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PEOPLE OF THE NORTH
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 Spotlight on Alaska's Eyak People
The smallest in number among Alaska's Native groups, the Eyak people are geographically squeezed between their Tlingit and Athabascan neighbors in the southeastern corner of Southcentral Alaska.
However they've managed to retain their unique culture, language and identity. Read on...
View the image gallery.
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Stay Connected
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WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
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 Celebrating Statehood with a Constitutional Framer - Vic Fischer 
This is a follow-up to LitSite's Writing a Constitution.
As Alaskans celebrate the 50th year of statehood,
there is no more significant document than our own Constitution, the
fundamental foundation that governs our society. Then 31-year-old Victor
Fischer was one of 55 delegates who participated in the Constitutional
Convention where he had a hand in writing the important document.
In a recent interview, Fischer reflects on the monumental
occasion. "It's great to be alive 50 years later and pontificate!" he jokes.
"There are only three of us (from the Convention) still living. It is
tremendous to see the dream of the delegates not just realized but also
exceeded."
Read on...
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LITSITE FEATURED WRITER
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 Peter Dunlap-Shohl
Peter Dunlap-Shohl, a former cartoonist for the Anchorage Daily News for more than 25 years, is also an amazing writer and animator of his own cartoons.
The following is the opening stanza from Dunlap-Shohl's, Susitna Story, a tale of musher Susitna Sal and her race with the devil.
Where the moon casts crazy shadows through the twisted tilting spruce,
In the dark and drunken forests roam demons on the loose.
Through tangled winding willow hells, o'er ice-bound mountain streams
Is where you'll find the Devil, training his dog team...
Read the entire poem and watch the animated video here...
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JUST FOR KIDS
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 AlaskaKids - a Web Site for Alaska Children
LitSite Alaska now has a special Web site just for kids! AlaskaKids is a great online learning tool with fun and educational information,
games, and historical and cultural information about Alaska.
Share the fun of learning Alaska history, culture and wildlife...
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WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
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 Celebrating Statehood - ...continued from top.
Fischer says the Constitution set up the basic framework for
the state and it's amazing to see how it has functioned since statehood. He
cites the judiciary system as the finest in the nation, and says the "resource"
article (Article 8, Section 2) has been very important in terms of the
royalties the state has received. "Alaskans have certainly benefitted," Fischer says, "and yet it
was totally unforeseeable!"
LitSite Alaska features Writing a Constitution, by Deborah Tobola, a story highlighting the magnitude of the job that 55 delegates were given at the Constitutional
Convention.
Writing a
constitution that would remain relevant to the Alaska of today was no easy
task. Fischer speaks with pride about the extent "to which Native and indigenous culture
underline our character and values
as a state." Prior to the writing
of the Constitution, "there
was very little organization between Native communities; today we have regional
corporations delivering services and jobs."
When asked about challenges the state might experience in the
next 50 years,
Fischer says Alaska is still an open society and the land of opportunity, but
as citizens, Alaskans need to be
more engaged. Fischer says we have obligations to other people and to the
state, and that means, "being
active participants - getting together with family and friends, acknowledging
problems and working together to solve them. We must all exercise our
responsibilities."
As for Fischer himself, he says life has been good during the
past 50 years. He has spent his entire career in
public service, from serving one term in the territorial legislature to becoming the
first director of what is now commonly known as "ISER", the Institute for
Social and Economic Research at the University of Alaska Anchorage. He actively
lectures on his experiences to high school students and civic groups, and he is
involved in civic issues. Fischer says he intends to stay engaged in the
process as long as he can, "contacting politicians and public officials,
writing letters and testifying about issues that are important in my city and
state."
It has been said that those who do not know history are
doomed to repeat it. LitSite offers an opportunity to know Alaska's history by learning from those who were actually there to write
it. Check out Writing a Constitution for a unique window into life in Alaska with submissions
by state leaders and authors.
View the State of Alaska Constitution.
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