Alaska Native Oratory Society

News / Announcements:

Alaska Native Oratory Society
Statewide Competition

Saturday April 12, 2008
on the UAA Campus
Rasmuson Hall

Your Voices
Our Future

Online Registration for the Alaska Native Oratory Society Statewide Competition now available.

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Note: If you did not participate in a Regional Competition, you can still register for the Statewide Competition.

The UAA Alaska Native Oratory Society Statewide Competition or AkNOS will be held on Saturday April 12th. Competition information, registration, and check-in for competitors will be on the UAA campus in Rasmuson Hall. The Opening Assembly will begin at 9:30am. See website for complete Schedule of Events.

Pre-event Activities for competitors and judges will be held on Friday April 11th. Click on the AkNOS Statewide Schedule of Events link to view the full schedule of activities.

AkNOS is open to all Native and Non-Native college and High School students who are registered at least part-time. University and college students must be registered for a minimum of 3 credits to register for AkNOS. Eligible students can participate in one or more of four speaking categories: Oratory, Declamation, Storytelling, & Native Languages. These four categories award prizes to the top three contestants in each category. This year we're also happy to include for the third year a new category, Traditional Introductions. This category is a People's Choice award category. We've included it to encourage students to learn how to formally introduce themselves in the style of their communities and regions.

To register for the AkNOS Statewide Competition click on the the Registration link and fill out the online form. Coaching and assistance is available to all interested participants whether you are on site or at a distance. Watch for the UAA schedule on our website. Students can also make an appointment for individual coaching. If you are off site, please call or email for coaching information and assistance.

What is AkNOS?

The Alaska Native Oratory Society is a learning community and a series of speaking events that provide opportunities for Alaska Native, Native American and Non-Native high school and university students to develop their oratory skills through participation in four speech categories: Oratory, Declamation, Storytelling, and Native Languages. Students enter one category or several categories depending on their goals and skill level. First time participants are encouraged to enter only one speech category until they become comfortable and confident speaking out in a public setting. Experienced students often enter several categories as they expand their speaking skills to include a variety of styles. All students are encouraged to learn how to speak in the style of their community or region or to learn how to speak in the style of a specific Alaska Native/Native American cultural group.

These four speech categories make it possible for students to learn to speak out on issues of importance to their communities and regions in a supportive environment. Many former AkNOS student participants have gone on to become leaders in their communities and regions. Students are excited to learn they can lend a supportive voice to the various issues within our Native communities, statewide, and nationally. As speaking skills improve, students report that their self-confidence begins to grow and they find ways to become actively involved with issues that have meaning in their lives. For example students have become involved with such current Native issues as promoting cultural awareness, encouraging language acquisition and competency, leading healthy lives, and surviving the death of loved one by suicide.

Learning to speak out in AkNOS also brings students back to their communities, family members and Elders as they ask for assistance, guidance, and teaching to learn how to speak in the styles important in their communities and regions.

How do students learn to speak out?

Students new to speaking are supported in a variety of ways. Sometimes a student will prefer to work one-on-one with an AkNOS Tutor in order to identify a speech topic, develop the speech, and then deliver the speech. Many students learn better in small group settings and prefer to work with other students in Native Student Services (NSS) and the Cama-i Room or on their own school campuses. Past AkNOS participants, community leaders, and Elders provide AkNOS competitors with a variety of learning opportunities. These opportunities include the AkNOS Heritage Month Prelim. In the Prelim student competitors give speeches in a small, intimate setting. Evaluators provide students with written and verbal constructive feedback in order to foster the development of speaking skills in student participants. Students have extended time after the Prelim to practice and refine their speeches for the AkNOS Southcentral Regional Competition to be held February 9th, 2008. This competition is open to all high school, college, and university students in the Southcentral region. Students can also register for the AkNOS Statewide Competition on April 11th & 12th, 2008. This is the largest of the three competitions and students from across Alaska come to the UAA campus to participate in training events, campus activities, meet other students throughout the state, and speak up for Native issues and concerns.

Online registration is available on the AkNOS website to make it easier to participate.