SEATC in late 1999. In the last two years a number of organizations have endorsed the tribal college planning project. It is now time for the SEATC to establish itself as a formal, independent education institution. An overview of the Kellogg project, "Kellogg Cluster Evaluation: Alaska Native Effort to Develop Tribal Colleges" by Dr. Michael Pavel, is available on the ANKN/CANHE web site to those interested in more background. Another information resource on tribal colleges is the recent report "Building Strong Communities: Tribal Colleges as Engaged Institutions" published by the American Indian Higher Education Consortium and the Institute for Higher Education Policy. Copies of this report can be ordered from the IHEP website at www.ihep.com. The report can also be downloaded from the same website, though it is a rather large document. Additional background information on the Consortium for Alaska Native Higher Education can be found on the Alaska Native Knowledge Network website at www.ankn.uaf.edu. The American Indian Higher Education Consortium website at www.aihec.org is also a valuable information resource. The following individuals have served as volunteer, unpaid interim trustees for SEATC since the spring of 1999: Andy Hope, Marie Olson, Nora Dauenhauer, Roxanne Houston, Joe Hotch, Ed Warren, Ron Dick, Isabella Brady, Jim Walton, Bernice Tetpon, Joyce Shales, Arnold Booth, Charles Natkong, Dennis Demmert and Sue Stevens. The late John Hope served as an interim trustee from May 1999 until his death in October 1999. The SEATC interim trustees are asking that a group of federally-recognized tribes in southeast Alaska ratify the SEATC charter and bylaws at the September meeting. The following organizations, groups and individuals have adopted resolutions endorsing the planning efforts of the SEATC: Chilkat Indian Village, Douglas Indian Association, Sitka Tribe of Alaska, Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, Wrangell Cooperative Association, Wrangell ANB/ANS Camps, Sitka ANB/ANS Camps, Alaska Intertribal Council, Grand Camp ANB/ANS, National Congress of American Indians and approximately 200 clan and clan house leaders that attended the Kiks.ádi Pole Raising Ceremonies in Sitka in September 1999. The SEATC interim trustees have appointed a nominations committee to solicit nominations for the 11 member board of trustees. Committee members are Nora Dauenhauer, Dr. Ronald Dick, Andy Hope, Roxanne Houston and Dr. Ted Wright. The first annual SEATC meeting will take place on September 13, 2001 in Juneau at which time the Board of Trustees will be officially appointed. Please contact Andy Hope for information on the nomination process or to submit a nomination. There are two other, related meetings scheduled for the week of September 10 in Juneau. A Tribal Watershed/GIS/Cultural Atlas workshop will take place in Juneau from September 10-12. The workshop will include presentations on Arc/View GIS, the Aboriginal Mapping Network, the Angoon, Kake, Sitka and Klukwan-Haines cultural atlases, the ANKN website resources, the I Am Salmon curriculum, the SE Alaska Native Place Names project and the Herman Kitka traditional ecological knowledge CD-ROMs. The Southeast Alaska Native Rural Education Consortium will meet on September 14 to plan the next round of regional activities for the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative. We hope that each tribe can send representatives to this important meeting. If you have any questions regarding the SEATC bylaws, annual meeting or any of the related meetings, you can contact me at fnah@uasf.edu or call me at 907-790-4406. It is now time for the SEATC to establish itself as a formal, independent education institution.

Keyword(s): Volume 6, Issue 4

Southeast Region: Southeast Partnerships by Andy Hope : Woosh een yei gidane. Partner. Since the program started in late 1995, many individuals, institutions and organizations have participated in our various initiatives. The following listing constitutes the Southeast Alaska Native/Rural Education Consortium: Southeast Regional Elders Council Arnold Booth, Metlakatla (chair) Charles Natkong, Hydaburg Lydia George, Angoon Gil Truitt, Sitka Isabella Brady, Sitka Marie Olson, Juneau Joe Hotch, Klukwan Jim Walton, Haines Junction School Districts (with year district joined the AKRSI/ARC listed in parentheses) Chatham School District (1996) Sitka School District (1996) Hoonah City Schools (1997) Juneau School District (1998) Education Organizations Discovery Foundation Southeast Alaska Native Educators Association Alaska Science Consortium Sitka Native Education Program Southeast Alaska Guidance Association Dog Point Fish Camp Sealaska Heritage Foundation Writers Block Alaska Staff Development Network The Axe Handle Academy (Nora & Richard Dauenhauer) Alaska Native History Textbook Project (Dennis Demmert and Mike Gaffney) Higher Education Institutions University of Alaska Southeast Sheldon Jackson College University of Alaska (Sea Grant) Publication Consultants Tom Thornton Sue Kraft Peter Metcalfe State and Federal Agencies National Park Service-Glacier Bay National Park USDA Forest Service Alaska Department of Education (Peggy Cowan, Science Specialist) Tribes Sitka Tribe of Alaska Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska Angoon Community Association Hydaburg Cooperative Association (Haida Nation) Radio Stations KCAW-FM, Sitka Other Conference of Tlingit Tribes and Clans Tlingit Language Consortium Southeast Alaska Native Language Consortium

