ANHC Awarded 5-Year $1.25 Million SAMHSA Native Connections Grant

The Alaska Native Heritage Center (ANHC) is pleased to announce Unguwat: Resilience & Connection (URC), a new Indigenous wellness project created by ANHC to serve young Alaska Native people (ages 18-24), has been funded under the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) Native Connections grant.

“Unguwat is a Sugpiaq word that communicates how people are strengthened by a common purpose; that lives are changed through increased opportunity and self-actualization,” said ANHC Executive Director Keneggnarkayaaggaq Emily Edenshaw. “As a statewide Alaska Native educational and cultural institution, our approach for the past twenty years has been grounded in an understanding that culture is the foundation from which all else flourishes, including the wellness of our young people and communities.”

Led by traditional healer Yaari Walker (St. Lawrence Island Yupik) and Alaska Native youth advocated Tatiana Ticknor (Tlingit/Dena’ina/Deg Xinag), URC will create space for Indigenous people to heal from intergenerational trauma through arts, culture, and traditional healing practices.

URC responds to a gap that transitional aged youth and young adults in Anchorage experience when it comes to connecting with their cultures and each other in settings that affirm their wellness. This is especially true for those new to the city, who come from rural communities seeking education and employment.