Sealaska Heritage Institute in 2006 wrapped a three-year Native art project in Hoonah to perpetuate and enhance traditional art practices. (News Article)

The program was funded in part through a 3-year federal grant of $363,500, which also includes funds to publish two books on art forms. The grant funded approximately 80 percent of the project.

SHI will used a portion of the grant award from the Administration for Native Americans to fund Native carving and basket-weaving classes from 2004-2006 in Hoonah, the largest Tlingit village in Southeast.

Most students who completed the institute’s Native art classes received a certificate from the University of Alaska Southeast, a partner in the project. The goal of the art classes was to perpetuate traditional Native art forms and to give Hoonah residents skills to make art for sale in the community’s budding tourism industry.

“Our job at Sealaska Heritage is to promote and sustain our culture, and Native arts are integral to our culture,” said SHI President Rosita Worl, president of the institute. “In addition, we knew there was great potential for tourism development in Hoonah, so we thought Hoonah would be a logical place to start a Native arts program because there might be a local market for the art made by people who complete our classes.”

The federal grant also funded two books on carving and weaving to teach the art forms to future artists, said Worl, adding most of the publications on Native art currently available are oriented toward academics, not Native art instruction.

“We wanted to have broader publications that could be used in schools by teachers,” said Worl, noting SHI in the future plans to push for Native art instruction in public schools and to help make the Alaska Native art industry a gainful employment option for more Alaska Natives.

The institute’s partners in the arts program included Huna Heritage Foundation, the Hoonah School District, and UAS, which sponsors Native arts programs in Juneau, Ketchikan and Sitka. The Native art project also is supported by Huna Totem Corp. and Hoonah Indian Association. Approximately 20 percent of the program was financed through non-government sources.