BY MARIA ANTINIERO
Every quarter, the Unalakleet Wolfpack staff organizes an Anglani Day for students so they can have fun and learn new things through cultural activities. Students look forward to having an Anglani Day every few months.
Anglani Day is a day that celebrates culture through different activities that are divided into sessions. There’s been beading, cooking, baking, arts and crafts, skinning and butchering, native dancing, and much more. A day before Anglani, students have the opportunity to pick what sessions they want to be in. Sometimes, teachers email a form for the students to fill out deciding what types of sessions they want to see offered for Anglani Day.
Anglani could also be an all-day event celebrated together. For example, in March, students and teachers in the upper grades went up to Ayuu’s Hill to go sledding and ice fishing, while some of the elementary school students stayed in school with their teachers and rotated through different activities.
On May 8, 2026, Anglani Day was focused on visiting the different sites of Unalakleet and learning about the history behind them. Staff were grouped into two or three to lead the sessions. The morning schedule was that each staff member was assigned a place to go and explain the background of that area. Locations included the fish plant, seawall, armory, and subterranean houses. Students were able to choose two locations.
In the fish plant session, students learned about the history of the cannery and the herring and salmon fisheries, including their economic and cultural impacts, before taking a walk down to the fish plant.
The seawall session started with reading a report on how a potential seawall could impact resources, including wildlife, and which type of seawall would best help prevent erosion, before students walked over to the current seawall.
Students in the armory session viewed a video about the Alaska Territorial Guard and a book about Muktuk Marston before walking to the Alaska Army National Guard building. They also looked toward Army Hill and Air Force Hill and talked about White Alice.
In the subterranean house session, students learned about semi-subterranean or sod houses and then read an article that archaeologists wrote after studying the old site of Unalakleet. They were then escorted to the old site by the airport runway.
The rest of the afternoon was spent gathered in the gym to have fun, drum, and native dance. The students had a blast and the activities were highly appreciated by the students. Thank you, staff members!