UAA hosted first ever Alaska Native Studies Conference April 5-6 with more than 75 papers and 40 panels

Pre-conference symposium, "The Things We Make: Alaska Native Art in the 21st Century," will be held April 4 in partnership with Anchorage Museum.

UAA will host the first ever Alaska Native Studies Conference, "Alaska Native Studies in the 21st Century: Transforming the University," on April 5-6, 2013, on the UAA Anchorage campus. The conference will feature more than 30 panels, workshops and presentations that focus on culturally responsive education, languages, identity, land claims and the arts.

The two-day conference kicks off at 9 a.m. on Friday, April 5, at the Wendy Williamson Auditorium, and will bring together more than 150 Alaska Native scholars, practitioners, teachers, students and leaders from across Alaska, the U.S., Canada and Greenland. Conference topics will include Alaska Native leadership and education, oral traditions and contemporary texts, art and history, subsistence and sustainability, and more. Renowned Maori educator and advocate Graham Smith will provide the conference's keynote address.

A pre-conference symposium, "The Things We Make: Alaska Native Art in the 21st Century," will be held on Thursday, April 4, at the Anchorage Museum (121 W. 7th Ave.). Pre-conference panelists will include Alaska Native artists Larry Ahvakana, Alvin Amason, Perry Eaton, Da-ka-xeen Mehner, Nathan Jackson, Ron Senungetuk, Glen Simpson, Nicholas Galanin, Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Joel Isaak, Anna Hoover and Jack Dalton. Artist performances will include Heidi Senungetuk, Ishmael Hope and Allison Warden. Registration at the door starts at 9:30 a.m. with the pre-conference scheduled from 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

The conference is sponsored by the University of Alaska Anchorage and the Alaska Natives Studies Council; the pre-conference symposium is co-sponsored by the Anchorage Museum. Registration is required. Early-bird registration (before March 15) is $85; the price increases to $100 after March 15. Cost for the pre-conference is $15.

For more information about the conference and to register, visit www.uaa.alaska.edu/native, or contact Maria Williams at (907) 786-6135 or email@alaskanativestudies.org.