Sealaska Heritage Institute

SHI for Southeast Alaska Native Language Learning

SHI

Advancing Tlingit (Lingít), Haida (X̱aad Kíl) & Tsimshian (Sm’algya̱x) Language Learning.

SHI Supporting Southeast Alaska Language Learning Endeavors and Schools

Restoring Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian languages is a priority. Across Southeast Alaska, we sponsor programs that document, preserve, and revitalize Native languages.

Sealaska Heritage Institute operates programs to revitalize the ancient languages of Southeast Alaska: Lingít (Tlingit), X̱aad Kíl (Haida), and Sm’algya̱x (Tsimshian). The languages were almost lost during a time of severe cultural oppression, but in recent years, a number of young people have learned their ancient tongue and are now teaching it to others with assistance from fluent Elders. SHI has also published a number of language books to document and help revitalize the languages. The languages contain a wealth of information about Southeast Alaska, including ancient geological phenomena such as the advancement and retreat of glaciers.

In the late 1990s, our Board of Trustees, realizing that time was running out, steered the institute more toward revitalization of the languages. Most fluent speakers are elderly, so the institute’s early efforts began with an immersion program where students and fluent speakers spoke only in a Native language to create language habitats. Over the years, some advanced language students began to emerge and today, they are teaching some level of Native languages in public schools.

Looking for Alaska Native Language Teaching or Learning Resources?

Click here to access our Southeast Alaska Native Language Learning Downloadable Resources

ELEMENTARY-MIDDLE SCHOOL AND COLLEGE LANGUAGE PROGRAMS IN SOUTHEAST ALASKA

TCLL – Tlingit Culture, Language, and Literacy (for Elementary-Middle Schools)

Our Ancestors’ Echoes (Language Pathway Project)

Language Scholars

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scholarships.

Click here to view our current scholarship opportunities

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SHI for Alaskan Students and Youths’ Educational Endeavors

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Sudents & Youth.

SHI Supporting Southeast Alaskan Educational Endeavors and Schools

From workshops on traditional techniques to shows and auctions featuring work from contemporary masters, we are proud to be helping Juneau become the world capital for Northwest Coast Art.

PRE-KINDERGARTEN AND SCHOOL PROGRAMS

Pre-Kindergarten: Baby Raven Reads

Raven Writes (In-School and Summer Camp Programming)

Tlingit Culture, Language, and Literacy (Culture-based “school within a school” where the Tlingit language and culture are celebrated, respected, and integrated)

Voices on the Land (Literacy-based, artist residencies in 4th and 5th grade classrooms)

STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math)

Native Youth Olympics (Traditional Games)

Haa Latseení (College and Career Readiness)

Box of Treasures (High School and College Educational Pathways)

IEA – Indigenizing Education for Alaska (Improves the educational landscape for Alaska Native students by cultivating teachers and school leaders )

Northwest Coast Arts Degree Program

Our Ancestors’ Echoes (Language Pathway Project)

ALASKAN SUMMER CAMPS AND ATHLETICS

Raven Writes (In-School and Summer Camp Programming)

Atnané Northwest Coast Arts Academy (Culturally integrated college and career readiness program)

Native Youth Olympics (Traditional Games)

Latseen Hoop Camp (Annual Camp)

Latseen Running Camp (Annual)

STEAM for Middle School (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math)

STEAM for High School (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math)

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scholarships.

Click here to view our current scholarship opportunities

Sealaska Heritage Institute

SHI HIGH SCHOOL STEAM

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SHI’s High School STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math)

SHI sponsors a summer academy for high school students through its STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) program. Students focus on traditional ecological knowledge and STEAM career connections. Students can earn high school credit while working alongside Elders and professional researchers to build a deeper connection to the place we call home.

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SHI MIDDLE SCHOOL STEAM

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SHI’s Middle School STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math)

SHI sponsors a summer academy for middle school students through its STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) program. Students create, explore, make, and problem-solve with place-based, culturally relevant STEAM activities. Activities may include such things as outdoor activities, carving paddles, interactive STEAM lessons, games, art, and cultural activities.

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SHI NYO | NATIVE YOUTH OLYMPICS (Traditional Games)

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SHI’s NYO: Native Youth Olympics (Traditional Games)

Native Youth Olympics (NYO) (also known as Traditional Games) is based on the hunting and survival skills of the Indigenous peoples of Alaska and across the Arctic going back thousands of years. Each athlete strives to perform at their personal best while helping and supporting their fellow competitors, no matter which team they are a part of. This is the spirit of the games: to work together toward common goals and learn from the skills and values that allowed Alaska Native peoples to survive and thrive in the harshest conditions.

