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Envisioning a Tikahtnu Upper Cook Inlet where understanding our histories and cultural heritages inspires us to celebrate our past and shape a vibrant future.
Residents from across the Anchorage-Tikahtnu Upper Cook Inlet area are coming together to reflect on who we’ve been, who we are now, and who we want to become. This is part of a growing effort to recognize the region as a National Heritage Area.
Free to attend!
When: November 8, 2025
Where: Anchorage Senior Activity Center
Questions? Contact Taylor Strelevitz, Director of Conversation Programs at the Alaska Humanities Forum, tstrelevitz@akhf.org
Registration for A Day of Storytelling is now closed — and we’re excited to share that the event is officially full!
Thank you to everyone who registered, spread the word, or shared your excitement. We can’t wait to spend the day together listening, learning, and celebrating the many stories of Anchorage.
Stay tuned — we’ll be sharing highlights and stories from the day so you can experience a bit of the magic, even if you can’t be there in person.
About the Day of Storytelling
About the Day of Storytelling
In November 2021, a team of volunteers initiated a project to designate a new National Heritage Area (NHA) in the Tikahtnu Upper Cook Inlet.
As part of this NHA initiative, the Alaska Humanities Forum (AKHF) is leading a free public day of storytelling in November 2025 that will serve as a key moment for identifying, collecting, and sharing stories that shape Anchorage’s sense of place, history, and community. Guided by our mission to connect Alaskans through stories, ideas, and experiences that inspire understanding and strengthen communities, this event will bring together residents from across the Anchorage/Tikahtnu Upper Cook Inlet area to reflect on who we’ve been, who we are now, and who we want to become.
This public event is for anyone who cares about the history and future of the Anchorage/Tikahtnu Upper Cook Inlet area—Tribal members, business owners, historians, Elders, faith leaders, artists, storytellers, teachers, youth, and anyone else who wants to connect with their neighbors and build stronger communities.
The stories and reflections gathered during this event will help shape a feasibility study that will be developed following the event and submitted to the National Park Service as part of the official process for designating the Tikahtnu Upper Cook Inlet as a National Heritage Area.
During the Storytelling Event, participants will have the opportunity to:
Listen deeply to guest storytellers and learn more about a diverse range of experiences in the Anchorage/Tikahtnu Upper Cook Inlet area.
Share and record your own stories in a range of formats, if you choose.
Connect with other residents of the Anchorage/Tikahtnu Upper Cook Inlet area.
Enjoy live music, performances, and catered food.
For more information, see Frequently Asked Questions below.
Agenda
Agenda
8:30am : Arrive & Welcome
Light breakfast and coffee
Opening Remarks
with Mayor LaFrance
Collective Story Harvesting Sessions: Collective Story Harvest is a participatory storytelling practice that helps communities learn deeply from personal and shared experiences. In small groups, each person takes on a specific listening role- such as leadership, resilience, or pivotal moments. As you listen to stories that have shaped Anchorage, you’ll reflect both on your own experiences and through the lens of your assigned role. Listen to stories about First Alaskans, National Defense, and Sense of Place.
11:30am : Community Lunch
Keynote with Aaron Leggett, President of the Native Village of Eklutna
A lively food fair where local vendors offer bite-sized dishes and samples, inviting participants to explore Anchorage's food scene.
Turkish Delight, Aaka's Place, Hmong Foods, La Michoacana The Last Frontier, Bearz Den Delights and Buzzed Beetle
Performance by the Nunarpagmiut Dancers
Collective Story Harvesting Sessions: Listen to stories about the history of Cultural Crossroads, Transportation, and Anchorage Over the Years.
Story Circles: Story Circles are a simple yet powerful way to connect through personal experience. Participants gather in a circle and take turns sharing stories in response to a common prompt, listening with care and without interruption. Each circle will begin with 4–5 invited storytellers, with space for members of the public to join in or simply listen. Stories are shared one at a time, with each person having up to three minutes to speak. Including:
Creativity: Spanish-Language Circle Hosted by Itzel Zagal
Culture: a story workshop with MANA Alaska
Bridging Generations Through Storytelling- How can future generations inherit knowledge if the stories we have are disappearing with time? Mana is a multimedia collective founded by young adult Filipino-American media makers in Alaska aimed at investigating, recording, and creatively passing down stories from our community that might otherwise be lost. In this 90-minute workshop, Mana will briefly share how we collected oral histories from Filipino elders across Alaska, illustrate how we investigated unrecorded Alaska history, and we’ll engage in the oral history process together, challenging what it means “to inherit” by exploring how storytelling can encourage intergenerational connection. This intimate workshop is limited to 25 people.
