Debut edition of Tlingit magazine set to release on First Friday

‘Our space isn’t just land acknowledgments and things that happened in the past, but talking about that full story.’

Chloey Cavanaugh, a Tlingit artist based in Juneau, is fundraising for the printed first edition of Black and White Raven Company Magazine. Stickers and prints are available at Amalga Distillery. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Independent)

By Jasz Garrett

Juneau Independent

The first issue of Black and White Raven Company magazine, a Tlingit-produced multimedia print publication, is set to launch during June’s First Friday at Alaska Robotics.

Chloey Cavanaugh, a Tlingit artist and owner of Black and White Raven Company, said she wanted to create a physical space to uplift culture bearers, voices, small businesses and community members. The magazine has been in the works for several months, with all submissions by Alaska Native people. Cavanaugh is Was’ineidi Tax’Hit, Eagle Wolf.

“I feel like that is the way Indigenous storytelling has existed of those complexities and sharing those experiences that are not just like, ‘See, these are the positive things that are going on,’ but seeing those struggles and seeing those hardships and the things that we can change,” Cavanaugh said. “I think it’s incredibly hard. I’m very grateful for the people who have submitted their stories because it is a small community.” 

She said she wanted to invite Indigenous people to be vulnerable and tell more than a sliver of a story. Cavanaugh added she doesn’t want the ability to think critically and engage to be lost. 

“You listen to the story, and you listen to it all the way through, and you use your critical thinking to say, ‘Wow, this was also a part of it,’” she said. “This could be true, but this could also be true and holding those things and being able to take in information and experiences and compassion.”

Cavanaugh said to paint a bigger picture of community, submissions cover Indigenous activism, different opinions and what it’s like to live out of state while remaining connected to the land. 

“There are these human spaces that whether you’re Tlingit, Haida, Tsmishian, Irish, Polish — however you identify, it's not a space to be separate from yourself of, ‘I can't relate,’ but these are the spaces to relate,” Cavanaugh said. “Of what it would be like to be connected to art, what it would be like to be a woman in politics right now, what it would be like to experience these things. And Ernestine (Hayes), in her submission, talks about her relationship with her grandmother.”

Cavanaugh said the magazine covers universal experiences like these in hopes of consistently “have this space of humanness and care” when it comes to storytelling. It also includes a historical piece by the producers of the “Taku for Two” YouTube channel and Steven Cranston’s perspective as an Indigenous artist outside Alaska. He runs a screen printing company in California. 

Cavanaugh said she is excited to reclaim validating storytellers even when they don’t physically live in Alaska.

“There's been so much displacement, and there's been so many impacts of residential boarding school and colonization, and I have noticed a lot of pointing fingers of ‘Well, you're not here,’” she said. “I want to extend that empathy and permission for people to still be involved in community. This is still Tlingit land and their voice still matters here.” 

Multigenerational stories and a poem will also be highlighted, amongst other submissions. Connor Meyer is writing about See Stories and Indigenous youth.

“We should have always had a Tlingit magazine in Juneau,” Cavanaugh said. “Our space isn’t just land acknowledgments and things that happened in the past, but talking about that full story.”

She said she was motivated to start the magazine because of how the Alaska Landmine reported abuse accusations against tribal president Chalyee Éesh Richard Peterson via social media. 

Cavanaugh said she, amongst others, felt like the story was not told respectfully, and she felt responsible to offer a different platform for genuine storytelling and action. Last fall, she gathered more than 350 signatures demanding the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska hire an independent, trauma-informed investigator to review tribal policy and leadership behavior. 

“It was helpful to see that story told, but I’m hoping this space will be a space to also have asks of like, what do we do next? How do we make these changes?” she said. “Because it's not just what we're seeing at the tribe, it's what we're seeing in our political climate right now. How are we putting things in place so our government systems and our tribe and places that are supposed to be helping us do that?” 

Cavanaugh said the magazine allows voices encouraging advocacy and support. She said as the editor, she wants people to have control over how their story is told, and to foster trust and respect with submitters. 

“A lot of the time, we either see the difficult moment or we see the successes, but we don't see what needs to happen to create that change,” she said. 

The front cover of the Black and White Raven Company magazine's first edition. (Photo courtesy of Chloey Cavanaugh)

Cavanaugh said in an era of social media where it’s about who has the most views and connections, she wants the physical magazine to be accessible. She added the challenges of transportation in Southeast Alaska also inspired her to create communication pathways. Small businesses from around town sponsored the first edition. 

“It’s scary to put the things you care about or the things that you're experiencing into a publication,” she said. “But that sponsorship isn't just supporting the work that goes into making this magazine, but it's the support of like, ‘I see you and I feel like these voices are important.’”

The release of the Black and White Raven Company magazine will take place at Alaska Robotics next Friday from 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. It will be available for purchase throughout June there. Cavanaugh’s art will be featured during the First Friday show and Tlingit musician Nina Edwards will play live music. 

“I’m incredibly aware that not everyone is going to pick up this magazine and agree with everything that is said or everything that is shared in this magazine, but that's not the purpose of it,” Cavanaugh said. “It’s not to paint the pretty picture that everyone is wanting to see. It's meant to be that free space to share whatever you want to share, and in the way you want to share it.”

She said she’d like more submissions and publications in the future to include new voices, as well as recurring authors. As for its readers, she said she hopes the magazine prompts reflection and conversations. 

“I think this is an exciting space of like when you create an art piece, or when you write something down in your journal, it's about what it means to you,” she said. “People are going to connect, or people are going to be challenged by it. And I think that's exciting, too. We aren’t just seeking out what validates our experiences, we’re seeking out more knowledge and the full truth.”

• Contact Jasz Garrett at jasz@juneauindependent.com or (907) 723-9356.