JUST FOR KIDS   Alaskan Artifacts Kids learn history and culture while playing the Alaskan Artifacts game on the AlaskaKids site. Players review pictures and descriptions of Native artifacts like the ulu, birch basket and atlatl and then try to match artifacts with their description in a memory matching game. FEATURED STORY   Getting an Education Took Grit When Sophie Prosser was a 14-year-old girl growing up in Ninilchik, she wanted an education so badly she went on a hunger strike to prove to her parents just how serious she was. Read the full narrative... Quick Links Contact Us News About Us AlaskaKids UAA Stay Connected WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Seeing the Lion  This is a follow-up to LitSite Alaska's My Father's Legacy The unique nature of Alaska's geography challenges its residents in diverse ways, resulting in rich cultural experiences that tie us together as one people - Alaskans. LitSite Alaska provides a unique venue for Alaskans to tell stories from their unique point-of-view. In My Father's Legacy: The Lion on the Mountain, Margie Brown shares life from her unique viewpoint growing up in the small village of Takotna (its size has grown significantly since Margie lived there as a little girl. Census records now boast a population of 48). Margie intimately discusses the impact her father had on her and her sister as he patiently taught them many things he knew. Read on... DIGITAL ARCHIVES GALLERY From Slavery to Sea Captain In a time when only white men were permitted to serve as captain in the Revenue Cutter Service, Captain Michael "Hell Roarin' Mike" Healy distinguished himself by reaching such a rank even though he was the grandson of a slave woman, and he himself was born into slavery on a Georgia plantation. View the full narrative and gallery of images. WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Seeing the Lion - continued from top Benjamin Twitchell shared with his daughters his knowledge of many things including potato farming, star constellations, and complexities in the landscape. In My Father's Legacy,  Margie recalls with great enthusiasm how she felt as she was learning such wonders from her father, and likewise, the disappointment she discovered when she just couldn't quite grasp a particular lesson. In one case, Margie relays her frustration about a situation where her father pointed to the side of a mountain and showed Margie the face of an African Lion etched there by nature. While she tried to see what her father saw, the image of that lion was elusive... what is it she needed to do to see the image that appeared so clearly for her father? Would she ever see what he saw? Benjamin Twitchell died when Margie was still very young, leaving Margie helpless to express her appreciation for all the lessons he shared with her. He didn't get to see his daughter blossom as an adult, and publishing the story is a way to honor his memory and give thanks. Margie recalls her father's influence, remembering his storytelling technique, and says he helped to instill in her a passion for life-long learning, to be inquisitive. She recognizes now that it is not a problem if you don't know all of the answers. The key is in the discovery of the answers. Today, Margie is a well-respected Native Leader and Chief Executive Officer of CIRI, a job that she says often pushes her outside of her comfort zone. She describes herself as an introvert, being very private and shy, and recognizes that what you see as a child is so different from what you see as an adult. Armed with that knowledge and her fathers' teachings she pushes herself, and is quite content. Read My Father's Legacy: The Lion on the Mountain to find out if in adulthood, Margie can see the lion's face on the mountain... BACK TO TOP