Ilanka Cultural Center

09/02/2026

📣 Join The Eyak Foundation for a Special Cultural Collections Visit!

The Eyak Foundation invites TEC Shareholders and Descendants to a unique opportunity to visit cultural collections from the Smithsonian Institution at the Anchorage Museum.

🗓 September 11, 2026
🕓 Beginning at 4:00 PM
📍 Anchorage Museum

Through guided small-group viewings, participants will explore cultural items of significance to TEC Shareholders and Descendants, offering an opportunity to reflect on our shared history, heritage, and traditions.

Following the collections visit, please join us for a reception hosted by The Eyak Foundation:

🍽 Reception: 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
📍 Muse, Anchorage Museum Restaurant (First Floor)

Connect with fellow TEC shareholders and descendants, share your experience from the collections viewing, and learn about the latest programs and initiatives at The Eyak Foundation.

⚠️ Space is limited, and registration is required.

✅ Register here:
https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/Ba22DTX1CC?origin=lprLink

Questions? Contact The Eyak Foundation for additional information.

We look forward to gathering with you for an evening of cultural learning, connection, and community.

09/01/2026

This is great! Come help the Cordova Museum identify historic photographs. Please help pass the word along to our elders and history buffs.

Please join us at the Reluctant for our first community photo identification event Monday September 28th from 5pm-7pm! Please note the change from the 21st to the 28th!

08/28/2026

🎉 Congratulations to Pam Smith and Mark Hoover!

NVE’s Cultural Department is excited to announce that Pam Smith and Mark Hoover have been selected by Tribal Council to join our upcoming collections research trip to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. This December, they will join Cultural Department staff in visiting the National Museum of the American Indian and National Museum of Natural History to spend time with and learn from ancestral collections.

Pam Smith is an Eyak Elder, Tribal artist, and longtime cultural resource who has generously shared her knowledge and guidance with NVE and our community. She brings experience working with museum collections, along with an important spiritual and cultural perspective that will help guide ceremony, preparation, and other cultural considerations throughout the visit. Pam has also served multiple terms on Tribal Council and contributed to numerous cultural projects over the years. Her knowledge, guidance, and connection with our ancestors will be invaluable during this work.

Mark Hoover has dedicated decades of his life to NVE and has been involved with the Tribe since its early years. His wisdom, calming presence, and longstanding commitment to the Tribe will bring an important perspective to this experience. Mark is also an accomplished photographer, and we look forward to the ways his skills may help document the visit and bring the experience home to our Tribal community. We are especially honored to have this opportunity to recognize Mark’s many years of service and devotion to the Tribe by having him join us.

We received a strong group of 18 applications and sincerely thank every Tribal Member who expressed an interest in participating. While opportunities for this trip are limited, we hope to continue creating ways for Tribal Members to participate in collections research and other Cultural Department projects in the future.

AwA'ahdah to the Smithsonian for accommodating and funding this trip!

08/28/2026

08/23/2026

On this day 242 years ago, the Alutiiq/Sugpiaq world changed forever. Hundreds of Alutiiq/Sugpiaq people were killed by Grigory Shelikhov and his crew at Awa'uq, a refuge rock near Old Harbor. This event sparked the Russian colonial era in Alaska. The Alutiiq Museum is launching a project to educate the public and plan a public monument in commemoration of the event.

Join us at the Alutiiq Museum on Wednesday, September 2nd, from 6:00 to 8:00pm to learn more about the true history of the Refuge Rock Massacre. April Isiik Laktonen Counceller (Executive Director) and Dehrich Isuwiq Chya (Director of Language and Living Culture) will explain the lead up and aftermath of this tragic event.

Learn more: https://zurl.co/v86vH

08/21/2026

This fall, we are launching Alaska's first-ever Bachelor of Arts in Tribal Governance: a 120-credit degree developed in direct response to requests from tribes, alumni, and students across the state.

Our tribal governance program is grounded in Indigenous knowledge, values, and ways of life, built to help communities meet today's legal, economic, and social challenges while protecting cultural identity and sovereignty.

📅 Most classes start Wednesday, September 30, after the fall subsistence season
📝 Registration is open now through the first day of class
💻 Onsite, synchronous, and asynchronous options available
🎓Already have a certificate or AAS? Your credits count toward this degree

Learn more and talk to an advisor: uaf.edu/tribal/academics/

08/13/2026

Come dance with us! Everyone is welcome!

Ikamat Dance Group welcomes youth and adults of all ages to join us! You do not have to be a Tribal Member to participate, everyone is welcome!

Practice starts back up in September! Come dance with us and be part of the Ikamat family!

For more information, email [email protected]

08/11/2026

NVE AWARDED IMLS GRANT: Connected to the Past – Phase 3

NVE is excited to announce that our Cultural Department has been awarded funding through the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Native American/Native Hawaiian (NANH) Museum Services Program to complete Phase 3 of Connected to the Past.

This immersive virtual reality experience digitally recreates a traditional scene at iiyaaG (Eyak village), where participants can interact with ancestral belongings, experience traditional activities, and hear dAXunhyuuga’ (Eyak language). During this final phase, NVE will work closely with the Eyak Community and Eyak Cultural Foundation to expand the language, activities, characters, belongings, and stories represented within the experience.

The completed project will become an interactive exhibit at the Ilanka Cultural Center and a portable resource for cultural and educational programming.

AwA’ahdah — Thank You!

NVE gratefully acknowledges IMLS for supporting all three phases of Connected to the Past and investing in the preservation and perpetuation of Indigenous languages and cultural practices.

We also thank the Eyak ancestors, elders, cultural bearers, language contributors, Eyak Cultural Foundation, and community members whose knowledge and guidance continue to shape this project.

We look forward to sharing the completed experience with our Tribal Members and community!