Join us on September 24, from 1 – 2 pm at Bishop’s Beach Park and Pavilion for Tuyanitun Qetitl’ Ka’a, a dedication ceremony for the installation of the Indigenous landmarking sculpture Tuyanitun : Tuggeht. The event is hosted by the Ninilchik Village Tribe. (In the case of inclement weather, the reception will be at Alaska’s Islands and Ocean Visitor Center.)

Tuyanitun: Tuggeht is a public art sculpture for the City of Homer’s municipal art collection conceived by Ninilchik Village Tribal member and artist Argent Kvasnikoff with the intention of making land acknowledgement visible and broadly accessible.

Speakers include Ninilchik Traditional Council President Greg Encelewski;  Ninilchik Traditional Council’s Executive Director, Ivan Encelewski; Homer City Council member, Donna Alderhold; and Ninilchik Village Tribe member and conceptual artist Argent Kvasnikoff. The event will feature refreshments, storytelling by Skywalker Payne, and music by Willow Patrick.

The dedication is followed by a showing of Native Youth Olympic games at the Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitor Center from 2:30 to 5 pm.

The community partnership between Ninilchik Village Tribe, City of Homer, Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, and Bunnell Street Arts Center signals a commitment to recognize that Homer is found on Indigenous lands and to tell more inclusive stories about this place and its peoples. Land acknowledgment is an expression of respect for the land and the people who have stewarded it for millennia.

Tuyanitun:Tuggeht is supported by the Alaska State Council on the Arts Community Arts Partnership grant, the National Endowment for the Arts, Ninilchik Tribal Council, Cook Inlet Tribal Council, National Performance Network with additional funding from Rasmuson Foundation.