Lesson Plans and Resources Page

We are in the process of adding a static page for lesson plans and resources (see link in the navigation bar). We plan to group by subject. If any teachers have suggestions for what kinds of resources they would like to see available, please contact us! Staff, if you have anything you would like to post, send it our way (you'll be credited, of course!)

Check out our updates to our iPod Carts!

We've got all kinds of cool stuff on our iPods for Elizabeth Peratrovich Day! Click the link in the sidebar to see our playlist and download an info sheet explaining each item. You can also get a preview with two video installations by Tlingit artist Nicholas Galanin!

Our staff also have access to this playlist. If you have a Title VII staff member at our school, ask them about it! They would be more than happy to share!

Check out our Elizabeth Peratrovich Day Resources!

Elizabeth Peratrovich Day is February 16th! Our staff are available to come into District schools and address Alaska's Civil Rights Act in trainings, presentations, or facilitated discussions. To schedule a visit, please call 742-7867 or click "contact" in the navigation bar.

We've also compiled a list of available resources on our Elizabeth Peratrovich page. Click on the link in the sidebar to learn more!

"No law will eliminate crimes but at least you as legislators can assert to the world that you recognize the evil of the present situation and speak your intent to help us overcome discrimination." 

-- Elizabeth Peratrovich, addressing the Alaska State Senate as she testified in favor of the Anti-Discrimination Act, passed by the Legislature February 8, 1945, and signed into law by Governor Ernst Gruening on February 16, 1945.

Elizabeth Wanamaker Peratrovich (July 4, 1911 - December 1, 1958) was an renowned Alaska Native civil rights leader and Grand Camp President of the Alaska Native Sisterhood. After moving to Juneau, Elizabeth and her family faced appalling racism that made it difficult for them to find a home and excluded them from many public facilities. In response, Elizabeth, together with her husband, Roy Peratrovich, and then Governor Ernest Gruening, introduced Alaska's "Equal Rights" Bill to the Legislature in 1943. Elizabeth also gave incisive testimony in favor of the bill, which is credited with splitting opposition to the bill and facilitating its passage in 1945.

It is said that Elizabeth listened quietly to the opposition while Congressmen argued that the Bill would unnecessarily exacerbate racial tensions and that segregation was the real answer. After the debating was over, Elizabeth rose to speak. "I would not have expected," she began, "that I, who am barely out of savagery, would have to remind gentlemen with five thousand years of recorded civilization behind them of our Bill of Rights."

The gallery erupted into applause when Elizabeth finished speaking, and the Alaska Civil Rights Act was passed 11-5 on February 16th.

In 1988, the Alaska Legislature established February 16th as Elizabeth Peratrovich Day, memorializing her "courageous, unceasing efforts to eliminate discrimination and bring about equal rights in Alaska" (Alaska Statutes 44.12.065).

Alaska Native Clothing Unit

We are pleased to share our Alaska Native Clothing unit developed by East High School Tlingit teacher Shirley Kendall. The unit is intended for elementary school students, and includes definitions, patterns, and images of Alaska Native clothing styles from all over the state. There are even instructions for students to make their own! To download a copy, please click here.

Note that permission is granted for educational use only.

Revised Michael Krauss Language Map [UPDATE]

Our interview with Jim Kerr, a co-creator of the new map

We've completed the filming stage of our ASDTube video promoting the new and improved Indigenous Peoples and Languages of Alaska Map, originally compiled by linguist Michael Krauss in 1974. Amazingly, the map's boundaries have remained unchallenged since the its completion; however changes in this most recent version include the addition of Siberian Yup'ik, change in ethnonyms (i.e., Deg Xinag), and the inclusion of Alaska Native place names. The new map was a joint project of UAA's Institute for Social and Economic Research and the Alaska Native Language Center. ISER has graciously donated copies of the map to Title VII, and we plan to distribute them to schools with a priority towards replacing old maps, and adding the new map to public spaces. If you are interested in obtaining a copy, please contact us by clicking "contact" in the navigation bar.

To get a preview of the map, be sure to visit Alaskool's zoomable version here. For more information about the project, see ISER's July article, or download their flyer.

Updates to the Michael Krauss Language Map

In 1974, linguist Michael Krauss published his authoritative Native Peoples and Languages of Alaska map, after fifteen years of research. Since that time, the map has become an instrumental teaching tool in classrooms and universities, and, has received no significant challenges or revisions.