Keyword(s): Volume 4, Issue 2

Southeast Region: The White Bear Project "Look to the Past, Act in the Present, Plan for the Future" by Devin Jones : On January 28, Dzantik'i Heeni Middle School in Juneau hosted a ku.eex, or potlatch, as a culminating event after a semester-long study of one of the most divisive issues in Alaska today: Alaska Native subsistence rights. Thanks to generous donations from the Douglas Island Indian Association and Tlingit and Haida Association, we served a variety of Southeast Alaska fare to over 250 people that day: 200 pounds of King Salmon, 100 pounds of halibut, 35 pounds of crab, 35 pounds of prawns and a wide array of potluck dishes prepared by parents and friends. The food prepared by students and parent volunteers was delicious, but the real focus of the event was to celebrate and share our students' work with an audience of policymakers and stakeholders in the subsistence debate. Our guest list was formed with this purpose in mind. Clearly one of the major obstacles in the way of a solution to the subsistence issue is finding a way to bring together all the stakeholders to continue a dialogue towards a solution. To the extent that the White Bear Project helped bring people with different opinions on the subsistence issue together, we are very pleased. Many elected officials and community leaders graciously accepted our invitation and were present that day. Juneau's Alaska Native community honored us with their attendance. Present were many Elders and political organization leaders: Ben Cornell, Bob Loescher, Rosa Miller, Beatrice Brown, Sasha and Stella Soboleff, Ronalda Cadiente, Nora Dauenhauer, Emma Marks, Florence Sheakley and Ed Thomas among others. U.S. Senator Nancy Murkowski and Lt. Governor Loren Leman represented the governor's office. Members of the current legislature in attendance were Beth Kerttula, Mary Kapsner, Donald Olsen, Robin Phillips, Nancy Barns, Kim Elton, Bill Williams and Bruce Weyhrauch. Juneau Mayor Sally Smith attended from the city and borough of Juneau and the Juneau School District was well represented by Mr. Gary Bader and Ms. Peggy Cowan. There were many Dzantik'i Heeni parents who made time in their busy schedules to join us as well. Our 63 seventh- and eighth-grade students assumed the roles of chefs, servers, greeters, project attendants and cleanup crews. Guests were greeted by students at the school's entrance, given an embroidered bandana as a gift and escorted to their seats. Very shortly thereafter, student waiters presented an overflowing plate of food and attended to our guests' every need. In this situation and throughout the ku.eek, to the best of our collective knowledge we strived to follow traditional Tlingit protocol for an event of this nature. After Mr. Morse conducted introductions of the many distinguished guests, the ku.eek ceremonies began. The Dzantik'i Heeni dancers, under the guidance of Greg Brown, started off with a performance of several songs and dances that captivated the audience, many of whom joined the exit dance. Lead singer and drummer, young Cassandra Jerue, mesmerized the crowd with her vibrant voice and the pride with which the group performed was clearly evident. Following the singing and dancing, a blanket dedication ceremony was conducted. With the help of Ms. Jodie Buck, Dzantik'i Heeni Home Economics teacher, students constructed a large felt blanket, 20 by 30 feet in size, with a wolverine stencil design that was commissioned for this project. The blanket was presented by the students to the audience and then accepted on behalf of Dzantik'I Heeni Middle School by principal Les Morse. The Wolverine blanket will be permanently displayed in the school commons area so that many people will have a chance to appreciate this beautiful piece of artwork. Next came the adoption ceremony. Dzantik'I Heeni cultural heritage educator, Greg Brown, adopted three Dzantik'I Heeni teachers-Jodie Buck, Steve Morley and Devin Jones-into the Teikweidi (Brown Bear) tribe. We were each given a Tlingit name, handed down over generations. To be adopted by the Tlingit-the people of the tides-was truly an honor for all of us. When the ceremonies concluded, our guests were invited to view the students' work and ask questions of students attending their project displays. A very popular display was the work with a community survey. Students gathered information using a questionnaire to help answer our research questions: (1) To what extent do Juneau residents support a subsistence preference for Alaska Native people during times of fish and game shortage? (2) To what extent are Juneau residents knowledgeable about subsistence issues? Fourteen color charts visually reported the results of 650 Juneau residents' responses to our survey instrument. Students written interpretations of what the graphs said about our research questions were also on display. Letters to students from Alaska legislators answering questions and stating their positions on the subsistence debate formed another portion of the project. One letter in particular drew attention from several guests. It came from Governor Frank Murkowski. In a reply written to seventh-grade student Amy Reid, the governor answered her questions and then proceeded to outline his position on the subsistence issue, to the best of my knowledge, for the very first time as the newly elected governor of the state of Alaska. Just a few days before, the governor had barely mentioned the topic of subsistence in his State-of-the-State address. I had to smile when we were dismantling the project displays and Amy said to me, "Do I get to keep this letter?" At the end of the afternoon several students gave away handmade gifts to our guests. Senator Murkowski was the recipient of a painted brown bear on deerskin, framed for wall display. Lt. Governor Leman received a four-foot long, painted, cedar canoe paddle. Others enjoyed receiving small gifts as well. Indeed, the theme of giving to others was a large part of this event. From the beginning planning meetings over one year ago, we all acknowledged it would take a dedicated team of people to make this course of study and our culminating event successful. We clearly recognized our strength was the sum of student, parent, teacher, administrative and community support. I would especially like to acknowledge the guidance of my E-mentor, Ms. Nancy Ratner, from the subsistence division of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Ms. Ratner and I formed our partnership in the fall, and with the financial and logistical support of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Math and Science (SACNAS), we combined the expertise of a scientist with specialized knowledge of subsistence information and a teacher to help relay this complicated information to middle school students in the classroom. We are all sincerely grateful to the dedicated staff at SACNAS for their continued support of students and teachers in the Juneau School District. Last, but certainly not least, I would like to thank the Elders who came to our classrooms or joined us on field trips to speak about what subsistence means to them and also about the concept and importance of respect in Tlingit culture. Gunalcheesh: Walter Soboleff, Archie Cavanaugh, Anna Katzeek, Ben Coronell, Emma Marks, Ethel Lund, Florence Sheakley, Frank Miller, Greg Brown, Jim Marks, John Lyman, Judy Brown, Marie Olsen, Mike Turek, Rosa Miller, Sergius Sheakley and Wayne Nicols. Our studies were deeply enriched by their knowledge of and wisdom about subsistence and Tlingit culture. I believe that partnerships and teamwork guided us to fairly, accurately and thoroughly conduct our study of subsistence issues. The success of the White Bear Project and Dzantik'i Heeni's first ku.eex was truly the result of a collective effort. Gunalcheesh to everyone involved.

