In Spring 2019, FAST Lab began designing and implementing a project in the nearshore waters around Kuskokwim Bay, Etolin Strait and Nunivak Island that aims to strengthen a collaboration between a large commercial fishing fleet and Alaskan Native communities, whereby co-produced environmental data will benefit both groups. This project leverages an existing working group composed…
Alaskan Culture
It Takes a Community to Save a Language
Unangam Tunuu: language of the Aleut people, a people that have occupied Alaska for well over 10,000 years. With changes in populations there are less than about 90 fluent speakers of the traditional language out of the more than 6,000 Aleut in Alaska. Today, the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association (APIA) puts on a culture camp…
Photo Book: Empowerment Through the Visual Arts
The 3rd Annual Leah J. Peterson Speaker Series began Friday, February 15 with the first event in a three-part series entitled, Empowerment Through the Arts. The event focused on the visual arts including a panel discussion facilitated by James Temte. Indigenous Visual Artists Lindy Lyons, Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Holly Nordlum, and Joe Senungetuk discussed topics including…
Photo Book: 2018 Indigenous Peoples Day
The second annual Indigenous Peoples Day, celebrated Monday, October 8 on APU’s campus, was both a time of celebration and action. During the two and a half hour event, various performers and speakers took the stage. Among them were Governor Bill Walker, Anchorage mayor Ethan Berkowitz and state health commissioner Valerie Nurr’araaluk Davidson. Enjoy our…
APU To Hold Alaska Native Feast Tray Carving Class
APU’s Elder Artists-in-Residence, Joe and Martha Senungetuk, will be holding a workshop focusing on Alaska Native feast trays in August and September. The course is a sequel to their mask making class from the previous May-term. Students will learn wood carving techniques as they design and shape their very own feast trays. Also, the class…
Environmental Ethics in Alaska
“Environmental ethics” may sound like a chance to eat chia seeds while wearing Birkenstocks, talking about your favorite tree (there certainly is a bit of hippy tree hugger in the soul of any environmental ethicists), but it is, in fact, an academic field of study that investigates the normative dimensions of environmental problems and problem-solving….
Block Course Teaches Kayak Design, Cultural Understanding
Photos courtesy of Matt Allen Traditionally, kayak building was a rite of passage for young Alaska Native boys, a process that would mark the transition from boyhood to manhood. For a handful of Alaska Pacific University students, it’s also been the focus of a one-of-a-kind block course. Over the course of three weeks, Andrew Abyo…
