General Information

Koolyéik Roby Littlefield:

Founding member of NATIVE and Adjunct Professor at the University of Alaska Southeast (UAS), Koolyéik has dedicated much of her adult life to the preservation and revitalization of Lingít language and culture. At UAS Koolyéik creates a supportive learning environment for beginning language learners of all ages. She also shares her love and knowledge of the Lingít language culture as a language instructor in the Sitka School District and has developed Lingít language curriculum for Sealaska Heritage Institute and Goldbelt Heritage Foundation. As a reseacher, Koolyéik has documented, digitized, transcribed and translated local oral history for over 30 years and provides free transcription services to fluent Elders, other language students and community members.

X̱ʼunei Lance Twitchell:

Dr. X̱ʼunei Lance Twitchell is of Tlingit, Haida, Yup'ik, and Sami heritage and is a Professor of Alaska Native Languages at the University of Alaska Southeast. He is a multimedia artist who works in Northwest Coast Arts, poetry, screenwriting, audio, film, and photography. His studies are in creating safe language acquisition spaces and achieving revitalization through counter-hegemonic transformation, which constitutes a rejection of external definitions and fragmentation and a promotion of the thought world of the ancestors of language movements. In 2025, X̱’unei won an Emmy Award for his writing on the episode “Not a Mascot” for the PBS Kids show “Molly of Denali.” It’s the first Emmy for Twitchell and the children’s program after receiving Emmy nominations years prior for his writing on the first national children’s program to feature an Alaska Native child as a lead character. 

Yuxgitsiy George Holly:

Yuxgitsiy George Holly is a Deg Xit’an songster, artist, storyteller and teacher of indigenous languages. He writes music to support the indigenous language revitalization movement. He lives in Juneau and works at Sít’ Eetí Shaanáx̱ Glacier Valley Elementary and believes it is well within us to hold up the Lingít, the language of this place we love and call home. He strongly believes in upholding and supporting the language and culture of the place we live. He worked with children at Tlingít Culture Language and Literacy program in Juneau and composes many songs in indigenous languages. 

Lorrie Gax̱.áan.sán Heagy:

Lorrie is Assistant Professor of Elementary Education at the University of Alaska Southeast (UAS) and founder of Juneau Alaska Music Matters (JAMM). In 2014, Aanyaanáx̱ (Ray Wilson) adopted her into the Kiks.adi clan. In 2017, Lorrie took Beginning Lingít with Dr. Twitchell and has been integrating the Lingít language into her classroom ever since. She received Indigenous Language Teaching Certificates through UAS and the University of Victoria. Lorrie continues to collaborate with the Lingít community to create Lingít language learning resources for children using music as a tool for retention, recall and fluency, including Haa Ḵusteeyí (Our way of life) and Ḵúx̱dei Yaa Nas.áx̱ (It is echoing back). Their most recent project Tléixʼ Yaakw (One canoe) is this asynchronous course for certified teachers to use in their classrooms and receive up to 6 recertification credits.