The Healing Arts Project

In 2001, the Annette Island Service Unit established the Healing Arts Project in order to promote the relationship between health, community, and culture by supporting the creativity of our local Native artists.

Health, Community, and Culture

Octopus bagIn Metlakatla, our culture is the strength of our community. Through coming together as a community to put on potlatches in memory of those that we have lost and in honor of those who are still with us, we support one another through times of joy and sorrow. Our traditions give us pride in both what we can accomplish when we work together and our individual abilities. These important aspects of our well-being complement the efforts of Annette Island Service Unit to care for our physical and mental welfare. The goal of the Healing Art Project is to reflect this important relationship.

Many of the pieces in this collection were donated by families in memory of their loved ones and others were selected by the Healing Arts Committee:

AISU's Curator of Native Art, Mique'l Askren, designed this exhibition. She was assisted by Dorothy Attikai and Artech - Fine Art Services of Renton, Washington.

We, as Tsimshians of Metlakatla, Alaska, have a rich and complex culture. This collection demonstrates the diverse range of artistic talents and cultural knowledge that exist in our community from gathering and weaving cedar bark, engraving sliver, button robes making, beading, to wood carving and painting. These artists continue an ancestral legacy of knowledge and standards of excellence that will inspire future generations.