SHI to host lecture by Tlingit hip-hop artist Arias Hoyle, "Air Jazz"

SHI will host a lecture on Monday, April 13, at noon by the Tlingit hip-hop artist Arias Jazzer Sarabia Hoyle, Yáw Du Néh, whose artist name is Air Jazz. He is G̱aanax̱teidí, Raven Woodworm, from the Yáay Hít (Whale House) in Tlákw.aan (Klukwan.)

Air Jazz, who is based in Juneau, grew up in a household full of music. He witnessed the joy music brings while watching his father play guitar and his older brother perform in school, and seeing this passion inspired Air Jazz to begin writing, performing and recording his own songs. His uncle, Xeetli.éesh Lyle James, and Dr. X̱’unei Lance Twitchell mentored him in his pursuit. Air Jazz has described the two men as “inspiring Tlingit male figures who embody the heritage and resilience of our people.”

Many of Air Jazz’s songs contain both English and Tlingit. His great grandmother Káach ku Áakw Helen Sarabia, who helped write SHI’s Tlingit dictionary, taught him Tlingit phrases early on. Air Jazz has said using Tlingit phrases in his music helps express where he’s from and aids in language retention skills.

“I hope to contribute to this rising wave of Indigeneity,” Air Jazz has said. “Music can unify a nation of Indigenous youth, across the state and continent. New tunes mean bringing the ancestors’ voices into the present and making a new song for the dance groups for the rising Native musicians.”

Air Jazz is honored in SHI’s new installment of its Icons of Alaska Native Leadership display in the Walter Soboleff Building, where some of his regalia is on display.

The lecture will be held in the Clan House on the first level of Sealaska Heritage Institute, which is located at 105 Heritage Way in downtown Juneau.

Sealaska Heritage Institute is a non-profit tribal organization founded in 1980 to perpetuate and enhance Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian cultures of Southeast Alaska. SHI also conducts scientific and public policy research that promotes Alaska Native arts, cultures, history and education statewide. The institute is governed by a Board of Trustees and guided by a Council of Traditional Scholars, a Native Artist Committee, a Southeast Regional Language Committee and a newly formed Education Committee.

CONTACT: Kathy Dye, Deputy Director of Publications and Communications, Kathy.Dye@Sealaska.com. Caption: Arias Hoyle, whose artist name is Air Jazz, will give a lecture at SHI on Monday, April 13 at noon. Note: News outlets are welcome to use this photo for coverage of this story. For a higher-res version, contact kathy.dye@sealaska.com