Getting Ready!
for the Alaska Federation of Natives Youth Conference 2002
Information compiled by Priscilla Hensley with thanks to AFN and all non-Alaskool links in this page.
Any questions or suggestions regarding this page should be directed to the "Contact Us" form.
Questions for AFN personnel about the conference itself should be directed to AFN's office.

AFN Youth Conference 2002 is fast approaching - October 21, 22, and 23. Get ready now by beefing up your background knowledge of some of the topics that will be addressed during the conference, and familiarize yourself with some of the people who will be participating in the conference. Below is a list of links to materials on Alaskool and other websites to help you do that.

But first, to get into the mood, let's take a look at the conference theme so you can keep it in mind as you read:

"Hope, Beauty, Strength, & Reawakening"

Hope = To look forward to with confidence or expectation
Beauty = A quality or feature that is most effective, gratifying, or telling
Strength = The power to resist strain or stress; durability, Capacity or potential for effective action
Reawakening = To waken again

Ok. On to the readings:
Conference Topics and Concepts
Brain Adventure Connections
Speakers and Presenters (with additional ones under Brain Adventure Connections)
Represented Organizations (and even more speakers/presenters)
Important Legal Stuff We Can't Afford To Be Ignorant Of
Meeting Tools (Basically Robert's Rules of Order stuff)

Conference Topics and Concepts
** Wellness
Wellness is more than just eating right, being physically active, and exercising moderation - it's a whole, healthy you. This will be a major topic at the conference, so visit AFN's website and click on "Wellness" on the left-hand side for more information. (If you can, right-click on the AFN website link and open it in another browser window, otherwise it's kind of a pain to get back here.)

** AFN and Land Claims history
"What Rights to Land Have the Alaska Natives" by William L. Hensley while a student at the University of Alaska (Fairbanks). "Outline(s) a small bit of American Indian history and their treatment by the United States; some of the resulting laws based on the treaties; some of the key points in Alaska Native history such as the Treaty of Cession, the Organic Act of 1884, the Indian Citizenship Act, the Indian Reorganization Act, the Indian Claims Commission Act and the Statehood Act."

1966 letters and village newsletters - These artifacts of the land claims movement illustrate some of how land claims work happened at the village level, and some of the communication between involved individuals like John Schaeffer, Robert Newlin, Willie Hensley, Sam Talaak, and Stuart Udall.

"Afterborns," "New Natives," "Left-Outs," "Too-Lates" or whatever Alaska Natives born after 1971 are supposed to be called - This 1987 AFN newsletter discusses the 1991 amendments that were made to help address how our corporations can include us.

Selections from: Alaska Native Land Claims, by Robert D. Arnold - with Janet Archibald, Margie Bauman, Nancy Yaw Davis, Robert A. Frederick, Paul Gaskin, John Havelock, Gary Holthaus, Chris McNeil, Thomas Richards, Jr., Howard Rock, Rosita Worl.
Unit 4, Chapter 16 "Organization" - on some developments that led to the formation of the Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN)
Unit 5, Chapter 21 "Land and Money" - an introduction to provisions of Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA)

Brain Adventures Connections

**Voices of Our People - Elders and youth sharing with one another through stories, cultural values, and healing.

Two examples of what can result when elders and youth get together:
Juneau-Douglas High School student LaTosha McKoy worked with a Tlingit elder to create a project for school that is now posted online at Alaskool!

Students in Kiana interviewed elders to learn about their lives and community traditions. The interviews produced by this project are also here at Alaskool.

And here is a link to an Anchorage Daily News article about participating elder, Rita Blumenstein

**Stand up, Speak up!! - This fun and active workshop will provide participants an opportunity to learn immediate methods for improved speaking, speaking to one's own truth, and creative methods for presenting issues. Here is a short introduction to one of Diane Benson's more recent performance pieces, and an Anchorage Daily News article discussing another.

**Breaking the Cycle: Prevention Through Youth Empowerment

**Cultural Awareness - Presentation by Peggy Willman, Miss Alaska 2002. You may learn a little bit more about her at this online Native newsletter - Canku Ota

**Native Languages: For Every Generation - Get Active with Language Games - Presented by Cathy Rexford, Miss WEIO 2002. This workshop will cover fun ways to get into Inupiaq language and maybe other languages as well. She'll use Total Physical Response (TPR) teaching and learning methods which you can learn all about here.

