About 35 students from Haines, Klukwan and Juneau spent the end of July on the banks of the Chilkoot River, learning traditional Tlingit skills, crafts, language and values at the Chilkoot Culture Camp, a summer tradition since 1981.
On Friday, 11-year-old Edgar Nash of Klukwan and about eight fellow campers were painting finishing touches on ceremonial dance paddles while about twice as many students sprawled out on the floor of a new camp house, sewing beads onto felt tunics while seamstress Jackie Pata of Juneau used a portable sewing machine to help out.
“They’re very creative,” Pata said of students, who incorporated ravens, eagles, hummingbirds and other designs into their garments. “They’re using their own ideas to come up with what they want.”
Camp director Mary Daaljini Cruise, a Juneau artist and teacher who grew up in Haines, had just finished a language session on Tlingit words for color, explaining that area Natives used objects from nature such as fire, charcoal and blue jays to describe the colors red, black and blue.
“You can take any word from the environment, add (a Tlingit language suffix) after it, and you’re describing a different color,” Cruise explained.
Janine Wilkinson of Calgary, Alberta was at the camp Friday with her sons Owen, 13, and Alaric, 10. Wilkinson’s family traces its roots to Klukwan. As a child, Wilkinson was a member of the Chilkat Dancers in Haines but the camp is a new experience for her family.
“I’ve taken a Tlingit language class on Zoom from UAS, but some cultural immersion was high on my list this year and I wanted to reconnect with people and give my sons the opportunity to reconnect with their heritage,” Wilkinson said. “It’s important for me to know where I’m from.”
Activities at the camp included instruction in cleaning, smoking and jarring sockeye, canning soapberries, making a devil’s club salve, learning and singing Tlingit songs and playing games. Last Tuesday, campers spent a day in Klukwan, learning cultural lessons.
“If you’re finished with all your activities, you can be a helper,” Cruise called out to campers Friday, the final day of the program. Nearby Leon Rogers, 9, of Haines explained how he created a rattle using deer hooves and devil’s club stalks.
“I always knew that Tlingit was a beautiful culture,” Rogers said, but the camp gave him a deeper appreciation for the beauty, he said.
Rogers was one of several non-Native youths participating in the camp. In recent years, the camp has welcomed non-Natives to promote appreciation of Tlingit culture among the broader population, said Harriet Brouillette, administrator of the Chilkoot Indian Association.
The CIA hosted the camp, with support from Sealaska, Tlingit-Haida Central Council, SEARHC and AmeriCorps.
“Originally, the camp was just for Native kids,” Brouillette said. “This is an opportunity for us to grow support in the non-Native community. Young people who come here are more likely to be advocates and supporters and allies for our culture. Being inclusive is only going to be beneficial to us that way,” Brouillette said in an interview.
A new, two-story building going up on the site will provide future housing for camp counselors, a kitchen and indoor space for programs. Brouillette is hoping the camp can eventually operate on alternative power sources, providing instruction about living off-grid.
The tribe plans to use the building year-round for language and art retreats. “The vision for the future is to have more camps and to focus more on certain aspects of the culture, including drawing, painting and weaving. The building is going to make a huge difference in what we’re able to offer,” Brouillette said.