Return of the Potlatch Fundraiser
March 17
Noon - 6pm
Atwood Center APU Campus
An event tomorrow is aiming to raise funds to revitalize a Potlatch tradition.
After a successful event during the first week of the 2017 Alaska Federation of Natives Convention called “Decolonizing the Dream, Honoring Our Sacred Mother,” a local man is looking to continue the tradition of hosting large Native gatherings by building a huge grill.
Rodney McCord is from Tyonek originally, and has Dena’ina heritage.
For the event last October, he drove about 200 miles to borrow a large, steel grill, that looks like half of an oil pipeline with an iron mesh on top for the grill surface. The tailgate could barely close on the full-size truck he borrowed.
While he was thankful to use it, the 7-hour round trip added considerably to the planning for the event.
The grill would be used for moose and fish during the large gatherings, sometimes for hundreds of people.
McCord says he’s seen other communities rally together and wondered what was missing in Anchorage? Part of it, might be the huge grill – as Native people love to feed each other for large gatherings.
