Voices on the Land
Voices on the Land provides literacy-based, artist residencies in 4th and 5th grade classrooms, with Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian languages and cultural values forming the basis of instruction. The program integrates visual, performing, and digital arts with traditional knowledge. Through the experience, students use storytelling to create stop motion animation videos; learn the elements of Northwest Coast formline design, while keeping an artist’s journal and making a traditional drum; and use the skills of the actor’s toolbox and reader’s theater to explore and perform Raven Stories handed down through the ages. Voices on the Land also provides an in-person summer and winter arts intensive program for students in grades 4-8, as well as a virtual summer intensive program for students in grades 4-8 who live outside of Juneau.
Juried Youth Art Exhibit
SHI sponsors a biennial Juried Youth Art Exhibit, which is held in conjunction with Celebration, a major dance-and-culture festival organized by SHI. The program is part of an effort to increase the number of young artists making high-quality pieces and sharing their work with the public. Cash awards are made to schools of the winners for art supplies to be used by schools or organizations for future instruction in Northwest Coast art. All youth who chose to exhibit receive a specially-made Juried Art Show t-shirt, and winners also receive a certificate. The competition is open to all youth in grades 6-12. The exhibit is held in June every even year.
Math for Language Development: Book 2: Grade 7
Integrating culturally responsive place-based content with language skills development for curriculum enrichment. This unit is designed to develop the language of math with the students. The units include motivating activities to help the students retain the key vocabulary. The unit is based on the Developmental Language Process, a highly effective vehicle for teaching and learning. Watch an informative video about the process in the reference section down below.
Math for Language Development: Book 1: Grade 7
Integrating culturally responsive place-based content with language skills development for curriculum enrichment. This unit is designed to develop the language of math with the students. The units include motivating activities to help the students retain the key vocabulary. The unit is based on the Developmental Language Process, a highly effective vehicle for teaching and learning. Watch an informative video about the process in the reference section down below.
Math for Language Development: Book 2: Grade 6
Integrating culturally responsive place-based content with language skills development for curriculum enrichment. This unit is designed to develop the language of math with the students. The units include motivating activities to help the students retain the key vocabulary. The unit is based on the Developmental Language Process, a highly effective vehicle for teaching and learning. Watch an informative video about the process in the reference section down below.
Math for Language Development: Book 1: Grade 6
Integrating culturally responsive place-based content with language skills development for curriculum enrichment. This unit is designed to develop the language of math with the students. The units include motivating activities to help the students retain the key vocabulary. The unit is based on the Developmental Language Process, a highly effective vehicle for teaching and learning. Watch an informative video about the process in the reference section down below.
Science for Language Development: Book 2: Grade 6
Integrating culturally responsive place-based content with language skills development for curriculum enrichment. This unit is designed to develop the language of science with the students. The units include motivating activities to help the students retain the key vocabulary. The unit is based on the Developmental Language Process, a highly effective vehicle for teaching and learning. Watch an informative video about the process in the reference section down below.
Science for Language Development: Book 1: Grade 6
Integrating culturally responsive place-based content with language skills development for curriculum enrichment. This unit is designed to develop the language of science with the students. The units include motivating activities to help the students retain the key vocabulary. The unit is based on the Developmental Language Process, a highly effective vehicle for teaching and learning. Watch an informative video about the process in the reference section down below.
The Road to ANCSA: Contact: Unit 11: Grade 6
For generations, the Native peoples of Southeast Alaska lived in unison with the environment and developed rich traditions. Land ownership was not viewed as an individual undertaking; land was owned by groups. Respect for the land was integral to the Native code of survival. Contact with Europeans forever altered the Native lifestyles and introduced foreign concepts of land and natural resources management. While the Russians were harsh taskmasters, to say the least, they did not expect assimilation of Native peoples into Western cultures. That concept appeared with the Treaty of Cession and the governance of America.
The Road to ANCSA: Traditional Shelters: Unit 10: Grade 6
For generations, the Native peoples of Southeast Alaska lived in communal clan houses. These houses were the social centers of the communities and intrinsically tied to the people, their ancestors, and their heritage. Early missionaries and government representatives failed to appreciate the importance of the clan houses to the Native cultures. The break down of the clan house system signaled major changes to the Native cultures of Southeast Alaska.
The Road to ANCSA: Native Arts: Unit 9: Grade 6
Over time, the Native peoples of Southeast Alaska developed sophisticated art forms. Even many tools that were used every day were decorated with art forms. Stories, songs, and drama were also important art forms. The traditional regalia of the Southeast Natives can show power, wealth, and lineage. Native peoples respect the opposite clan and their ancestors in the making and handling of the regalia. Importance is placed on the maker of the regalia. Members of the opposite clan are asked to make the regalia. Regalia in Native culture are an acknowledgment of all ancestors who came before. Traditionally, the tools used by Native people were also works of art. These tools included stone adzes and axes, drills, and carving knives made from stone, bone, or shell.
