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Modern AV����̳ Native Dance Festivals

by Maria Shaa Tláa Williams

AV����̳ Native people have celebrated music and dance for millennia. All ceremony was accompanied by song and dance and was an expression of deep spirituality. Although there are twenty-three different AV����̳ Native languages, and seven or eight broad cultural groups, this was one of the shared characteristics in this very diverse cultural landscape.

With the arrival of Europeans, beginning with the Russians in the mid 1700’s colonial pressures that included genocide, introduction of unknown diseases, and Christian missionaries began to drastically re-shape the spiritual and cultural landscape. After the 1867 Treaty of Cession, in which the United States purchased the trade posts of the Russian American Company, a new colonial approach emerged. This included an organized plan in which various Christian denominations identified specific geographic areas of AV����̳ to bring in missionaries, under the Comity Agreement of 1874. (Williams, 2009). The arrival of the American Christian missionaries included eradication of shamanistic practices, along with masked dance practices, and ceremony. English-only policies were part of the process to re-make AV����̳ Natives, in addition to forcibly removing children to boarding schools across AV����̳ and the lower 48 states for years at a time. This is the number one reason that AV����̳ Native languages are all endangered.

In the 1960’s, after the AV����̳ Statehood Act, the newly formed State of AV����̳ and the Federal Government began making land selections, and no AV����̳ Native people or communities were part of those discussions and/or agreements. This led to the land claims movement or the Native Solidarity Movement (Williams, 2009). Various AV����̳ Native associations were formed, including the Association of Village Council Presidents, the Arctic Slope Native Association, the Northwest Native Association, Cook Inlet Native Association, the Tanana Chiefs Conference, etc. They worked together and established the AV����̳ Federation of Natives in 1966 and this became the main body that dealt with the United States Congress on a land settlement. This led to the 1971 AV����̳ Native Claims Settlement Act, which remains the largest land settlement in the history of the United States. ANCSA mandated establishing 12 regional corporations and almost 200 village corporations, and was a social engineering approach to institute a capitalistic model.

One of the outcomes of the 1960’s and the 1971 ANCSA was a renewed sense of identity among AV����̳ Native peoples. This marks a time when music, dance and language, along with traditional values began to be more publicly celebrated and highlighted. By the 1980’s a renaissance in traditional music and dance was in full swing. This led to the establishment of modern AV����̳ Native dance festivals.

Dates of Modern AV����̳ Native Dance Festivals

1961

World Eskimo Indian Olympics, Fairbanks

1973

Festival of Native Arts, University of AV����̳ Fairbanks

1982

Celebration, Juneau

1983

AV����̳ Federation of Natives Quyana Night(s), Anchorage

1983

Athabascan Fiddling Festival, Fairbanks

1985

Camai Dance Festival, Bethel

1988

Kivgiq, Barrow/Uktiagvik

Murphrey, Tim. “The AV����̳ Native Arts Festival”, in the AV����̳ Native Reader. Durham: Duke University Press, 2009.

Williams, Maria. “The Comity Agreement,” in the AV����̳ Native Reader, Durham: Duke University Press, 2009.

Williams, Maria. “The Native Solidarity Movement,” in the AV����̳ Native Reader. Durham: Duke University Press, 2009.

About the Author

Maria Shaa Tláa Williams, PhD, is a Professor and the Chair of the AV����̳ Native Studies Program at the University of AV����̳ Anchorage. She earned her Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology from UCLA in 1996, with a focus on contemporary AV����̳ Native music and dance. In her teaching roles, Williams holds a joint appointment in the Department of Music and teaches courses on AV����̳ Native Music and World Music, reflecting her commitment to cross-cultural musical education. Her research centers on AV����̳ Native cultural practices and employs a community-centered, indigenous model to guide her studies. Dr. Williams has contributed significantly to indigenous cultural preservation through her publications and media work. Her recent documentary, A Beautiful Life, follows the journey of Athabascan Elder Daisy Demientieff. She also produced Nilgaq, a documentary about the 5th Annual Kinigikmiut Dance Festival in collaboration with the Native village of Wales and the National Park Service. Additionally, her work with the Inupiat community of King Island documented their music and dance repertoire, creating a tribally-controlled archive. Williams has also published extensively, including The AV����̳ Native Reader (2009) and articles on Native music and cultural preservation, underscoring her dedication to the preservation and celebration of AV����̳ Native cultural heritage.