ALASKAN TLINGIT WRITER KEIX̱WNÉI (NORA MARKS DAUENHAUER) BORN
Born in Juneau, Alaska, Nora spoke only Tlingit until age 8. Working with linguist husband Richard Dauenhauer, she was highly influential in preserving and teaching the Tlingit language. At University of Alaska, she translated and transcribed works of Tlingit culture into books. Along with poems and short stories, her scholarly works include Beginning Tlingit and Russians in Tlingit America: The Battles of Sitka, 1802 And 1804, which won an American Book Award. From 1983-1997, she was principal researcher in language and cultural studies at the Sealaska Heritage Foundation. In 2012, she was named Alaska State Writer Laureate. Awards include: Humanist of the Year, Alaska Humanities Forum (1980); Alaska Governor’s Award for the Arts (1989); Before Columbus Foundation American Book Award (1991 & 2008); Lifetime Achievement Award, Central Council of Tlingit & Haida Indian tribes of Alaska (2007); and Alaska Women’s Hall of Fame (2010). She died September 25, 2017.
Sources:
Amy Fletcher, “Alaska woman brings Tlingit culture to Writer Laureate,” Juneau Empire Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, 12/1/2012. Retrieved 6/29/2019, http://www.newsminer.com/alaska-woman-brings-tlingit-culture-to-writer-laureate/article_81ffd1a5-78ff-5e53-b084-3facaf611128.html
Kevin Gullufsen, “Native scholar, writer laureate Nora Dauenhauer dies at 90”. Juneau Empire, 9/25/2017. Retrieved 6/29/2019, https://www.juneauempire.com/news/native-scholar-writer-laureate-nora-dauenhauer-dies-at-90/
Photo: Sam Beebe, 11/2/2011, Ecotrust. Permissive Use pursuant to Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en