Keyword(s): Volume 8, Issue 4

Southeast Region: Tlingit Elders Traditional Education Checklist : Originally published in Beginning Tlingit, Sealaska Heritage Foundation, 1984 The following list was compiled by Richard and Nora Dauenhauer, based on the input and review of many Elders. The Southeast Alaska Tribal College Elders Council formally adopted this checklist in October 2001. SEATC Elders Council Members Aronold Booth, Metlakatla Isabella Brady, Sitka Nora Dauenhauer, Douglas Dennis Demmert, Sitka Lydia George, Angoon Joe Hotch, Haines Charles Natkong, Sr., Hydaburg Marie Olson, Auke Bay Gil Truitt, Sitka Jim Walton, Juneau Part One What are the most important things in Tlingit tradition that a person needs to know to be well educated in the tradition? 1. Self Who am I? Tlingit name Moiety (Eagle or Raven) Clan Father's clan Grandparents' clans Names of my major clan crests Names of my immediate family House group House groups of my ancestors 2. Relating to Others Who are you? Protocol and diplomacy Clan system Concept of clan ownership; at.óow Names of other clans Names of other people Crests of other clans History of all crests Extended family & community Memorials (forty-day parties; memorial fests, potlatch) ANB protocol; Robert's Rules of Order 3. Language How do we talk? Both Tlingit and English Careful speech Oratory (public speaking in traditional and contemporary settings; metaphor and simile) 4. Literature and History What do we talk about? Songs (different types of songs) Stories (Classics of Tlingit Oral Literature) Clan histories, legends, migrations, development 5. Dancing (different types of dances) 6. Special Art Forms (Both technical skills and concept of at.óow) Beading Sewing Skin sewing Weaving Basketry Carving Silver carving 7. Survival: Use of the natural environment How do we live? Gathering Native food Putting up food (canning, jarring, freezing) Smoking fish and meat Various calendars (when the fish and game run) Traditional medicine; folk medicine 8. Survival skills Boating safety Firearms safety Emergency survival on land and water Traditional and contemporary first aid Weather observation 9. Fishing (technical skills) 10.Hunting (technical skills) 11.Traditional technology Boatmaking Taking care of a boat Drum making Carpentry Cooking Halibut and salmon hook making Fish traps 12.Geography Place names in Tlingit and English Chart and map reading Navigation Clan lands Traditional land use Migration routes 13.Traditional spirituality Relationship to the natural world (land plants, animals, fish) Relationship to the spiritual world How to speak to the natural and spiritual worlds Concept of at.óow Spiritual dimensions of visual art, songs, dances Stories and public speaking How to keep clean in body and spirit What to do before hunting or fishing How to treat the kill or catch Fasting for spiritual power Respect for self and others 14.Traditional Taboos Don't be arrogant Don't brag Don't talk too much Don't speak badly about anything Don't insult your fellow beings Don't keep all of your first catch or kill Don't be greedy 15.Manners Discuss with Elders what good manners were and are for Tlingit culture. It is also interesting to notice where and how Tlingit manners and European manners may be in conflict with each other. For example, is it polite to burp? When do you say "thank you" at the dinner table? Part Two Where can a person learn these things? 1. From parents and grandparents 2. From relatives (uncles, aunts, family) 3. From other community members and Elders 4. From materials and resources gathered and prepared by others: Sealaska Heritage Foundation Alaska Native Language Center Alaska Native Knowledge Network Tlingit Readers 5. School programs Notes 1. This draft reflects all feedback and input received from Tlingit Elders to date. 2. Don't despair. It is difficult or impossible to know everything on this list. Probably no single Elder knew all of it. Also, keep in mind that this was the survival for the ancestors of the younger Native people of Southeast Alaska, whereas economic survival for most today relies mainly on job skills. Many people today "get up before the Raven" to get kids off to school and get off to jobs.

