Articles
AFN special feature with Elizabeth in First Alaskans Magazine
10/15/09
Willie and youngest daughter, Elizabeth featured in piece by Alex DeMarban in First Alaskans Magazine - Search for Spirit
An excerpt of Willie’s comments on spirit:
“The theme of the convention is both looking back to our historical development and also looking forward, and so it's going to be a real challenge to come up with some commentary that's going to be meaningful to Native people.
At the same time I have every word that I from the most memorable speech that I gave 29 years ago. I had hoped to spend six months thinking about that particular speech. As it turned I was scribbling my notes up until the last moment.
I called it the "Spirit Speech," and as I was talking to Lizzie earlier, there are only a couple of ideas of any consequence (that I've had). There are many subsidiary things I've done, but the fi rst notion was of land and who owns it and its relevance and the challenge of what it was going to take to try to secure some control over our space. That was in the mid-60s.
And in the '80s I had the notion of a more ethereal aspect of that issue, which we maybe didn't fully recognize in '66.
That was the question of cultural spirit, and the survival of our culture and our identity and various aspects of our culture that made us unique. In my mind, those were the two main ideas that I built my energies around. So there's the question of what are these going to look like 50 years from now.”
An excerpt of Willie’s comments on spirit:
“The theme of the convention is both looking back to our historical development and also looking forward, and so it's going to be a real challenge to come up with some commentary that's going to be meaningful to Native people.
At the same time I have every word that I from the most memorable speech that I gave 29 years ago. I had hoped to spend six months thinking about that particular speech. As it turned I was scribbling my notes up until the last moment.
I called it the "Spirit Speech," and as I was talking to Lizzie earlier, there are only a couple of ideas of any consequence (that I've had). There are many subsidiary things I've done, but the fi rst notion was of land and who owns it and its relevance and the challenge of what it was going to take to try to secure some control over our space. That was in the mid-60s.
And in the '80s I had the notion of a more ethereal aspect of that issue, which we maybe didn't fully recognize in '66.
That was the question of cultural spirit, and the survival of our culture and our identity and various aspects of our culture that made us unique. In my mind, those were the two main ideas that I built my energies around. So there's the question of what are these going to look like 50 years from now.”
Capital City Weekly on Fifty Miles
01/28/09
“Alaska Native leader William Hensley presents his memoir” is the title of Katie Spielberger’s article published in Capital City Weekly.
Knoxville Sentinel story about Willie
12/28/08
One of Willie’s high school classmates, Lois Reagan Thomas has written as special article about Willie for the Knoxville Sentinel. It’s called Harrison Chilhowee grad’s book recalls crusade for Alaskan Natives’ rights.
Here’s a photo of Willie in his final year of high school in Tennessee
Here’s a photo of Willie in his final year of high school in Tennessee
Anchorage Press story on Willie and statehood
12/17/08
Brendan Joel Kelly’s story about Willie - Fifty years and Fifty Miles - is up at the Anchorage Press.
The cover is pretty cool. :)
The cover is pretty cool. :)
Tundra Drums article
11/13/08
The Tundra Drums’ Matt Nevala covers release of Fifty Miles from Tomorrow