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The end of my junior year at UAS was beginning to approach. Weather in Juneau, while as rainy as ever, was starting to reach toward summertime warmth. Sunshine glowed on the ocean, classes finished one by one, I closed the covers of my heavy elementary education textbooks with a satisfying thump and I began to think about summer employment.
I was born and raised in various parts of the great state of Alaska. My mom (Dena’ina Athabascan) is from Lake Iliamna and my dad (Yup’ik and German) is from Alexander Creek near Mt. Susitna. From a young age, I knew that I wanted to get an education that would enable me to pursue my passions. However, as a first generation college student, I had to feel my way through the college application and financing process as though I were fumbling through an obstacle course in the dark.
At that early stage of my life, I could never have imagined that 15 years later I’d have earned credentials from Yale and Harvard, and worked for President Obama at the White House.
My name is Cynthia Baldwin the daughter of Nicholas and Patricia Baldwin. My great grandmother, Lucy Whitley, is the original CIRI Shareholder that I descend from on my mother’s side.
I guess you can say I grew up in the Education and Training field. My mother was an Employment and Training Advisor, after school I would sit in the common area of her office, waiting until it was time to go home. I would listen to her talk to prospective students, do assessments to find out where their interests lay, research schools to attend and help the apply for funding. In the evenings she took college classes over teleconference and would be listening to the class discussions while getting dinner on the table. I am the youngest of 5, through her own perseverance she graduated with her Bachelor degree the year before I graduated high school.
I received my Bachelor of Art in Art May 2005. In 2009 I began work as a Financial Aid Advisor at UAF, and took advantage of my tuition waiver, starting the MBA program in January 2010. I got a headache on the left side of my head, that I attributed to stress, but the headache did not go away, it was constant.
I began my college career torn between pursuing law or medicine. I quickly realized neither one was for me. On a whim, I had taken a Computer Science course. It was love at first byte. I made the scary choice to switch majors and switch schools. It was pretty much starting from scratch but … Read more
Hi my name is Vivian Pomeroy, I am Inupiaq and Tsimshian from Anchorage, Alaska. I am one of the few Alaska Native students attending Haskell Indian Nations University. This May, I will be graduating with my Associates Degree in Liberal Arts. It has been a wonderful experience here, teaching about my culture. I have been involved … Read more
For many generations, little Yup’ik girls were provided with ‘cloth’ dolls – entire families consisting of dad, mom, big brother, big sister and baby, a traditional teaching method targeted at young girls in order for the females to learn how to raise a family. Most recently, with the advent of western lifestyles and the cash economy, those same little girls grew up making bigger, more elaborate dolls to sell for cash.
When you think of it, Yup’ik dolls (and any home-made doll for that matter) are a great way to use up precious scraps of fur and cloth, hide and trim. Most often, the same doll maker, is also adept at making fur parkas, mukluks or qaspeks, and has a nice tidy supply of scraps at hand.
Project: Alaska Native Art Classes Grantee: Qutekcak Native Tribe Written by: Mariah Johnson, Program Coordinator, Qutekcak Native Tribe The Qutekcak Native Tribe received funds from The CIRI Foundation through a “Journey To What Matters” project grant. The tribe used the funds to hold weekly traditional art classes attended by tribal and community members of all ages. … Read more
My name is Mary Johns, I am Ahtna, Athabascan and I am of the Water Clan. This residency brought new light to my understanding of Alaska Native art. I know a lot of my own peoples’ art and the process, however not much about ivory carving and the process behind it and the amount of thought and symbolism that goes into it. This definitely made me think about expanding my knowledge about Alaska Native art, so in other words, I thoroughly enjoyed this workshop and all that it had to offer.
ANSA was the recipient of A Journey to What Matters in 2015. Cultural classes were rarely held in Wrangell and the base of this grant was to provide more classes to our local people to increase their skill levels in skin sewing, beading, weaving and Tlingit form line drawing. ANSA partnered with Sealaska Corporation to hold a week long cedar basket weaving class. The local teacher Faye Kohrt and 18 students worked diligently to complete their projects. Thanks to this grant other classes were held as well. Gunal’cheesh!!!
Our project was making Haida regalia in the Hydaburg School (Hydaburg City School District) in grades K-12 as well as the Kasaan School, (part of Southeast Island School District). Years ago, seniors would make regalia to wear at their graduation ceremonies in Hydaburg, and at a parent meeting some expressed the desire to rekindle this activity. This provided the spark for the grant proposal. The project was not limited to button blankets, the signature piece of regalia for the Haida people, but included headbands, tunics and deer skin aprons for the younger children.