Where Do We Go From Here? And Opportunities to Stay Involved.
5:00pm : Close
Interim Task Force
Interim Task Force
The interim task force will offer strategic guidance and shape key decisions necessary for designating the Tikahtnu Upper Cook Inlet as a National Heritage Area
Beth Nordlund, Chair
Blythe Marston, Member
Sandy Rabinowitch, Treasurer
Jim Renkert, Member
Community Advisory Board
Community Advisory Board
The community advisory board will help guide this process, ensuring our efforts are locally grounded and inclusive of the many political and cultural perspectives that make up Anchorage.
Yaso Thiru
Gail Jackson
Synclaire Butler
Tasha Hotch (Jáx Kóoste)
Taylor Natkong
Liliane Ulukivaiola
Theresa Lyons
Add your Anchorage story to our interactive map!
Add your Anchorage story to our interactive map!
What’s your Anchorage story? Maybe it’s about a park, a grocery store, a school, or another gathering space; maybe it’s about urban subsistence or the impacts of ANCSA; or maybe it’s about resilience and innovation in your community or neighborhood.
Whatever your story – short or long, past or present, written or recorded, we want to hear it! Visit our interactive map to see others’ stories, and submit your own.
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a National Heritage Area (NHA), and how does the Day of Storytelling relate?
National Heritage Areas (NHAs) are places where natural, cultural, historic, and scenic resources combine to form a cohesive, nationally important landscape arising from patterns of human activity shaped by geography. These patterns make National Heritage Areas representative of the national experience through the physical features that remain and the traditions that have evolved in them. Continued use of National Heritage Areas by people whose traditions helped to shape the landscapes enhances their significance.
Congress designates NHAs and each NHA is locally managed. The National Park Service provides technical assistance and a multi-year funding stream, based on annual funding from Congress, designed to enhance local historic, cultural, scenic, and outdoor recreational resources that tell local stories of national importance. In NHAs, residents, businesses, governments and non-profit organizations collaborate to promote conservation, community revitalization and economic development projects.
National Heritage Areas are not national parks, monuments, or federally owned lands. They don’t impose restrictions on private property, nor do they give the federal government control over local decisions. Instead, they are lived-in landscapes where communities collaborate to preserve and share the places, stories, and traditions that shape their identity. Designation supports local efforts — it doesn't override them.
Currently, a partnership made up of individuals and organizations across the city are working together to put together a Feasibility Study, the first step in applying for a National Heritage Area dedication for the Tikahtnu Upper Cook Inlet.
As part of the National Heritage Area (NHA) initiative, the Alaska Humanities Forum (AKHF) is leading a public storytelling event in 2025 that will serve as a key moment for identifying, collecting, and sharing stories that shape Anchorage’s sense of place, history, and community.
Visit this document to learn more about NHAs and the designation process.
What are the goals of the NHA Day of Storytelling?
Through the NHA Day of Storytelling, we hope to:
Contribute to the establishment of a new NHA
Build community and shared understanding amongst participants through storytelling and education;
Document and preserve stories and history of the Anchorage/Tikahtnu Upper Cook Inlet area;
Through storytelling, more deeply understand the Anchorage/Tikahtnu Upper Cook Inlet area as a place of geographic and cultural crossroads
How is the event funded?
We are grateful for the Municipality of Anchorage American Rescue Plan Act funds, the Anchorage Park Foundation, Alaska Community Foundation, Rasmuson Foundation, Baird Private Wealth Management, Visit Anchorage, and the Anchorage Senior Activity Center for their contributions to this event.
Will the Day of Storytelling have a virtual component?
No. This is to allow participants, invited speakers, and staff to be fully present with the event. However, we will be sharing a report out following the event. And we highly encourage you to remotely contribute to our virtual story bank if you aren't able to attend.
What happens after the Day of Storytelling? What will happen to the recorded stories?
The themes, insights, and overarching ideas that emerge from the event will help shape the vision for a future National Heritage Area. Individual stories will only be used with permission.
Still have questions? Contact Taylor Strelevitz, tstrelevitz@akhf.org
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