Every November, we celebrate National Native American Heritage Month. This is an opportunity to honor and learn more about the language, history, and cultural practices of Native American and Alaska Native people. This month, explore some of the resources below!

Print resources available at Consortium:

Rock Piles Along the Eddy by Ishmael Hope is the second poetry collection by the Tlingit and Inupiaq poet. His poems weave together personal experience and Indigenous ways of being. Ishmael lives in Juneau.

Hearts of Our People: Native Women Artists by Jill Ahlberg Yohe and Teri Greeves is the companion text to the art exhibition of the same name that toured through the Smithsonian and other museums in 2019 and 2020. It explores the contributions of Native women artists from antiquity through to present day and includes the works of more than 115 artists from North America.

Native American Voices on Identity, Art, & Culture: Objects of Everlasting Esteem edited by Lucy Fowler Williams, William Wierzbowski, and Robert W. Preucel, centers 78 items held at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and the perspectives of contemporary Native Americans on each.

Earth Song, Sky Spirit : Short Stories of the Contemporary Native American experience edited by Clifford E. Trafzer. is a collection of short stories by more than two dozen Native American writers “exploring the plight, the pride, and the presence of their people.”

Native Universe : Voices of Indian America edited by Gerald McMaster and Clifford E. Trafzer, includes perspectives from scholars, writers, and leaders from a vast range of geographic areas on a variety of topics.

Online resources:

The Alaska Native Language Center, housed at UAF, has a number of resources for learning about several of the languages spoken in Alaska.

Dena’ina Qenaga is a website dedicated to the Dena’ina Athabascan language – it includes both language learning resources and a digital archive of oral histories (though the latter is currently unavailable, they are working to restore access!).

The Alaska Native Knowledge Network, also housed at UAF, features “resources for compiling and exchanging information related to Alaska Native knowledge systems and ways of knowing.”  It has lots of great resources for learners and educators alike.

The National Museum of the American Indian has a number of online resources, including a blog, the American Indian magazine, online exhibitions, and a YouTube channel.

Want to dive deeper? Contact the Information and Research Help Desk and we would be happy to help!

g information related to
Alaska Native knowledge systems and ways of knowing.

The ANC Zine Fair is coming up this Saturday, November 8th 12-6pm at the Nave – it will feature local zine makers selling zines of all types and is a great opportunity to meet other zine enthusiasts!

But what is a zine? A zine (shortened from magazine or fanzine) is diy self-publication and can be about anything. It can be very small or very large. It can comprise a single sheet of paper or many. It can be filled with text, photos, art, or whatever else you might think of. Anyone can make a zine!

Learn more about zines through this LibGuide from Purdue University.

Here are some books about zines if you’d like to explore more – access them by placing a hold through the Alaska Library Consortium.

Make a Zine! Start Your Own Underground Publishing Revolution by Joe Biel with Bill Brent

Stolen Sharpie Revolution: A DIY Resource for Zines and Zine Culture by Alex Wrekk

The Archives and Special Collections has a Zines collection, featuring more than 150 zines! You can access it by contacting them and making an appointment.

Intrigued? You can find lots of zines at the ANC Zine Fair this weekend!

Dipnetting season has come to an end, berries are coming in, and our garden plots are plentiful! We’re thinking a lot about harvest season in Alaska and want to share some resources with you.

UAF Cooperative Extension publishes lots of information on gardening, harvesting and using wild foods, as well as preparing and preserving them. Browse through their publications on their website: https://www.uaf.edu/ces/

My Side of the River by Elias Kelly

My Side of the River : An Alaska Native Story (ebook) is written by Elias Kelly, a Yup’ik agricultural specialist. This book explores the way that colonial management of subsistence has impacted Alaska Native peoples and cultural practices.

Alaska Native Subsistence Rights by Heather Sauyaq Jean Gordon

Alaska Native Subsistence Rights: Taking an Anti-Racist Decolonizing Approach to Land Management and Ownership for Our Children and Generations to Come by Heather Sauyaq Jean Gordon presents a research project that was conducted in partnership with the Ninilchik Village Tribe (NVT) and sought to explore indigenous understandings of sustainability and land management through interviews with community members.

