The purpose of the Johnny and Sarah Frank Scholarship Fund is to provide financial support to Alaska residents of Athabaskan Indian heritage attending the University of Alaska. First preference for awards is given to students who are from Arctic Village or Venetie. Strong consideration is also given to students of Athabaskan descent from Fort Yukon, Chalkyitsik, Birch Creek, Circle, Beaver, Eagle, and Fairbanks.
Your tax-deductible contribution can be sent to: Johnny and Sarah Frank Scholarship Fund University of Alaska Foundation PO Box 755080 Suite 206 Butrovich Building Fairbanks, AK 99775 phone: 907-450-8030
Please make your check payable to the University of Alaska Foundation, and mark it for the Johnny and Sarah Frank Fund.
The Gwich'in Steering Committee
The Athabascan Gwich’in, the northernmost Indians in North America, live in remote villages scattered across the vast interior Arctic from northeast Alaska to northwest Canada.
The Gwich’in are caribou people, with a spiritual and cultural connection to the Porcupine caribou herd that goes back thousands of years. The herd, named for a river that flows into the Yukon, migrates over a vast wild area, but every year they return to the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to give birth. For the caribou, this area provides unique conditions that are vital for the survival of vulnerable calves. For Gwich’in, the coastal plain calving grounds are Iizhik Gwats’an Gwandaii Goodlit, “The Sacred Place Where Life Begins.”
The Gwich’in Steering Committee was formed in 1988 in response to proposals to drill for oil in the coastal plain calving grounds. The Steering Committee is working to have this area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge permanently protected.
For more information or to make a contribution visit:
“We are caribou people. Caribou are not just what we eat; they are who we are. They are in our stories and songs and the whole way we see the world. Caribou are our life. Without caribou we wouldn’t exist."
-- Sarah James Board Member/Spokesperson Gwich'in Steering Committee