Big-name performers are making their way to Southeast Alaska for a two-stop musical tour this weekend. Portugal. The Man, Ya Tseen, and Samantha Crain will perform in Juneau on Friday and in Sitka on Saturday.
The tour is a fundraiser to support the Point House Revitalization Project, an effort to rebuild a traditional Kiks.ádi clan house in Sitka’s historic Indian Village. Jerrick Hope-Lang is the coordinator for the project. He said a concert felt like a natural way to raise funds.
“I think music can heal people, and that’s the theme of this is, you know, ‘dancing our house together,'” he said. “We really need to celebrate the accomplishment that we have and recognize the work that we have going forward.”
Lakota Harden is a Sitka-based community organizer. She toured nationally with Portugal. The Man in 2023, leading land acknowledgements, or “welcome to territory” statements, at their concerts. She said she’s been hoping that the band, which has roots in Alaska, would play a Sitka concert for a long time.
“I used to say when I was with them, I’d say, ‘I wish you’d come and play in Sitka,'” Harden said. “And the manager would be shaking his head, like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ The flights alone would break them, right? Yeah, so the fact that they’re coming is just a dream come true for me.”
The concert will also feature Sitka-based artist Ya Tseen, or Nicholas Galanin, and the Oklahoma-based Samantha Crain.
Hope-Lang said he sees these concerts and the Point House project as part of a cultural revitalization that goes beyond a single clan or culture.
“I think what’s important to recognize is that this event, although it’s Kiks.ádi, this is Point House, this is our business, this is an opportunity for the community at whole to see how they can be part of this movement,” he said. “This is an invitation to come in and say, ‘We’re ready now to move forward and get the support.'”
You can listen to the full interview with Hope-Lang and Harden below.