Alaska Berries

Collecting and Using Alaska’s Wild Berries and Other Wild Products

Alaska Wildberry Guide & Cookbook

Happy Pride Month! There are lots of celebrations and events happening all around town throughout the month. Dive deeper into the history of LGBTQ+ communities with some of these books and articles!

Books:

We are Everywhere: Protest, Power, and Pride in the History of Queer Liberation by Matthew Riemer and Leighton Brown explores the history of the fight for queer liberation from the mid-1800s through the 1990s. A great primer for understanding the history of Pride! Available by placing a hold through the Library Catalog.

Black on Both Sides: A Racial History of Trans Identity by C. Riley Snorton explores the intersection between Blackness and transness from the mid-19th century through present day and highlights prominent Black trans folx, including Christine Jorgensen, Lucy Hicks Anderson, and James McHarris. Available at the Consortium Library.

Boots of leather, slippers of gold : the history of a lesbian community by Elizabeth Lapovsky Kennedy & Madeline D Davis documents the history of the lesbian community in Buffalo, NY from the mid-1930s to the 1960s, featuring the oral histories of 45 women. Available at the Consortium Library.

In transit : being non-binary in a world of dichotomies by Dianna E Anderson is a blend of memoir and history, exploring the theory and reality of being non-binary. Available by placing a hold through the Library Catalog.

New queer cinema : a critical reader edited by Michele Aaron is a collection of essays examining various aspects of queer cinema and the various themes found within it. Available at the Consortium Library.

Queer threads : crafting identity and community by John Chalch and Todd Oldham showcases 29 artists exploring gender, sexuality, and their work in fiber arts. Available at the Consortium Library.

Journal Articles:

• Invisible Pathways: Public History By Queer Black Women In Newark by Kristyn Scorsone
• Queer Theory and Native Studies: The Heteronormativity of Settler Colonialism by Andrea Smith (in the Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies – explore more here!)
• Living Queer History: Remembrance and Belonging in a Southern City by Gregory Samantha Rosenthal

Have other topics you’d like to explore or books you’d like to find? Get in touch with the Reference Desk – we’d be happy to help!

The Constitution of the State of Alaska was adopted by the Alaska Constitutional Convention on February 5, 1956 and ratified by the people of Alaska April 24, the same year. We now celebrate April 24th as Alaska Constitution Day (which was yesterday). We’ve highlighted some resources below so that you can dive deeper into the Alaska State Constitution!

The book Alaska’s constitution: a citizen’s guide by Gordon Harrison is a good primer if you’re not familiar with the Alaska Constitution. The fifth edition was updated in 2021 and summarizes the creation of the constitution and discusses some of the political history and judicial interpretations since then. It is available at the Consortium Library to be checked out. You can read Alaska’s Constitution in full here.

The book Alaska’s constitutional convention by Vic Fischer was published by ISER in 1975. Fisher served as one of the delegates to the constitutional convention and recounts the story of how how the Alaska constitution came to be. Find this text at the Consortium Library in the Alaskana Collection or in ARLIS. Vic Fischer was the last surviving signer of Alaska’s constitution and passed away at the age of 99 in 2023. You can read more about him here.

The article Alaska Native perspectives on the Alaska constitution by William L. Iggiagruk Hensley and John Sky Starkey provides a counter-perspective on the creation of the Alaska Constitution and the ways in which Alaska Native voices were excluded from the process. Part one of the article was adapted from a panel discussion that took place in 2018. Find the full text here (be sure to login for off-campus access first if you are accessing from home).

The Alaska Law Review had a number of articles addressing varying aspects of the Alaska Constitution and how it impacts Alaskans. These include:

• The unique promise of the Alaska constitution: the right to rehabilitation by Adam Beyer, published 2023.
• Alaska’s constitution and felony disenfranchisement: a historical and legal analysis by J C Croft, published 2019.
• Of time, place, and the Alaska constitution by Alan G Tarr, published 2018.
• The Alaska constitution and the future of individual rights by Erwin Chemerinsky, published 2018.

Want to explore further? The Archives and Special Collections has a number of collections related to the Alaska Constitution, including the personal papers of some of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention. Browse through the collections here and contact the Archives directly to make an appointment to see the collections.