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A Letter from Alice Rogoff, Founder and Chairman of Alaska House, New York

Dear Friend:

In March 2002 I spent a week in Alaska traveling along the 1,150-mile-long trail of the famed Iditarod dog-sled race. I didn’t know then that this event would set me on a path that would lead to New York six and a half years later. On that trip, I met extraordinarily talented, dignified, charming and graceful Alaska Native people whose warm welcome compelled me to get to know them. I saw the human face of adaptation; of acceptance of external forces for better and for worse; and gradually, I understood that climate change is behind much of the threat today. The “subsistence” lifestyle of Alaska Native people is more than a living condition. It is metaphor for living off the land, in the way that all indigenous people do, and for making use of all the natural resources in one’s homeland.

But today, the natural resources are threatened by melting sea ice, warmer water, and the changing migration patterns of marine mammals. Walrus and seal, the mainstay of the diet in coastal villages, are now hunted further from shore – requiring perilously long journeys in open skiffs in the Bering Sea. King salmon, long the staple of Yukon  families’ food stores, are declining and showing strange spots that make them inedible.

From the Interior and Yukon River delta to the Bering Sea, I have come to know and treasure the art made of “subsistence” byproducts: whalebone, walrus tusk, animal skins, grass and bark, among others. Yet these very art forms will decline along with the lifestyle: as village life becomes more difficult, the villagers’ cultural ties and traditions will be strained by the time demands of more traditional forms of employment in urban areas. And of course the marine mammal materials, themselves, will diminish.

It was with all these concerns in mind that we founded the Alaska Native Arts Foundation in 2002. As Alaska enters its 50th year of statehood, Alaska House, New York, has opened its doors as the only nonprofit arts and cultural center dedicated to promoting Alaska. Our goal is to promote the diverse cultural and artistic offerings of Alaska and help improve the lives of Alaska Native people. This is the first institution within the lower 48 states devoted to educating the public about the issues and challenges facing the residents of this vast and remote state. I hope you will visit Alaska House, New York, learn more and join us as a “First Friend”.

Sincerely,

Alice Rogoff

Chairman