Alaska Students Get Traditional Arts After Budget Cuts

Students at Alaska's Mt. Edgecumbe High School were spending too much time alone in their dorms, scrolling on phones and struggling with their mental health. When the community of Sitka heard about it in December, they asked one simple question: How can we help?

Budget cuts and staffing shortages had left the state-run boarding school with less capacity to support the cultural activities that help students feel at home. The school serves 400 students from more than 100 Alaska Native communities across the state, many from small villages in Western Alaska.

Volunteers launched the MEHS Arts Project to bring traditional culture back to campus. CeeJay Johnson-Yellow Hawk, a school alumna, surveyed students to find out what they needed most.

The answer was clear: traditional arts and foods. Students wanted to make regalia for their dance groups and reconnect with the customs of home.

Johnson-Yellow Hawk reached out to Yup'ik artist Golga Oscar with an invitation to work with students. He responded the next day, asking when he could start.

The response from the community has been overwhelming. Coast Guard families donated sewing machines for the school's Culture Room. A group of women in Fairbanks now meets weekly to sew regalia for the Athabascan dance group.

People have donated fur, sinew, needles, and supplies through an Amazon wishlist created by students. Shee Atika Corp. donated locally caught salmon, which Tlingit chef Edith Johnson prepared with wild spruce tip sauce, fry bread, and herring eggs.

Oscar spent a week at the school teaching students to sew baby booties and create Yup'ik headdresses. He spoke to students in their own language, giving them directions and guidance that made them light up with comfort and recognition.

The Ripple Effect

The transformation in students has been remarkable. Volunteer Robin Sherman says when students get to do something they're interested in, they come alive and thrive instead of isolating in their rooms.

The project is raising funds to hire cultural instructors, pay for art supplies, support outdoor activities, and help students attend Native cultural events through June 2027. The Sitka Conservation Society is serving as fiscal sponsor and facilitating donations.

In small miraculous ways, things keep falling into place as people come together to support students who are far from home. What started as concern about mental health has become a movement to honor and celebrate Alaska Native culture on campus.

Now students are learning from master artists, speaking their languages, making regalia, and connecting with traditions that remind them who they are and where they come from.