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The national media dubbed the case the “Memory Card Murders,” because of the gruesome video Brian Smith recorded of his killings. During the trial, prosecutors raised another troubling possibility – that Smith had allegedly confided in others about his crime, including an Anchorage musician named Ian Calhoun. Activists have staged several protests, calling for Calhoun’s arrest.
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Interest in Arctic sports, also known as Native Youth Olympics, is growing all over the world in Arctic nations beyond Alaska and Northern Canada. NYO advocates have pushed leaders of the North American Indigenous Games to include traditional Arctic sports for many years. Organizers have finally included them on a trial basis for its 2027 games in Calgary, but NYO fans say it'll take a lot more work to make Arctic sports an official part of the event.
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With films like Killers of the Flower Moon winning critical acclaim, Native Americans have a lot to look forward to during this year's Academy Awards ceremony. Ariel Tweto, an Inupiaq TV personality and actress from Unalakleet, says it's an important milestone for Indigenous people.
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An SD card ,with an almost unimaginable story, turned out to be the key to the murder trial of Brian Smith, a killer who targeted vulnerable Alaska Native women. During the trial, it was revealed that footage on the card came from a cellphone, stolen from Smith. Family members and advocates for Kathleen Henry and Veronica Abouchuk had to hear sounds from Smith's videos and see images that were horrific. And yet they came everyday to seek justice, to remind the court that the women were someone's daughters — and in Abouchuk's case, a mother and a grandmother.
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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.
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Students, teachers and alumnae in the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program (ANSEP) have a tradition of celebrating success with a motivational speaker. This year they heard from a Native American astronaut, John Herrington, who flew on a NASA mission in 2002.
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A group called, Not in Our Honor, takes the fight against Native mascots to Super Bowl Sunday.
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Nellie Moore was one of the trailblazers in Native journalism in Alaska, with a distinctive style of reporting that mixed the best of the ancient Inupiaq storytelling culture with the values of Western journalism. She pushed for stories written by Alaska Natives and for Alaska Natives.