Haida weaver Delores Churchill and filmmaker Ellen Frankenstein will travel to Anchorage from Southeast to host the local premiere of "Tracing Roots" at the Anchorage Museum at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 19. The documentary follows Churchill as she investigates the spruce root hat found with 300-year-old Kwaday Dan Ts'inchi, whose naturally mummified remains were found in the glacial heights near the Alaska-Canada border.
Kwaday Dan Ts'inchi -- the name means "Long Ago Person Found" -- was closely examined by scientists before being cremated in accordance with the direction of Tlingit elders in Canada. Members of the Champagne and Aishihnik tribes volunteered to have their DNA tested and 17 were discovered to be related to the "ice man," as he was known.
In addition to the genetic information, a great deal was learned from the items that accompanied the body: his age, when he was traveling, his route and circumstances. His fate and purpose was the topic of a chapter of Alaska author Lynn Schooler's book "Walking Home."
Churchill, originally from the Queen Charlotte Islands, is one of the leading Haida weavers working in traditional styles of baskets and regalia. She has received a National Heritage Fellowship Award from the National Endowment for the Arts. She now lives in Ketchikan and is the mother of another respected weaving artist, Holly Churchill.
Frankenstein, of Sitka, has produced a number of well-received documentaries, including "Carved from the Heart" and "Eating Alaska." Both she and Churchill will be present at the screening to discuss the film and take questions from the audience.
Kenai film receives award
"This Is Now, That Was Then," a historical video series by Marc Swanson of Summit Educational Services, has received second place in the 2014 Interpretive Media Awards Competition sponsored by the National Association for Interpretation of Fort Collins, Colorado. The award will be presented in Denver next month.
The series features three area high schoolers as narrators in a 12-part exploration of the Kenai Mountains-Turnagain Arm National Heritage Area. Using vintage photos, current-day footage and interviews, the speakers describe the history of Seward, Cooper Landing, Moose Pass, Hope and the trails and communities that have come and gone in the area. Interesting tidbits include the dates when various parts of the Seward Highway were built and the original name of Tern Lake.
Each segment is between three and 11 minutes. When Seward residents got a preview in March, nearly everyone asked for a copy. The series is part of the social studies program in the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District and available to everyone at kmtacorridor.org.
Wartime internment onstage in Juneau
The Empty Chair Project will present Seattle-based Living Voices in "Within the Silence," the story of John Tanaka, a Juneau teen whose family was sent to internment camps during World War II. The performance uses archival film and takes place at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 17, in the Egan Lecture Hall at the University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau.
The following night, the same venue will feature a screening of a documentary by Juneau filmmaker Greg Chaney: "the story of how the Juneau community stood in quiet defiance against the immoral internment of American citizens." I don't think I've heard that story before; could be interesting.
Documentary winners announced
More than 2000 people attended the weeklong Homer Documentary Film Festival, Sept. 25-Oct. 2. The top films from the event were "This Ain't No Mouse Music," winner of the Grand Jury Prize; "The Internet's Own Boy," winner of the Best Director Award; and "Alive Inside," the "Forget-Me-Not" audience favorite. It was the 11th year of the festival, which has regularly featured films that went on to win the Academy Award for best documentary. You can find out more about the festival at homerdocfest.com.
Alaska artists in New York
"Untitled Instrument," a clay sculpture by Cynthia Morelli of Homer, has been juried into the New Directions National Juried Contemporary Art Exhibition at the Barrett Art Center in Poughkeepsie, New York. Morelli's piece was among 80 works selected from 700 entries by Lynn Warren, a curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. The show will remain on display through Nov. 8.
On Nov. 13, another Alaskan, Kate Carr, will open her first solo show in New York City at Garvey Simon Art Access. Carr, of the Anchorage grocery family, will show wall-mounted sculptures of wood and wool felt exploring ways that the lines of the wood and folds of material can be juxtaposed. The name of the show is "First Folds" and it will remain on display through Dec. 13. The gallery is located in the Chelsea district of the Big Apple.
Major literary prize for Loewen
Sara Loewen-Danelski of Kodiak, who has contributed numerous columns to these pages as Sara Loewen, is the winner of this year's Willa Literary Award in the creative nonfiction category for her collection of essays, "Gaining Daylight."
Two other Alaskans were noted in the competition, sponsored by Women Writing the West. "Dirt Work: An Education in the Woods" by Christine Byl was one of three finalists in the creative nonfiction division and Carolyn Kremers' "Upriver" was a finalist in the category of poetry. The award is named for Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Willa Cather.
Ask Ranger Rick
A final literary note this week: Author Bill Sherwonit will be joined by former state wildlife manager Rick Sinnott in an onstage conversation revolving around Sherwonit's book, "Animal Stories: Encounters with Alaska's Wildlife." "We'll ask each other questions, share our perspectives about wildlife and wildlife management," Sherwonit said, "and no doubt express some differences of opinion." The event is free and takes place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 23, at the Anchorage Museum. Use the Seventh Avenue entrance.
Theatrical couple honored
David Edgecombe and Elizabeth Ware will receive the 2015 Jerry Harper Service Award on the closing night of the 23rd Last Frontier Theatre Conference, June 14-20 in Valdez. The husband and wife have a long record of theatrical direction, performance, education and collaboration at the University of Alaska Anchorage, Cyrano's and at the Valdez conference itself.
The Jerry Harper award is presented to individuals who have played a major role in the development of the conference, which brings noted national theater professionals to Alaska and provides Alaska writers and actors with a forum for honing their crafts.