Saghani ggaay (Young Raven)

Alaska Native Youth Summer Program

July 13-19, 2025

Wrangell Mountains Center Campus

McCarthy, Alaska

Overview

Raven Moonlight is an Alaska Native and women-led nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide culturally appropriate holistic healing, implementing diverse methodology and approach.

The Wrangell Mountains Center (WMC) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is connecting people with wildlands through art, science, and education in Alaska.

Spearheaded by Raven Moonlight and Hereditary Clan Leader, Wilson Justin, and with the support of the WMC, the Saghani ggaay youth program’s aim is to empower Alaska Native youth through cultural connection.

Led by Indigenous Elders and Educators, participants (ages 14-18) will spend 6 nights and 5 full days in the vast and awe-inspiring landscapes of the Wrangell- St.Elias National Park and on the WMC campus. Students will take part in hands-on educational activities led by Indigenous Educators with a focus on reconnection to heritage, traditional healing practices, place-based relationship, and Ahtna history of the Wrangells. They will also take part in a full-day guided glacier hike provided by local guiding company, Kennicott Wilderness Guides.

REGISTER TODAY!

(space limited to 16 participants)

Contact Sabrina Simon via email (sabrina@wrangells.org) or phone (540-223-7010) with your interest.

Schedule

**Please note: This schedule is an outline and will change as our instructors continue to develop it

Transportation, Accommodation, and Meals

The Wrangell Mountains Center will provide student participants with shuttle transportation to and from Glennallen High School on July 13th and 19th, all meals while on campus, meetings spaces for talks and workshops, and bunkhouse-style accommodations in our Porphyry Place Cabin and in our 10X20 large canvas tent. Please note that our campus is fully off-grid and fairly rustic, so come prepared!

Accommodations include:

  • Wood Stove in bunkhouse spaces (operated by designated student or chaperone)

  • Cot with mattress topper or single bedframe with mattress for each participant

  • Fitted and flat sheet, pillow and pillow case

  • Outdoor bucket shower (hot water provided)

  • Outhouses

  • Large dining hall

  • Classroom space

  • Full industrial kitchen for food processing and preparation for potlatch and/or workshops

  • Mostly vegetarian meals (all provided except for a sacked lunch on July 13th)

The Setting

Our campus, located in the center of McCarthy, a small mountain community, and within the boundaries of the nation’s largest unit of the national park system (over 13 million acres), provides a unique natural environment for the WMC. Positioned near ice-capped mountains, the roaring Kennicott River and McCarthy Creek, and the raw terminus of the Kennicott Glacier, the local landscape is a dynamic laboratory for ecology, glaciology, and geology. The town of McCarthy was established during the copper mining period in the early 20th century. After the local copper mines were abandoned in the 1930s, the once booming community virtually became a ghost town, but as the national park was established in the 1980s and with the growth of local tourism, McCarthy has been rediscovered by everyone from Alaskans to international travelers.

The WMC hosts many community events including Word Jam, Wrangell Mountains Storytelling Festival, Artist in Residence, Geology Camp, and our Summer Arts and Lecture Series.

What To Bring:

Please remember to pack as light as possible for the ease of transportation and limited space. For your comfort, we suggest that you pack these items:

  • SLEEPING BAG - Mandatory. The WMC does not provide blankets for beds.

  • WALKING SHOES or HIKING BOOTS

  • SOCKS - wool or synthetic (not cotton) socks for use with your hiking boots.  

  • BASE LAYERS - Leggings/tights and base layers for the upper body are very helpful when temps get chilly. July weather is usually warm but still unpredictable!

  • LONG PANTS - Another form of mosquito repellent!

  • LONG-SLEEVE SHIRTS - Mosquitoes will bite through thin, single layered tops.

  • MOSQUITO/BUG HEAD NET - You can either spray your face and neck in bug spray every couple hours or wear a head net when in dense mosquito habitat. 

  • HATS & CAPS

  • UNDERWEAR - Bring plenty! Students will only be able to hand wash their clothes

  • RAIN JACKET and RAIN PANTS

  • WARM COAT - Depending on weather!

  • SWIMSUIT - There is a swimming hole for students to enjoy, and they will need one for the Steam Bath

  • TOWEL

  • HEAD LAMP - We only use natural lighting in many spaces!

  • ANY GIFTS, CEREMONIAL ITEMS, KEEPSAKES, ETC - If you would like to contribute items to the Potlatch or bring special items to our ceremonial activities

  • JOURNAL - We encourage self-reflection!

Meet the Team

Wilson Justin

Hereditary clan leader/ ahtna elder

Sonia Vent

Saghani ggaay Program Coordinator

Sonia is the co-founder and President of Raven Moonlight nonprofit, is of Koyukon Athabascan descent from the Interior of Alaska. She practices Traditional Healing and is an advocate for community wellness. She has formal training as a Physician Assistant and as a Healing Touch Therapist. She has worked with nonprofit organizations promoting the well-being of Alaska Native people and is the owner of Sacred Space, a small business. Sonia’s focus is on healing, as the healing of one is the healing of all.

Sonia has an interest in sustainability especially the Alaska Native subsistence way of life and the many ways of staying holistically well through food hunting, gathering, and growing. Sonia’s late mother, Lorna was a cultural bearer and a language carrier. Sonia’s hope is to carry this legacy forward through language and traditional Koyukon Athabascan culture in general.

Sonia was born and raised in the village of Huslia and currently resides in Anchorage. She has one living son and three grandchildren.

Ernest Sanford

Instructor

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Ashley Hicks

Instructor

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Georgia Jackson

Instuctor

Sally Caldwell

Licensed Professional Counselor

Sabrina Simon

Director of Operations (WMC)

Saghani ggaay is sponsored in part by Alaska State Council on the Arts, Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority, RurALcap Foundation, and the Copper River School District Migrant Education Program.