The Native People of Alaska
The Native People of Alaska

Author: Steve Langdon

Publisher:

Published: 1989

Total Pages: 84

ISBN-13:

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Introductory guide to the Eskimos, Indians and Aleuts. Focus is on their life-styles, traditions, and culture.

Alaska Native Cultures and Issues
Alaska Native Cultures and Issues

Author: Libby Roderick

Publisher: University of Alaska Press

Published: 2010-07-15

Total Pages: 114

ISBN-13: 1602230927

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Making up more than ten percent of Alaska's population, Native Alaskans are the state's largest minority group. Yet most non-Native Alaskans know surprisingly little about the histories and cultures of their indigenous neighbors, or about the important issues they face. This concise book compiles frequently asked questions and provides informative and accessible responses that shed light on some common misconceptions. With responses composed by scholars within the represented communities and reviewed by a panel of experts, this easy-to-read compendium aims to facilitate a deeper exploration and richer discussion of the complex and compelling issues that are part of Alaska Native life today.

Native Peoples and Languages of Alaska
Native Peoples and Languages of Alaska

Author: Michael E. Krauss

Publisher: Alaska Native Language Center

Published: 2007-01-25

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 9780933769007

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There are twenty Alaska native languages. Eskimo-Aleut is one language family, with Aleutian Aleut as one branch, and Eskimo as the other. There are four Eskimo languages in Alaska, three of them Yupik (Alutiiq [Sugpiaq], Central Yupik, and Siberian Yupik), and the other Inupiaq. Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit is another language family, with the nearly extinct Eyak as one branch and all the Athabaskan languages as another. Tlingit is in some ways distantly related to both. There are eleven Athabaskan languages in Alaska, differing from each other to varying degrees. Haida is a completely different language, spoken also in Canada. Tsimshian is also a completely different language, spoken mostly in Canada. The inset map of North America shows the great spread of Inupiaq Eskimo across Canada and Greenland, and of Athabaskan though Canada, in Oregon and California, and in the Southwest (Navajo and Apache). None of the Alaska native languages were written before the coming of the Russians. The first written Alaskan language was Aleut, using a Slavonic alphabet. The first Aleut books were printed in 1834. By now, good writing systems have been developed for all Alaska native languages, and books have been printed in most of them. Each Alaska native language has its own intricate beauty, a highly complex and regular grammar and enormous vocabulary. This has been developed by the people over the thousands of years they have lived in this area. Recently the history of these languages has been tragic. From about 1900 until the 1960s, native languages were severely suppressed. Children were punished for speaking their native language in school. They were forced to abandon their language, in order to speak English only. In 1972, the Alaska State Legislature passed the Bilingual Education bill, giving children the right to use and cultivate their native language in school, and also established the Alaska Native Language Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Many important developments are taking place now to maintain for future generations of Alaskans the precious heritage of their native languages and cultures.

Indigenous Education
Indigenous Education

Author: W. James Jacob

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2015-01-20

Total Pages: 475

ISBN-13: 9401793557

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Indigenous Education is a compilation of conceptual chapters and national case studies that includes empirical research based on a series of data collection methods. The book provides up-to-date scholarly research on global trends on three issues of paramount importance with indigenous education—language, culture, and identity. It also offers a strategic comparative and international education policy statement on recent shifts in indigenous education, and new approaches to explore, develop, and improve comparative education and policy research globally. Contributing authors examine several social justice issues related to indigenous education. In addition to case perspectives from 12 countries and global regions, the volume includes five conceptual chapters on topics that influence indigenous education, including policy debates, the media, the united nations, formal and informal education systems, and higher education.

The Alaska Native Reader
The Alaska Native Reader

Author: Maria Sháa Tláa Williams

Publisher: Duke University Press

Published: 2009-09-25

Total Pages: 420

ISBN-13: 0822390833

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Alaska is home to more than two hundred federally recognized tribes. Yet the long histories and diverse cultures of Alaska’s first peoples are often ignored, while the stories of Russian fur hunters and American gold miners, of salmon canneries and oil pipelines, are praised. Filled with essays, poems, songs, stories, maps, and visual art, this volume foregrounds the perspectives of Alaska Native people, from a Tlingit photographer to Athabascan and Yup’ik linguists, and from an Alutiiq mask carver to a prominent Native politician and member of Alaska’s House of Representatives. The contributors, most of whom are Alaska Natives, include scholars, political leaders, activists, and artists. The majority of the pieces in The Alaska Native Reader were written especially for the volume, while several were translated from Native languages. The Alaska Native Reader describes indigenous worldviews, languages, arts, and other cultural traditions as well as contemporary efforts to preserve them. Several pieces examine Alaska Natives’ experiences of and resistance to Russian and American colonialism; some of these address land claims, self-determination, and sovereignty. Some essays discuss contemporary Alaska Native literature, indigenous philosophical and spiritual tenets, and the ways that Native peoples are represented in the media. Others take up such diverse topics as the use of digital technologies to document Native cultures, planning systems that have enabled indigenous communities to survive in the Arctic for thousands of years, and a project to accurately represent Dena’ina heritage in and around Anchorage. Fourteen of the volume’s many illustrations appear in color, including work by the contemporary artists Subhankar Banerjee, Perry Eaton, Erica Lord, and Larry McNeil.

Native Cultures in Alaska
Native Cultures in Alaska

Author: Alaska Geographic Association

Publisher: Graphic Arts Books

Published: 2012-11-15

Total Pages: 207

ISBN-13: 0882409026

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In the minds of most Americans, Native culture in Alaska amounts to Eskimos and igloos....The latest publication of the Alaska Geographic Society offers an accessible and attractive antidote to such misconceptions. Native Cultures in Alaska blends beautiful photographs with informative text to create a striking portrait of the state's diverse and dynamic indigenous population.

Living Our Cultures, Sharing Our Heritage
Living Our Cultures, Sharing Our Heritage

Author: Aron A. Crowell

Publisher: Smithsonian Institution

Published: 2010-05-18

Total Pages: 314

ISBN-13: 1588342700

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Living Our Cultures, Sharing Our Heritage: The First Peoples of Alaska features more than 200 objects representing the masterful artistry and design traditions of twenty Alaska Native peoples. Based on a collaborative exhibition created by Alaska Native communities, the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, and the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, this richly illustrated volume celebrates both the long-awaited return of ancestral treasures to their native homeland and the diverse cultures in which they were created. Despite the North's transformation through globalizing change, the objects shown in these pages are interpretable within ongoing cultural frames, articulated in languges still spoken. They were made for a way of life on the land that is carried on today throughout Alaska. Dialogue with the region's First Peoples evokes past meanings but focuses equally on contemporary values, practices, and identities. Objects and narratives show how each Alaska Native nation is unique—and how all are connected. After introductions to the history of the land and its people, universal themes of “Sea, Land, Rivers,” “Family and Community,” and “Ceremony and Celebration” are explored referencing exquisite masks, parkas, beaded garments, basketry, weapons, and carvings that embody the diverse environments and practices of their makers. Accompanied by traditional stories and personal accounts by Alaska Native elders, artists, and scholars, each piece featured in Living Our Cultures, Sharing Our Heritage evokes both historical and contemporary meaning, and breathes the life of its people.