Joaqlin Estus
ICT
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — An audience of hundreds sang happy birthday in several Indigenous languages to keynote speaker Ilskyalas Delores Churchill, Haida, at the 40th Elders and Youth Conference on Monday. She turns 94 later this month.
The 2023 Elders and Youth conference features presentations and workshops on the theme: Woosht Guganéix, which means “Let it be that we heal each other” in Tlingit. Workshops this year will include sessions on culture, language and how to process traditional foods such as herring roe and venison.
The conference is held at the Dena’ina Convention Center in Anchorage and precedes the annual Alaska Federation of Natives Convention (Oct. 19-21), which draws thousands of people to the same center to discuss policy and issues. The week is full of meetings, receptions, arts and crafts fairs, and traditional dance performances.
Churchill gave one of two keynote addresses scheduled for Elders and Youth. Tuesday the audience will hear from model and Indigenous activist Quannah Chasinghorse, who is Han Gwich’in and Lakota.
Churchill is a renowned weaver who works in spruce root, cedar bark and wool. Her hats, robes, baskets and regalia are featured in museums in Washington, D.C., Canada, Hawai’i, Germany and Alaska.
She’s also one of the few remaining people who grew up speaking Haida as their first language, and has taught the language to thousands of students over the years.
In her keynote, Churchill used storytelling to carry the message that we each have the means to heal ourselves and to heal others— through love, kindness, and respect.
One story Churchill told was about a couple who told her she changed their lives when she taught them basket weaving. They were street people in Juneau. The Salvation Army tracked them down so the grandmother could pay their fare to return to their village. They took Churchill’s class and now lead productive lives that include gathering materials and basket making.
Churchill said it wasn’t just her class who helped those people heal. Help came from the grandmother, the Salvation Army, and the community that paid for the classes.
“It made me cry to know what an impact the basketry did for these two. And then I started thinking about all these villages where — not only basketry (but) carving, language — we really are fortunate that these young people are working so hard to keep these programs going.”
She said love is also expressed another way: “when your family makes a quspuk (traditional Yup’ik shirt), when they make slippers for you, these are all helping heal you. Because when you walk in your slippers, you’re walking in love. When you put your regalia on, you are also walking in love. So love is really the healing power that we all hold in our hands and sometimes we forget it.”
She said she’s optimistic for the future when she sees young people on their phones. “I’m really expecting these young people who are playing video games to develop Haida, Inupiaq, and Athabascan languages with their games…. And I think that’s really important.”
“I really envy these people who are in the future all going to be speaking the language. When I go to the language nest in Hydaburg, and I know there are language nests all over Alaska, I see a great future for our languages if our language is going to live because of these young people and all the elders who are supporting them and encouraging them,” Churchill said.
Churchill told other stories that emphasized the importance of showing respect for others and for nature, and humility.
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