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SHI’s ATNANE NORTHWEST COAST ARTS ACADEMY

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SHI’s Atnané Northwest Coast Arts Academy – College Readiness

SHI sponsors Atnané Northwest Coast Arts Academy, a culturally integrated college and career readiness program for Alaska Native/American Indian high school students. Northwest Coast arts classes, team building activities, entrepreneurship training, and culturally affirming artistic lesson plans help students enter a career pathway in Northwest Coast arts. Open to all Sealaska shareholders regardless of residency. SHI will pay travel and lodging costs. In addition, SHI has partnered with the Juneau, Sitka, and Klawock school districts to offer Northwest Coast arts courses to high school students in six high schools. Students have the option to earn college credit as well as high school credits, and the program supports the courses with accessible, authentic cultural resources.

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SHI’s OUR ANCESTORS’ ECHOES – LANGUAGE PATHWAY

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SHI’s Our Ancestors’ Echoes – Language Pathway Project

SHI designed the Our Ancestors’ Echoes program to increase the number of Alaska Native students in Southeast Alaska who have access to educators teaching their heritage language. Building on the success of the Our Language Pathway project, this work also prioritizes supporting and retaining current language educators, increasing wider access to language courses, and supporting mental health and healing work in the community. Additionally, the program includes the establishment of an immersive language community for 6 scholars enrolled in a bachelor’s degree in Indigenous Studies in Language at the University of Alaska Southeast (UAS) and the publication of language resources in X̱aad Kíl, Sm’algyax, and Lingít. SHI funds scholarships for language students enrolled at the University of Alaska Southeast who are studying Xaad Kíl, Sm’algyax, and Lingít.

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SHI NWC | NORTHWEST COAST ARTS DEGREE

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SHI’s Northwest Coast Arts Degree Program

SHI has partnered with the University of Alaska Southeast (UAS) to develop and offer an Associate of Arts (AA) degree with an emphasis on Northwest Coast arts. The undergraduate program includes a wide spectrum of classes—from tool making to design, basketry and weaving among others. The program, which will be offered this fall at the university’s Juneau, Ketchikan and Sitka campuses, is part of a larger effort to establish a four-year degree track through UAS and the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Thanks to an MOA between SHI, UAS, and IAIA, students who earn an AA degree with a NWC Arts emphasis have the option to transfer credits and pursue a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from IAIA. Students can also work toward a bachelor’s degree in arts and sciences or education at UAS or the broader University of Alaska system. In addition to art classes, the program requires students to complete courses in Alaska Native studies, Indigenous performing arts and a language class on beginning Tlingit, Haida or Tsimshian, as well as Northwest Coast design, art history and culture, art theory and practice, and career development for artists.

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SHI’s IEA – INDIGENIZING EDUCATION FOR ALASKA

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SHI’s Indigenizing Education for Alaska

Indigenizing Education for Alaska (IEA) improves the educational landscape for Alaska Native students by cultivating teachers and school leaders who reflect their culture, values, and life experiences. The program also fosters future generations of Alaskan educators by recruiting upper-level high school to early college students into the field of education. The program financially supports education-degree or certificate-seeking college students while ensuring their college education experience is culturally relevant.

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SHI ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PROGRAMS

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Box of Treasures (High School and College Educational Pathways Program)

It is committed to building educational and career pathways beginning in high school and extending throughout the collegiate and professional levels, and is implemented in partnership with University of Alaska Southeast, Juneau School District, Klawock City School District, Sitka School District and Sitka Tribe of Alaska. A large portion of the programming is offered through the Sealaska Heritage Arts Campus, a hub for in-person and virtual course offerings taught by master artists and co-sponsored with University of Alaska in efforts to expand the Northwest Coast Arts degree program while increasing delivery methods. The project is part of SHI’s efforts to galvanize the region’s economy and ultimately designate Northwest Coast Art as a national treasure. TIDES works collaboratively with SHI to facilitate a peer learning cohort that consists of High School Math teachers, High School NWC art instructors, and cultural specialists to participate in a series of virtual seminars/workshops in NWC arts and ethno-mathematics strategies; discuss curriculum, and foster avenues for peer support.

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