ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The Alaska Native Heritage Center (ANHC) celebrated a successful annual Spring Brunch fundraiser, co-hosted by Southcentral Foundation, raising over $150,000 to support its mission-driven work. This year’s theme “Taste of Home: Rooted in Culture. Nourishing Community.” highlighted the importance of traditional foods, cultural connection, and the shared values that sustain Alaska Native peoples.

During the event, Mayor Suzanne LaFrance gave a welcoming address, and Angela S. Nasuk Cox of the North Slope Borough delivered an inspiring keynote speech. Funds raised from the Spring Brunch will directly support ANHC’s summer internship program, which provides Alaska Native youth with meaningful employment while connecting them to their cultures, identities, and communities.

“ANHC’s summer internship program creates opportunities for Alaska Native youth to earn a good wage while learning about their cultures, their identities, and their future,” said Kelsey Ciugun Wallace, ANHC President & CEO. “Even without grant funding this year, we are moving forward because investing in our young people is at the heart of our work, and it is how we build a future where Alaska Native peoples and cultures are thriving, respected, and valued.”

An especially meaningful portion of the program was the presentation of ANHC’s annual community awards, uplifting individuals who embody the Center’s mission to preserve and strengthen the traditions, languages, and arts of Alaska Native peoples.

The Autumn Apok Ridley Award was presented to Clara Dawn Itiptigvik Greene of Kotzebue. This award recognizes a youth whose spirit of love for their culture and ways of life are exemplified in their learning and sharing of these teachings. Greene is an Indigenous birth worker grounded in her Iñupiaq values and shaped by her upbringing surrounded by family, culture, and the land.

The Paul Tiulana Award, which honors an Elder whose visionary leadership uplifts cultural traditions, was awarded to Kaawhtaan John Waghiyi Jr. of Savoonga. He has spent decades sharing his knowledge of Yupik language and cultural history, drumming, dancing, and subsistence practices, inspiring younger generations and strengthening cultural continuity across Alaska. Waghiyi Jr. believes deeply in the responsibility to pass knowledge to the next generation. As he shares, “This is how we keep our culture alive. We pass it down the way it was given to us—by showing it, living it.”

Together, these honorees reflect the enduring strength, leadership, and cultural pride within Alaska Native communities and emphasize ANHC’s commitment to honoring those who sustain cultural knowledge and identity.

This year’s Spring Brunch also celebrated the completion of Phase 2 of  ANHC’s Capital Campaign, which included renovations to the Theater and the creation of a new Mother-Baby Room in the Crossroads. Phase 3 is now underway, with ANHC developing a Community Healing Garden and Anchorage’s first Community Subsistence Kitchen, creating culturally grounded spaces for education, wellness, and intergenerational connection. Through these initiatives, ANHC continues to serve as both a resource and a place of home for Alaska Native peoples.

For more information about the Alaska Native Heritage Center, its programs, and how to get involved, visit www.alaskanative.net.

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About the Alaska Native Heritage Center:
The Alaska Native Heritage Center is a nonprofit organization that preserves and strengthens the traditions, languages and arts of Alaska’s Native Peoples through statewide collaboration, celebration and education. To learn more, visit www.alaskanative.net.

Media Contact: Rachel Ruston
Communications & Development Manager
[email protected] | 907-330-8063