ANCHORAGE, Alaska – On May 22, 2025, the Historic Preservation Commission held a celebration at the Alaska Native Heritage Center to honor its official listing as the first site on the Anchorage Local Landmark Register. This designation marks a profound moment of recognition that reflects decades of vision, determination, and resilience from Alaska Native communities. At this landmark commemoration, Emily Keneggnarkayaaggaq Edenshaw, President and CEO of the Alaska Native Heritage Center, delivered heartfelt remarks reflecting on the Center’s history, meaning, and future. We are honored to share her full speech and poem as a testament to the importance of this historic moment.

Remarks by Emily Keneggnarkayaaggaq Edenshaw

Municipality of Anchorage Local Landmark Recognition | Alaska Native Heritage Center

Good afternoon,

I begin by honoring the unceded lands of the Dena’ina people—the original and perpetual stewards of this place we now call Anchorage. We express our deepest gratitude to the Dena’ina for your resilience, generosity, and continued presence. It is because of your stewardship that we are able to gather here today in strength and purpose.

On behalf of the Alaska Native Heritage Center Board and Staff, it is with immense pride and heartfelt gratitude that I thank the Municipality of Anchorage for officially listing the Heritage Center as the very first site on the Anchorage Local Landmark Register.

This is a moment of profound significance for our community. We are humbled by this recognition, and we honor the many hands and hearts who made this possible—contractors, legislators, municipal staff, our phenomenal team at ANHC, and our dedicated Board of Directors—many of whom are with us here today. Thank you for standing with us, for believing in this vision, and for helping turn it into reality.

If I may, I would like to share that this moment did not happen by chance. It is the result of decades of vision, determination, and love from those who came before us.

To our founders, our Cultural Advisory Committee, and past presidents like Jon Ross and Annette Evans Smith—haw’aa. We stand on your shoulders and walk forward with your wisdom as our guide.

To those who came before us and those who walk with us now—Elders, artists, staff, board members, and culture bearers— you are the song in our foundation and the prayer in every beam. What you’ve created is not just a space, but a living legacy—where memory dances, language sings, and our people rise with strength.

Before we celebrate what this recognition means today, we must first remember the footsteps that have brought us to this place in time.

This recognition invites us to reflect not only on how far we've come—but what it took to get here. In the late 1980s, a ballot initiative proposed building the Heritage Center near the Alaska Native Medical Center. But after a public campaign fueled by fear and misinformation, that initiative failed.

Imagine what it must have felt like for our Elders—reading editorials that claimed our cultures didn’t belong, our stories weren’t welcome, our people had no place here.

I was only five years old at the time, but that moment left a mark on our collective memory.

And yet—here we are.

Twenty-six years after our doors first opened, we are not only standing—we are thriving. We are no longer asking for permission to exist. We are being recognized, honored, and celebrated.

This is a declaration. A testament to persistence, truth, and healing imbued within this heritage center.

This landmark designation opens the door for more Indigenous places, voices, and legacies to be recognized. This is just the beginning of a new era of truth-telling and place-keeping.

Since our founding, the Alaska Native Heritage Center has welcomed millions of visitors from around the world. Each person who enters this space is invited into an authentic, Native-led experience—one that brings Alaska’s Indigenous cultures to life through story, performance, art, and connection.

Each year, we serve thousands of youth—through cultural education, school visits, and leadership development—offering them the tools to reclaim their identity and stand strong in who they are.

We are proud to be named one of America’s Cultural Treasures. That honor speaks not only to the cultural value we hold, but to the lives we are changing—every single day—through healing, education, and community.

Today’s designation is not the final chapter. It is a powerful invitation to imagine more.

It calls on each of us to reimagine what is possible when Indigenous peoples and knowledge are not just acknowledged but celebrated.

This moment is a shared achievement—and it comes with a shared responsibility:
To protect this space.
To invest in our people.
And to ensure that the Alaska Native Heritage Center continues to thrive for generations to come.

Because ANHC is not just for Alaska Native people—it is your Heritage Center, too.
A place for all of us to gather, learn, connect, and grow—together.

To the Municipality of Anchorage, to our founders and Ancestors, to our Elders, youth, staff, partners, and every person who has believed in this place: haw’aa. Chin’an. Thank you.

Let us move forward from this moment not only with pride, but with purpose.
Because the most powerful landmarks are not made of stone—
They are made of spirit, of resilience, and of community.

I'd like to end my speech with a poem I created to honor this moment:

"Landmark"
By Emily Keneggnarkayaaggaq Edenshaw

This cultural landscape, a landmark unto itself
Beneath our feet, land holds the stories
Reading from the footsteps of our Ancestors
Far more powerful than any book upon a shelf

Holding dreams for those yet to come
We are welcomed, alongside all global people
To witness the power of cultural practice
In a space beaming with pride and beauty

Our heritage center welcomes all who visit
It embraces us unconditionally, how exquisite
We listen to the wisdom shared
We learn from its rhythms played
Stewarding it with immense care,
We are proud of all the progress our community has made

Anchorage, a global hub and our state’s largest village
We must all recognize this space of brilliant heritage
Let us honor this landmark for all that it is
A place to rest and rise,
To heal old wounds,
To sing your songs,
To dance your dances,
To celebrate the sacred truth of Alaska Native identities.
So many look to this space
Seeking home
Spirit rises from the traditions of this place
Creating appreciation for all who roam
In search of the globe’s beauty in the practice of our communities

From stories carried on the wind,
And dreams rooted deep in the soul of our Gathering Place
This landmark welcomes all
With open arms and open hearts
Doing so for the benefit of all Alaska Native peoples

Today we recognize where we’ve been
To shape where we are going
Reminding all of the realities seen
The Alaska Native Heritage Center
Is your home, a heartbeat in the city
A light for generations, floating like a feather
A past illuminated for all,
And a future rewritten together.