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Grand Entrance participants feel the warmth as Celebration 2026 gets off to sunny start
- Mark Sabbatini
- 20 hours ago
- 3 min read
More than 1,800 Indigenous dancers in 34 groups, including longtime participants and new invitees, officially start four-day biennial gathering
By Mark Sabbatini
Juneau Independent
Kathleen Laa Éi John says she’s been participating in Celebration since the second biennial gathering in 1984. Over the years she’s made regalia for many people and then taught many others to make regalia they share with participants.
So while standing on a sunny street filled with 2,000 or so people during the Grand Entrance on Wednesday, the number of people with wearables in some way linked to her was…well, presumably a lot.
"I couldn’t even begin to guess," John said while waiting with the Yées Ḵu.Oo–Shu Gyed dancers, the last (in alphabetical order) of 34 groups to enter Centennial Hall during the two-hour ceremonial entrance.
About 1,800 dancers took part in the Grand Entrance — entering through a back door, crossing the main stage and proceeding back out of the building through a front entrance — while hundreds of family, supporters and spectators watched outside along the street and inside the convention hall. The dancers will perform a similar Grand Exit on Saturday evening to conclude the four-day event.
John said she’s been a member of the Yées Ḵu.Oo–Shu Gyed dance group for the past decade — and doesn’t at all mind lining up at the end of a procession that takes two hours to get from the street to the stage.
"For the most part it's absolutely fun because we get to drum and sing the longest," she said. "We're drumming, we're singing, we're getting excited…it’s completely amazing."
Celebration originated in 1982 as a way for Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian people to gather and celebrate their cultural survival, according to Sealaska Heritage Institute, which hosts what’s now one of Alaska’s largest cultural events. This year’s theme is "Enduring Strength."
"We chose the theme ‘Enduring Strength’ to reaffirm that the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian who have lived on this land for 12,000 years have had and have the strength, and the determination and the will, to overcome the adversities that we have endured during the past thousands of years, and are now again facing challenges," SHI President Rosita Ḵaaháni Worl told attendees after the Grand Entrance was completed.
"Enduring Strength’ is also a statement that we can overcome the challenges that we are now facing with natural political forces that seek to undermine our culture, diminish our basic civil rights and human rights, and to subjugate the people of color. We stand here proud and strong, and knowing that our core cultural values will guide us through these challenging times."
The lead dance group for this year’s Grand Entrance was the Lepquinm Gumilgit Gagoadim Tsimshian Dancers (Our Own Dance in Our Hearts), a multigenerational group from Anchorage formed in 2005. New to Celebration this year were two dance groups from Hawaii and New Zealand
"It's amazing to be a part of," said Zoie Maika’i Clarke, a member of the Hawaiian group Kapālama Halau Kamehameha, just before they entered the convention hall. She said it’s a chance to meet and share experiences with Indigenous people in a different area, having participated in similar events in places like Taiwan.
Other regular events scheduled during Celebration include a Juried Art Show and Competition, a Juried Youth Art Exhibit, a Toddler Regalia Review, an Indigenous Fashion Show, a Native Artist Market, and food contests. Special and first-time events include a blanket toss by Traditional Games participants; print lab open house; Tlingit Culture, Language and Literacy book launch; “House of Rock” concert; and a screening of "Tlingit Macbeth."
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.
More photos of Celebration 2026 on Wednesday. (All photos by Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Independent)
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