Nupuat is a quarterly publication of Chugachmiut, the tribal not-for-profit organization serving the Alaska Native peoples of the Chugach Region. If you need to update your mailing address, please email us at media@chugachmiut.org.
Here are some recently published editions:
To submit ideas, articles, stories, poetry, and pictures for use in the Nupuat, please email media@Chugachmiut.org along with a short bio of yourself. Call for submissions.
Announcing the Spring 2026 Edition of the Chugachmiut Nupuat Newsletter!
We’re excited to share the latest edition of Nupuat, Chugachmiut’s quarterly newsletter! This issue is packed with updates, stories, and opportunities that highlight the incredible work happening across the Chugach Region. From career openings to cultural initiatives, there’s something for everyone to explore.
Inside This Edition:
About the Cover: Elders, youth, educators, and language bearers gather during the 2026 Chugach Region Language Summit to strengthen and celebrate the Sugt’stun and dAXunhyuu (Eyak) languages and expand the circle of language learning. Photo by Bjørn Olson.
Stay connected with Chugachmiut and learn more about how we’re working together to strengthen our communities, celebrate our culture, and create opportunities for the future.
For questions or submissions for the next edition, contact us at media@chugachmiut.org.
Read the full Nupuat Newsletter below.
View previous editions.
Announcing the Winter 2025 Edition of the Chugachmiut Nupuat Newsletter!
We’re excited to share the latest edition of Nupuat, Chugachmiut’s quarterly newsletter! This issue is packed with updates, stories, and opportunities that highlight the incredible work happening across the Chugach Region. From career openings to cultural initiatives, there’s something for everyone to explore.
Inside This Edition:
Stay connected with Chugachmiut and learn more about how we’re working together to strengthen our communities, celebrate our culture, and create opportunities for the future.
For questions or submissions for the next edition, contact us at media@chugachmiut.org.
View previous editions. To share your ideas, articles, stories, poetry, or pictures, please email media@chugachmiut.org. The submission deadline is Friday, February 27, 2025.
Chugachmiut’s Nupuat Newsletter Summer Edition is available!
Topics in the Nupuat Newsletter
📸About the Cover: Chugachmiut Board Members Nanci Robart, Fran Norman (Chair), and Arne Hatch joined us for the grand opening of the Chugachmiut Regional Health Center in Seward (Qutekcak). Thank you to everyone who joined us in Seward on April 21. Photo by Angela Gonzalez.
Nupuat is a quarterly publication of Chugachmiut, the tribal not-for-profit organization serving the Alaska Native peoples of the Chugach Region. If you need to update your mailing address, please email us at media@chugachmiut.org.
View previous editions here.
May 6, 2025
Contact: media@chugachmiut.org, 907-334-0160
Anchorage, AK—Chugachmiut and Carnegie Clean Energy Ltd. announce a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to collaborate on exploring wave energy in the Chugach region. Carnegie Clean Energy is the Australian developer of the CETO® technology, which captures energy from ocean waves and converts it into electricity. The companies will work together to explore the feasibility of ocean wave energy in Alaska.
Carnegie uses the latest advances in onboard power generation and artificial intelligence to efficiently generate zero-emission electricity. CETO is an innovative, fully submerged, point absorber-type wave energy technology. A submerged buoy sits a few yards below the water’s surface and moves with the ocean’s waves. This constant movement drives a power take-off system that converts this motion into electricity. Being fully submerged and zero-emission, CETO won’t interfere with marine traffic, coastal aesthetics, or tourism, and has minimal impact on marine life.
Carnegie Clean Energy’s CETO technology has enormous potential to be a source of sustainable, clean electricity in Alaska. “This revolutionary wave conversion system can potentially supply electricity to communities in the Chugach region,” says Angela ‘Jan’ Vanderpool, Executive Director of Chugachmiut. “We are excited for the potential of lowering energy costs in the region, and it’s clean, renewable, and sustainable.”
Attached to the sea floor, CETO can harness wave power and become a source of zero-emission and cost-effective electricity for the Chugach region. Learn more and watch a video of the CETO technology at https://www.carnegiece.com/ceto-technology/.
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About Chugachmiut
Chugachmiut is a 501(c)3 non-profit established in 1974 to serve and promote the self-governance of the seven Native tribes of the Chugach Region of Alaska. Chugachmiut offers a range of services to its seven constituent tribal communities, including primary care, dentistry, behavioral health, addiction counseling, trust and land management, heritage preservation, and wildland firefighting. Learn more at www.chugachmiut.org.
Download a PDF of this release.
Chugachmiut’s Nupuat Newsletter Winter Edition is available!
Topics in the Nupuat Newsletter
📸About the Cover: Quyanaa to everyone who joined us for the Chenega Health Fair in October! This fall, we enjoyed connecting with community members at health fairs in Nanwalek and Chenega. Photo by Angela Gonzalez.
Nupuat is a quarterly publication of Chugachmiut, the tribal not-for-profit organization serving the Alaska Native peoples of the Chugach Region. If you need to update your mailing address, please email us at media@chugachmiut.org. To submit ideas, articles, stories, poetry, and pictures for use in the Nupuat, please email media@Chugachmiut.org. Call for submissions.
November 20, 2024
Contact: media@chugachmiut.org, 907-334-0160
Anchorage, AK – Since its 2023 release, Chugachmiut’s game Nunaka: My Village – Where Language Comes to Play has won four educational video game awards and received two additional nominations. This 3D learning app engages children in the Sugpiaq culture and Sugt’stun language of Alaska’s Chugach region. It serves as an early childhood introduction to cultural heritage while supporting essential school readiness goals for Chugachmiut’s federally funded Head Start program.