**Retracing Our Steps - Alaska Native geneology and community history with Neil Gallegos-Rodriguez (Gwich'in and Yup'ik), Research Analyst.

**True Colors - Mount Edgecumbe students will lead an activity called True Colors. For more information about this activity please visit here

**A Path to Healing: Alkalai Lake video - Watch a powerful video about how one community worked to heal its problems, and then discuss it. To read up a little on this Brain Adventure, click here!

**History of Alaska Federation of Natives and the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act - Knowing our past will help us understand the present and build the future we want. This Brain Adventure is a great opportunity to find out about where on earth this conference, the convention, AFN, and our corporations came from. Willy Templeton of University of Alaska Anchorage will facilitate this discussion. For more information on the topic, check out the AFN/ANCSA links listed on this page, and for even more information look in Alaskool's Land Claims section.

**Traditional and Mainstream Native Values - This Brain Adventure is actually a Talking Adventure facilitated by Oscar Kawagley from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in which participants will "release spiritual and emotional stress...using life examples."

**Athabaskan Elders: Our Real Teachers - Facilitators will discuss Project Alaska Indigenous Peoples Academy (Project AIPA) - a project to develop school curricula based on the knowledge of Athabaskan elders from the Doyon Region.

**Nikatchuat Ilisagviat: A private Inupiaq Immersion school in Kotzebue for ages 3-8 - During this Brain Adventure facilitators will discuss the ups, downs, ins, and outs of an Alaska Native language immersion school. A little information and one of their lessons may be seen at this page on Alaskool. Beware there are many (cute!) pictures and the page may take a little bit to load. Also - this page uses Alaskool's free Inupiaq font so if you want the print to look right you may wish to download it.

**Healthy Choices - A "fast-paced" workshop about making healthy choices in your life including information about drugs and alcohol, nutrition, exercise, and environmental hazards. The workshop will finish up with information about careers in health care fields - this is a growing field and one Alaska Natives could have a real impact on. Think about it!

**Alaska Native Oratory Society (ANOS) - This presentation will be facilitated by Dan Henry from UAA who founded the ANOS, but I have a strong suspicion he may bring some of his champion speakers with him. (I could be wrong. It's happened before.) "Attendees will gain an understanding of a statewide organization dedicated to promoting and inculcating public speaking skills related to Alaska Native culture." And "participants will also be given a forum in which to speak about their lives and concerns."

**Healing & storytelling: HIV/AIDS Prevention - This Brain Adventure focuses on storytelling, yoiking and drumming in relation to healing and HIV/AIDS prevention, and is faciliated by Anno Nakai of the Saami people.

**Research and Traditional Knowledge - Patricia Cochran, Director of the Alaska Native Science Commission will facilitate this Brain Adventure exploring issues around guidelines for use of traditional Native knowledge and teaching practices. This is a hot topic that won't be going away anytime soon. For more information visit the Science Commission's website and also check out their Traditional Knowledge and Native Foods Database.

**Laughing Spirits: Win the Battle with Drugs & Alcohol - Facilitated by actor and speaker Brian Frejo this Brain Adventure is about overcoming obstacles and learning from your experiences both "good" and "bad."

**Alaska Native Cultures should be a mandatory for high school graduation - Hold onto your hats because this Brain Adventure could get rowdy! Participants will have the chance to see the Alaska Native Oratory Society in action as they debate whether or not an Alaska Native Cultures course should be mandatory for high school graduation in Alaska. A great chance to see how "reasoning, evidence, and appropriate discourse" can be used "when exchanging opinions about controversial issues. Attendees will discuss appropriate ways of public speaking and effective ways of resolving conflicts."

**Healing Through Dance - Ossie Kairaiuak will facilitate this Brain Adventure, showing how traditional dance can be used to heal individuals and communities. (I doubt anyone cares, but this would be the one I'd go to!)

