The Gathering of the Wisdom Bearers is a traditional Alaskan custom that has been around since 1968. Forty-three Alaskan Natives have been awarded honorary doctorates for their determination and wisdom that have inspired the Alaskan community. Last Wednesday, 18 elders were praised at the Davis Concert Hall.

The gatherinig usually takes place every five years, but some people would like it to happen more often. “I’d like to have [the gathering] every year, because we’re losing elders rapidly,” Drena McIntyre said.

Kathleen Meckel, a teacher from the Effie Kokrine Charter School, brought the entire seventh and eighth grade to witness the ceremonial. “They[students] are excited. It’s a treat for them to hear from the elders.”
She explained that the students were all studying indigenous knowledge, which is a standard-based curriculum, in which the teachers decide what the students learn.

“I am so grateful to the Interior Aleutians Campus. It’s rare to see so much cultural knowledge in one area,” said Meckel.

The ceremony began with one of the elders, Nathan Paul Jackson, leading everyone in a group prayer, followed by song-writer and public speaker, Guy Pearce. Pearce sung a prayer, and said that his inspiration came from the Bible.

Steve Guinness from Fort Yukon also spoke to the public. “When I was growing up, our elders would talk to us about the future. When I was growing up, they’d tell us to sit and listen. It was through these elders that we learned what our past was like,” he said.

Steve Jones, Chancellor of UAF, said to the elders, “The thoughts and ideas that you are teaching will be passed down to students for the future.”
Both men elaborated on the importance of having elders within the community and being able to look up to them and learn from their experiences.

Ethel Lund a Wisdom Bearer from Juneau attended the gathering. She spoke about the challenges of the past, such as tuberculosis, and compared the past to the present, providing the audience with a powerful impression of how the world has changed in recent years.

The Wisdom Bearers awarded throughout the years were announced before the public: Reverend Walter Soboleff, Archie Demmert, Frank Peratrovich, Howard Rock, Frank Degnan, Nora Guinn, Alfred Widmark, Chief Andrew Isaac, William Hensley, Cyrus Peck, Sr., Mildred Sparks, Emily Ivanoff Brown, Della Keats, Byron Mallott, Joseph Kahklen, Mary Demientieff, Harold Kaveolook, Sadie Brower Neakok, Nathan Paul Jackson, Sidney Huntington, Austin Hammond, Sr., Eliza Jones, Roy Huhndorf, Delores Churchill, Frank See, Gilbert Truitt, Mary Jane Fate, Chief Peter John, Esther Shea, Howard Luke, Ellen Hope Hays, Katherine Peter, Poldine Carlo, Nora Dauenhauer, Ethel Lund, Reverend Chief David Salmon, Kenneth Toovak, Aldred Ketzler, Sr., Erma Lawrence, Julie Kitka, Jake Lestenkof, John Pingayak, and Catherine Attla.