ANCSA@50

What was possible then?

What is possible now?

How do we define ourselves?

Following the 50th anniversary of the Alaska Native Settlement Claims Act (ANCSA), the Forum hosted a series of conversations that were aimed at exploring our relationship to one another and the policy. These local and statewide conversations were grounded not in academic or professional expertise, but in lived experiences. The Forum’s ANCSA@50 conversation series was a time for our community to gather, share stories, and imagine the possibilities the next 50 years hold.

Conversations Across Generations

Conversations Across Generations (CxG) is a program that supported five 8-week-long cohort journeys consisting of transformative intergenerational conversations about racial identity and experiences of racism in Alaska guided by the question: "What does racial equity demand of us?"

Participants engaged in weekly conversations and structured exploration over 8 weeks to build diverse communities of lasting relationships that connected through and beyond common ground. The goal was for each cohort to discover a sense of radical belonging, belonging that rests on the deep appreciation of differing experiences and perspectives rather than common interests and shared identities.

The CxG journey pushed participants to replace the questions “How can we find common ground?” and “How can our community overcome differences?” with the questions “How can we better understand our differences?” and “How can our community leverage differences?”

The Alaska Humanities Forum offers many different opportunities to engage in this work. Read about the impact so far in our Racial Equity Conversations Report.

WE ARE OF: A weekend of relating to race and land

The We Are Of weekend brought together folks from across Alaska to engage in open space conversations about how our race shapes how we relate to land. Guest facilitator, Mistinguette Smith of the

Black/Land Project joined us for this two day experience in August 2022.

Togetherings on Racial Equity

Togetherings are conversations presented in a series of three episodes, each series focusing on a different theme, exploring big ideas from an Alaskan perspective. At each Togethering, two people kick off the conversation starting with some questions.

The Forum partners with a different organization or individual to work collaboratively to develop the theme for each series and to identify guests to open the discussion.

Listen here!

Community | Media | Possibility

Since 2019, Alaska Humanities Forum has been hosting programming designed to build trust between journalists and the community through the national Democracy and the Informed Citizen Initiative. Administered by the Federation of State Humanities Councils and funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, this nationwide effort was to examine the connections between democracy, the humanities, journalism, and an informed citizenry. Between fall 2020 and spring 2021, the Forum organized a variety of programming focused on the question:

What’s possible when community and media connect?

Read.

Recommendations for Reimagining Community and Media in Alaska, 2021 to see what our participants have to say.

Connect.

Take a look at the network map that was developed to keep interested community members and media professionals connected. Scroll to the bottom and add yourself.

Spark Conversation.

Keep the conversation going. Gather five or more friends and have a conversation for at least an hour using our Kindling Conversation toolkit. Learn more and apply here.

WHY IT MATTERS

Invigorating civic engagement through
community conversation and storytelling

As a part of the national "Why It Matters: Civic and Electoral Participation" initiative, administered by the Federation of State Humanities Councils and funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Forum supported a series of events and activities around voting, engagement, and democracy to strengthen civic connection and participation throughout Alaska.

Across the country, this initiative included exhibitions, explorations of history, public panels, and radio talk shows oriented around civic engagement in our democracy.

The Forum invited Alaskans to join in on the conversation. Below are some of the initiative's results.

Check Out.

Alaskans from across the state submitted voting stories to our multimedia collection. These stories will be transferred to the University of Alaska's Archives and Special Collections after a year to preserve and honor the voices that contributed.

Read.

The Forum hosted several events throughout the winter and spring of 2021 to bring people together to talk, think, and listen. These tough conversations that are core to our democracy were graphically documented and resulted in this gallery.

Listen.

To deepen the discussion on civic engagement, we partnered with the Alaska Center to produce three episodes of The Togetherings around the theme of representation. The Togetherings are recorded conversations with Alaskans from all walks of life sharing their perspectives on big questions and diving into what matters from their point of view.