The Alaska Native Heritage Center is an

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

al and

cultural institution A cultural institution or cultural organization is an organization within a culture/subculture that works for the preservation or promotion of culture. The term is especially used of public and charitable organizations, but its range of meaning can ...

for all Alaskans, located in Anchorage,

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

. The center opened in 1999. The Alaska Native Heritage Center shares the heritage of Alaska's 11 major cultural groups. These 11 groups are the Athabaskan people,

Eyak people The Eyak (Eyak: ʔi·ya·ɢdəlahɢəyu·, literally "inhabitants of Eyak Village at Mile 6"Krauss, Michael E. 1970. ''Eyak dictionary''. University of Alaska and Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1963-1970) are a Native American indigenous ...

Tlingit people The Tlingit ( or ; also spelled Tlinkit) are indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their language is the Tlingit language (natively , pronounced ),

, Haida people, Tsimshian people, Unangax people (

Aleut The Aleuts ( ; russian: Алеуты, Aleuty) are the indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands, which are located between the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. Both the Aleut people and the islands are politically divided between the ...

Alutiiq people The Alutiiq people (pronounced in English; from Promyshlenniki Russian Алеутъ, "Aleut"; plural often "Alutiit"), also called by their ancestral name ( or ; plural often "Sugpiat"), as well as Pacific Eskimo or Pacific Yupik, are a so ...

Yup'ik The Yup'ik or Yupiaq (sg & pl) and Yupiit or Yupiat (pl), also Central Alaskan Yup'ik, Central Yup'ik, Alaskan Yup'ik ( own name ''Yup'ik'' sg ''Yupiik'' dual ''Yupiit'' pl; russian: Юпики центральной Аляски), are an I ...

, Cup'ik, Siberian Yupik, and Inupiaq. The Heritage Center, located ten miles from

downtown Anchorage Downtown Anchorage is a neighborhood in the U.S. city of Anchorage, Alaska. Considered the central business district of Anchorage, Downtown has many office buildings, cultural points of interest, shopping areas, as well as dining and nightlife ...

, is situated on 26 wooded acres. The Gathering Place provides visitors an opportunity to experience demonstrations of Alaska Native dancing, Native Games, and traditional storytelling. The Hall of Cultures provides rotating exhibits, craft activities for the family, and craft and artwork created by Alaska Native artists. The theatre features rotating films, including a documentary produced by the Heritage Center, titled "Stories Given, Stories Shared." Outside, visitors can tour the village sites, consisting of six life-sized Native dwellings surrounding Lake Tiulana. The six dwellings represent the unique ways of living practiced by the Athabascan, Inupiaq/St. Lawrence Island Yupik, Yup’ik/Cup’ik, Aleut, Alutiiq, and the Eyak, Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian peoples. Youth interns lead many tours of the village sites, which also include artifacts for use in daily life. The Alaska Native Heritage Center is the only statewide organization which represents all Alaska Native cultures. The nonprofit is operated by Alaska Natives and is one of the few tribally unaffiliated arts organizations that is run by Indigenous people.

References

External links

* 1999 establishments in Alaska Museums established in 1999 Museums in Anchorage, Alaska Native American museums in Alaska Tourist attractions in Anchorage, Alaska {{AnchorageAK-geo-stub

See also

References

External links