Vaccine information available in Native languages

The organizations worked in tandem for two months to make the translation project possible.

A graphic from the Vaccine Materials in Alaska Native Languages project shows a person who was recently vaccinated against COVID-19. Translated from Tlingit to English, it says “I want us to be among each other, that is why I got the shot. I love the people I am with.” (Photo provided)

A graphic from the Vaccine Materials in Alaska Native Languages project shows a person who was recently vaccinated against COVID-19. Translated from Tlingit to English, it says “I want us to be among each other, that is why I got the shot. I love the people I am with.” (Photo provided)

COVID-19 vaccine information will now be available in a number of Alaska Native languages, according to a Thursday press release from the Alaska Public Interest Research Group.

The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, Native Peoples Action Community Fund, Alaska Public Interest Research Group, Alaska Department of Health and Social Services and various Alaska Native language experts collaborated over two months on seven Alaska Native Language Panels focused on Ahtna, Yugtun/Cugtun, Gwichyaa Zhee Gwich’in, Neets’aii Gwich’in, Inupiaqtun, Lingít and Denaakk’e languages.

The panels developed messages and provided creative direction for posters, berry buckets, stickers, videos and public service announcements to be shared throughout Alaska, according to the Alaska Public Interest Research Group’s Facebook page.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

Information on the panels and links to materials are available on the website for the project.

“I’m really proud of how well Alaska has gotten out the vaccines, and I think it’s still important for us to communicate, for those who haven’t gotten it yet, in our languages, why it’s important, but also, to make sure that they have the information to make an informed decision,” Annauk Olin, a member of the Inupiaqtun Language Panel, said in the release.

The organizations worked in tandem for two months to make the translation project possible. According to the release, most of the organizations have also done work on translating the 2020 census, COVID-19 safety information, and messaging about the 2020 general election.

“The goal of this project is to uplift Alaska Native languages, create space for discussion and healing, and make sure our communities have access to factual and trustworthy information about the vaccine in their languages,” the release stated. “In particular, providing Elders with information in their first language is crucial to ensuring equitable access.”

The language experts discussed the ways vaccines are being distributed in different communities throughout Alaska, and the prevalence of vaccine hesitancy. They concluded that language translation was crucial to ensure Native-speaking people can make independent decisions about their health as well as explore historical healing and build relationships with the health care system.

“A beautiful analogy was made to the way that when a family harvests food such as moose or salmon, that we always share it out with the community to make sure that everyone has those important things for survival,” Rochelle Adams, the Native Peoples Action Indigenous engagement director and facilitator of the Language Panels, said in the release. “It is no different here, we are sharing our resources needed for our survival and it is done out of love.”

Reach reporter Camille Botello at camille.botello@peninsulaclarion.com.

More in News

Kachemak Bay is seen from the Homer Spit in March 2019. (Homer News file photo)
Toxin associated with amnesic shellfish poisoning not detected in Kachemak Bay mussels

The test result does not indicate whether the toxin is present in other species in the food web.

Superintendent Clayton Holland speaks during a meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, July 7, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Federal education funding to be released after monthlong delay

The missing funds could have led to further cuts to programming and staff on top of deep cuts made by the KPBSD Board of Education this year.

An angler holds up a dolly varden for a photograph on Wednesday, July 16. (Photo courtesy of Koby Etzwiler)
Anchor River opens up to Dollies, non-King salmon fishing

Steelhead and rainbow trout are still off limits and should not be removed from the water.

A photo provided by NTSB shows a single-engine Piper PA-18-150 Super Cub, that crashed shortly after takeoff in a mountainous area of southwestern Alaska, Sept. 12, 2023. The plane was weighed down by too much moose meat and faced drag from a set of antlers mounted on its right wing strut, federal investigators said on Tuesday.
Crash that killed husband of former congresswoman was overloaded with moose meat and antlers, NTSB says

The plane, a single-engine Piper PA-18-150 Super Cub, crashed shortly after takeoff in a mountainous area of southwestern Alaska on Sept. 12, 2023.

Armor rock from Sand Point is offloaded from a barge in the Kenai River in Kenai, Alaska, part of ongoing construction efforts for the Kenai River Bluff Stabilization Project on Wednesday, July 23, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Work continues on Kenai Bluff stabilization project

The wall has already taken shape over a broad swath of the affected area.

An aerial photo over Grewingk Glacier and Glacier Spit from May 2021 shows a mesodinium rubrum bloom to the left as contrasted with the normal ocean water of Kachemak Bay near Homer. (Photo courtesy of Stephanie Greer/Beryl Air)
KBNERR warns of potential harmful algal bloom in Kachemak Bay

Pseudo-nitzchia has been detected at bloom levels in Kachemak Bay since July 4.

Fresh-picked lettuces are for sale at the final Homer Farmers Market of the year on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Homer, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)
USDA ends regional food program, pulls $6M from Alaska businesses

On July 15, the Alaska Food Policy Council was notified that the USDA had terminated the Regional Food Business Center Program “effective immediately.”

Exit Glacier is photographed on June 22, 2018. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
2 rescued by park service near Exit Glacier

The hikers were stranded in the “Exit Creek Prohibited Visitor Use Zone.”

Two new cars purchased by the Soldotna Senior Center to support its Meals on Wheels program are parked outside of the center in Soldotna, Alaska, on Wednesday, March 30, 2022. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)
State restores grant funding to Soldotna Senior Center

In recent years, the center has been drawing down its organizational reserves to provide some essential services.

Most Read

You're browsing in private mode.
Please sign in or subscribe to continue reading articles in this mode.

Peninsula Clarion relies on subscription revenue to provide local content for our readers.

Subscribe

Already a subscriber? Please sign in