Kúng Kíiyatl’a’aa Culture Camp

During the winter school break, more than a dozen middle school students participated in the Kúng K íiyatl’a’aa (New Moon) Culture Camp, held at the Thunder Mountain High School in Juneau, Alaska.

Over the course of the week, students learned Lingít and how to bead earrings, draw formline figures, and process fish and moose meat.

Youth specialists from Tlingit & Haida’s Tribal Family & Youth Services Department partnered with Community & Behavioral Services clinicians to host the week-long camp that focused on cultural arts with discussions on mental health.

The youth said they enjoyed connecting with their culture through arts.

“It’s really peaceful and I like how you can gift earrings to people,” said sixth grader Thea Duncan while she was making teal and hot pink button earrings.

Gunalchéesh, Háw’aa to our partners Goldbelt Heritage Foundation and the Juneau School District Indian Studies Program for contributing to the camp.

We’re also grateful to Jat Singa Linda Carroll for teaching beading, Ts’áak’ KáJúu Andrea Cook for showing the students formline design, Demetrius Johnson for passing on traditional knowledge of food processing, and X’unei Lance Twitchell for providing Lingít language lessons.