July - December 2007 News Archive

Gov. Palin Honors Marsha Hotch

Shareholder in the Military

Shareholder in the Military

Totem Raising Held in Seattle

A potlatch was held at the Center of Wooden Boats in Seattle on Aug. 25 to commemorate the gifting of an Honor Pole to master Haida carver Robert Saaduuts Peele, who is originally from Hydaburg, Alaska. The Village of Klawock presented the pole to Saaduuts, the center’s artist in residence, in thanks for a canoe that he carved for the village tribe two years ago. The celebration included performances by several Native dance groups.

Shareholder Wins Telly Award

Shareholder Morgan Howard won a 2007 Telly Award for the Haa Shuká DVD that recounted the Tlingit creation story of Raven and Naas Shaak Ankáawoo. The DVD, which underscores the strong ties between Alaska Natives’ values, land and future, was distributed to all Sealaska shareholders during the education campaign leading up to the 2007 resolutions.

The Haa Shuká DVD won in the film/video bronze category of the Telly Awards. The awards recognize the best local, regional and cable television commercials and programs, as well as the best video and film productions.

Howard is Teikweidí, originally from Yakutat, Alaska. He is the owner of Morgan Howard Productions, a video, web and multimedia business located in Kirkland, Wash. Please visit www.morganhowardproductions.com for more information.

Lindsay Nuckolls Earns Bachelor's Degree

Lindsay Nuckolls recently received a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Biola University in Southern California. Currently a student teacher at a California high school, Nuckolls hopes to attain her preliminary teaching credentials next year and enroll in graduate school.

Nuckolls received scholarship assistance from Sealaska Heritage Institute to help with her studies.

Shareholder David Walkush, a member of the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, recently received a Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Walkush received the designation from the CFA Institute, a global nonprofit organization of investment professionals, by passing the third and final exam of the CFA program.

Walkush is the founder of Acclaro Advisors, an Everett, Wash.-based investment advisory firm that he operates with wife Leilani Wilson Walkush, a Sealaska shareholder.

Fellowship to Focus on Aleut Weaving

Washington artist Lois Chichinoff Thadei was recently awarded a national fellowship to write a book about the rich tradition of Aleut weaving.

Thadei received a 2007 Cultural Capital fellowship from the First Peoples Fund to write The Elders Whisper, detailing Aleut tribal weaving in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Thadei, who is Aleut, teaches Native American art history at Olympic College in Shelton, Wash. Her artwork appears on the Sealaska Heritage website at www.sealaskaheritage.org.

Contest

An essay about antidiscrimination activist Elizabeth Peratrovich earned high school student and shareholder Kai Monture top honors in the Second Annual Young Native Writers’ essay contest. Monture and four other high school students were chosen as winners in the essay contest, which focuses on Native American life and history.

The contest winners received a trip to Washington, D.C. in August that included an honor ceremony and educational program at the National Museum of the American Indian and a tour of the Capitol, among other activities.

"Good Year" for Musician and Actor

Rory Stitt was shy as a child, preferring to sit behind a piano and accompany singers rather than taking the stage himself.  But after years as an accompanist at concerts and lessons, Stitt was ready for more. “Just watching the whole process, I was like, ‘I really should be up there singing. I know I can sing at least that well,’” he recalled.

Stitt made the leap, and it paid off. These days, he’s splitting his time between touring to promote his CDs, collaborating on a musical for Juneau’s Perseverance Theatre and creating orchestration for a new musical by the Tony Award-winning writers of Urinetown.

Written by Greg Kotis and Mark Hollman, Yeast Nation is a comic look at single-celled yeast organisms and their struggles in the Earth’s evolution. It will premiere at Perseverance before playing in New York.

Stitt’s work involves reworking songs written by the play’s composer and lyricist for performance by a four-piece rock band. It’s an important contribution to a much-anticipated production, but PJ Paparelli, Perseverance Theatre’s artistic director, said Stitt is up to the task.

A company member at Perseverance, Stitt has played the lead in the theatre’s performances of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, The Who’s Tommy and Hair, and acted in numerous others.

“What Rory is known for is his voice,” Paparelli said. “(But) he’s an incredible composer and he’s also a great music director and orchestrator.”

Yeast Nation opens in early October at Perseverance, after which Stitt and Paparelli will ramp up work on Rock Star, a musical premiering at Perseverance in April. The play explores an artist’s struggle between maintaining creative integrity and making a living.

Additionally, Stitt is touring the U.S. coasts in October and November to promote his three independent CDs—Taurero, Harlequin and The Narcissist.

“It’s a good year for projects,” Stitt said. “I’m excited.”

Shareholder Descendant Wins Fishing Derby

Megan Komar, age 8, placed first in the children’s bracket in the Coast Guard’s fishing derby held July 20-22. Megan’s salmon was 14 pounds.

Megan comes from a long line of Sealaska shareholders. Her mother Deanna is a shareholder, her grandmother, Bernice Hansen is a shareholder and her great grandmother, Lydia George, is an original shareholder living in Angoon.

Shareholder Launches Website to Sell Resurrected Album

In 1981, shareholder Archie Cavanaugh recorded an album “Black and White Raven” with members of the band Redbone. He traveled to Los Angeles to meet with record label companies and sent the album to companies all over the U.S. and Europe, but for years was never able to obtain a record contract.

