When Skeenyáa Tláa Nancy Keen, a Lingít Chilkat Valley resident, decided to create and donate a beaded wool octopus bag to fundraise for a clan house revitalization project, she didn’t expect to end up at a rock concert.
But last weekend, she found herself on the dance floor of the Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall in Juneau for Hít Wóoshdei Yadukícht: “Dancing Our House Together.” It was a gathering kicking off a weekend of music and philanthropy that brought together Indigenous artists, rock bands and community members across Southeast Alaska in support of Lduteen Jerrick Hope-Lang’s mission to rebuild the Kiks.ádí X’aaká Hít (Point House) in Sitka.
Organizers held a live auction during the show in Juneau, the crowd cheering as Lingít teacher X’unei Lance Twitchell raised thousands of dollars for two electric guitars. Keen’s piece is part of an online silent auction, which closes on Feb. 13. That includes a print by Rachel Martin called “Little Miss Landback,” a custom guitar donated by Juneau artist Lee Burkhart, who also donated a mixed media image. There’s also a hand-carved, mahogany raven by Naal xak’w Tommy Joseph.
And then there’s Keen’s stunning blue bag with a Chilkat face design. Keen said she has been friends with Hope-Lang for a long time, and the two have collaborated on projects before, so she knew she wanted to create something profound to donate.
The bag is embellished with sea otter fur, beaded stars, formline ribbon and silk tassels.
She had the whole project laid out after teaching a class on how to make them in September. The silver lining is that the project came together smoothly and there were no obstacles as there can often be with complicated art projects — Keen said it felt like it was meant to happen.
“It was effortless and the end result was just astounding,” she said. “I popped a lot of eyeballs with that one.”
The concerts, headlined by Portugal. The Man and Indigenous artists Samantha Crain and Ya Tseen, raised funds for Hope-Lang’s, push to rebuild a clan house in the historic Sitka Indian Village.
Hope-Lang told the Daily Sitka Sentinel that he hoped the concerts and auctions would get the project to a “shovel ready” point. He said the fund-raising goal is $80,000, which he told the Sentinel will pay for the final architectural and engineering designs for the Point House; it’s about 10 percent of the overall budget.
The headlining band, Portugal. The Man, is a rock band originally from Wasilla. They’re well known for the Grammy-winning song “Feel It Still,” and numerous philanthropic events, including funding anti-racist efforts in Virginia, reproductive justice efforts in Alabama, and more recently, forming a nonprofit organization that funds Indigenous issues.
“I’d never heard of Portugal. The Man,” Keen said. “Now, I know who they are. I like what they stand for,” Keen said.
For Keen, the highlight was Choctaw songwriter and performer Samantha Crain.
“I really appreciated her and what she was doing,” Keen said.
Crain was last headlining a stage in Juneau at the Indigenous music festival Áak’w Rock in 2023. She sings in English and Choctaw, introduced herself in the latter before launching into her set.
Keen said she bought her ticket without really thinking about the show itself.
“I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me that it was going to be a rock concert,” she said. Keen’s introduction to rock and roll was in 1968. Now, she said, her musical tastes are more oriented toward soundscapes.
“It’s just not my cup of tea anymore,” she said. “I was very much a fish out of water.”
Still, Keen said she thinks Hope-Lang’s efforts to rebuild the clan house have inspired many others.
“Our clan houses are in dire need of revitalization and so what Jerrick [Hope Lang] did was plant the seeds of an idea, and that’s the thing we keep talking about in Indian Country,” she said.
That revitalization isn’t just the physical buildings. She referred to a video released before the shows in which Juneau anthropologist Rosita Worl, who is Lingít from Shangukeidí clan in Klukwan, described the clan house as the center of the Lingít identity.
“We want to go back to who we are, who we know we are,” Keen said. “We are trying to hold our people up. That’s really what it comes down to.”
This story has been edited to more accurately reflect Keen’s experience of the concert.