Alaska’s Native languages are spoken less frequently as a steady stream of young Alaska Natives leave their rural hometowns for work or school in Anchorage. But Ember Thomas, an education coordinator with the Alaska Native Heritage Center, says she hears the same question over and over again:
"Where can I learn my native language?"
Thomas says she didn’t use to have an easy answer for that question. But now, the center has received a $200,000 federal grant to track down language resources in Anchorage and throughout the state, and match them with prospective learners.
The Iliuliuk Family and Health Services clinic in Unalaska serves a diverse population. Now, it's trying to diversify the kind of care it provides, too.
The clinic is branching out into natural therapies and relaxation techniques, and it's training staff in those methods. This fall, IFHS nurse practitioner Laura Ballou is starting a two-year alternative medicine fellowship. And late last month, IFHS invited an Athabascan native healer to lead a guided imagery therapy class at Burma Road Chapel.
Attu survivor and author Nick Golodoff signs copies of Attu Boy/Credit Stephanie Joyce
During World War II, the Japanese occupied the Aleutian island of Attu, and shipped its residents off to prisoner of war camps. The village was never resettled and for decades, it was all but forgotten. This week, the surviving Attuans and those descended from the village gathered in Anchorage. KUCB’s Stephanie Joyce has the story.
The Alaska Migratory Bird Calendar hangs in homes and offices across the state, showcasing avian-inspired student artwork. In 2013, three drawings produced by young Unalaskans will be featured in the calendar.
The Alaska Maritime Refuge released their regional contest results this month, and Mia McWilliams, Kiara Villamor, and Natalie Brown were among the 12 winners in the arts category.
Today, AC Value Centers are ubiquitous in rural parts of the state, selling everything from groceries to sporting gear to bedding. But a hundred years ago, the Alaska Commercial Company was a force that played a major role in the early development of Alaska. There are plenty of detailed records about their early operations in Kodiak and Cook Inlet, but information about their Aleutian outposts has been scarce, up until now.
Chagudax: A Small Window Into the Life of an Aleut Bentwood Hat Carver. That’s the name of a recently published book about Andrew Gronholdt, a renowned bentwood hat carver who passed away in 1998.
The book is a combination of Gronholdt’s diaries and illustrations of his artwork. Sharon Gronholdt-Dye, co-editor of the book and daughter of the author says it tells the story of his life, growing up in the Shumagin Islands and discovering his passion for bentwood hats.
This New Year’s Eve chrysanthemums, brocade crowns, weeping willows and maybe even some dancing monkeys will light up the night sky at one minute to midnight.
Volunteers have been working hard all week over at Public Works to get the annual fireworks show set up. There are hundreds of shells and mortars involved and they all have to be perfectly wired to fire at the right moment.
That said, it’s a pretty simple set-up: thick tubes ranging from 3 to 12 inches in diameter mounted in wooden racks and stacked on a giant flatbed. Inside each of the tubes is a brown-paper wrapped ball that when triggered will shoot into the sky and explode.
A recent competition sponsored by the Ballyhoo Lions Club allowed local students to both express their creativity and think about the larger problems facing the world.
Unalaska City School Student Charity Haskins has this report for KUCB.
