First Fridays, 2:00 – 3:00 pm
Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center

Open to the public – bring a friend

December 2, 2011       
Athabascan Beadwork and Traditional Design
by Dixie Alexander

January 6, 2012         
Challenging Traditions: Innovative Native Artists from Southeast Alaska                                         by Aldona Jonaitis

February 3, 2012      
Balloons of War:   The Alaska Territorial Guard and the Japanese Balloon Bomb Attack of WWII
by Ross Coen 
Toward the end of the Second World War, Japan launched 9,000 hydrogen balloons armed with incendiary devices in one of the more unusual offensive campaigns in history.   The balloons traveled on the upper stratospheric winds known today as the jet stream and reached North America in four to six days.   About 50 of those balloons landed in Alaska and were recovered by the Alaska Territorial Guard, an all-volunteer defense force comprised primarily of Alaska Natives.   Ross Coen will tell this story of one of the most curious and forgotten campaigns of World War II.
Ross Coen is a local historian who writes about political and environmental history of Alaska and the circumpolar North.   His articles have appeared in numerous publications and his forthcoming book about Prudhoe Bay oil development will be published by University of Alaska Press in Spring 2012.   Ross has lived in Alaska since 1995.