Ungipaghaq STORIES FROM AROUND

In March, the Federal Communications Commission granted the largest single 2.5GHz spectrum award in the country to an Alaska Native Tribal-managed nonprofit organization. The Alaska Tribal Network is a collective of Tribal entities across Alaska with the goal of creating a statewide network that is Tribally governed. Currently the Alaska Tribal Spectrum represents half of all Tribes in Alaska, amounting to a quarter of all Tribes within the United States.

“This really is huge news for our Tribes,” said Crystal Dushkin, Native Village of Atka President. “Access to high-speed internet at unprecedented affordable prices will revolutionize our lives in our rural communities, such as our remote village of Atka.”

Read more at the Alaska Tribal Spectrum.

In 2017, Inupiaq police dispatcher Clarice “Bun” Hardy was sexually assaulted, and she reported the assault to the Nome police. Despite video evidence and Bun following up with both the Nome police and Alaska State Troopers, she was never given progress updates, and the case did not to appear to be investigated for over a year. In 2020, Bun filed a lawsuit against the City of Nome.

In March, Bun and the city reached an agreement that she would drop her lawsuit in exchange for $750,000 and an apology from the city. Bun credits Nome sexual assault activists in giving her the courage to pursue action against the city.

To read more, visit the Anchorage Daily News.

In a January piece in Alaska Business Magazine, Chugach Alaska Corporation officers discussed the role of women in Alaska Native corporation leadership.

“In the United States in 2019, women represented just 21 percent of C-Suite positions, and women of color represented a mere 4 percent,” the article states. “Meanwhile, progress towards gender parity in ANC leadership roles is more promising. Five out of the twelve (42 percent) Presidents and CEOs at the helm of ANCs (as represented on the ARA Board of Directors) are women. At Chugach, five out of nine (55 percent) Chugach board members are women, while seven out of eleven (64 percent) of its executive team members are women.”

Women in leadership roles have long been tradition in Alaska Native cultures and communities, and Alaska Native corporation women leadership outpaces much of the nation, and world.

since September the University of Alaska Anchorage has been offering Unangam Tunuu language classes, marking the first time in twenty years that the language has been taught at the university level. Unangax̂ artist Haliehana Alaĝum Ayagaa Stepetin leads the class, partnering with her mentor Moses Qagidax̂ Dirks.

Students in the course covered the basics like the Unangax̂ alphabet and common greetings, and last semester’s students ended the beginner class with a presentation where they could introduce themselves in Unangam Tunuu.

To read more, visit KUCB.