The Ahtna Heritage Foundation preserves the language, history, and living culture of the Ahtna people through our Cultural Center, regional archive, and community education programs.
Documenting Ahtna language and culture, and educating both Ahtna people and the public.
The Ahtna Heritage Foundation runs and maintains a Cultural Center that displays interpretive information about Ahtna culture and houses a large archive of historical materials. Our goal is to educate the public and Ahtna people alike, while maintaining a record for future generations. Alongside this work, we strive to document the Ahtna language for posterity and teach it to Ahtna youth, so that it continues to be spoken long into the future.
Each program is a stop along the same river — connected work in service of one purpose.
Our Cultural Center displays interpretive exhibits on Ahtna culture and houses a large archive of historical materials. In the summer months, the Center employs Ahtna youth and serves as a venue for selling Ahtna artwork to the public.
We work to document the Ahtna language for posterity and run programs that teach Ahtna youth to speak it, ensuring the language is carried forward by the next generation.
Funded in part by grants from the Institute for Museum & Library Services, our tribal library provides access to published works on Ahtna history, culture, and language, along with selected publications on Alaska and Alaska Native topics more broadly.
The Ahtna Regional Linguistic and Ethnographic Archive.
Our digital archive holds nearly 1,600 audio and video recordings of oral histories passed down through Ahtna families and clans.
Recordings and records document family and clan lineages, subsistence practices, and Ahtna geography across the region.
The archive collects and preserves historic photographs of Ahtna people and documents important to Ahtna history, each catalogued in a searchable database.
Two ways to support and take part in the work of the Foundation.
Up to $2,000 / semester
Awarded to Ahtna college students for up to two semesters each year, based on Ahtna Tribal Shares eligibility. A scholarship committee meets twice yearly to review applications.
Ask About ApplyingStop by the Center in Glennallen to view exhibits, browse the tribal library, or purchase artwork made by Ahtna artists. Donations and grant support help us keep growing the regional archive.
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