Nora Marks Keixwnéi Dauenhauer (May 8, 1927 – September 25, 2017) was a

Tlingit The Tlingit ( or ; also spelled Tlinkit) are indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their language is the Tlingit language (natively , pronounced ),

Tlingit language The Tlingit language ( ; ''Lingít'' ) is spoken by the Tlingit people of Southeast Alaska and Western Canada and is a branch of the Na-Dene language family. Extensive effort is being put into revitalization programs in Southeast Alaska to rev ...

scholar from

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

. She won an

American Book Award The American Book Award is an American literary award that annually recognizes a set of books and people for "outstanding literary achievement". According to the 2010 awards press release, it is "a writers' award given by other writers" and "the ...

for ''Russians in Tlingit America: The Battles of Sitka, 1802 And 1804.'' Nora was Alaska State Writer Laureate from 2012 - 2014.

Early life

Nora Marks was born May 8, 1927, the first of 16 children of Emma Marks (1913–2006) of Yakutat,

, and Willie Marks (1902–1981), a Tlingit from

Hoonah Hoonah ( tli, Xunaa or ''Gaaw Yat’aḵ Aan'') is a largely Tlingit community on Chichagof Island, located in Alaska's panhandle in the southeast region of the state. It is west of Juneau, across the Alaskan Inside Passage. Hoonah is the only f ...

. Nora's Tlingit name at birth was Keix̱wnéi. Dauenhauer was raised in

Juneau The City and Borough of Juneau, more commonly known simply as Juneau ( ; tli, Dzánti K'ihéeni ), is the capital city of the state of Alaska. Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle, it is a unified municipality and the se ...

, on seasonal hunting and fishing sites around

Icy Strait The Icy Strait is a strait in the Alexander Archipelago in southeastern Alaska, at about . The strait separates Chichagof Island to the south and the Alaska mainland to the north. The strait is from its west side at the intersection of the Cros ...

Glacier Bay Glacier Bay Basin in southeastern Alaska, in the United States, encompasses the Glacier Bay and surrounding mountains and glaciers, which was first proclaimed a U.S. National Monument on February 25, 1925, and which was later, on December 2, 1980 ...

, and Cape Spencer. Dauenhauer's first language is Tlingit, following her mother in the Tlingit matrilineal system, she was a member of the Raven

moiety Moiety may refer to: Chemistry * Moiety (chemistry), a part or functional group of a molecule ** Moiety conservation, conservation of a subgroup in a chemical species Anthropology * Moiety (kinship), either of two groups into which a society is ...

of the Tlingit nation, of the Yakutat Lukaax̱.ádi (Sockeye Salmon) clan, and of the ''Shaka Hít'' or Canoe Prow House, from

Alsek River The Alsek River (; Tlingit ''Aalseix̱' '') is a wilderness river flowing from Yukon into Northern British Columbia and into Alaska. It enters the Gulf of Alaska at Dry Bay. Most of the Alsek River's basin is within protected wilderness areas an ...

. In 1986 she was chosen as clan co-leader Yakutat Lukaax̱.ádi (Sockeye Salmon) clan. and as trustees of the Raven House and other clan property. In November 2010 she was given the title Naa Tláa (Clan Mother) as the ceremonial leader of the clan. Emma's maternal grandfather had been Frank Italio (1870–1956), an informant to the anthropologist

Frederica de Laguna Frederica ("Freddy") Annis Lopez de Leo de Laguna (October 3, 1906 – October 6, 2004) was an American ethnologist, anthropologist, and archaeologist influential for her work on Paleoindian and Alaska Native art and archaeology in the Americ ...

whose knowledge was incorporated into De Laguna's 1972 ethnography of the northern Tlingit, ''Under Mount St. Elias'.''

Adult life

In the early 1970s, she married linguist

Richard Dauenhauer Richard Dauenhauer (April 10, 1942 – August 19, 2014) was an American poet, linguist, and translator who married into, and subsequently became an expert on, the Tlingit nation of southeastern Alaska. He was married to the Tlingit poet and schol ...

, who had done his doctoral work on Tlingit language. Dauenhauer lived in Juneau where she: wrote, researched, and volunteered at local schools. Dauenhauer is internationally recognized for her work preserving and teaching the Tlingit language. Dauenhauer majored in anthropology and began to study herself and her roots. In an interview she states that people have always thought of Tlingit as being simple, but goes on to describe it as one of the hardest languages ever encountered. Her husband Richard Dauenhauer and her have written numerous books that focus on the Tlingit language. Dauenhauer continues to be internationally recognized for her work preserving and teaching the Tlingit language. Dauenhauer had four children, 13 grandchildren, and 15 great-grandchildren. Nora Marks Dauenhauer died on September 25, 2017 at the age of 90.

Education and career

Dauenhauer's first language is Tlingit, she began to learn English when she entered school at the age of 8. Dauenhauer dropped out of Douglas school after the 6th grade, due to being embarrassed and mistreated by her teachers. When Dauenhauer began teaching Tlingit at Juneau Highschool, she went on to get her GED because when working with the high school kids she discovered that she needed help. After receiving her GED, she later went on to higher education In 1976, she earned a bachelor's degree in Anthropology from Alaska Methodist University (

Alaska Pacific University Alaska Pacific University (APU) is a private university in Anchorage, Alaska. It was established as Alaska Methodist University in 1957. Although it was renamed to Alaska Pacific University in 1978, it is still affiliated with the United Methodi ...