This year, the Alaska Native Language Center (ANLC) at UAF and the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) at UAA have released an updated version of the map, with new languages and the addition of Alaska Native place names. A zoomable version of the map is available on Alaskool.

At Title VII, we're promoting the release of the map with an ASDTube video. The video will include an interview with Jim Kerr, who assisted in creating the digital version of the map, and audio of native speakers pronouncing different place names. So far, we've had volunteers for Unangax, Tlingit, Yup'ik, and Gwich'in Athabascan, and Den'aina. Please contact us if you would be interested in taking part! We are looking for volunteers who speak the following:

• Inupiaq

• Koyukon

• Tanana

• Han

• Tanacross

• Upper Tanana

• Ahtna

• Alutiiq

• Haida

• Tsimshian

Please note that ASDTube is a platform only accessible to ASD employees, and requires a secure log-in. So any audio we record will only be accessible to District employees.

Title VII will be receiving approximately 200 copies of the new map from ISER. If you are interested in obtaining a copy for your school, please let us know! You can contact us by clicking "contact" in the navigation bar.

Searchable Smithsonian Archives

The Smithsonian website is full of great resources for educators. If you're planning a cultural studies unit, be sure to utilize the searchable National Anthropological Archives. There is also a searchable database for the the Human Studies Film Archive. Rotating exhibits from the Collections and Archives Program at the Department of Anthropology are highlighted here, so check back frequently.


When searching the archives, take a note of the plus (+) sign to the left of each individual search result. If the color behind the plus sign is light, that means that when you expand the result you will get more information, but no photograph. If the color behind the plus sign is dark, a photograph is available or other image is available.


From the NMNH Terms and Conditions of Use:

Subsets of the information, records, or images in one or more of the databases may be used, downloaded, reproduced, publicly displayed, distributed, or reprinted strictly for educational, scientific, scholarly, and other non-profit uses provided that the following attribution appears in all copies:  "Information provided with the permission of the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, 10th and Constitution Ave. N.W., Washington, DC 20560-0193. (http://www.nmnh.si.edu/)"

Sharing the Spirit Directory

Heritage Month may be coming to a close, but our "Sharing the Spirit" directory of Alaska Native elders, artists, and speakers is still a great resource for tying in culturally responsive classroom practices to your curriculum. If you haven't already, download a free .pdf copy of our booklet here, or ask your principal for a hard copy. Be sure to check out the listing located in the front of the booklet that enumerates the curricular ties and Alaska State Standards addressed by each speaker.

Note that many speakers are paid for their time, so booking a speaker outside of Heritage Month may require funding. It may be best to discuss this individually with the speaker. Check out the grants that are available from the Alaska State Council on the Arts, or check with your school's PTA. To schedule a speaker, contact ASD Community Resources. If you have questions, contact us by clicking "contact" in the navigation bar!

Our Mother Tongues: America's First Languages (website)

Our wonderful admin assistant Marilyn shared this amazing resource: the Our Mother Tongues languages project. Included on the project site is an interactive language map, the option to hear languages being spoken by native speakers, and the ability to send multi-lingual e-Card greetings! From Project Director Anne Makepeace:

So much of what is portrayed in the media about indigenous cultures focuses on loss and disappearance, but what is really happening in Indian country today is a vibrant cultural revival. The Wampanoag story moved me profoundly because it is a story of hope, of possibilities, of a community that was in many ways devastated by 400 years of contact taking charge of their history, their identity, and their culture by reawakening their language.

While the Wampanoag case is unique in that there had not been a fluent speaker for more than a century, thousands of Native Americans across the country are working to reclaim, revitalize, and perpetuate their heritage languages. Dedicated first language speakers and others are teaching their mother tongues to their communities with a special focus on the young, so that the deep knowledge embedded in their words and expressions will be heard and spoken by many generations to come.

 Be sure to check out the Alutiiq materials included on the site.

Resources for Educators from the Anchorage Museum's Arctic Studies Center

The Arctic Studies Center recently published a long-awaited encyclopedic volume of Alaska's First Peoples, titled Living Our Cultures, Sharing Our Heritage: The First Peoples of Alaska. Thanks to the generosity of The Alaska Native Cultural Charter School, Title VII has a copy available for research purposes! In addition to the book itself, the Center has also created a series of complementary lesson plans, or "learning experiences", and a teacher's guide, available for free download from their website. If you need help or would like to borrow Living Our Cultures from our office, please click "contact" in the navigation bar above.

[Bonus points if you can find the ASD staff members included in the book!]