Keyword(s): Volume 8, Issue 3

Southeast Region: Tribal college planning in Southeast Alaska: A Chronicle by Andy Hope : I began working with tribal college planning in January 1998. At that time, Sealaska Heritage Foundation was administering the Kellogg Foundation planning grant for Southeast. Ted Wright and I agreed to coordinate. I had been working with the Tlingit Language Consortium for several years in an ongoing effort to develop education programs. We agreed that it would be a good idea for the language planning group to take the lead on tribal college planning because we felt that the core curriculum for the tribal college should be based in language and culture. Our first meeting was a teleconference hosted by AKRSI at the University of Alaska Southeast Juneau campus. The next combined session was held in Juneau in February 1998 at the Centennial Convention Center. Darrell Kipp, founder of the Blackfeet Immersion School in Browning, Montana, was a special guest speaker. Ted Wright and I traveled to Harlem and Browning, Montana to visit Fort Belknap Tribal College and the Blackfeet Immersion School to gather information on language programs. We met with the Ft. Belknap trustees and staff and discussed the possibility of certification of a Tlingit language certificate and two-year degree. Our intent at the time was to start the program in late 1998 but this plan did not work out. In May 1998, the Tlingit Language consortium held a major conference in Juneau in conjunction with the Southeast Alaska Native Rural Education Consortium (SEANREC). Tlingit and Haida also provided travel from the Administration for Native Americans Language planning funds. In August 1998 Sealaska Heritage Foundation transferred the Kellogg Foundation planning grant funding to Tlingit and Haida. Ted Wright was contracted to administer the grant. In October 1998 the Southeast Alaska Native Language consortium (formerly Tlingit Language Consortium) met in Juneau in conjunction with the SEANREC annual planning meeting. Participants grouped by community and presented assessments and priorities for language projects. In February 1999 SEANREC met in Juneau to plan the AKRSI Native Science Camp initiative. At this meeting the participants, including the SEANREC Elders Council, adopted an interim charter for the Southeast Alaska Tribal College (SEATC). In April/May 1999, the Consortium of Alaska Native Higher Education (CANHE) met in Juneau. SEATC and the Tlingit Haida Central Council (THCC) representatives gave presentations to CANHE. In May 1999 an Interim Board of Trustees for SEATC was assembled. I was elected chair. The SEATC Interim Board met several times by teleconference in the summer of 1999. In September 1999 John Hope and Jim Walton gave a presentation on the tribal college planning project to the participants at the Kiks.ádi pole raising ceremonies. More than 100 Tlingit Elders and clan leaders signed a resolution endorsing the tribal college planning project as well as the interim board of trustees. The Chilkat Indian Village also adopted a resolution endorsing SEATC. In October 1999 SEATC met in Juneau in conjunction with the SEANREC annual planning meeting. Tlingit and Haida grant administrators presented draft tribal college financial and feasibility reports at this meeting. The Wrangell Cooperative Association and the Wrangell Alaska Native Brotherhood and Sisterhood Camps also endorsed SEATC. In November 1999 the Grand Camp Alaska Native Brotherhood and Sisterhood Convention adopted a resolution calling for utilization of facilities at Sheldon Jackson College by SEATC. It applauded Tlingit, Haida and AKRSI for efforts in planning a tribal college in Southeast Alaska and requested both to continue in a united way. The Douglas Indian Association adopted a resolution endorsing SEATC. The SEATC Trustees adopted articles of incorporation. The board of trustees of SEATC are Arnold Booth, Isabella Brady, Nora Dauenhauer, Dennis Demmert, Dr. Ronn Dick, Andy Hope (chair), Joe Hotch, Roxanne Houston, Katherine Miyasato, Charles Natkong, Sr., Marie Olson, Dr. Joyce Shales, Sue Stevens, Dr. Bernice Tetpon and Jim Walton. Thank you to the Elders and clan and clan house leaders that have supported the effort to develop a tribal college in Southeast Alaska. I would also like to thank the board of trustees for making a commitment to the education of Alaska Native people.

