Quyana Native Alaskans

When I woke up today, I was expecting a day filled with learning about different cultures and meeting new people. I was excited to hear from the many different elders, keynote speakers, and various other people who were on the agenda. What I was not prepared for was to be so incredibly overwhelmed with emotions throughout this day. When I woke up this morning I was a teacher chaperoning two students on a school trip. However, things changed when we walked into the Dena’ina Convention Center.

The moment I stepped into that building, I became a minority. I became one of a handful of white people among the crowd. As I walked around I realized that everyone in the building shared something that I was not nor will I ever be a part of. I felt as if I had no right to be in the same building with this amazing amalgamation of people. I was an outsider; a welcomed member of the conference audience but an outsider nonetheless. 

Not wanting to draw attention to myself, I observed most of the day quietly from my seat. Sure I talked to people and had great conversations, but the speakers were not talking to me. They reached me in many ways, but their material was not prepared with me in mind. Their speeches and presentations were meant for many generations of native groups across the state. So I did my best to simply witness quietly and be a courteous guest. 

In my observations, here is the cliff-notes version of what I witnessed. Throughout the span of eight hours we spent together today, I heard and saw many things. For example, I witnessed hundreds of people coming together to celebrate their culture. I watched as native dancers shared stories through their steps. I listened as Alaskan Senators and representatives spoke about advocating for the native groups. While I do not watch professional basketball, I got to hear Shoni Schimmel speak about following her dreams and it leading to her becoming the first Native American All-Star in the WNBA. Schimmel plays for the Atlanta Dream, and while she is not an Alaskan Native, she is a Native American from Oregon whose pride in her ancestry shines through and is an inspiration to Native youth everywhere. Raina Thiele from Intergovernmental Affairs at the White House spoke of her own Alaskan Native upbringing and how it’s affected her role in the government. I clung to every word spoken by the elder keynote speaker, Fred John Jr. who spoke of his role in preserving Alaskan Native traditions. In doing so, the 71 year old (at the time) walked 375 miles from Delta Junction to Anchorage in a matter of thirty days stopping at villages along the way. He did this to stand up for his way of life and to protect the legacy set by his mother who fought for subsistence fishing rights. 

While each and every one of these speeches was amazing to listen to, there is one in particular that stood out to me. When the youth keynote speaker stepped on stage, I was expecting a nervous young boy. However, as he got to the podium, I was amazed by what a powerful speaker he was. Devlin Anderstorm is a senior in high school who spoke fluent Tlingit (phonetically pronounce Klinket) which is the language of his people. While this might not sound like an achievement, I will add that in many communities the native language has all but died out. However, this young man is among a growing group of youth who refuse to let their ancestral roots become forgotten in history. He is the prime example that it is possible to continue native traditions in today’s modern world. Jokingly, he spoke of how he is still a typical teen who spends half his time on Snapchat and Instragram; but still he has kept his culture alive. He urged his fellow peers to take a stand and to ask and even demand that their elders share with them their language and their stories. I was amazed by how strongly he spoke and how confident he was in delivering his message. 

Anderstorm’s speech was inspiring, but what hit me was later in the day when a group of elders stood to talk. Maybe it was their plan originally or maybe they changed their message because of this young man’s speech. Perhaps they noted the similar ones which all stated that there are youth out there who want to learn the ways of their ancestors. But this afternoon, I heard a public apology (which was broadcasted nationwide) from an older generation. This group of elders apologized for not doing their part to pass down their language, their stories, their traditions. I was blown away by their ability to admit that they had done wrong by their youth. They stood there and proved that it is never to late to change. Today, promises were made to fight for the revival of native languages and ways of life. 

By this point, you might ask why I was so touched by all the speakers or why I am taking the time to write about these things. But let me ask this “what language do you think they were speaking the majority of the day?”. If your answer is English you are correct. The reason for why their languages are dying out is because the "white man" came and took their land and their resources. The natives are a people who would share their last catch with someone to help fill their stomach; they are not selfish nor are they mean hearted people. But they gave what they had and the white people came in thinking that they knew what was best. What I learned today is that the people who came to Alaska may have had the best intentions (I’m not claiming to know the full history behind this issue so history buffs please don’t take my understanding to be fact) but they stole from so many people. Not only at the time but for many generations since and even more to come.

 I live in a village of seventy Alaskan natives and not one of them speaks fluent Aleut (which is the language of this area). I found it incredibly disheartening to hear the facts of how the Alaskan Native way of life was taken from them quickly in some aspects and slowly in so many others. The hardest thing to hear came during a breakout session where a Yupik woman said that her grandparents 

wanted what was best for her parents so they refused to speak their native language in front of them. The Yupik language began to die out because these people believed their was something wrong with their way of life because the "white man" told them so. An entire languages downfall was caused by a generation wanting what was best for their children and who can fault them for that? Today however, I watched as this group of hundreds became united even more than they already are. They came together to decide that it isn’t too late to take back what was stolen for them. A promise was made that the youth would try harder to learn the languages and traditions while the elders would do their part to share their stories and language before it is too late.

Today I witnessed an amazing gathering between high school students and an older generation. I learned more today than I have in a long time. More importantly, I felt a connection grow between myself and the land in which I currently live. You might not believe it, but this truly was the short version of the movie replaying itself in my head. Eight hours were spent in the convention center, but generations worth of wisdom and stories were shared and discussed. Today I was an outsider, but I am so thankful to have been a part of it. Quyana (thank you) Alaskan Natives for allowing me to be a fly on the wall of this inspiring, emotional, educational, and personal day.