About Us

Perpetuating and enhancing Southeast Alaskan Native cultures

Sealaska Heritage is a regional Native nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation. Our mission is to perpetuate and enhance Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian cultures. Our goal is to promote cultural diversity and cross-cultural understanding.

We offer numerous programs promoting Southeast Alaskan Native culture, including language and art. We maintain a substantial archive of Southeast Alaskan Native ethnographic material. We partner with local schools to promote academics and cultural education. Biennially, we produce Celebration, Alaska'™s second-largest Native gathering. We own and operate the Sealaska Heritage Store, and produce True Southeast, an ongoing cultural exhibit on the first floor of our headquarters in Juneau'™s landmark Walter Soboleff Building. 

In 1996, scientists in Southeast Alaska discovered ancient human remains in a cave on Prince of Wales Island. DNA analysis and other testing proved he was a Native male and that the remains were at least 10,000 years old. We named him Shuká Kaa (Man Before Us). For more than 10,000 years, we have been guided by ancient values that allowed our people to adapt to rapid cultural changes and to survive as a distinct cultural group. Today, we are seeking to integrate our cultural values into the institutions that directly serve our people. The values in Tlingit are:

  • Haa Aaní: Our Land: Honoring & Utilizing our Land (Haida: Íitl’ Tlagáa; Tsimshian: Na Yuubm)
    • Our ancestors, who have lived in this land for more than 10,000 years, taught us that everything has a Spirit. When we utilize our resources, we must acknowledge the Spirits of the Land, Sea and Air and tell them the benefits that their use will bring to our People. Our ancestors protected the ownership of our land for their children and grandchildren just as we must do for future generations.  
  • Haa Latseen: Our Strength: Strength of Body, Mind, and Spirit  (Haida: Íitl’ Dagwiigáay; Tsimshian: Na Yugyetga’nm)
    • The “Way of the Warriors’” path is to achieve physical and inner strength.  Above all, young men and women are taught to protect and to care for their families and clans.  They are taught to seek truth and knowledge and to adapt to changing times while maintaining the integrity of our ancient values. 
  • Haa Shuká: Past, Present, and Future Generations: Honoring our Ancestors and Future Generations (Haida: Íitl’ Kuníisii; Tsimshian: Na Hlagigyadm)
    • We maintain strong bonds with our ancestors whom we honor through our lives and in our ceremonies. We also have responsibilities to our future generations, and we must ensure that we protect our land and culture for our children and grandchildren and those who will follow them. 
  • Wooch Yax: Balance: Social and Spiritual Balance  (Haida: Gu dlúu; Tsimshian: Ama Mackshm)
    • Wooch Yax must be maintained to ensure social and spiritual harmony lest ill will goes wandering and causes harm. Wooch Yax governs
      • Interrelationships between Eagle and Raven clans
      • Interrelationships between the Tlingit and others, including tribes, nations and institutions
    • Wooch Yax  includes Kaa yaa awuné or Respect for Others and Át yaa awuné or Respect for All Things. Wooch Yax requires that our People and our organizations conduct business with Yán gaa doonéekw or “Dignity,” realizing that everything has its rightful place and that all action and business must be done with integrity.

Our Founding

Sealaska Heritage was founded in 1980 by Sealaska after being conceived by clan leaders, traditional scholars and elders at the first Sealaska Elders Conference. During that meeting, the Elders likened Native culture to a blanket. They told the new leaders that their hands were growing weary of holding onto the metaphorical blanket, this "œcontainer of wisdom." They said they were transferring this responsibility to Sealaska, the regional Native corporation serving Southeast Alaska. In response, Sealaska founded Sealaska Heritage to operate cultural and educational programs. The late George Davis (Kichnáalx—Lk’aanaaw)  of Angoon spoke these memorable words:

"We don't want what you did here to only echo in the air, how our grandfathers used to do things... Yes. You have unwrapped it for us. That is why we will open again this container of wisdom left in our care."

Sealaska Heritage is governed by a Board of Trustees and guided by a Council of Traditional Scholars and a Native Artist Committee.