In recent competitions, Nunaka was honored with the following:
In addition, Nunaka received two notable nominations, including the 2024 Kidscreen Awards, Best Learning App – Original, Finalist, and 2024 Games 4 Change, Diverse Voices – New Stories Contest, Nominee.
Chugachmiut incorporated Nunaka into its Head Start centers in Nanwalek and Port Graham, where most of the children are of Sugpiaq heritage. The game is a supplemental tool, engaging children through interactive adventures that promote enthusiasm for their community, the Sugt’stun language, and Sugpiaq cultural values. It features culturally relevant games such as berry picking, sea creature identification, and qayaq riding, designed to improve fine motor skills and cognitive development.
To ensure cultural and linguistic authenticity, FableVision collaborated with the Nanwalek IRA Council and Port Graham Village Council in 2022. Elders provided voice recordings for scripts, and young Sugt’stun speakers tested the game for Chugachmiut’s Head Start program. Their voices are included in the final product.
“We are grateful for the invaluable input from Elders and Sugt’stun language bearers in developing this culturally relevant learning platform for the Chugach region,” says Angela ‘Jan’ Vanderpool, Executive Director of Chugachmiut. “With Nunaka, children can connect to their culture, language, and environment while achieving key school readiness goals.”
“There were a lot of intricacies of working with Sugt’stun. This language has been passed down via oral tradition rather than as a written language, and there is an extremely small number of master speakers remaining, many of whom have lost some of their knowledge of the language over time,” said Anne Richards, VP of FableVision’s audio division.
Explore Nunaka’s vibrant visuals and activities in the trailer and introductory video. Nunaka: My Village is free to download from the Apple and Google Play app stores. The app was made possible with generous support from the U.S. Department of Education.
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About Chugachmiut
Chugachmiut is a 501(c)3 non-profit established in 1974 to serve and promote the self-governance of the seven Native tribes of the Chugach Region of Alaska. Chugachmiut offers a range of services to its seven constituent tribal communities, including primary care, dentistry, behavioral health, addictions counseling, trust and land management, heritage preservation, and wildland firefighting. Learn more at www.chugachmiut.org.
Download a PDF of this release.
Download a Nunaka fact sheet.
Learn more about Nunaka.
Chugachmiut’s Nupuat Newsletter Fall Edition is available!
Topics in the Nupuat Newsletter
📸About the Cover: The Chugachmiut Education Department celebrated the culmination of the “Sugpiaq Significant Places, Oral Histories, and Qayaq Building for Kenai Fjords National Park Project” with an Elder’s Gathering in Anchorage. Back (standing left to right): John Moonin, Rhoda Moonin, Charles Moonin, Michael Opheim, Nancy Yeaton, Lars Moonin, Joe Rodrigues (Back), Colette Brantingham, Lillian Elvsaas, and Mark Hiratsuka. Front (left to right): Paul McDonogh, Millie Taylor, Angelina Roehl, Eugenia Moonin, and Haley Hakala. Photo by Robert DeBerry
Nupuat is a quarterly publication of Chugachmiut, the tribal not-for-profit organization serving the Alaska Native peoples of the Chugach Region. If you need to update your mailing address, please email us at media@chugachmiut.org.
View previous editions here.
Chugachmiut’s Nupuat Newsletter Summer Edition is available!
Topics in the Nupuat Newsletter
📸About the Cover: The Chugach Region Language Summit was held recently. Pictured (not in order) are Kalunka Angelina Roehl, Teglunaliq Shyla West, Nancy Pulliam, Holly West, Jocelyn Joseph, Rhozalita Moonin, Danaya Hoover, Nangneq Mark Hiratsuka, Apamia Ephimia Kvasnikoff, Fran Norman, Daniel Anahonak, Luba Anahonak, Gertrude Valenza, Thelma Vlasoff, Diane Selanoff, Patrick Selanoff, Collette Brantingham, Atakaa Rhoda Moonin, Lillian Elvsaas, John Moonin, Inée Slaughter, Doris Kompkoff, and Paul McDonough.
Nupuat is a quarterly publication of Chugachmiut, the tribal not-for-profit organization serving the Alaska Native peoples of the Chugach Region. If you need to update your mailing address, please email us at media@chugachmiut.org.
Chugachmiut’s Nupuat Newsletter Spring Edition is available!
Topics in the Nupuat Newsletter
📸About the Cover: The Nanwalek Basketball Team visited Chugachmiut in February. They spent time with staff and partner organizations, Chugach Alaska Corporation and Chugach Heritage Foundation, learning about services and employment opportunities in the Chugach region. Staff shared tips for being successful in the working world, and about their careers in finance, human resources, social services, IT, administration, and communications. They also played some fun games.
Back row (left to right): Daria Swenning (chaperone), Coach Alyssa Romanoff, Margareta Demas, Phontina Demas, Macarius Evans, Dmitri Kvasnikoff, Ashton Meganack & Coach Kevin Seville.
Front row (l-r): Kenji Simmons, Jr., Alyson Seville, Royanna Berestoff, Hailey Hetrick, Emma Tanape & Shane Moonin.
Nupuat is a quarterly publication of Chugachmiut, the tribal not-for-profit organization serving the Alaska Native peoples of the Chugach Region. If you need to update your mailing address, please email us at media@chugachmiut.org.
View previous editions here.
Heritage Preservation
Our vision is to revitalize the traditional Chugach Native culture and language. The goal is to make Sugpiaq/ Eyak history and heritage a part of the regular school curriculum with support and direction from our Elders’ traditional ecological knowledge (TEK).
Heritage Preservation
1840 Bragaw Street, Suite 110
Anchorage, Alaska 99508-3463
907-562-4155 – Phone
800-478-4155 – Toll Free
907-563-2891 – Fax
800-793-2891 – Toll Free Fax
844-891-0444 – Behavioral Health Crisis Line
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