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.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

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

A poster in the Native and Rural Student Center at the University of Alaska Southeast reads “Alaska is diverse, and so are our educators.” (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
University of Alaska holds virtual town hall to address fear and stress in changing federal landscape

Students, faculty and staff ask about protecting international students, Alaska Native programs.

A map shows the area to the west of Lynn Canal where state transportation officials are seeking proposals to study a road and/or other transportation linking Juneau and other communities. (Google Maps)
Senate claws back $37 million in Juneau Access funds to help pass next year’s capital budget

Funds rediverted for statewide use a month after DOT seeks new studies for “dead” access project.

Haines seniors, left-to-right, Ari’el Godinez Long, Ashlyn Ganey and Emma Dohrn pose at the AABC Alaska Senior All-Star Game on Saturday at Anchorage’s Grace Christian High School. (Photo courtesy Ashlyn Ganey)
Local senior hoopsters play last minutes as all-stars

AABC 16th annual event showcases Alaska basketball talent

The Norwegian Bliss arrives in Juneau on Monday, April 14, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
Local collaborators cruise through first day of visitor season

U.S. Forest Service, partners optimistic about ability to provide a high-quality visitor experience.

Richard Chalyee Éesh Peterson, president of the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, delivers his State of the Tribe speech to delegates during the opening of the 89th annual Tribal Assembly on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall. This year’s three-day tribal assembly is scheduled to start Wednesday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
Tlingit and Haida’s 90th tribal assembly will feature constitutional convention amidst ‘crazy times’

Impacts of federal and state turmoil on tribal issues likely to loom large at three-day gathering.

Welcome messages in multiple languages are painted on windows at the University of Alaska Anchorage at the start of the semester in January. (University of Alaska Anchorage photo)
Juneau refugee family gets ‘leave immediately’ notice; four people affiliated with UAA have visas revoked

Actions part of nationwide sweep as Trump ignores legal orders against detentions, deportations.

Rhiannon Giddens and Dirk Powell, the featured guest artists for the 50th Alaska Folk Festival, perform the final concert of the weeklong event at Centennial Hall on Sunday night. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
50th Alaska Folk Festival is one for the records

Capacity crowds, Grammy-winning artists, sellout of merchandise, future film make for resounding week.

Power remained on in downtown Juneau on Sunday night, while two damaged poles left much of the rest of the town in the dark. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Damaged power poles knocks out electricity to Valley, other northern parts of Juneau

Repairs to outage that occurred Sunday evening expected by midnight, ALE&P says.

The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears track team had a strong showing against the Kodiak Bears in the Bears Dual On The Rock meet at Kodiak over the weekend. (Photo courtesy JDHS track)
Traveling Crimson Bears tear up Kodiak Bears

JDHS wins Bears Dual On The Rock track invitational

Most Read