Kids learn to prepare salmon at the Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska's Camp Qungaayux. KUCB/John Ryan photo.

The annual Camp Qungaayux (kuh-NIGH-you, the Unangan word for humpback salmon) runs this week in Unalaska. It’s the Qawalangin Tribe’s annual culture camp. Now in its 18th year passing down traditional Aleut culture, it’s become a tradition of its own. 

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Shangin: “My name is Barbara Shangin. I am actually going to teach children how to weave. I’m a teacher at heart, so I love to share my knowledge with the kids. Because I live in Anchorage, it helps me. I love coming down here because it rejuvenates me as a Unangan person because I can speak my language, get in touch with the environment, the food that we eat.”

Kids and adults at the Magic tournament eat some pizza and build their decks out of new cards supplied by Bosco's in Anchorage. (Liam Andersen/KUCB)

For about a year, Unalaska’s community center has hosted a monthly tournament for the trading card game Magic: The Gathering. But last month marked a big step forward: A new card store in Anchorage has agreed to sponsor the event from here on out.

For local players, it could mean a chance to compete on a larger stage. KUCB's Liam Andersen has more.

Credit: Justine Curgenven / Cackle TV

A new documentary about a radical kayaking run through the Aleutian Islands will premiere tonight in Unalaska.

The film, called “Kayaking the Aleutians,” tells the story of a 101-day trip through the turbulent waters in the Chain.

Justine Curgenven -- an experienced kayaker and filmmaker -- captured the footage last summer while she was traveling alongside Sarah Outen.

Mick Roraback dyes Easter eggs on an episode of "Mr. Mick's Clubhouse."

For more than four decades, Unalaskans have been taking to the airwaves to broadcast their own mix of local news and original TV shows.

Channel 8 lost a prolific volunteer from its past this winter, when Mick Roraback died at the age of 54.

KUCB’s Lauren Rosenthal has this remembrance of the characters he left behind.

For the last seven years, Alaska’s offered financial incentives to draw filmmakers and TV crews to the state. But as lawmakers scramble to fill a widening gap in the budget, Alaska’s film tax credit program is on the chopping block.

Governor Bill Walker has proposed eliminating three positions from the Alaska Film Office. Without auditors and accountants to help review information from production companies, the program would essentially go on hiatus.

Russian Orthodox congregation members spin stars at the Senior Center for Slaaviq. The white star at right is from the former Unangan village of Kashega. (Annie Ngo/KUCB)

It’s Christmas in January in the Aleutian Islands. Russian Orthodox congregations up and down the chain are celebrating Slaaviq, or Russian Christmas, this week.

They’re holding starring ceremonies, where a star decorated with bells, lights and tinsel spins as the church choir sings in Russian and English. 

Unalaska’s Slaaviq began Wednesday at the Senior Center. KUCB's Annie Ropeik was there and brought back this postcard.

Nick Lekanoff, Sr. and his daughter return to Makushin in August 2009. (Courtesy: NPS)

Three traditional villages on the far side of Unalaska Island fell to ruin after their Unangan residents were relocated during World War II.

Now, a new book tells the stories of Kashega, Biorka and Makushin villages -- from settlement, to abandonment, to the return of the elders who grew up there.

KUCB’s Annie Ropeik sat down with authors Ray Hudson and Rachel Mason to talk more about Lost Villages of the Eastern Aleutians.