Haines Tlingit master carver Wayne Price waves Haines residents during the unveiling of a Tlingit screen and totem poles in front of the Soboleff McRae Wellness Center in Haines on Thursday, April 27, 2017. Price and his work will be the focus of multiple Juneau events during November for Native American and Native Alaskan Heritage Month. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)

Haines Tlingit master carver Wayne Price waves Haines residents during the unveiling of a Tlingit screen and totem poles in front of the Soboleff McRae Wellness Center in Haines on Thursday, April 27, 2017. Price and his work will be the focus of multiple Juneau events during November for Native American and Native Alaskan Heritage Month. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)

Get ready for a busy Native American and Alaska Native Heritage Month

November is filled with events

November is Native American and Alaska Native Month, and there’s no shortage of local events commemorating it.

Sealaska Heritage Institute, libraries, museums and more are all organizing and hosting events in November.

Here’s a run down of the monthlong observations of Alaska Native culture and history.

Thursday, Nov. 1

Food Sovereignty Featuring Deer, 2-3 p.m., University of Alaska Southeast Mourant Building. The Native and Rural Student Center will host this free tasting.

Lecture on origin, migration of Tlingit Kaagwaantaan, noon, Walter Soboleff Building, 105 S. Seward St. David Kanosh will share oral accounts of the origin and migration of the Tlingit Kaagwaantaan. The event, sponsored by Sealaska Heritage Institute, is free and open to the public.

Friday, Nov. 2

“Dugout” documentary screening, 5:30-7 p.m., UAS Soboleff Building Room 102, 11066 Auke Lake Way. Tlingit Northwest Coast artist Wayne Price’s canoe “Dugout” documentary will be screened. This is an opportunity to visit with Price, see his students in action and sample some snacks.

Evening at Egan: Tribal Governance, 7 p.m., Egan Library, 11120 Glacier Highway. Richard Peterson, President of Central Council of Tlingit & Haida Tribes of Alaska, will discuss Tribes and Tribal Governance and the primary issues surrounding Tribes and Tribal leadership in Southeast Alaska today.

Opening reception for McNeil, Real Indians (and Curtis), 4:30-7 p.m., Alaska State Museum, 395 Whittier St. Larry Xhe Dhé Tee Harbor Jackson McNeil and Edward Curtis made their careers out of photographing the Indigenous people of North America. This exhibition examines the ongoing visual dialogue about the question of what the concept of “Real Indians” is all about. The reception will be followed by an artist lecture and discussion.

Ten Tlingit Words to Know and Use, 4:30-7 p.m., Juneau-Douglas City Museum, 114 W. Fourth St. This event invites the viewer to use words in Tlingit, a language that has been in use for at least 10,000 years. In addition, museum visitors will be provided a Tlingit language scavenger hunt.

Friday, Nov. 2, 9, 16 and 30

Formline Fridays, 1-2 p.m., UAS campus,11066 Auke Lake Way, The NRSC will host weekly event. Participants can bring in an item, like T-shirt, hoodie, jeans or jacket, to decorate with formline stencils and paint.

Tuesday, Nov. 6

Third Annual Power and Privilege Symposium, 8:15 a.m.-7 p.m., UAS campus, 11066 Auke Lake Way. This event is free and open to all, including students, faculty, staff, and community members. Full schedule and other information can be found at uas.alaska.edu/privilege.

Voting Celebration, 8-10 p.m., location TBA. UAS is hosting an election-night celebration to encourage students to take part in the process.

Lecture on first cannery in Alaska, noon, Walter Soboleff Building, 105 S. Seward St. Steve Langdon will delve into how the Ganaax.ádi clan leader Teigahéit’ asserted his ownership and control of the Klawock River and established that principle as the foundation of the relationship that allowed the emergence of commercial salmon canning. The Sealaska Heritage Institute-sponsored event is free and open to the public.

Thursday, Nov. 8

Lecture on DNA studies of Native Ancestors, noon, Walter Soboleff Building, 105 S. Seward St. Ripan S. Mahali will talk about the population histories of indigenous communities in Northwest North America and findings from DNA studies of Shuká Káa, a Native man whose 10,000-year-old remains were found in Southeast Alaska in the 1990s. The Sealaska Heritage Institute-sponsored event is free and open to the public.

