Canku Ota - March 6, 2004 - Annual Spring Bazaar at the Alaska Native Heritage Center

Anchorage, AK) - Shoppers will be able to purchase authentic Alaska Native arts and crafts at the Alaska Native Heritage Center's (ANHC) annual Spring Bazaar on March 6, 2004 from 10am to 5pm. Silver Hand artists from across the state will be on hand to offer unique Alaska Native arts and crafts. Admission is free. This is one of the continuing series of Celebrating Culture Saturdays, sponsored by BP, which presents a unique cultural program each week.

All artists who participate in the Bazaar are 'Silver Hand' artists, as identified by the Alaska State Council on the Arts. The 'Silver Hand' program guarantees that all work is handcrafted, authentic and made in whole by an Alaska Native in Alaska.

In addition to the arts and crafts, there will be performances from Native entertainers. One of the popular groups performing is Henry Shavings & Crew. Shavings was born in 1929 in a traditional sod house on Nunivak Island off Alaska's west coast. He sings gospel, country and "cowboy" songs while sporting a blue baseball cap that reads, "Henry Shavings - the singing fisherman". He learned fishing from his father and grandfather and is still an active commercial fisherman as well as an artist, performer and storyteller. Though his "Crew" may change, depending on who is available, it generally consists of his wife Hilma, their son Arnold Shavings, Archie Swan of Kivalina, and Davis Normand of Anchorage.

Other performers include the Pilot Bread Band, Anchorage Moravian Church Choir, Robin Kiyutelluk, Nunivak Group and the ANHC Dance Group. The Pilot Bread Band is a newly formed group from the villages of Kipnuk, Toksook Bay, Hooper Bay & Golovin. Members of the band are Inupiaq & Yup'ik Eskimos. They choose the name Pilot Bread because it is a staple food for all the cultures of Alaska. The Anchorage Moravian Church Choir has been performing together since 1973. The members are Yup'ik Eskimo from the Kuskokwim region around Bethel and Dillingham. Robin Kiyutelluk, a 11-year-old Inupiaq Eskimo, will also be singing. She has been singing since the age of 3 and travels to villages and other cities to sing for various church functions. Robin is a favorite for the Anchorage Native Musical during the Anchorage Fur Rondy. The ANHC Dance Group began in the fall of 2001 as part of the Alaska Native Heritage Center's After-School Program for Alaska Native high school students. The group has studied with master dance instructors from throughout the state, expanding its performance repertoire to include Tsimshian, Yup'ik, Inupiaq and Aleut singing and dancing. The dancers, dressed in traditional regalia, perform dances that tell stories of traditional Native legends and lifestyles.

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 Unangax Aleut with Sally Swetzof from 11am to 1pm, Deg'i tan Athabascan with Louise Winkleman and Martha Wassillie from 1pm to 3pm and Tlingit with Paul Marks from 3pm to 5pm. Art classes will be Alutiiq basket weaving with Natalia Inga from 10am to 12:30pm and sewing a Yup'ik doll parka with Eva Bryant from 2pm to 4:30pm. To register for art and language classes, call 330-8002, Monday through Friday, 8am to 5pm.

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

Kay E. Ashton
Public Relations
Alaska Native Heritage Center
www.alaskanative.net
Fax: 907 330-8030
Phone: 800 315-6608