Keyword(s): Volume 5, Issue 1

Southeast Region: Will the Time Ever Come? A Tlingit Source Book : Review by Eric Fry When Andrew Hope III, a Tlingit born in Sitka, wanted to know more about his clan in the early 1970s, he went to Elders and other tradition-bearers. "It's really a way of grounding yourself," Hope said. "To be a Tlingit or even learn more than superficial knowledge about Tlingit traditions, people have to learn who the tribes, clans and houses are. Then you see how everything is connected." Hope organized conferences of Elders in the 1970s and began compiling a list of Tlingit tribes and clans. That led to a gathering in Klukwan in May 1993 of Tlingits from Southeast, British Columbia and the Yukon and tribes that neighbor the Tlingits. "It was the closest we've ever come to a gathering of all the Tlingit tribes, clans and clan houses," Hope says in his introduction to Will the Time Ever Come?, a recently published collection of papers from that meeting and other material. The book, published by the Alaska Native Knowledge Network, was edited by Hope, the Southeast regional coordinator, and Tom Thornton, an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Alaska Southeast. "The book is unique in the literature," Thornton said. "The whole project was really unique," he said, in bringing together Elders and scholars. Among other articles, the book includes Andrew Hope's account of his clan's migrations and Herb Hope's story of his efforts to retrace a Sitka clan's survival march in 1804 across what is now called Baranof Island during a battle against the Russians. The book also includes Andrew Hope's list of Tlingit tribes, clans and clan houses and excerpts from George Emmons' manuscript about the tribes based on his interviews with Natives in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Thornton contributed an article calling for a Tlingit resource atlas that would show not only geography and natural resources, but also what the landscape means to the people who have used it for generations. Thornton, who has worked on compiling resource studies for the state Division of Subsistence, wrote that such an atlas would turn on its head the usual one-dimensional, or purely physical, view of the landscape. It would include maps, art and stories that portray the values and practices of Natives. The state compiles harvest data and locations in order to manage subsistence. "But a lot of other issues come out when you ask how resources are used and how [subsistence users] feel about different lands," Thornton said. "To a lot of people, it's about being able to maintain relationships to particular landscapes." Since the 1993 conference, Thornton has worked with the Southeast Native Subsistence Commission to document more than 3,000 Native place names and their cultural associations. "That was pretty successful in communities where there was a good knowledge base," Thornton said. "But there are constraints, given that there are fewer than 1,000 Tlingit speakers. You're really racing against the clock on some of the stuff. It's literally the case that in some places you have one person left who is a Tlingit speaker and really knows the geography," Thornton said. In the early 1970s, when Andrew Hope began to compile cultural information, "You pretty much had to sacrifice yourself financially in order to gain this type of knowledge," he said. "Because it was very much in an environment of culture suppression and language suppression. The body of written information about Tlingit culture has grown a lot in the past 10 years, and it can help bring Tlingit knowledge and the language into the schools," Hope said. "Today's generation has much more access to traditional knowledge than mine could ever dream about," he said. The book is distributed by the University of Washington Press and the Alaska Native Knowledge Network. It costs $15 plus $4 for shipping. The book can be ordered by calling 800-441-4115 or via the press web site at www.washington.edu/uwpress/.