). Dauenhauer researched Tlingit language for the

Alaska Native Language Center The Alaska Native Language Center, established in 1972 in Fairbanks, Alaska, is a research center focusing on the research and documentation of the Native languages of Alaska. It publishes grammars, dictionaries, folklore collections and research m ...

at the

University of Alaska, Fairbanks The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF or Alaska) is a public land-grant research university in College, Alaska, a suburb of Fairbanks. It is the flagship campus of the University of Alaska system. UAF was established in 1917 and opened for cla ...

from 1972 to 1973. There she translated and transcribed works of Tlingit culture into books. Her books include ''Beginning Tlingit'', published in 1976.''"Beginning Tlingit"''is used all over Southeast, Alaska as well as their other works to teach the Tlingit language and culture. When Dauenhauer received a

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

grant, she and her family moved to Juneau, Alaska, in 1983. There she became a principal researcher in language and cultural studies at the Sealaska Heritage Foundation from 1983-1997. Dauenhauer’s work was influenced by the sea and land, her work preserves the oral culture and stories of previous generations. In the year 2000, Dauenhauer published a volume of poetry and prose, known as ''Life Woven with Song.'' The collection draws its focus towards being an autoethnography of the Tlingit tribe; the volume contains short lyric poems, autobiographical pieces about Dauenhauer and her life in the northern Pacific coast, as well as a few dramatic plays that depict traditional Tlingit Raven stories. From October 10, 2012, to October 2014 she was Alaska States Poet Laureate.

Awards

*1980: Humanist of the Year by Alaska Humanities Forum *1989: Co-recipient with Richard Dauenhauer of Alaska's Governor Award for the Arts, Native Alaskan Artist Award *1991: Received the Before Columbus Foundation's American Book Award *May 2001: Received Honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from University of Alaska Southeast *2005: Community Spirit Award Honoree, First Peoples Fund *2007: Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian tribes of Alaska recognized her with a lifetime achievement award. *2008: Received the Before Columbus Foundation's American Book Award for ''Anooshi Lingit Aani Ka / Russians in Tlingit America: The Battles of Sitka 1802 and 1804''. *March 2010: Inducted into Alaska Women's Hall of Fame. *November 2011: Selected as Indigenous Leadership award honoree by Ecotrust, Salman Nation, Portland, Oregon. *2012 – 2014 – Alaska State Writer Laureate

Scholarly work

* (1986). "Context and Display in Northwest Coast Art." ''New Scholar,'' vol. 10, pp. 419–432. * *Stone, I. R. (2009). ANÓOSHI LINGÍT Aaní Ká: Russians In TLINGIT America: The battles Of SITKA, 1802 AND 1804. Nora Marks Dauenhauer, Richard Dauenhauer, and LYDIA T. Black (EDITORS). 2008. JUNEAU: Sealaska Heritage Institute; Seattle and LONDON: University of WASHINGTON Press. xlix + 491p, illustrated, soft cover. Isbn 978-0-295-98601-2. £19.00; $us35.00. ''Polar Record,'' ''46''(1), 89-90. doi:10.1017/s0032247409008572

Creative works

*Dauenhauer, N. (n.d.). Amelia's first ski run by Nora Marks dauenhauer. Retrieved April 16, 2021, from https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/53445/amelias-first-ski-run *Servid, C. (1990). The Droning Shaman by Nora Marks Dauenhauer. ''Western American Literature,'' ''25''(3), 279-280. doi:10.1353/wal.1990.0133

Collaborative works

*Dauenhauer, N., & Dauenhauer, R. (1981). ''"Because we cherish you ...: Sealaska elders speak to the future''. Juneau, AK: Sealaska Heritage Foundation Press. * Dauenhauer, N., & Dauenhauer, R. (1987) ''Haa Shuká, Our Ancestors: Tlingit Oral Narratives.'' (Classics of Tlingit Oral Literature, vol. 1.) Seattle: University of Washington Press. * Dauenhauer, N., & Dauenhauer, R. (1990) ''Haa Tuwanáagu Yís, for Healing Our Spirit: Tlingit Oratory.'' (Classics of Tlingit Oral Literature, vol. 2.) Seattle: University of Washington Press. * Dauenhauer, N., & Dauenhauer, R. (1994) ''Haa Kusteeyí, Our Culture: Tlingit Life Stories.'' (Classics of Tlingit Oral Literature, vol. 3.) Seattle: University of Washington Press. * Dauenhauer, N. M., & Dauenhauer, R. (1998). Technical, emotional, and ideological issues in reversing Language SHIFT: Examples from Southeast Alaska. ''Endangered Languages,'' 57-98. doi:10.1017/cbo9781139166959.004

Critical works

* *De Laguna, Frederica (1972) ''Under Mount St. Elias.'' 3 vols. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press. *Osgood, K. (1990). Anóoshi LINGÍT Aaní Ká: Russians In Tlingit America; the battles Of

Sitka russian: Ситка , native_name_lang = tli , settlement_type = Consolidated city-borough , image_skyline = File:Sitka 84 Elev 135.jpg , image_caption = Downtown Sitka in 1984 , image_size ...

, 1802 and 1804. ''Polar Geography,'' ''36''(3), 245-246. *Wiget, A., & Ortiz, S. J. (1985). Earth power coming: Short fiction in native american literature. ''American Indian Quarterly,'' ''9''(1), 155-161. doi:10.2307/1184681

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dauenhauer, Nora Marks 1927 births 2017 deaths 20th-century American poets 21st-century American poets 20th-century Native Americans 21st-century Native Americans Alaska Native people American Book Award winners American short story writers American women short story writers American women poets Native American writers People from Juneau, Alaska Poets from Alaska Poets Laureate of Alaska Tlingit people 20th-century American women writers 20th-century Native American women 21st-century Native American women Native American women writers