(Anchorage,
AK) - Anchorage youth and youth groups will have the opportunity
to learn about Alaska Native cultures in a fun environment. The
Alaska Native Heritage Center (ANHC) is celebrating Youth Day on
January 31, 2004 from 10am to 5PM. Throughout the day, activities
will be provided for entertainment, fun and education. Also available
will be programs to allow scouts to pass requirements for certain
badges for their advancement. Youth Day is one of the continuing
series of Celebrating Culture Saturdays sponsored by BP.
"Families
and youth are a large part of our mission to share, perpetuate and
preserve the unique Alaska Native cultures, languages, traditions
and values through celebration and education", stated Jon Ross,
President and CEO. "Through Youth Day we are creating fun and educational
programs for the youth of our community to learn about Native cultures."
There
will be performances by the Fireweed Dancers and the Alaska Native
Heritage Center's Dance Group. The Fireweed Dancers were formed
in May 2003 when a student shared a song with others and inspired
others to join in. Currently 10 to 15 dancers are learning and performing
songs from all over Alaska. As part of their growth, they create
their own songs as well as making their own regalia, drums and dance
fans. Fireweed Dancers range in age from 14 to 17 years and represent
all regions of Alaska. The Alaska Native Heritage Center Dance Group
was created in the fall of 2001 as part of the ANHC's After-School
Program for Alaska Native high school students. The initial vision
was to offer a performance component to the students, teaching them
traditional Native dance (Yup'ik Eskimo dancing). The group has
studied with master dance instructors from throughout the state,
expanding its performance repertoire to include Tsimshian, Inupiaq
and Aleut singing and dancing.
There
will be Native storytelling with Edward Tiulana. Tiulana was born
and raised in Anchorage and keeps his Inupiaq culture alive as a
member of the King Island Dancers. King Island is located 40 miles
west of Cape Douglas in the Bering Sea, south of Wales. Tiulana
started dancing with the group at the age of 12 and has kept the
beat strong since then. The King Island dancers have traveled all
over the world including Seoul, South Korea, Paraguay, England and
throughout the United States.
There
will be hands on classes in Alaska Native dance, language and art
as part of an ongoing ANHC Cultural Education Program sponsored
by the CIRI Foundation. Art and language classes will be held each
Saturday and will run for 4 to 6 weeks. Language classes will be
Tlingit with Paul Marks from 10am to 12pm and Dena'ina Athabascan
with Jim Wilson from 2pm to 4:30. Art classes will be making small
Alutiiq headdresses with Viola Inga from 10am to 12pm and Tlingit
beading with Mabel Pike from 2pm to 4pm. Dance classes will be held
each Saturday and will represent different cultures each week. The
dance classes will be Inupiaq with Edward Tiulana at 12pm and 4pm.
Each dance class will last a half an hour. To register for art and
language classes, call 330-8002, Monday through Friday, 8am to 5pm.
There is no registration necessary for the dance classes.
In addition
to the art classes, there will be arts and crafts sessions available
throughout the day for all ages. Instructions include how to make:
Athabascan Necklaces, Yup'ik/Cup'ik Medicine Pouches and Inupiaq/St.
Lawrence Island Yupik Yoyos. Several videos will be shown such as
Stories Given, Stories Shared, Mama, Do You Love Me and Alaska's
Three Bears.
The Bird
Treatment and Learning Center (Bird TLC) will be giving special
presentations with a Golden Eagle, Bald Eagle and a Great Gray Owl.
The Bird Treatment and Learning Center is a non-profit organization
dedicated to rehabilitating sick, injured or orphaned wild birds
and avian education programs. Dr. James R. Scott, an Anchorage veterinarian,
founded Bird TLC in 1988. Dr. Scott, along with other Alaskan veterinarians,
donate their time to treat the birds in need. In addition to medical
care, Bird TLC provides a variety of educational programs to increase
people's awareness of the wild birds around them and to encourage
preservation of their habitat.
There
will be outdoor activities for all. Lap game, a Native game that's
a bit like baseball and dodge ball and is often played at fish camps
in the summer. Winter basketball, a very important contemporary
Native cultural value, will be played with ANHC's new outdoor hoops.
Weather permitting there will be snowshoeing and a traditional blanket
toss.
Visitors
can experience the five recreated village sites that illustrate
the traditional structures in a typical village before or shortly
after contact with other cultures. Knowledgeable tour guides will
share history, culture and traditions of each Native culture.
The Alaska
Native Heritage Center is an independent, nonprofit that is committed
to sharing, perpetuating and preserving the unique Alaska Native
cultures, languages, traditions and values through celebration and
education. It is located at 8800 Heritage Center Drive in northeast
Anchorage, just off Muldoon Road North near Bartlett High School.
For more information about other events and programs, visit www.alaskanative.net
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