Kinross Alaska recently celebrated American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage month by bringing the diverse indigenous cultures, traditions and art of America’s first people to employees at our Fort Knox and Manh Choh sites.
Employees had the opportunity to participate in a series of events and activities to raise awareness about the culture of our neighbours.
Some examples of the initiatives launched include:
- A complimentary lunch for employees that featured traditional Alaska Native foods such as moose chili, salmon dip and ‘akutaq’ – an indigenous ice cream with Alaskan blueberries.
- An educational video series about the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act and Tetlin’s culture and wellness camps
- Trivia lunch to test employees’ learnings on the culture and heritage of Alaska Native’s.
- Creating a commemorative logo to use on promotional materials – the logo was also turned into a hard hat sticker for employees.
- A language education campaign across the sites that teaches employees common words and phrases of Upper Tanana Athabascan – the language of Tetlin.
- Purchasing locally made Alaska Native arts and crafts such as beaded mittens, birch baskets, bone/quill earrings and porcupine quill hair clips.
“The American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage month was an exciting way to engage our employees with the Alaska Natives that we partner with in an effort to learn more about their culture, heritage and traditions,” said Shane Parrow, Operations Director, Manh Choh.
“At Kinross, being a good neighbour is more than just working with communities surrounding our mine sites. It is about understanding their practices and modifying our behaviours to demonstrate respect for their culture. We believe all levels of employees should have the knowledge of our Alaska Native heritage, and this month was an excellent opportunity to bring that awareness to life,” said Darla Gillen, Human Resources Manager, Fort Knox.