Then, twenty years later in 2001, Archie was contacted by a record company in Tokyo, Japan that wanted to reissue, repackage and sell “Black and White Raven” in CD form. Archie signed a three-year deal, then watched as his album sold all over the world via the internet.

After his contract expired, Archie continued to receive requests to purchase the CD, so he decided to reissue the album on his own. He has created a website, where you can read more about Archie’s story and listen to samples of his album.


Alaskan Carver Opens Gallery in Seattle
Shareholder Israel Shotridge’s work featured in 2006 Annual Report

Israel Shotridge refers to himself as a ghost carver. The term refers to the fact that Shotridge’s 25-year career has focused almost exclusively on commissioned work, primarily totem poles. His other work—intricately detailed panels, masks, doors and other pieces— often remain behind closed doors in offices or homes, far from the public eye.

That changed in December, when Shotridge and his wife, Sue, opened their first gallery in Seattle’s historic Pioneer Square neighborhood, allowing Shotridge to show his work to a broader audience.

“I’ve done totem poles in Southeast Alaska and in my hometown, Ketchikan, where everyone can see what I do,” said Shotridge. “But when it comes to smaller pieces like bentwood boxes, masks and jewelry, most people don’t get to see a lot of what I create. That is important for almost any artist, to be able to have their work visible for people to see and to recognize.”

The gallery showcases Shotridge’s commissioned pieces and sells high-quality reproductions of his designs in various media, including serigraphs, jewelry, bronze and glass pieces. The gift shop contains “the Shotridge Collection,” affordably priced items featuring reproduced Shotridge designs, including mouse pads, nylon backpacks, T-shirts, tote bags and the most popular, small drum ornaments.

Sue said the Shotridge Gallery is likely the only one in Seattle that’s both Native-owned and focused exclusively on work by tribal artists.

“The fact that it’s tribal is important to us, because we help to educate our visitors on the culture,” she said.

The couple plans to show work by other Native artists. They see the gallery as a way to educate visitors about a culture and art form they may not be familiar with, and also provides exposure for artists who haven’t yet broken into the Seattle market.

“There are many shareholder artists and Native artists in Alaska that don’t show in Seattle, but there’s a huge market here,” said Sue.

There are other plans afoot—Sue is working on a fall regalia exhibit featuring weaving and other traditional items.

In the meantime, her husband can be found at the gallery on the first Thursday of each month, when art enthusiasts descend on Pioneer Square for the “first Thursday art walk.” On those nights, the master carver enjoys a still-new opportunity to talk to passers-by about his work.

“A lot of people who come to the gallery like to meet the artist,” he said. “They have lots of questions, and I’m more than happy to help them out with their curiosity.”

Artists interested in exhibiting at Shotridge Gallery can contact Sue Shotridge at 206.223.0417 or sue@shotridgegallery.com. For more information about the gallery, go to www.shotridgegallery.com.

Sergeant James C. Haddox Honorably Discharged from Army

Staff Sergeant James C. Haddox was awarded a Purple Heart in February 2006. He was honorably discharged from the Army in March 2007 after serving almost ten years. Haddox’s overseas tours included two years in Vicenza, Italy, and more than 16 months in Iraq. He survived two roadside bombings, in Mosul and Baghdad. Haddox and his wife live in North Pole, Alaska. He is a Tlingit from the Raven moiety and Coho Salmon house, as well as a Sealaska descendant. His mother, shareholder Martha Ann Saenz, said Haddox’s family “is very proud of him for serving his country, and we are very thankful that he has returned home in safety. Thank you, son!”

Miranda Hayes Belarde Lewis Completes Master’s Degree
 
Lewis successfully defended her thesis entitled “Shared Ownership: New directions for museum tribe relationships,” completed required coursework and received her master’s degree in Museology from the University of Washington on June 8, 2007. In the above photo, she is wearing her graduation gifts from her proud mom and aunties Edna and Daphne. Miranda is a Sealaska shareholder and received assistance from the SHI Scholarship Program.

Mike Adams Completes Associate's Degree

Sealaska shareholder Mike Adams recently received an associate degree in applied science from the University of New Mexico-Taos. Adams, whose goal is to become a pharmacist, will return to the university in the fall to start pre-pharmacy courses. He recently completed a pharmacy technician course online and is also a massage therapist. Originally from Yakutat, Adams grew up in Sitka and is Aleut and Tlingit. He received scholarship assistance from Sealaska Heritage Institute and a Pell grant to help with his studies.

Aaron W. McCluskey Completes Training in Military

Rank: C Company, 3rd 297th Infantry
Battalion Stationed: Kuwait

Aaron McCluskey has been in the military for more than a year and in Kuwait for the past seven months. He completed basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and advanced training at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland.

McCluskey is the grandson of Peter and Liz McCluskey of Angoon; his maternal grandmother is Mable Jack of Angoon. He is the son of Peter and Doreen McCluskey, also of Angoon. His grandfather, Peter McCluskey, Sr., is a veteran, as is his father, Peter McCluskey, Jr.