The Road to ANCSA: Ku.éex’ (Ceremonies): Unit 8: Grade 6
There are many reasons for holding a ceremony. Approximately a year after a person dies, the clan of the deceased holds a ceremony. This ceremony is called a ku.éex’ in Tlingit, wáahlaal in Haida and loolgit in Tsimshian. It is sometimes known as a pay-off party or potlatch, which is a word from the Chinook Jargon. Today, Native Elders have asked the younger tribal members not to use the word potlatch. They have asked them to use their own tribal names for the ceremonies. During a ceremony, the deceased and the ancestors of a clan are remembered. It is a time for the clan members to end a year of mourning. The ceremony is held to remove grief. The ceremony is a time for people to get together with their kin. It is a time to honor the opposite moiety. The opposite moiety comforts the grieving clan. The clan of the deceased repays the opposite moiety.
The Road to ANCSA: Clans and Moieties: Unit 7: Grade 6
The Tlingits of Southeast Alaska are divided into two groups called moieties. The word moieties is from French and means “half ”. The Tlingit moieties are Raven (Yéil or—long ago—Laayaneidí) and Eagle (Ch’áak’). In earlier times, the Eagle moiety was known as Wolf (Gooch). The Tlingit who live in the interior in Canada still use the Wolf moiety. All Tlingits are members of one of the two moieties. The moieties are divided into smaller groups called clans. Members of one moiety refer to the other moiety as guneit kanáayi (opposite). All people in a moiety consider themselves related to one another. They are related to the members of the opposite moiety through marriage. Moiety membership is shown using an Eagle or Raven crest. Today, many people wear jewelry or their clan at.óowu (regalia) that show their moiety. In Tlingit life, it is important to have a balance between the Eagle and Raven.
The Road to ANCSA: Ancient Trade: Unit 6: Grade 6
The Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian peoples of Southeast Alaska traded amongst themselves. They traded with tribes to the south and north. Many of them made long journeys over rugged mountains and rivers. People traded with others that they trusted and liked. The traders would form partnerships that lasted many years. During this time, people would visit with each other’s families. The would learn some of each other’s language. People exchanged goods up to three times a year. They would meet in places or villages that they had agreed on during their last trading trip. Sometimes it was difficult to decide the value of the goods. The value of goods changed often.
The Road to ANCSA: Traditional Beliefs: Unit 4: Grade 6
Values are the rules that people use to live with one another. Beliefs are what people believe to be right. Not all cultures have the same values and beliefs. The values and beliefs of one group can clash with those of another group The values and beliefs of most Native tribes in North America underwent change or changed completely with contact. Despite this clash of values and beliefs, many Natives today continue to practice elements of their ancestral teachings.
The Road to ANCSA: Alaska Native Groups: Unit 3: Grade 6
The Native peoples of Southeast Alaska migrated to their present-day homelands via a variety of routes. This included overland and coastal routes. The areas settled by the Tlingits became their kwáans. The inland Tlingit are found in the Yukon Territory of Canada. The Haida and Tsimshian both arrived in Southeast Alaska long after the initial arrival of the Tlingit. The Haida migrated to the southern areas of Prince of Wales Island and the Tsimshian to Annette Island, near Ketchikan.
The Road to ANCSA: Migration Story: Unit 2: Grade 6
Tlingit Migration Story (Based on Glacier Bay history) Told by Susie James (Kaasgéiy of the Chookaneidí clan), translated by Nora Dauenhauer. Excerpted from Haa Shuká, Our Ancestors. Sealaska Heritage Institute, Juneau, and University of Washington Pre ss, Seattle, 1987.
Learning Our Tlingit Language: Book 4: Grade 5
These units are designed to instill language into long term memory. The Process use meaningful language content from the environment, academic programs, stories, and themes to enlarge the students' language bases. The Process takes the students through developmental steps that reflect the natural acquisition of language in the home and community.
Learning Our Tlingit Language: Book 3: Grade 5
These units are designed to instill language into long term memory. The Process use meaningful language content from the environment, academic programs, stories, and themes to enlarge the students' language bases. The Process takes the students through developmental steps that reflect the natural acquisition of language in the home and community.
Learning Our Tlingit Language: Book 2: Grade 5
These units are designed to instill language into long term memory. The Process use meaningful language content from the environment, academic programs, stories, and themes to enlarge the students' language bases. The Process takes the students through developmental steps that reflect the natural acquisition of language in the home and community.