Keyword(s): Volume 6, Issue 1

Southeast Regional Report by Andrew Hope, Regional Coordinator : I have been spending time learning as much as I can about the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative (ARSI) project. I was unable to attend the December staff meeting due to a medical emergency. My final day at my former job at the Bureau of Indian Affairs turned out to be December 22, 1995, the day before my birthday. My first day on the job for the ARSI project was Christmas day. I finally met the ARSI staff on January 2 and 3 in Fairbanks and have slowly been tying names to faces. On January 11, I met with Peggy Cowan and Nancy Spear of the State Department of Education; Sidney Stephens of the Alaska Science Coalition and Richard Dauenhauer of Sealaska Heritage Foundation. We agreed to schedule the first regional council meeting for late March, in conjunction with the third Tlingit clan conference. We discussed the fact that some details have to be worked out on the memorandums of agreement with the schools in this region. We will contact the schools once these details have been worked out. I met with Marshall Lind, Chancellor of University of Alaska Southeast (UAS), on January 9 and 12. Chancellor Lind has graciously agreed to provide me with an office at UAS. I am very grateful to Chancellor Lind and UAS. My phone number at UAS will be 465-6263, the fax number is 465-6383. My home phone number is 790-2164, and my home fax number is 790-5509. I am looking forward to working in this exciting program. Upcoming events: * February 15-16, 1996. Juneau. A meeting of village heritage organizations, hosted by Sealaska Heritage Foundation. * A Tlingit "payoff" memorial for Daisy Fox Guanzon Hanson will take place in Juneau in February * March 28-30, 1996. Ketchikan and Saxman, the Third Conference of Tlingit Tribes and Clans Andrew Hope was born in Sitka, Alaska to the Tlingit tribe with a clan affiliation to Sik'nax.a'di (Grindstone people). His Tlingit name is Xaastanch and his moiety is the wolf. His clan house is X'aan Hit (Red Clay); his Father's clan is Kiks.a'di and tribal affiliation is Sitka Tribe of Alaska. Andrew received his B.Ed. in Cross-Cultural Education from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1979. He has served as a board member of the Before Columbus Foundation from 1988 to the present. The following are selected publications Andrew has had the opportunity to work on: * Founders of the Alaska Native Brotherhood, 1975, David Howard Memorial Fund * Raven's Bones, a collection of writings on the tribal cultures of southeast Alaska, 1983, Sitka Tribe of Alaska * Editor: Raven's Bones Journal, news of the Native community (two issues per year have been published since 1993), 1986-present * Conference Chair: The Conference of Tlingit Tribes and Clans, Haines and Klukwan, 1993 * The Second Conference of Tlingit Tribes and Clans, Sitka, 1995

Keyword(s): Volume 1, Issue 1

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