Category Archive

Ricky Qaagaġliq Ashby is an Iñupiaq Elder from Noatak, Alaska. Over his lifetime, he has seen Alaska become a state in 1959, and electricity arrive in Noatak in 1969 followed by radio in 1973. He has experienced the transition from those days to now and has served his community and other communities in Alaska and beyond through roles in tribal …

Doreen Hayward is a life-long Alaskan and is currently a curriculum developer for the Education Outreach office at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute (GI). Born and raised in Fairbanks, Doreen has always been interested in the remarkable cultures across Alaska. Seeing K–12 students connect to science through Indigenous perspectives has spurred her interest in developing curricula that are …

Camaqaa! Gguitka, Sperry Ash, is originally from the village of Nanwalek on the tip of the Kenai Peninsula. Currently, he lives and works in Kodiak as a preschool teacher. He has taught a range of grades throughout his 18-year teaching career.  As a classroom teacher, he has always valued and practiced the incorporation of local Indigenous knowledge and language into …

Kauakanilehua Māhoe Adams is the debut author of An Expanse Of Blue (Heartdrum, 2026), a YA novel in verse and a contributor to Legendary Frybread Drive-In, edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith (Heartdrum), which received the 2025 Michael L. Printz Award and the 2026 American Indian Youth Literature Award for best Young Adult book.  Her poetry appears in The Country in …

Bethany Ulroan is the Assistant Care Team Coordinator and Case Manager in the Dean of Students Office at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Originally from Lawton, Oklahoma, and married into the Qissunamiut Tribe of Alaska, Bethany’s background in elementary education, experience teaching in Chevak, and participation in the Indigenizing Education Graduate Certificate program have shaped her commitment to culturally responsive, …

Nakima Antoinette Budke serves as a student intern at the Huna Heritage Foundation while pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Social Science at the University of Alaska Southeast. She is Kaagwaantaan (Eagle/Wolf clan) and carries the Tlingit name See Tináax. Alongside her studies, Nakima works as a special education paraprofessional with the Hoonah City School District. She is dedicated to …

Lori Schoening is a life-long Alaskan of European ancestry. She was raised, lives, and works on Lower Tanana Dene’ homelands and extends her gratitude to those who have nurtured the lands for generations beyond memory. Her work at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute involves collaborating with Indigenous communities around Alaska to co-produce science curriculum. Lori and her husband …

Selena Coburn, BC-DMT, LMHC, LCPC, is a mental health and dance/movement therapist in Great Falls, Montana. She serves as department chair for the Social Sciences Department and program director for the Addictions Counseling Program at Great Falls College Montana State University. She is also a senior lecturer at Lesley University and Antioch University. Selena is a descendant of the Blackfeet, …

Beth Ginondidoy Leonard is Deg Xit’an, a member of the Shageluk Tribe of Interior Alaska, and second language learner of her heritage language, Deg Xinag. Her parents are the late James and Jean Dementi. In 2014, Beth was awarded a Fulbright US Core Scholarship and spent five months at the School of Māori Studies at Victoria University of Wellington. Beth …

Dr. Jasḵwaan Bedard is an assistant professor at Simon Fraser University in the Indigenous Languages Program. Her specialty is X̱aad Kíl, the Old Massett or Northern dialect of the Haida language, as well as methodologies and pedagogies for Indigenous language strengthening. Dr. Bedard’s dissertation is titled “X̱aad Kihlga Tl’a Guusuugiigangsaang: A Haida Research Framework for Learning X̱aad Kíl” and aims …