First modern-day Tlingit opera ends after selling out all shows; recording will be free to view from SHI

‘Ḵutulagaaw: The Tlingit-Russian Battles’ won’t be streamed online, but audience screenings and in-person archive access planned; further live shows outside Juneau also possible

Tíx’ gathers seaweed with her niece during a dress rehearsal of "Ḵutulagaaw: The Tlingit – Russian Battles" at Thunder Mountain Middle School on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. (Ellie Ruel / Juneau Independent)

By Mark Sabbatini

Juneau Independent

The opera is over, but the show will go on.

“Ḵutulagaaw: The Tlingit-Russian Battles," billed as the world’s first Tlingit opera in recorded history, ended its stage debut Sunday after selling out all performances during a two-week run, according to Sealaska Heritage Institute, which co-produced the opera with Perseverance Theatre.

A video crew filmed the opera, which is expected to be shown at free public screenings and available to people at SHI’s archives in the Walter Soboleff Building.

There is also discussion of further live stagings outside of Juneau, said Kathy Dye, an SHI spokesperson, in an interview Friday.

"We just want people to understand that we're open to those opportunities because we know there were people who really wanted to go, but just couldn't because it was in Juneau," she said.

When, where and if there will be future live shows depends on a number of factors, Dye said.

"We'll see if we can find an interest in a community," she said. "We would look into that and see how would that look? How would that be funded, because then there's travel and all that stuff? And by then is everybody still available?"

More than 2,000 people, many from outside Juneau, attended the live productions at the Thunder Mountain Middle School auditorium between Sept. 11 and 20, according to an SHI press release issued Friday. The opera that was nearly a decade in the making featured an all-Indigenous cast and crew, and was performed entirely in the Lingít language,

“Putting on the world’s first modern-day Tlingit opera was a huge undertaking, and all of us at SHI are endlessly grateful for our partners at PT and the support we received from various organizations,” SHI President Rosita Ḵaaháni Worl said in a prepared statement. “Although many Southeast Alaska Natives were once actors who drew upon ancient forms of oration and dance in natural amphitheaters, these performances stopped post-contact. This outpouring of support for the opera proves that our stories have the power to enlighten so many people to the richness of cultural diversity within our country.”

The SHI release notes the opera "focused on stories from the Tlingit-Russian War waged in Alaska first in 1802, when the Tlingit and Haida united against the Russians because they were assaulting Native women and appropriating land and resources throughout Southeast, and again in 1804."

Recordings by a film crew are now being produced into a video of the opera by KTOO, but due to contractual obligations it will not be streamed online, Dye said. The contract with Perseverance Theatre also states it can not be shown commercially — meaning a paying audience — so SHI plans to host free screenings as well as make it accessible at its archives.

Specific details about the screenings and archive access are still being determined, Dye said. She said the video production should be available by the end of the year.

• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.