Alaska Cultural Standards

Cultural Standard A
Culturally-knowledgeable students are well grounded in the cultural heritage and traditions of their community.

Students who meet this content standard are able to:

  1. assume responsibilities for their role in relation to the well being of the cultural community and their life-long obligations as a community member;
  2. recount their own genealogy and family history;
  3. acquire and pass on the traditions of their community through oral and written history;
  4. practice their traditional responsibilities to the surrounding environment;
  5. reflect through their own actions the critical role that the local heritage language plays in fostering a sense of who they are and how they understand the world around them;
  6. live a life in accordance with the cultural values and traditions of the local community and integrate them into their everyday behavior, and;
  7. determine the place of their cultural community in the regional, state, national, and international political and economic systems.

Cultural Standard B
Culturally-knowledgeable students are able to build on the knowledge and skills of the local cultural community as a foundation from which to achieve personal and academic success throughout life.

Students who meet this cultural standard are able to:

  1. acquire insights from other cultures without diminishing the integrity of their own;
  2. make effective use of the knowledge, skills, and ways of knowing from their own cultural traditions to learn about the larger world in which they live;
  3. make appropriate choices regarding the long-term consequences of their actions, and;
  4. identify appropriate forms of technology and anticipate the consequences of their use for improving the quality of life in the community.

Cultural Standard C
Culturally-knowledgeable students are able to actively participate in various cultural environments.

Students who meet this cultural standard are able to:

  1. perform subsistence activities in ways that are appropriate to local cultural traditions;
  2. make constructive contributions to the governance of their community and the well-being of their family;
  3. attain a healthy lifestyle through which they are able to maintain their social, emotional, physical, intellectual, and spiritual well-being, and;
  4. enter into and function effectively in a variety of cultural settings.

Cultural Standard D
Culturally-knowledgeable students are able to engage effectively in learning activities that are based on traditional ways of knowing and learning.

Students who meet this cultural standard are able to:

  1. acquire in-depth cultural knowledge through active participation and meaningful interaction with Elders;
  2. participate in and make constructive contributions to the learning activities associated with a traditional camp environment;
  3. interact with Elders in a loving and respectful way that demonstrates an appreciation of their role as culture-bearers and educators in the community;
  4. gather oral and written history information for the local community and provide an appropriate interpretation of its cultural meaning and significance;
  5. identify and utilize appropriate sources of cultural knowledge to find solutions to everyday problems, and;
  6. engage in a realistic self-assessment to identify strengths and needs and make appropriate decisions to enhance life skills.

Cultural Standard E
Culturally-knowledgeable students demonstrate an awareness and appreciation of the relationships and processes of interaction of all elements in the world around them.

Students who meet this cultural standard are able to:

  1. recognize and build upon the inter-relationships that exist among the spiritual, natural and human realms in the world around them, as reflected in their own cultural traditions and beliefs as well as those of others;
  2. understand the ecology and geography of the bioregion they inhabit;
  3. demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between world view and the way knowledge is formed and used;
  4. determine how ideas and concepts from one knowledge system relate to those derived from other knowledge systems;
  5. recognize how and why cultures change over time;
  6. anticipate the changes that occur when different cultural systems come in contact with one another;
  7. determine how cultural values and beliefs influence the interactions of people from different cultural backgrounds, and;
  8. identify and appreciate who they are and their place in the world.