Alaska Native Heritage Center

About

The Alaska Native Heritage Center is the state's premier institution dedicated to sharing and preserving the living cultures of Alaska's eleven distinct Native groups: Unangan/Unangas (Aleut), Alutiiq/Sugpiaq, Cup'ik/Yup'ik, Athabascan, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Inupiaq, St. Lawrence Island Yupik, and Central Yup'ik. Located on a 26-acre campus in Anchorage, the center was founded in 1999 through a collaboration of Alaska Native organizations, the state, and tribal entities. The outdoor portion of the campus includes six traditional village sites arranged around a serene lake, each representing a distinct cultural group or region. These include a Yup'ik and Cup'ik site with a traditional qasgiq (community house), an Athabascan fish camp, a Northwest Coast Tlingit/Haida/Tsimshian community house with a tall totem pole, and an Arctic and Bering Sea group featuring sod houses and umiaks. Native demonstrators stationed at each site share knowledge of traditional construction, tools, subsistence practices, and seasonal lifeways. The indoor Hall of Cultures houses exhibits on all eleven cultural groups, featuring original artifacts, art, photographs, and oral histories. Daily performances in the traditional dance space showcase Alaska Native song and dance, with performers often members of the communities whose cultures are represented. The center also hosts a craft market where artists sell original beadwork, carvings, textiles, and other traditional arts. The center serves as an important educational resource for Alaskan schools and visitors, offering guided programs, cultural camps, and community events throughout the year. It is free to Alaska Native individuals and tribal members as a matter of cultural access.

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