Southeast Alaska News

• New Xbox Video Game Brings Tlingit Voices to the Forefront – Although the story in “Tell Me Why” revolves around two non-Native characters as they struggle with gender identity, poverty, and violence, the supporting cast is played by Indigenous actors in a community and environment that is close to authentic. (KCAW 11.13.20)
  
  
• School Board Votes to Recognize Ketchikan’s Indigenous People at Start of Meetings – Two local government bodies will now recognize Ketchikan’s original inhabitants before each public meeting. (KRBD 11.13.20)
  
  
• Alaskans React to CNN Poll Labeling Native Voters ‘Something Else’ – Native communities in Alaska and around the country responded to a graphic in CNN’s Tuesday election coverage labeling voters that don’t identify as white, Black, Latino or Asian as “something else.” (KNBA 11.11.20)
  
  
• Sealaska Heritage Institute Awarded Federal Grant to Publish Tlingit, Haida Archives for Language Revitalization Project – Recently, the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services awarded Sealaska Heritage Institute a two-year grant to process and digitally publish a massive collection of Tlingit and Haida documents archived by the late scholars. (KTOO 11.10.20)
  
  
• Alaska Tlingits Hold Memorial Ceremony Online Amid Pandemic – When tribal elder David Katzeek died in October, Tlingit leaders in Alaska scrambled to find a way to hold a traditional memorial ceremony during a pandemic. (ABC News 11.10.20)

• Alaska Native Sisterhood Names New Grand President Emeritus – The group announced that Ethel Lund has been elected to the position. (KINY 11.3.20)
  

• Tlingit Elder and Clan Leader King̱eestí David Katzeek Has Died - King̱eestí David Katzeek died last night according to an announcement from the Sealaska Heritage Institute. Katzeek was the clan leader of the Shangukeidi, the first president of Sealaska Heritage Foundation and an educator who championed Tlingit culture and language. (KTOO 10.29.20)
  
  
• Tongass ‘Roadless Rule’ Exemption Lleaves Subsistence Users Feeling Left Behind – Wednesday’s announcement that the Trump administration will lift protections against development in the Tongass National Forest has sparked strong reactions for and against the changes. For many Southeast Alaskans who rely on the Tongass for food, the news is personal. (KCAW 10.29.20)
  
  
• The Largest Temperate Rainforest on Earth, Alaska's Tongass, Cannot Be Sacrificed – The Trump administration has proposed overturning the Roadless Rule that prohibits logging in the massive forest. (The Hill 10.27.20)
  
  
• Alaska Supreme Court Affirms Klukwan as Home for Disputed Tlingit Artifacts - A Klukwan museum can continue to display a collection of artifacts from the Tlingit Frog House Clan. That’s despite a legal challenge that reached Alaska’s highest court. The state’s Supreme Court has apparently ended a decades-old dispute over control of the art treasures. (KTOO 10.26.20)
  
  
• Skagway Traditional Council Seeks More Inclusion in Tourism Plan – Unsure whether cruise ship visitors will come in large numbers and be free to wander through town due to possible COVID-19 restrictions, Skagway is making changes to its 2021 tourism plan. Skagway Traditional Council wants to be included in that new vision. (The Skagway News 10.25.20)
  
  
• Tlingit and Haida Readies Southeast Communities for Next Disaster – As Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska continues to ship its COVID-19 care units, they’re not just looking at this disaster, but the next and the one after that. (Juneau Empire 10.24.20)
  
  
• Researchers Warn of Elevated Toxins in Shellfish from Several Gulf of Alaska Beaches - Researchers at an environmental lab run by the Sitka Tribe of Alaska have flagged shellfish on several Alaska beaches for high levels of potentially lethal toxins. (KTOO 10.23.20)

• On a Quiet Alaska Day, Sitka’s Indigenous Voices Rise on Castle Hill for Reconciliation - Castle Hill is where Alaska was formally transferred from Russia to the United States during a ceremony in 1867. A focal point of Sitka’s Alaska Day celebrations is a reenactment of that transfer, but a different sort of ceremony took its place this year. (KTOO 10.20.20)
  
  
• ‘Another Broken Promise’: Tribes Say Feds Ignored Their Input on Roadless Rule Exemption for Tongass - Changing a federal rule isn’t simple, but the Trump administration is on the verge of doing it. Last month it started a 30-day clock to completely exempt Tongass National Forest from the 2001 Roadless Rule. (KTOO 10.16.20)
  
  

• International Tourism Award Puts Southeast’s Icy Strait and Alaska High on the Radar as Cruise Industry Plans Its Recovery - A small Southeast Alaska Native village has won a prestigious international tourism award. Even though Alaska’s 2020 summer cruise season was cancelled because of COVID-19, the Icy Strait cruise ship port near Hoonah, 35 miles west of Juneau, has put Alaska high on the radar as the cruise industry plans its recovery. (Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman 10.14.20)

• Alaskans Celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day Virtually with Music, Language, Activism - The legacy of colonization is still a threat to the future of Indigenous culture here, many say. (Juneau Empires 10.12.20)
  
  

• New Children's Book Exploring Native Identities Launches For Indigenous Peoples Day - The book is called “Journey of the Freckled Indian.” It tells the story of a young girl called Freckles who gets bullied by her classmates after sharing that she’s Native American. Author Alyssa London says it’s loosely based on her experience growing up in Bothell and sharing her Tlingit heritage in a show and tell. (KLCC 10.12.20)

• Bipartisan Legislation Addressing Crisis of Missing, Murdered, and Trafficked Indigenous Women Signed into Law- President Trump signed into law Savanna’s Act and Not Invisible Act, two bills led by U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) to address the crisis of missing, murdered, and trafficked Indigenous women. Specifically, the bills work to improve the federal government’s response through increased coordination, development of best practices, and creation of a joint commission on violent crime, ensuring Alaska Natives and survivors have a voice in developing methods to end these horrible crimes. (SitNews 10.11.20)
  
  

• Alaska Native Entities Awarded Millions for Public Safety - Nine Alaska Native entities from the Northwest to Southeast Alaska have been awarded over $48 million to improve public safety, serve victims of crime, combat violence against women and support youth programs. (The Cordova Times 10.11.20)

• Tlingit and Haida Receives Federal Public Safety Grants - The Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska is looking to continue victims service and double the number of courtrooms for its tribal courts with a pair of grants from the Department of Justice that total nearly $3 million. (Juneau Empire 10.9.20)