This year the Arctic Winter Games were held in the Ma -Su Valley, the first time this international competition has been in Alaska in a decade. Many call this event, which is held once every two years, the Olympics of the North. Alaska governor Wally Hickel and other Arctic Nation leaders founded the Arctic Winter Games in 1959. They believed that the peoples scattered across the Circumpolar North share a mutual identity — and in the case of large countries like Northern Canada and Alaska, perhaps have more in common with the rest of the Arctic than they do with the rest of their own countries.
KNBA News
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After three weeks of testimony, the trial of serial killer Brian Smith came to a quick conclusion Thursday. The jury convicted Smith of all counts against him in the deaths of two Alaska Native women, who he targeted for their vulnerability. National media has followed the Smith murders closely, dubbing them the "Memory Card Murders." During the trial, the jury saw footage and photographs of the killings.
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The murders of two Alaska Native women, Kathleen Jo Henry and Veronica Abouchuk, have a lot in common. Both women are from Southwest Alaska and each battled homelessness and addiction in Anchorage. The same man, Brian Smith, a South African immigrant, has been charged with their murders.
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A changing of the guard is ahead for the Alaska Federation of the Natives, which has been under the leadership of Julie Kitka for almost 35 years. The search for a new president will soon get underway, in hopes of having the position filled in time for this October’s AFN convention.
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Moose have a way of intruding into urban life. In Anchorage, their constant hunger leads them to places with easy pickings — parking lots landscaped with with trees in the dividers — like the one at Costco in East Anchorage. During peak shopping time, this can be a recipe for either trouble, or a source of entertainment.
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N. Scott Momaday came into the scene during a renaissance of Indigenous culture in the 70s. His first published novel ‘House Made of Dawn’ made him the first Native American to win a Pulitzer Award.Recently he died at the age of 89. Shirley Sneve, a close friend and co-worker on several projects spoke about his impact.