October 24, 2016
(Flyer)
Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) will sponsor a lecture by a professor from University of Alaska Fairbanks on Yup’ik ways of dancing.
The talk by Dr. Theresa Arevgaq John, an associate professor of Indigenous studies at UAF, is titled “Yuraryaraput Kangiit-llu: Our Ways of Dance and Their Meanings.”
Dr. John is an expert on indigenous ways of knowing and is highly involved in organizations and projects that promote traditional Native culture, history, spirituality, language and education. Co-author of “Yupiit Yuraryarait: Yup’ik Ways of Dancing,” she has extensive performing experience, including several Yup’ik traditional dance groups and her one woman show “Yup’ik Arnaq.”
“I believe that we are all lifelong learners. It is very important to share our wisdom and knowledge with others. We can live in the world of peace and harmony,” Dr. John said.
Her work has been presented at professorial conferences on the local, national and international level. Dr. John currently serves on the National Advisory Council on Indian Education and the International Indigenous Women’s Forum. She is a former member of the Alaska State Council on the Arts and the former Chair of the Traditional Native Arts Panel. She is also the recipient of the Governor’s Distinguished Humanities Educator Award and Alaska State Library Award.
The free lecture is scheduled at noon on Thursday, Oct. 27, in the Living History Center at the Walter Soboleff Building in Juneau. Her talk is co-sponsored by SHI and the Preparing Indigenous Teachers and Administrators for Alaska Schools (PITAAS) program at the University of Alaska Southeast.
Sealaska Heritage Institute is a private, nonprofit founded in 1980 to promote cultural diversity and cross-cultural understanding through public services and events. SHI also conducts social scientific and public policy research and advocacy that promotes Alaska Native arts, cultures, history and education statewide. The institute is governed by a Board of Trustees and guided by a Council of Traditional Scholars and a Native Artists Committee. Its mission is to perpetuate and enhance Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian cultures of Southeast Alaska.
CONTACT: Rosita Worl, SHI President, 907.463-4844