**No More Band-Aids, Thanks - For indigenous youth who wish to REALLY make something positive happen. A chance to share what you know and learn from other motivated youth.

**Strong Circles: Personal Empowerment - A Brain Adventure to discuss tobacco use in Alaskan communities and what we can each do to take action and heal ourselves and our communities. This presentation is sponsored by the Alaska Native Health Board and facilitated by Nick Gonzales

**Healing from Within - This Brain Adventure "shares a model of healing by which Youth will gain strength for practicing healthy lifestyles, through positive self-expression. Join this workshop for a group dialogue and a better understanding of the healing process!" Facilitated by Carol Seppilu and the Alaska Suicide Prevention Council.

**Native Pride and Cultural Survival - Barb Pungowiyi and Nome Native Youth Leadership Organization will facilitate this Brain Adventure that is all about youth pulling together and learning one's traditional culture(s) from elders/tradition bearers.

**Celebrate Fitness - Big Bob Aiken will facilitate this Brain (and Body!) Adventure focusing on the histories of the games played in the World Eskimo and Indian Olympics and Native Youth Olympics.

**Empowering Native Youth - This Brain Adventure presents an opportunity to meet with members of the AFN Youth Council and to pick their brains for information about being a youth leader in your community and how all Native youth across Alaska can network and work together.

**Arctic Council: International Networking Committee - Want to know about the Arctic Council and how you can participate? Well this is the Brain Adventure for you. Facilitated by Jaylene Wheeler and Patricia Cochran.

Speakers, Presenters
**Chief Evon Peter
Anchorage Press article reprinted on AlterNet.org -- Article shows him functioning in a local leadership capacity with far-reaching implications. Also briefly describes how he became chief of his people.
Essay by Chief Evon Peter "The Spirit of Our People: Subsistence &Federal Recognition of Tribes"

**Harold Napoleon - author of Yu'ya'raq: The Way of the Human Being, Published by Alaska Native Knowledge Network, University of Alaska - Fairbanks, 1996, and co-organizer of AFN's April 2002 Wellness Conference

**Father Michael Oleska, Dean of St. Innocents Cathedral, Russian Orthodox Diocese of Alaska.

**Victoria Hykes-Steere - Activist

**Fauna Kingdon - Youth speaker from Iqaluit, Nunavut -- An article mentioning Ms. Kingdon --

**Dmitry Berezhkov from Kamtchatka, Russia. One interesting link (scroll to the bottom)

**Professor Lilikala Kame'eleihiwa - Center for Hawaiian Studies at University of Hawaii

**Diane Benson - Scriptwriter, poet, director, casting, and actor

Represented Organizations and other speakers (these links take you outside of Alaskool)
**Assets: Helping Kids Succeed Alaskan Style - Presented by youth Alannah Hurley from Dillingham

**Youth Opportunity Program

**Governor's Children's Cabinet

**Get Out the Native Vote - Presented by Marleah LaBelle

**Inuit Circumpolar Youth Conference - Report to be given by Elizabeth Hensley and Lee Ryan - For some background information go here but it's not been updated since the most recent meeting.

Important Legal Stuff We Can't Afford To Be Ignorant Of (these links take you outside of Alaskool)(and they are also all mentioned in Willie Hensley's paper "What Rights to Land Have the Alaska Natives - see above)

**Alaska Statehood Act

**Organic Act of 1885

**Treaty of Cession

**Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
An Act To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to issue certificates of citizenship to Indians.

"Be it enacted . . ., That all non-citizen Indians born within the territorial limits of the United States be, and they are hereby, declared to be citizens of the United States: Provided, That the granting of such citizenship shall not in any manner impair or otherwise affect the right of any Indian to tribal or other property. Approved, June 2, 1924."

**The Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) - a.k.a. The Howard-Wheeler Act

**Additional U.S. codes relating to "Indian" people

Meeting Tools (these links take you outside of Alaskool)
Robert's Rules of Order

**Robert's Rules of Order in 10 Pages or Less

**Robert's Rules of Order

**Survival Tips on Robert's Rules of Order

**Very simple introduction to Robert's Rules of Order

^^^ Top of Page ^^^