Outer Coast service projects take many, many forms. Some of them are long term–with students going in at regular times every week to volunteer at one place–while others are more seasonal or responsive. This might include harvesting herring eggs for herring season, organizing a gathering for Orange Shirt Day on very short notice, or helping to sort through the local radio station’s show archive. One short-term service project that the Outer Coast community helped out with this past spring was the rebuilding and renovation of two clan houses in Sitka. We got a chance to help out with this effort through some manual labor and by putting on a concert for a very special guest. Staffulty member Abigail Moone attended both events and wrote all about them.
Portugal. The Man
It isn’t often that we see world-famous musical acts roll through our wonderful little fishing town. That is part of what made it so exciting when Jerrick Hope-Lang approached the Outer Coast community with a request: to help him and his team pull off a Portugal. The Man benefit concert in Sitka to support the Kiks.ádi clan’s X’aaká Hít Point House revitalization project.
Jerrick, who is Tlingit and Tsimshian from the Kiks.ádi clan (raven frog) of the Point House, leads the effort to reestablish one of the Tlingit clan houses in downtown Sitka. As a way to meet fundraising goals for this incredibly important project, he organized the two concerts in Sitka and Juneau. In addition to Portugal. The Man, Sitka artists Ya Tseen and Choctaw singer-songwriter Samantha Crain took the stage in front of a packed audience in downtown’s Centennial Hall.
Outer Coast students and staffulty ticketed the event, ran merchandise and the silent auction, cleaned up the space during and after the show, and helped direct foot traffic. Eagle-eye audience members may also have noticed Dean of Students Nirali Desai playing guitar on stage during Portugal. The Man’s hit song “Feel It Still” — when the entire audience was invited up to the stage to dance and be among the band as they performed. The proceeds of the concert were split between the Point House and Frances Changed My Life, a fundraising campaign towards finding a cure for DHDDS.
Clan House Care
A few months later, Jerrick invited Outer Coast to partake in a further act of service. This time, we’d be shoring/cleaning up Kayaashka Hít, a clan house of the L’uknax.ádi or Coho Clan, just a few doors down from the X’aaká Hít. Even before the official weekend of service began, sgóonwan (students) were hard at work applying primer and paint to shingles that would replace damaged pieces of the house’s exterior. On March 15, 2025, we headed down to Katlian Street and were greeted by a beautiful sunny day, numerous Sitka community members, and plenty of work to do. From scraping paint off of the building’s exterior, to tearing up planks in the backyard, to constructing a new gravel ramp for elders, our sgóonwan had their work cut out for them.
The day opened with a speech by L’uknax.ádi clan leader L’eiwtu Éesh Herman Davis. He spoke about the importance of clan houses as a space for gathering and encouraged the young people there, including our students, to let their ancestors lift them up in times of struggle. Through his words he also paid homage to the recently passed Gheistéen/Daanax.ils’eik Chuck Miller, who had dedicated himself to the upkeep of the house. Both students and staffulty were honored to be there to hear L’eiwtu Éesh’s words.
Between spurts of hard work our students had a chance to kick back, enjoy delicious Birria tacos, and talk with friends old and new in the brisk Sitka sunshine. There were even some Outer Coast alumni in attendance! We are so grateful to have been given the opportunity to help in this wonderful effort and encourage everyone to check out the entirety of the clan house restoration project at this link.
