Alaska Native Language Center to celebrate 50th anniversary on Oct. 4

The University of Alaska Fairbanks Alaska Native Language Center will celebrate its 50th anniversary on Tuesday, Oct. 4, with an event from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. in the Wood Center on the Troth Yeddha' Campus in Fairbanks.

The event is open to the public and will be livestreamed on the UAF media website and recorded for later viewing.  It will be a celebration of the past, present and future of Alaska Native languages and will feature panels on language revitalization, language workshops, dance performances and more. For an agenda of the day's events, visit the ANLC website.

“This day honors all the collective work and efforts our predecessors, both faculty and students. Since the 1960s on, the Alaska Native Language Center community has reverently gathered voices and times of the past that identify the DNA of the Indigenous peoples of Alaska,” said ANLC Director Walkie Charles. 

ANLC was established in 1972 by state legislation to research and teach the 20 Native languages of Alaska. It is now an internationally recognized center for the study of Iñupiaq, Yup’ik and Northern Dene languages. 

 “For the past five decades, ANLC has played a vital role in the documentation, preservation and instruction of Alaska Native languages,” said Charlene Stern, UAF’s vice chancellor for rural, community and Native education. “This event is an opportunity to celebrate the efforts of the past while also envisioning the next 50 years of how ANLC can support the greater movement to strengthen Alaska Native languages.” 

To RSVP for the event and learn more, visit the ANLC website.

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