By Jessica Ross, Nughejagh Founder

There is something profound about being on traditional sacred land to conduct ceremonies and share knowledge. The Native Village of Eklutna has such a place. The two granite knobs, which are the namesake of our tribe, are not only beautiful to look at, but they hold within them the stories of our ancestors. The knobs have served our people since time immemorial as they are just adjacent to the Knik River from which we harvest salmon, while the knobs themselves have served as our ancient burial grounds.

This was no accident for our ancestors to lay to rest on the knobs, as when you stand on them and face west, you have a perfect view of Mt. Susitina, which was believed to be where the spirits of our ancestors would go to dance in the sky. This land was taken from us when the city of Anchorage was established. A bank had owned the land for a period of time and later sold it to the Alaska Railroad. The railroad began a quarry of our sacred knobs, blowing up and chiseling away at the sacred rock that contained our history, our love, and our ability to pay respects.

Half of the larger knob was harvested and used as bedding for railways throughout the state. In May of 2004, Eklutna tribal members sued the Alaska Railroad for the rights and ownership of the site. They won the case by providing proof of the ancestral burial grounds and sharing documentation of the use of the land before colonization. The railroad left the tribe a heaping mess of rock piles, but nevertheless, the tribe was happy to have our land back.

Since then, the site has served as our gathering place and has been used for pow-wows, potlatches, funerals, educational sessions, culture camps, and fish camps. Seeing what my people have done with so little has been inspiring, but my heart desires to help my people have a safe and functional place to practice our culture.

This is where my idea for a pow-wow center comes to mind. I envision a structure that could serve my people with the space for ceremonies, funerals, potlaches, educational sessions, and pow-wows. The fire is catching, as the tribal council would like to see improvement to the site and would like to move forward with building a pow-wow center.

I had the privilege of being introduced to the Director of the Building Technologies Division and an Associate Professor of Construction Management, Professor Joel Condon after I had shared with some colleagues my desire to create a safe, dignified, and inviting space for our tribe to celebrate, practice ceremonies, hold education sessions, and host Pow-wows at our sacred site in Eklutna. Professor Condon introduced me to his class and assigned them to develop plans for the Eklutna Pow-Wow grounds. The students' efforts were astounding, and even though they were new to designing digital plans, they were able to create the beautiful plans for the site.

 

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Student Design Projects

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