The Hoonah Indian Association and Huna Heritage Foundation worked through the summer to prepare for this year’s Traditional Food Fair. This event has been an annual celebration in Hoonah with the goal of providing a meal for our community and celebrating Lingit culture and traditional foods. Both organizations began this special yearly gathering in 2017, seeing it grow in participation each time. Almost 150 people attended this year’s event at the K’eidladee ParkPavillion. Gunalchéesh to all who attended to make this day joyful and successful!

The Preparation

Through the summer Huna Heritage Foundation and Hoonah Indian Association worked with many partners to harvest cultural foods for distribution to the community. Many of the harvest events included youth through the Alaska Youth Stewards program and community members. Harvest events included : G̱aat (Sockeye) from Neva Lake, S’ikshaldéen (Hudson Bay Tea), sukkáadzi (Beach Asparagus), laak’ásk (Black Seaweed), cháatl (Halibut), S’áxt’ (devil’s club) and G̱uwakaan (Deer).

In total we harvested and jarred these foods :

• 97 S’ikshaldéen snack bags
• 44 S’áxt’ snack bags
• 220 half pints of G̱aat
• 50 quarter pints of G̱aat
• 120 half pints of sukkáadzi
• 20 quarter bags of laak’ásk

The Food

This year four cooks in Hoonah prepared an amazing spread of food! On the menu was G̱uwakaan stew, cháatl olympia, eex̱ kát sakwnéin (fry bread), k’oox (rice), and desserts. The food was delicious and brought smiles to the elders we served and all community members in attendance. Aatlein gunalchéesh to our amazing cooks!

The Sponsors – Gunalchéesh!

This year’s Traditional Food Fair was made possible by many! We are in constant gratitude to all of our sponsors and thank them each year out loud. They come in multiple forms including donations, technical support, cooking and more. Here is a list of our sponsors this year :

Donations : Icy Strait Lodge, Colette’s Cupboard, Hoonah Trading, Johanna Dybdahl, Don Bolton, Brianna Lackey, SEARHC, Sustainable Southeast Partnership/Spruce Root, Owen James, Huna Totem Corporation, Icy Strait Point, Hoonah Travel Adventures, Alaska Seaplanes, Fisherman’s Daughter

Technical Support or Cooking for Summer Food Prep : Raino Hill, City of Hoonah, US Forest Service, Debbie Picken, Kaz Harris, Brooke Lampe, Niccole Williams, Gaawtaakan Dance Group, Bill Veler, Sonya Johnson, Salvation Army, National Park Service

The Dance

Each year dancing is an important part of the Traditional Food Fair. Gaawtaakan dancers from Hoonah City Schools danced in. It is always incredible to see our youth grow and sing Hoonah’s songs and history! Gaawtaakan also did a blanket dance for the Starbard family who had just lost Wakeésh, Don Starbard. Blanket dances are a constant reminder of Hoonah’s ability to come together to provide for those in need.

The Volunteers

During the day we had many people on hand to help serve the food and our community. Gunalchéesh to all members of HIA, HHF, ISP and the community who assisted during the day!