Participants in the First Alaskans Institute Elders and Youth Conference. Photo from Facebook

The First Alaskans Institute is wrapping up its 30th annual Elders and Youth Conference today.

Thousands of Alaska Native elders and youth are in Anchorage for the meeting. This year's theme is “Get Up! Stand Up!” and participants are focusing on languages and culture.

“Our language connects us to our land, connects us to our past and to the people who love us more than anybody else. Our ancestors. Our grandparents. Our parents,” Devlin Anderstrom, 17, who spoke in Tlingit during his address, The Alaska Dispatch News reported.

The meeting precedes the annual Alaska Federation of Natives conference, which begins tomorrow and runs through Saturday.

Get the Story:
Tanana 4-H girls tell of dysfunction -- and hope for better way (The Alaska Dispatch News 10/22)
Native language is theme of Elders and Youth Conference (The Alaska Dispatch News 10/21)
Elders & Youth: Meet 5 young people thinking about Alaska's future (KTUU 10/21)
One, Rising (The Anchorage Press 10/21)