Song and dance play a key role in the culture of the Tlingit people, as they do in so many Indigenous cultures, and indeed broadly across human experience. In the Tlingit culture, song and dance are tied to the kinship structure; to the deepest experiences of mourning; to contact with ancestors and spirits; to high metaphorical language; to the very complex system of intellectual property encoded within the Tlingit word “at.óow”; to animals and other beings whose movements and sounds are invoked and imitated; to the artistic traditions of regalia-making; and to the great ceremony of ku.éex’, the “potlatch” or party.
The course will be hosted jointly by faculty from Oklahoma State and Outer Coast in Sitka, Alaska. Participants in the seminar will study and work alongside Outer Coast students and the Sitka community. This course will offer a series of modules on song and dance, both in themselves, and as a prism through which to encounter protocol, history and memory, ecology, social structure and gift-giving, art-making and embodiment – as well as the complex questions of how Indigenous culture is shared, cared for, protected and studied with respect and sensitivity. Students will have an opportunity to encounter song and dance with tradition bearers and song keepers in Sitka, to learn the special history of song and dance revitalization and have exposure to related topics in disciplines such as linguistics, biology and ethnomusicology. Participants also will explore wider questions of revitalization, repatriation, cultural context and the contemporary history of Indigenous arts.
One student from each NCAIS member institution may participate in the four-day workshop as part of an introduction to critical methodologies in American Indian and Indigenous Studies. Housing will be provided and participants will be reimbursed up to $850 for travel. Leftover funding will be used to lessen the travel costs of students whose travel costs exceed $850.
How to Apply
Interested students should apply directly to their NCAIS Faculty Liaison by October 1, 2026.