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Home > Our Lands > Honoring Dr. William Demmert Sealaska board and management are deeply saddened at the loss of Dr. William Demmert, also known as Kaagoowu. Dr. Demmert’s spirit and memory lives on. Kaagoowu was Tlingit and Oglala Sioux and received his Ph.D. in education from Harvard in 1973. He was a lifelong champion of Native language and educational issues. The Sealaska Board of Directors recognized Dr. Demmert’s contributions at a January board meeting. “We acknowledge his great contributions and wish to memorialize his memory and work,” said Board chair Albert Kookesh. “This will be accomplished, in part, with Sealaska’s $1,000 contribution to the National Indian Education Association Scholarship Award, created in his name and memory.” “Kaagoowu was tied to the lands of Southeast Alaska as a fisher and gatherer,” said Sealaska vice chair Rosita Worl. “He spent countless hours studying and recording the landscapes of ancestors as a scholar and a clan member of the Naasteidi.” “Kaagoowu contributed to the rights of all Natives by participating in the Alaska Native Brotherhood, and serving as chair of Klawock Heenya Corporation and as a trustee of Sealaska Heritage Institute. Through his work and accomplishment his spirit and memory will live on.” According to Worl, he focused his time on educational needs of the Native community by teaching in Craig, serving as Dean to the School of Education and Liberal Arts professor at the University of Alaska Southeast, and as a Commissioner of Education for the State of Alaska. Dr. Demmert is a founding member of the National Indian Education Association He is survived by his wife Nora and four children. U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski recently honored Dr. Demmert on the floor of the U.S. Senate – listen to her remarks here
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