Journeys in the Jibba Canoe with Wayne Price, 5:30 p.m., Andrew P. Kashevaroff Lecture Hall, 395 Whitter St. Tlingit master carver Waybe price will talk about traveling long distances in his Jibba canoe.

Friday, Nov. 9

Evening at Egan: Juneau’s Ethnographic History, 7 p.m., Egan Library, 11120 Glacier Highway. Author, cartographer, and naturalist Richard Carstensen will join Aak’w and Taku Kwaan historians and culture bearers, in a discussion about Juneau’s cultural and ethnographic history.

Lecture on revival of ancient sea basketry, noon, Walter Soboleff Building, 105 S. Seward St. Suquamish Elder Ed Carriere and Archaeologist Dale R. Croes will present on the revival of ancient basketry through the study of 2,000-year-old waterlogged specimens found in Washington State. The Sealaska Heritage Institute-sponsored event is free and open to the public.

Veterans Day Observed, noon, Walter Soboleff Building, 105 S. Seward St. Sealaska Heritage Institute will highlight Tlingit code talkers Mark Jacobs Jr., Harvey Jacobs, George Leris Jr., Robert “Heff” David Sr. and Richard Bean Sr.

Saturday, Nov. 10

“Hunting in Wartime” screening and discussion, 2 p.m., Andrew P. Kashevaroff Lecture Hall, 395 Whittier St. The movie profiles Tlingit Vietnam War veterans from Hoonah.

Sunday, Nov. 11

Veterans Day ceremony and luncheon, 11:30 a.m., Southeast Alaska Native Veterans Memorial Park, Warrior Street (adjacent to 320 W. Willoughby Ave.) All are welcome to attend.

Wednesday, Nov. 14

Walter Soboleff Day, noon, Walter Soboleff Building, 105 S. Seward St. Sealaska Heritage Institute will host a viewing of items from its collections that are related to Soboleff and his legacy.

Expressing Ecouragement and Gratitude through Personal Notes, Juneau-Douglas City Museum, 114 W. Fourth St. The museum invites participants to send someone a note of encouragement throughout the month of November and offers a free notecard, U.S. postage, and an insert remembering Dr. Soboleff, which can be included with your letter.

Friday, Nov. 16

Evening at Egan: Tlingit Storyteller Bob Sam “Respecting Our Elders,” 7 p.m., Egan Library, 11120 Clacier Highway. Bob Sam will speak about his research and work with the Native American Boarding Schools (NABS) in supporting Tribal Nations seeking the repatriation of their children buried at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and other parts of the country.

Saturday, Nov. 17

Traditional Games, noon-3 p.m., UAS Rec Center, 12300 Mendenhall Loop Road. This annual demonstration and participation event is open to the community, and hosted by Wooch.Een.

Tuesday, Nov. 20

Lecture on the power of Native names, noon, Walter Soboleff Building, 105 S. Seward St. Alaska Writer Laureate Ernestine Saankaláxt Hayes will tell of how the Alaska Native practice of naming has impacted her work, her life and the work and lives of others. She’ll also discuss efforts to restore original names to significant places in Alaska and elsewhere. The Sealaska Heritage Institute-sponsored event is free and open to the public.

Tuesday, Nov. 27

Lecture on raven stories, noon, Walter Soboleff Building, 105 S. Seward St. X’unei Lance Twitchell will explore the character of Raven based on analysis of a series of Yéil Kutláakw (Raven Cycles) and Yéil Shkalneek (Raven Stories) that were documented from the 1950s through 2013. The Sealaska Heritage Institute-sponsored event is free and open to the public.

Wednesday, Nov. 28

“Sayéik,” 6:30 p.m., Juneau-Douglas City Museum, 114 W. Fourth St. There will be a screening of a student research film that examines colonization in Southeast Alaska.

Thursday, Nov. 29

Lecture on indigenous knowledge of Yakutat people, noon, Walter Soboleff Building, 105 S. Seward St. Judy Ramos, assistant professor of Alaska Native Studies at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and Aron Crowell, an archaeologist and anthropologist with the Arctic Studies Center in Anchorage, will discuss the Yakutat Seal Camps Project, which ran from 2011-2014 and combined oral tradition and archaeology to explore 1,000 years of community history. The Sealaska Heritage Institute-sponsored event is free and open to the public.

