Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 49 minutes ago
Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) hosted a lectures this week on a Tlingit Chookaneidí story about a giant octopus.
Tlingit beader Tl’aagunk Renee Culp will share the story of Kahtushtu, and anthropologist Arnauld Chandivert will present a lecture on the living heritage of traditional foods.
Culp was first exposed to beading when she was a young girl. Her grandmother tried to teach her when Culp was just seven years old.
“I was too young to be sitting and doing something so patient,” Culp said with a laugh. “It wasn’t a good fit for me at the time. The lessons she taught me about beading and being an artist came after she was with the ancestors.”
Culp said one piece takes her anywhere from three to nine months to create and uses tens of thousands of beads. The time she spends beading is sacred: It allows her to connect with the ancestors who went before her and the generations who will come after. The robe she’s working on now will document the story of an ancestor named Kahtushtu. Stark against the red felt, white and silver beads form the outline of a giant octopus that once terrorized the Chookaneidí people. Kahtushtu, determined to protect his village, strapped daggers to his wrists and went to battle with the creature, never to be seen again.
The robe will eventually become at.óow, Tlingit for “that which was paid for,” usually with the life of a clan ancestor.
“Our pieces aren’t just works of art — they’re historical documents,” Culp said, carefully beading the outline of a tentacle. “Our art becomes part of the family. At.óow has a soul, and it’s connected to our people in that way. So to say that it’s art…it definitely is, but it’s so much more than that.”Learn more about Sealaska Heritage here: sealaskaheritage.org
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Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) hosted a lectures this week on a Tlingit Chookaneidí story about a giant octopus.
Tlingit beader Tl’aagunk Renee Culp will share the story of Kahtushtu, and anthropologist Arnauld Chandivert will present a lecture on the living heritage of traditional foods.
Culp was first exposed to beading when she was a young girl. Her grandmother tried to teach her when Culp was just seven years old.
“I was too young to be sitting and doing something so patient,” Culp said with a laugh. “It wasn’t a good fit for me at the time. The lessons she taught me about beading and being an artist came after she was with the ancestors.”
Culp said one piece takes her anywhere from three to nine months to create and uses tens of thousands of beads. The time she spends beading is sacred: It allows her to connect with the ancestors who went before her and the generations who will come after. The robe she’s working on now will document the story of an ancestor named Kahtushtu. Stark against the red felt, white and silver beads form the outline of a giant octopus that once terrorized the Chookaneidí people. Kahtushtu, determined to protect his village, strapped daggers to his wrists and went to battle with the creature, never to be seen again.
The robe will eventually become at.óow, Tlingit for “that which was paid for,” usually with the life of a clan ancestor.
“Our pieces aren’t just works of art — they’re historical documents,” Culp said, carefully beading the outline of a tentacle. “Our art becomes part of the family. At.óow has a soul, and it’s connected to our people in that way. So to say that it’s art…it definitely is, but it’s so much more than that.”Learn more about Sealaska Heritage here: sealaskaheritage.org
facebook.com/SHInstitute
instagram.com/shinstitute
twitter.com/SHInstitute
