Cordova student to address First Alaskans Institute conference

Kiley Kanat’s Burton. Photo courtesy of Diana Riedel

Cordova Jr./Sr. High School student Kiley Kanat’s Burton will serve as a keynote speaker at the Oct. 11-14 First Alaskans Institute Annual Elders & Youth Conference. Fifteen-year-old Burton is the daughter of James Burton and Diana Riedel.

She aspires to become a science professional either as a surgeon or as a marine biologist. Her extracurricular interests include hunting, commercial fishing, skin sewing, sports and fashion. She also appreciates her Alaska Native heritage and culture. Burton’s Eyak name, “Kanat’s,” means “little wolverine.”

Other speakers at this year’s Elders & Youth Conference will include Tribal leader Dr. Rev. Traditional Chief Trimble Gilbert and his wife; Anchorage Unangax̂ Dancers member Dustin Unignax Newman; and Xaadaas Diigwii dance group member Andrea Ts’aak Ka Juu Cook.

The conference is soliciting volunteers to assist with kit packaging, video editing, social media monitoring and registration. Sponsors and community partners are also being sought.

For more information, call 907-677-1700 or email info@firstalaskans.org, or visit the First Alaskans Institute website firstalaskans.org. The conference will be livestreamed on the institute’s website and televised on GCI Channels 1 and 907, 360 North and ARCS.

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