2017 Alaska Native Studies Conference accepting papers

December 16, 2016

A monument to the indiginous population of the area meet visitors to the waterfront in Nome, site of UAF's Northwest Campus.

The Alaska Native Studies Council is accepting proposals and papers for the fifth annual Alaska Native Studies Conference, slated for April 7-9, 2017, at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The submission deadline is Feb. 1.

“This year's conference theme is ‘Sustaining Indigenous Livelihoods,’ and begins the centennial celebration of the University of Alaska Fairbanks,” said Sean Asiqłuq Topkok, an assistant professor of education at UAF and co-chair of the 2017 Alaska Native Studies Conference. “This theme celebrates our dynamic cultures, our intimate relationship with the environment and our contributions to academia."

Proposals and abstracts can be submitted online at https://goo.gl/forms/ZwrerZs3iDdoftI13. Those who submit a proposal will receive notification of the acceptance or denial of their proposals in late February. Because of the expected high volume of submissions, the Alaska Native Studies Council limits submissions to a maximum of two per person.

Keynote speakers include Nobel Peace Prize nominee Sheila Watt-Cloutier and a panel of three, young Alaska Native leaders, including Marjorie Kunaq Tahbone, Samuel Johns and Olivia Piiyuuk Shields.

Watt-Cloutier is internationally known for her advocacy work showing the impact of global climate change on human rights, especially in the Arctic where it has been more immediate and dramatic than anywhere else in the world. An officer of the Order of Canada, she has received the Aboriginal Achievement Award, the UN Champion of the Earth Award, the Norwegian Sophie Prize and the Right Livelihood Award.

For more information or to register for this conference, contact Topkok at cstopkok@alaska.edu, Jessica Black at jcblack@alaska.edu or visit www.alaskanativestudies.org.