Native heritage assembly at Wrangell High School

In the language of the Tlingit people, there is a saying that goes, “Sh yaa.awudaneiyi a kwaan,” which means “Respect people, respect yourself too, and other people will respect you.”

The late Dr. Walter Soboleff, a Tlingit Elder, spiritual leader and past chair of the Sealaska Heritage Institute Board of Trustees, coined the quote in years past – and it never had more meaning than last week at the National Native Heritage Assembly held on November 29 at Wrangell High School.

The assembly, which featured traditional Native dancers, and speakers Sue Ramsey, Lu Knapp and Tammi Meissner, focused on the importance of the naming ceremony among the Tlingit people and introduced the Shakes Island Restoration Project team members.

As the assembly began, an “entrance song” dance that holds strong ties to Tlingit culture was performed, and to the sound of deer skin drums and the lilting cries of WHS student Shaleen Kuntz the members of the Shtax’heen Kwaan, or “Stikine River People” made their way to the gym.

“It is a song that our clan, the Naanya.aayi clan, owns,” Knapp said. “It talks about when we came down from the interior and migrated to this area from where the Stikine meets the Iskut.”

After the entrance, Ramsey began her presentation with a talk about writer George Emmons’ early research into Tlingit culture and the naming process for members of the tribe.

“Emmons noted that in Tlingit society, personal names were the property of the clan and generally refer directly or indirectly to the clan crest,” Ramsey said. “The most incredible thing I have found to be true about Tlingit naming is that it is truly spiritual. I’ve also noticed that since we found our clan’s Tlingit names, and began adopting others, the person we adopted (into the Naanya.ayii) had qualities similar to the family or clan member they were named after in the ceremony.”

Three current adopted members of the Naanya.aayi family, Meissner, her daughters Kiara and Darian, and Virginia Oliver, were present at the assembly and said the event was special to them and the students in attendance.

“We all have names that are important to what we are or what is the perfect name for us in our community,” Tammi said.

Darian’s adopted name, “Koodask’eeda’kw,” means “Little Killer Whale Who Plays Out In Front of Town,” while Kiara’s name, “Tsaakaak’w,” means “Little Forehead of a Seal.”

Waanshawisnook is the Tlingit name for Knapp, who proudly wore the Flotilla Killer Whale robe of Chief Shakes VII, to the event. Knapp said the robe, which was recovered from a museum in Denver, Colo. in recent years, has been passed down through two different chiefs to where it is today – back in Wrangell.

“The robe was made in the early 1900s for Chief Shakes VI,” Knapp said of the flowing white and blue raiment. “When Chief Shakes VII received his place as chief, he received the use of the robe during the potlatch of 1940. It is for the Naanya.aayi to wear and was repatriated to Wrangell in 2008 after being in Denver for a number of years.”

Knapp also said that the assembly was an amazing way for Wrangell’s Tlingit youth, and non-natives, to share in a piece of the tribe’s past.

“I think, as part of our own history from this town, that it is really important to show this to all the children here,” Knapp said. “I hope they got something out of it because it was something we didn’t have as children growing up here in the schools.”

After the assembly, Tammi, whose Tlingit name is X’ats’shaawditee (The Head Killer Whale Who Finds Food For The Group,) spoke of the joys of understanding all that has come about from the work of the woodworkers – and also about reading the cedar planks they have been working on this year.

“Right now, we’re working on designing and learning from our counterparts here in Wrangell,” Meissner said. “It’s been great working with the other artists and master carver Wayne Price.”

Meissner also spoke about the unique signature every adzer leaves on his or her plank of cedar. The designs left behind, she said, are so identifiable to a particular artist that they can even tell the mood of the woodworker on any given day.

“You can tell if someone has had a bad or good day depending on how they have hit the board, you can read it,” Meissner said. “You can also tell if you’re right- or left-handed depending on how you hit it. It leaves a signature mark like your name and we can tell these things about every different adzer.”

Oliver, who is also the JOM coordinator for Wrangell, said the assembly was planned as part of an annual acknowledgement of Native culture among all the tribes and nations of the United States.

“Today was a celebration of National Native Heritage Month, which happens every year in November,” Oliver said. “Lu and Sue, and all of us got together to plan what we were going to do and we chose to do this. I think people are surprised every year by what we decide to do to be able to honor our ancestors and Elders in Native society among the Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Aleut, and even the lower-48 Natives like Cherokee and Ojibwa.”