Anchorage Unangax̂ Dancers & Atx̂am Taliĝisniikangis - 2/28/25 Festival of Native Arts скачать в хорошем качестве

Anchorage Unangax̂ Dancers & Atx̂am Taliĝisniikangis - 2/28/25 Festival of Native Arts

Anchorage Unangax̂ Dancers and Atx̂am Taliĝisniikangis (Atka Dancers) perform live on the UAF Davis Concert Hall stage as part of the 2025 Festival of Native Arts. The Anchorage Unangax̂ Dancers are a group which includes members and descendants of all ages from nearly every village in the Aleutian/Pribilof Islands region. The group was formed to carry on the legacy of dance among our people. It provides our young people, in an urban setting, the ability to connect with our people both physically and spiritually. The Anchorage-based dance group now has over 30 members. Several of the distinctive dances performed by the Unangax̂ Dancers were written and composed by original members of Atx̂am Taliĝisniikangis. from Atka, AK, who have given the Anchorage group permission to “borrow” their work. Today, many of the Unangax̂ dancers in the Anchorage dance group are composing new songs and dances to be debuted by the Anchorage group. The Unangax̂ Dancers are proud to carry on the ancient traditions of our elders. These experiences build upon our cultural worldviews. This understanding builds resilience in our young people. Unangax̂ dancing gives our people a sense of balance both in the world of our ancestors and the world we live in today. Atx̂am Taliĝisniikangis, also known as Atka Dancers, are an Unangax̂ dance group from the island of Atka, in the Aleutian chain, 1100 air miles southwest of Anchorage. The dance group was first begun in 1995, through the Atka School. Today, the dance group is made up of multi-generational dancers from elementary through high school students, as well as original dance group members who were once the young students and parents, and are now the adults, including parents and grandparents of some of the dancers you see today. Unangax̂ dance was largely unknown in Atka, as well as many other communities in the Aleutians, for many generations after the hardships endured by our people during the evacuation and internment of our people, who were forcibly removed against their will from their home village and abandoned at internment camps in Southeast Alaska for three years, during World War II. This was a very difficult and dark time in our history. 50 years after the war, in the 1990's, this dance group was formed and Unangax̂ dance was re-awoken after decades of being "asleep." The songs and dances that are performed by the Atka Dancers were created by dance group members beginning in the 1990s and continuing to our current dancers who create new songs and dances. Many of our dances have also been taught to Unangax people in other communities in our region and have been performed by other groups, including the Anchorage Unangax̂ Dancers. However, the ownership of the songs continues to be held by the original Atx̂am Taliĝisniikangis, the Atka Dancers. Support Festival of Native Arts by making a donation today at https://bit.ly/GivetoFestival. These videos are for educational and preservation purposes. DO NOT USE FOR COMMERCIAL PURPOSES. You may also contact FNA to identify dance group members. If at any time a community wishes to have their own video removed from this website, please submit a written request to Festival of Native Arts, University of Alaska Fairbanks, P.O. Box 756500, Fairbanks, AK 99775-6500. To contribute a video, please contact FNA at the information provided above. Thanks to all the dance groups and volunteers throughout the years. UAF is an AA/EO employer and educational institution and prohibits illegal discrimination against any individual: www.alaska.edu/titleIXcompliance/nondiscrimination.