Thursday, Nov. 29-Friday, Nov. 30

Any Given Child Arts Excursions, Walter Soboleff Building, 105 S. Seward St. All second-graders in the Juneau School district will visit the building as part of a national program.

Friday, Nov. 30

Evening at Egan: “Molly of Denali,” 7 p.m., Egan Library, 11120 Glacier Highway. Princess Daazhraii Johnson, creative producer of the PBS animated series “Molly of Denali” will speak about the project.

Kyle Worl demonstrates the Alaskan high kick while at the University of Alaska Southeast campus on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2017. The annual games will be part of Native American and Native Alaskan Heritage month. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)

Kyle Worl demonstrates the Alaskan high kick while at the University of Alaska Southeast campus on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2017. The annual games will be part of Native American and Native Alaskan Heritage month. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)

More in Home

Pauline Plumb and Penny Saddler carry vegetables grown by fellow gardeners during the 29th Annual Juneau Community Garden Harvest Fair on Saturday, Aug. 19, 2023. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
Dunleavy says he plans to reestablish state Department of Agriculture via executive order

Demoted to division status after statehood, governor says revival will improve food production policies.

The U.S. Capitol in Washington, Dec. 18, 2024. The Senate passed bipartisan legislation early Saturday that would give full Social Security benefits to a group of public sector retirees who currently receive them at a reduced level, sending the bill to President JOE Biden. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times)
Congress OKs full Social Security benefits for public sector retirees, including 15,000 in Alaska

Biden expected to sign bill that eliminates government pension offset from benefits.

Alan Steffert, a project engineer for the City and Borough of Juneau, explains alternatives considered when assessing infrastructure improvements including utilities upgrades during a meeting to discuss a proposed fee increase Thursday night at Thunder Mountain Middle School. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Hike of more than 60% in water rates, 80% in sewer over next five years proposed by CBJ utilities

Increase needed due to rates not keeping up with inflation, officials say; Assembly will need to OK plan.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy and President-elect Donald Trump (left) will be working as chief executives at opposite ends of the U.S. next year, a face constructed of rocks on Sandy Beach is seen among snow in November (center), and KINY’s prize patrol van (right) flashes its colors outside the station this summer. (Photos, from left to right, from Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s office, Elliot Welch via Juneau Parks and Recreation, and Mark Sabbatini via the Juneau Empire)
Juneau’s 10 strangest news stories of 2024

Governor’s captivating journey to nowhere, woman who won’t leave the beach among those making waves.

The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears boys basketball team pose in the bleachers at Durango High School in Las Vegas during the Tarkanian Classic Tournament. (Photo courtesy JDHS Crimson Bears)
JDHS boys earn win at Tarkanian Classic tournament

Crimson Bears find defensive “science” in crucial second half swing.

The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears girls basketball team pose at the Ceasar’s Palace fountain in Las Vegas during the Tarkanian Classic Tournament. (Photo courtesy JDHS Crimson Bears)
Crimson Bears girls win second in a row at Tarkanian Classic

JDHS continues to impress at prestigious Las Vegas tournament.

Bartlett Regional Hospital, along with Juneau’s police and fire departments, are partnering in a new behavioral health crisis response program announced Thursday. (Bartlett Regional Hospital photo)
New local behavioral health crisis program using hospital, fire and police officials debuts

Mobile crisis team of responders forms five months after hospital ends crisis stabilization program.

The cover image from Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s “Alaska Priorities For Federal Transition” report. (Office of the Governor)
Loch Ness ducks or ‘vampire grebes’? Alaska governor report for Trump comes with AI hallucinations

A ChatGPT-generated image of Alaska included some strange-looking waterfowl.

Rep. Alyse Galvin, an Anchorage independent, takes a photo with Meadow Stanley, a senior at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé on April before they took part in a march protesting education funding from the school to the Alaska State Capitol. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Drops in Alaska’s student test scores and education funding follow similar paths past 20 years, study claims

Fourth graders now are a year behind their 2007 peers in reading and math, author of report asserts.

Most Read