Joaqlin Estus

ANCHORAGE — Joseph Engasongwok Senungetuk, Iñupiaq, died peacefully on May 31 at his home in Anchorage, Alaska with his wife Martha and family and friends by his side. He was 83. As an artist, he created etchings, paintings, illustrations, masks,…

The flier for his going away party says a lot about John Kito’s work as an educator. Across the top of it are photos of people performing traditional dances of Alaska Natives, Pacific and South Pacific Islands, Mexico, Indonesia and Africa. The…

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Dr. Gordon L. Pullar Sr, a longtime Alutiiq educator and author in Alaska, died April 18 after a long illness. He was 78. Pullar was a professor and mentor to scores of students, a researcher and author who contributed to the…

Traditional healer and Yup’ik elder Rita Blumenstein died Friday, Aug. 6. As a mentor and speaker, she brought Yup’ik values to the international arena. Blumenstein was one of the first members of the International Council of Indigenous Thirteen…

Renowned (Rosebud) Sicangu Oyate spiritual leader and activist Chief Leonard Crow Dog died Sunday at Crow Dog's Paradise on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. He was 78. Rosebud Sioux Tribe President Rodney Bordeaux, Sicangu Lakota…

‘He had this vision of what needed to be accomplished for the renaissance of Tlingit culture' Kingeisti David G. Katzeek, Tlingit, died suddenly last week, leaving a gaping hole in the ceremonial, educational and community life of his people. He was…

PORTRAITS FROM THE PANDEMIC Five people, two generations of a Seneca Nation family living on the reservation, got sick with COVID-19. Three died. The deaths of 91-year-old Norma Kennedy and her two daughters, Diane Kennedy, 71, and Cindy Mohr, 65,…

Norma Kennedy and her daughters Diane Kennedy and Cindy Mohr died within weeks of each other from COVID-19. *A version of this story was previously published as part of our Portraits From a Pandemic series Joaqlin Estus During a recent procession for…

Radio journalist, host Harlan McKosato * Corrected version Harlan McKosato, Sac and Fox, once estimated he’d hosted more than 3,500 one-hour radio shows on Native American issues, covering everything from crime, the environment, education, and…

‘His biggest love was giving back to the Native American youth’ Hoop dancer Nakotah LaRance, Tewa, Hopi, Navajo and Assiniboine, was a world-class athlete and performer. When he danced with Cirque du Soleil at the 2015 opening of the Pan Am Games in…

Correction: “He was able to change the course of Alaska art history single handedly” In an art student’s 2006 Master’s thesis, sculptor Abraham Anghik Ruben is quoted as saying, “[Ron] Senungetuk’s timing was impeccable. He came at a time when Alaska…