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The University of Alaska Southeast held its seventh annual Native Oratory Contest on March 7. UAS students from Juneau, Ketchikan and Yakutat, one student from Juneau Douglas High School, one from Thunder Mountain High School and one home-schooled student competed in the event.

Students gave five- to 15-minute speeches in four categories: Oratory, Dramatic Declamation, Storytelling and Native Language.

Speeches in the Oratory category were to advocate a viewpoint related to Native Alaskans using reasoning, elocution and evidence to support the opinion. Gloria Anderstrom of Yakutat took first place for her speech about the effects of pollution on traditional subsistence living among Natives in Southeast Alaska.

Dramatic Declamations were to be recitations of historic Native American speeches. Amanda Bremner of Yakutat took first place in the category as she retold a speech given by A.P. Johnson, a Tlingit elder. It was a speech about speeches, emphasizing the importance of oral tradition.

"My generation is at risk of being the first generation to not pass down our oral history, to not practice our tradition, and to not speak our language," Bremner said.

In the Storytelling category, Ishmael Hope of Juneau took first place for dramatically narrating an Alaska Native tale about the birth of the mosquito.

In the Native Language category, students presented a piece in a Southeast Alaska Native language followed by an English translation. Seven students participated, which was a record number for the category. Amanda Bremner took first place and Joseph Yates placed second. Yates performed a song he composed in honor of his grandparents.

First place winners will travel to Anchorage to participate in the Alaska Native Oratory Society Statewide Competition on April 4.

Though students said they were proud to bring home awards, the contest was about much more than just competing. Coordinators Lyle and Kolene James said it was a magical, emotional and triumphant day for Native culture.

Lyle, addressing the students, said, "You were all amazing. I didn't see just you standing there today. I saw the ancestors standing next to you. It was as if the grandparents within you came to talk to us. Every single one of you tugged the strings to our hearts."

UAS Chancellor John Pugh expressed the university's support for the program during the awards ceremony. He also thanked the volunteer judges, time keepers and video recorders who made the event possible.

"It gives an indication of the number of people who care and who really want to be a part of Native language and culture," Pugh said.

Poets Richard and Nora Marks Dauenhauer were among the panel of judges. They both expressed their passion for Native languages and encouraged students to extend the lives of these languages by another generation.

Richard spoke of the survival of Native languages that have been the victims of "linguistic genocide." Nora said she recalled as a child being spanked with a ruler in school for speaking Tlingit instead of English.

"Tlingit is worth fighting for. It is worth every ounce of our strength, every ounce of our being to have this (language) taught at this university," Nora said. "This is Tlingit country. I love the language very much. It's my whole being. It means, for me, to be alive. We have to keep this going so that we can keep living."