Katherine Wade, the clan grandmother of the Chickaloon Tribe of Alaska, died on Sunday. She was 86.

Wade helped found the first tribal school in Alaska. She saw it as a way to preserve Athabascan culture and language, teacher Kari Shaginoff said.

"She told stories and taught values," Shaginoff told The Anchorage Daily News. "Like being good to each other, being good to family and taking care of family."

Wade lived next door to the school and participated nearly every day in classroom sessions. "She really was just 'Grandma' to them," education director Gabe Carmen said.

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Katherine Wade, matriarch of Chickaloon tribe, dies (The Anchorage Daily News 3/25)