The Jilkaat Kwaan Heritage Center annual benefit dinner and auction will begin 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 9 at the ANS Hall in Klukwan.
Organizer Lani Hotch said proceeds from this year’s gourmet dinner and handicrafts auction will go toward the planned heritage center and also to village cultural activities. Activities include the recent canoe project, Culture Days events, the village dance group and cultural camps held around annual eulachon, moose and salmon harvests.
The five-course dinner includes vegetable cheese tartlets, cream of broccoli soup, an entrée choice of braised moose, brined chicken or egg plant-saffron custard (vegetarian), and mixed-green salad. Five dessert options include varieties of cream, fruit and nut tarts or cherry-glazed cheesecake.
The suggested donation is $50 for adults and $25 for children ages 3 to 10.
Hotch said getting the recently completed Heritage House running and profitable through development of cruise-ship tours is now getting most of the village’s attention.
“We’re trying to get cruise tours lined up for this coming year. The village recently bought the (shuttle) boat and cruise dock, too. We’re putting the main cultural center on the back burner for now until we get the Hospitality House starting making money for us,” Hotch said.
The Hospitality House is now under the control of a for-profit corporation, separate from JKHC’s fund-raising efforts, she said.
The Hospitality House is a dining hall, gift shop and reception area adjoining a new longhouse and other traditional structures. The area will be a site for the practice of traditional arts and lifeways.
The heritage center, a planned gallery of prized village artifacts and a center for artists, is expected to become the centerpiece of the development.
Tickets are available at the Babbling Book.