Friday Focus: They visited an Indigenous place
November 8, 2019
— by Evon Peter, vice chancellor for rural, community and Native education
On Oct. 14 we celebrated Indigenous Peoples Day across Alaska. In Fairbanks, we began with a ceremonial blessing at the future site of the Troth Yeddha’ Indigenous Studies Center. We were joined by two classes from Hunter Elementary school. As the grade school classes made their way from the school bus to the circle of university and community members gathered for the ceremony, they were guided into the center of the circle. The students had a front-row position to hear comments shared in the Lower Tanana, Gwich’in, and Iñupiaq languages, as well as in the English language, followed by Dene and Iñupiaq drums songs. They learned about a piece of the rich history of the land and cultural teaching of Indigenous peoples.
The celebration continued with a walk to the Wood Center, where we engaged participants with interactive Dene drumming, followed by a shared meal, and several panels that included students, elders, faculty, and community members. We were joined in the afternoon by students from Effie Kokrine Early College Charter school. In all, we had over a hundred K-12 students join us for the celebration that day at Troth Yeddha’. The panelists and workshop leaders covered topics on Indigenous history, knowledge systems, languages, education and futures. It was a momentous and inspiring day.
There were similar celebrations among all university campuses and I would like to thank all those that helped to coordinate, present and participate in this important day of celebration across our university system and Alaska!
A couple days later and unassociated with the Hunter Elementary students’ participation in the Troth Yeddha’ Indigenous Peoples Day celebration, I visited Hunter Elementary school to share with a few classes a bit of my story as an Alaska Native leader. The school district's Alaska Native Education program had invited Alaska Native leaders to present for students as a class report project. I appreciated the opportunity to serve as a role model and encourage young students to pursue their dreams and learn about Alaska Native peoples and cultures.
One of the first statements from a student was that I looked familiar and it turned out that the student had been at the Troth Yeddha’ Indigenous Peoples Day celebration earlier that week. The students had great questions and I truly enjoyed my time at Hunter. The drawing of me shared with this Friday Focus came from one of the student reports. That student certainly has a future in the arts, if they so choose!
Later, I reflected on the fact that one of the earliest memories of those young Hunter Elementary students who came to the Indigenous Peoples Day celebration at the UAF Troth Yeddha’ campus was grounded in an Indigenous experience. It lifted my heart to think that a formative memory in their lives would associate Alaska Native peoples and cultures with the university and higher education!
The classes were very diverse, including many Alaska Native and students of color, which is reflective of the changing demographics in our state and nation. As we work to strengthen our university as a diverse, inclusive, caring and respectful place, it is efforts and experiences like these that help to demonstrate our commitment.
Friday Focus is a column written by a different member of UAF’s leadership team every week.