The Kenaitze Indian Tribe held a grand opening for their new Kahtnuht’ana Duhdeldiht Campus located at the corner of the Kenai Spur Highway and South Forest Drive. The grand opening began with a ceremony and a blessing at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, September 1. Following the ceremony, guided tours of the building were performed.
Bernadine Atchison, Tribal Council Chair, told KSRM:
“Right now, we’ll have our Early Head Start, our Head Start and we have our Yaghanen program. We have our Dena’ina language institute and then we have our adult education programs to help them. What it does is it brings all of our education programs under one roof because before we were all scattered and now you come to one place.”
Atchison added:
“Our Tribal elders had the vision that they wanted a school, a Tribal school and it took us a long time to get here, but we made it and so now there’s an opportunity for youths and adults and elders to learn Dena’ina language. They can learn their traditions, their cultures, and also, you know, at our tribal fishery, they’re learning their culture there also. We don’t want our children to grow up without knowing who they are.”
Ground broke on the project in August 2020 that would consolidate its educational programs and honor its culture. The Kuya Qyut’anen Early Childhood Center preschool and after-school programs will be housed in classrooms on the main level of the education wing. The second level will include admin spaces and tribal classrooms for the K-12 Yaghanen Youth Program, Education and Career Training and Dena’ina language programs. The full basement will be available for future growth.
Additionally, the multipurpose wing will have space for indoor recreation and cultural activities such as Native Youth Olympics, a second-story walking and running track, and room to host a gathering of up to 300 people. The structures are connected by a semi-circular welcoming space which serves as the main plaza and heart of the Kenaitze Indian Tribe’s education community. The design includes a cafeteria and commercial kitchen. Kenaitze education programs are open to the community, subject to grant requirements. The facility is designed to adapt to future uses, as needs and technology change over time, while maintaining aesthetic sensitivity with the use of local reclaimed cannery wood and other relevant cultural references.
Atchison said that the five-acre parcel is close to the Kenai Municipal Park and Kenai Beach, adding that the significance isn’t lost on her due to how close it is to their traditional Kenaitze village, with which the park is one of their traditional village areas.
The Kenaitze Indian Tribe also has plans for the future at their center in Old Town Kenai, according to Executive Director of Tribal Administration, Peter Evon:
“Well, a lot of room for expansion. Our programs have been growing year by year as we offer more services. That is kind of the next frontier to look where we could help expand those services that we already offer for un’ina and tribal membership.”
Kahtnuht’ana Duhdeldiht is Dena’ina for ‘The Kenai River People’s Learning Place’.
Click here for more images from the event.
