The Sitka Native Education Program is a program that educates children from pre-school through 12th grade in song and dance, language, and other cultural aspects including traditional foods and practices. The funding was from the Indian Education Act, Title IV. Eventually funding was received from Johnson O’Malley through the Bureau of Indian Affairs and came through the Sitka Tribe of Alaska. A Parent Committee was formed to assure that the funds would be spent properly. The funds were used for the special needs of Native children. The program was housed in the ANB Hall and still is. The uniqueness of the program is the fact that there is not duplication of services already offered in the community and it is not overloaded with Administration. It is a good solid program. A key to the program was Charlie Joseph, Sr., Kaal alk’, a traditional and very knowledgeable Lingit, who served as a consultant for the program until he died. His life story was documented and he passed on many important songs and legends. As a result, the program has a songbook, composed of hours of legends and songs. This is the golden age for Native Americans. The Gajaa Heen Dancers became well known on a regional, statewide, and national basis. They are great ambassadors for Native Americans, Sitka, and the State of Alaska. The discipline of the dance, the 2.0 grade requirement, the language, beadwork, and drumming have assured the continuation of our Lingit ways. Right now, we have valuable resources in the form of reel to reel tapes, video tapes, and cassette tapes with much of it in the Lingit language. The materials contain information such as: education, legends, name giving, medicines, fun runs, health, months of the year and other key concepts in Lingit. These materials need to be developed, which means we need more funding to do this and to archive the information. The Sealaska Corporation compiled a book called “Because We Cherish You,” about the first elders conference. Three cultural students did reel to reel and cassette tapes of the conference, which resulted in the book. The book is in Lingit on one side and English on the other, with many excellent speeches. A cook book was compiled by Mary Pelayo, titled Kaa Teix’s Cook Book. This is written as a story and has many traditional Lingit food preparations. Mary was married to a Filipino man and they did cross cultural recipes. They always tried to figure out the various spices used in recipes, she also taught in some Home Economic classrooms in the Sitka School District. For many years, travel has been an important part of the program. One year entailed a big trip in the Southeast, which included several parents in accompaniment of the Gajaa Heen Dancers. Costs were cut by staying in a gym or classroom, taking our foods with us. It was a time of celebration. Young people were given a small stipend for travel and one meal. The main dance group raised money and supplemented the funds by cutting costs, sleeping on the floors of ferries, staying in a hall using sleeping bags and doing our own cooking. Some of the places traveled by our young people to Native meetings: Washington D.C., Hawaii, Barrow, Fairbanks, Anchorage, the Island of Kodiak, Yakutat, Cordovia, Kake, Haines, Angoon, Hoonah, Wrangell, Petersburg, Klawock, Craig, Metlakatla, Neah Bay, Lummi Reservation, Stanford University, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Oklahoma. The names of activities include: Native Emphasis, World Eskimo Olympics, National Congress of American Indians, Alaska Federation of Natives, Bilingual Multi-Cultural, Southeast Fair. There have been many special speakers from all over the State of Alaska and the Southern 48 States who have spoken to the dancers in the program. The main components of SNEP are:
1. Cultural, including language, traditional dance, drumming, songs, regalia making and legends.
2. Tutoring at all grade levels of the Sitka School District and Mt. Edgecumbe High School. With SNEP, many young people become more confident and able to express themselves. Naturally, there are many success stories about young people who have grown through the program to lead inspirational careers, some including: lawyers, doctors, optometrists, nurses, and teachers
