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This year the Arctic Winter Games were held in the Ma -Su Valley, the first time this international competition has been in Alaska in a decade. Many call this event, which is held once every two years, the Olympics of the North. Alaska governor Wally Hickel and other Arctic Nation leaders founded the Arctic Winter Games in 1959. They believed that the peoples scattered across the Circumpolar North share a mutual identity — and in the case of large countries like Northern Canada and Alaska, perhaps have more in common with the rest of the Arctic than they do with the rest of their own countries.
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Get out the Native Vote has worked hard to get more Natives to the polls in both local and national elections. Recently, the non-profit has branched out to 45 schools across Alaska.
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The murders of two Alaska Native women, Kathleen Jo Henry and Veronica Abouchuk, have a lot in common. Both women are from Southwest Alaska and each battled homelessness and addiction in Anchorage. The same man, Brian Smith, a South African immigrant, has been charged with their murders.
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A changing of the guard is ahead for the Alaska Federation of the Natives, which has been under the leadership of Julie Kitka for almost 35 years. The search for a new president will soon get underway, in hopes of having the position filled in time for this October’s AFN convention.
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Moose have a way of intruding into urban life. In Anchorage, their constant hunger leads them to places with easy pickings — parking lots landscaped with with trees in the dividers — like the one at Costco in East Anchorage. During peak shopping time, this can be a recipe for either trouble, or a source of entertainment.
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N. Scott Momaday came into the scene during a renaissance of Indigenous culture in the 70s. His first published novel ‘House Made of Dawn’ made him the first Native American to win a Pulitzer Award.Recently he died at the age of 89. Shirley Sneve, a close friend and co-worker on several projects spoke about his impact.
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Students, teachers and alumnae in the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program (ANSEP) have a tradition of celebrating success with a motivational speaker. This year they heard from a Native American astronaut, John Herrington, who flew on a NASA mission in 2002.
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A group called, Not in Our Honor, takes the fight against Native mascots to Super Bowl Sunday.
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Nellie Moore was one of the trailblazers in Native journalism in Alaska, with a distinctive style of reporting that mixed the best of the ancient Inupiaq storytelling culture with the values of Western journalism. She pushed for stories written by Alaska Natives and for Alaska Natives.
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The Dublin string band, “I Draw Slow,” tours Alaska, entertaining audiences with murder ballads, love songs and toe -tapping traditional music. The name, "I Draw Slow," refers to a duel with guns.
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White raven sightings are relatively rare. There have been some in Vancouver, British Columbia, the Kenai Peninsula and now in Anchorage, where the bird has its own paparazzi, following its every move. So far, White Raven seems to enjoy this attention. Fans of the bird can follow its sightings vicariously on Facebook.
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After a nationwide search for a range of diverse applicants, the First Alaskans Institute, a nonprofit to advance Alaska Native voices in a variety of leadership roles, has hired Apagzuk/Apagruk Roy Agloinga as the new president and chief executive officer.