What's New? Archive 2001

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December, 2001
Land claims at the grass roots: 1966 letters and village newsletters from Willie Hensley's private collection. This correspondence and pair of village newsletters from Kiana and Noorvik show some of the behind-the-scenes work done by many people around the whole state to bring about land claims settlement.

November, 2001

"Survival" by David Holthouse, published in the Denver New Times as Part 4 in a series on gray whales. The Native people of the Russian Far East have resumed whaling, but have found the whales they depend on are contaminated. The author was permitted to join a hunting trip and reports his observations and research in this article. Click here and scroll down to "Survival" -- Shades of Gray. A good related resource is the Alaska Native Science Commission.

"The Iñupiaq Supercomputer" by Charles Wohlforth, published in the Anchorage Press 11/8, with photos by Bill Hess. This article discusses cooperation between the Inupiat people of Barrow and scientists doing arctic research, and touches on important topics such as intellectual property rights. The Alaska Native Science Commission is mentioned and a link to their website is here

Aspects of Traditional Iñupiat Education by Paul Ongtooguk, Alaskool Co-Director -- Reprinted in condensed form in the Special Science Education Supplement of the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States (ARCUS) journal Witness the Arctic. To download the ARCUS file, click title above, and to read original article, please click here

A new online resource -- The Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) premiered a new website at the 2001 AFN Convention.

October, 2001

English-Tlingit Dictionary of Nouns
Reprint of second edition (March, 1996). Noun dictionary originally published in March, 1963 by Constance Naish and Gillian Story. Copyright held by Sheldon Jackson College.

Rich index of Unangan/Unangas teaching resources for the Unanga{ language compiled under the direction of Barbara Švarný Carlson and Moses L. Dirks.

Story of Reindeer Herding by the late Raymond Brown, Sr. in Utuqqanaat Tusraayugaanich, Vol.22, January-April, 2001, p.1-2.

July, 2001

Tlingit Land Forms and Geography words
Learn and practice Tlingit landform and geography terms with this fun quiz developed by Paula Dybdahl, a geography teacher at Juneau-Douglas High School in Juneau, Alaska. Hear words spoken in audio files made by Nora Marks Dauenhauer, see pictures of geographical features,
and then test what you remember by playing the game.

June, 2001

Tsimshian Texts thirteen stories recorded and translated in 1894 by Franz Boas from the Nass River dialect. Stories have been posted online by student assistant, Karla Booth, whose family is of the Raven Clan from Metlakatla, Alaska.

May, 2001

"What Rights To Land Have the Alaska Natives?: The Primary Issue" By William L. Hensley, May 1966 -- With a new May 2001 introduction by the author.

View a children's storybook, Ribbon Seal, Ribbon Seal produced by the Lower Kuskokwim School District. Both Yupik and English versions provided. Story scanned and edited by
Stephanie Trefon with permission granted from LKSD. Copyright Lower Kuskokwim School District, 1997.

"Off the Page, on the web" -- Anchorage Daily News article about Alaskool and LitSite by Donna Freedman, November 9, 2000

Alaskool.org is mentioned in this May 14, 2001 Washington Post article by Evelyn Porreca Vuko.

Anthropologist and Tlingit Rosita Worl is one of twelve American Indian women activists featured in a poster campaign called "Women of Hope." Anchorage Daily News (August 13, 1997).

April, 2001

Foundations of the Alaskool Website - by Bill McDiarmid, Director of ISER, Co-director of Alaska Native Curriculum and Teacher Development Project

Additions have been made to the Chevak/Cup'ik section of Alaskool - check out the stories, Traditional Qayaq building, audio files, and Cup'ik letter/sound chart, and see how this community has contributed materials to the online resources at Alaskool. Many thanks to Sam Ulroan, Rebecca Nayamin Kelly, and the rest of the Chevak team!

March, 2001

From Skeptic to Believer: The Making of an Oral Historian - by Ernest S. Burch, Jr. -- From Alaska History, Vol. 6, No. 1, Spring 1991

February, 2001

Reading, Writing and Speaking the Tlingit Language
Dog Point Fish Camp 2000 - A Two-Disc Study CD Set containing recordings on reading and writing the Tlingit Language produced by Roby Littlefied with a grant from the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative, Elders at Culture Camp. It is intended to help the beginning student and the fluent speaker to learn and read the Tlingit language. Volume 1: Tlingit Language, and Volume 2: Tlingit Lullabies, copyright 1998.

January, 2001

KNBA's Stories of Our People on Alaskool - Wonderful Alaska Native narratives and stories to enjoy online

Teller Reader
The Teller Reader, produced by the state's Bilingual Education Department in 1974, is useful in promoting language literacy for those who wish to learn how to read and write Inupiaq. We have added an option for users to click the "view english" button for each exercise in the Teller dialect. Participants can toggle at will between both versions.

"The Alaska Claims Settlement" - Comments by Janie Leask - From a panel discussion "The Objectives of Land Claims Settlements" during the International Conference "Towards Native Self-Reliance Renewal and Development" held in Vancouver, August 19-24, 1984. A biography of Ms. Leask is also available. Alaskool note: At the time these comments were delivered, Janie Leask was President of the Alaska Federation of Natives.

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