TOOLS · CONNECTION · CREATIVITY · STORIES
Advancing Alaska Native Self-Determination
Aywaa supports Alaska Native communities working to strengthen their sovereignty, culture, language, and well-being through a peer network, storytelling, creative work, and tools.
Native communities already have the leadership and knowledge they need to succeed. Aywaa makes it easier to connect and learn what is working well and why.
Aywaa Tools
Aywaa Tools
Templates, guides, and resources that support Tribal and community leaders.
View the Tools →Aywaa Network
Aywaa Network
Solution-based conversations with peers across the state and a place to share what is working in your community.
Join the Network →Aywaa Storyhouse
Aywaa Storyhouse
Stories that inspire and are rooted in relationship to land, place, and one another. Learn about on-the-ground examples directly from the people and communities leading this work.
Visit the Storyhouse →Aywaa Creative
Aywaa Creative
Alaska Native artists and storytellers who are reclaiming ownership of their own narrative through creative expression.
Visit Aywaa Creative →Aywaa is the Yupik word for north, and is also the root word for the north wind.
Cultural knowledge describes the north wind as an important element used to help guide people home during dangerous weather conditions. Much like the north wind, Aywaa is designed to support people leading this work on behalf of their communities while perpetuating cultural values.
Aywaa Tools
STRUCUTRAL TOOLS FOR SELF GOVERNANCE
Over the years, AVF has partnered with Tribal leadership across Alaska and has worked with leaders in the fields of law and policy to create documents that help advance Tribal self-determination.
Aywaa Network
The Aywaa Network creates opportunities for Tribal and community leaders to share knowledge, engage in thoughtful conversation, and connect with peers across the state. This network is designed to advance values-based solutions to local, statewide, and global challenges.
THE IDEA
Native communities already have the knowledge and leadership they need to succeed — our job is making it easier to find each other, and to find what already works.
Aywaa Storyhouse
The Storyhouse uplifts the narratives of Alaska Native peoples in communities throughout Alaska. It is an Indigenous-led platform of Alaska Native people telling their own stories. Stories that feature first-person narrative, arts, and expression are all examples of self-determination in action that inform, uplift, and inspire.
About Us
The roots of Aywaa began at the 2020 "Our Seas Are Rising" convening, where community leaders gathered to address the intersecting crises of climate change, cultural preservation, and economic transition.