Thank you for your language statements
Wednesday, January 8, 2020
Dear Shareholders,
Sigóowu Yées Táakw! Happy New Year!
As we greet 2020, I am most hopeful for the coming decade. I am proud that Sealaska dedicated $10 million last November to support Lingít (Tlingit), Xaad Kíl (Haida) and Sm’algyax (Tsimshian) language revitalization. We anticipate spending $500,000 annually for the next 10 years. In December, I issued a challenge to all shareholders to submit either a short essay or a six-word story highlighting what traditional languages mean to them and why this fund is important. The results were profound and moving and they reaffirmed the board’s resolve in establishing this important benefit to our cultural revitalization.
Shareholder Dawn Davis of Milton, Washington, submitted the first winning entry for the six-word essay contest, summing up our charge with the following:
Speaking the language my grandmother couldn’t
Dawn provided the following statement about her essay:
From a very young age I can clearly recall my grandmother frequently singing a lullaby to me in Sm’algyax, and back then it always made me giggle because it sounded so funny with strange sounds and words I couldn’t understand. Now that I am much older I long to hear this song once again from her.
My six-word essay is in reference to my own grandmother and great- grandmother, who were reprimanded in school when they spoke Sm’algyax… It is up to us now to learn the languages; to speak them and keep them alive, because our elders could not. I am honored and ready to make that commitment and attempt to become a fluent speaker now. There won’t be anyone to stop me, and I can hear my grandmothers’ voices in my mind encouraging me along the way. And I know they would be proud. —Dawn Davis | Tsimshian Wolf
I would like to thank Ms. Davis for sharing her story and her commitment to learn our language. I encourage other shareholders to share their stories — the contest is on-going and new winners will be identified throughout the winter. The next winner will be announced on or around Elizabeth Peratrovich Day. Please submit your entry by emailto webmaster@sealaska.c om.
Thank you, Joe Nelson, Sealaska ChairNews Search
13 results found
Posted 7/13/2020
Posted 7/13/2020
Sealaska shareholders have told us that education and vocational scholarships are a top priority. Sealaska is proud to recognize our scholarship recipients.
Marissa Brakes has many different interests when it comes to her future career in law. Through internships at Sealaska and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boise, Idaho, three years of work at a civil litigation firm, and her role ...
Posted 6/29/2020
Posted 6/29/2020
Sealaska shareholders have told us that education and vocational scholarships are a top priority. Sealaska is proud to recognize our scholarship recipients.
Brian James is among the first class of Sealaska scholarship recipients who are attending college part time, and the expanded eligibility offered by Sealaska, “is honestly life changing,” he said.James is 51 and will technically...
Posted 5/21/2020
Posted 5/21/2020
Sealaska Scholarship Recipient Morgan LoveSealaska shareholders and descendants who applied for scholarships for the 2020–2021 academic year received their award letters this month, marking an all-time high in the level of scholarship support provided by Sealaska.The year 2020 was significant for the program. It marked the largest number of students ever awarded, the most Sealaska scholarship money ever distributed, and the highest award amounts to recipients. The corporation awarded $1.34 milli...
Posted 4/14/2020
Posted 4/14/2020
Applications for Sealaska’s scholarships are due today! A scholarship can be a tremendous source of support. For more information on scholarships and how to apply, go to the shareholder portal MySealaska.com or Sealaska Heritage Institute.Rick Brock, Dino Brock, and Archie Young are fierce competitors but they’re also family. This set of two brothers and a cousin are well-known and respected high school basketball coaches in Petersburg and Mt. Edgecumbe. All three are working hard to encourage, ...
Posted 4/14/2020
Posted 4/14/2020
Applications for Sealaska’s scholarships close on April 15th! A scholarship can be a tremendous source of support. For more information on scholarships and how to apply, go to the shareholder portal MySealaska.com or Sealaska Heritage Institute.How does a child from the small village of Angoon end up coaching college basketball all over the country?It’s not a straight line, that’s for sure.Jamestown is a Sealaska scholarship recipient who works as the assistant basketball coach at Western Oregon...
Posted 4/9/2020
Posted 4/9/2020
Applications for Sealaska’s scholarships close on April 15th! A scholarship can be a tremendous source of support. Over the course of the next week, we’ll bring you stories of former scholarship recipients who are pursuing great careers and making a difference in our communities. For more information on scholarships and how to apply, go to the shareholder portal MySealaska.com or Sealaska Heritage Institute.Karli Brakes Sealaska scholarship recipientFrom her first season playing basketball at a...
Posted 3/30/2020
Posted 3/30/2020
Due to the impact of COVID-19, the Sealaska scholarship deadline has been extended to April 15.The decision was precipitated by a number of shareholders and descendants who have lost their jobs due to the virus and who now want to go to school, according to Joe Nelson, Sealaska board chair and ex-officio trustee of Sealaska Heritage Institute.“We are living in a time when we have to be nimble and respond wherever we can to people who are experiencing financial hardship because of the virus. This...
Posted 2/25/2020
Posted 2/25/2020
Morgan Love is one of 359 students who were awarded Sealaska scholarships in 2019.Did you know that approximately 1,000 Sealaska shareholders and their families live in California? This is a story about a young shareholder from Southern California on a journey to understand her own Native identity. And she is serving others as she navigates her way.Introducing shareholder Morgan Love, a Sealaska scholarship recipient studying psychology and global health in her first year at UCLA (University of ...
Posted 2/10/2020
Posted 2/10/2020
Kellen London is one of 62 part-time students who were awarded Sealaska scholarships in 2019. Last year was the first year the scholarship program included part-time students.Some might think that being a part-time student means going back to school while raising kids or pursuing a second career. Or maybe it means finishing the degree you always wanted to. Not always so.Meet Kellen London, part-time Sealaska scholarship recipient studying at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. Kellen gradua...
Posted 1/31/2020
Posted 1/31/2020
Stephanie Jenkins is one of 62 part-time students who were awarded Sealaska scholarships in 2019. Last year was the first year the scholarship program included part-time students.
Stephanie Jenkins, part-time scholarship recipient finishes master’s program in nursing; opens door to Tlingit culture and identity
When Stephanie Jenkins first applied for a Sealaska scholarship in 1998, she had no idea she was opening a door to her Tlingit culture and identity. This identity ultimately allowed her to...
Posted 1/9/2020
Posted 1/9/2020
Attention Sealaska students!Scholarship applications for the 2020–2021 academic year are now open to Sealaska shareholder and descendant students. Every year Sealaska awards hundreds of full-time and part-time merit-based scholarships to our student leaders.Since 1981, Sealaska has been funding scholarships as part of our long-time commitment to education. Scholarship recipients have gone on to become scholars and leaders in our Sealaska communities and beyond — including board youth advisors, A...
Posted 11/26/2019
Posted 11/26/2019
Dear Sealaska family,At a recent meeting, we established a fund to support Lingít (Tlingit), Xaad Kíl (Haida) and Shm’algyack (Tsimshian) language revitalization for the next 10 years. We anticipate spending $500,000 annually from the interest earned on this $10 million fund. We have limited time and resources, i.e., speakers and money. We need to use them efficiently and effectively. We are not the first ones to commit to this effort and we cannot be the last. We need you and many others to co...
