Culture night comes to Galena on Saturday

By KALA HENDRICKSON, staff writer

The Rural Youth Leadership group has a cultural night happening 7 p.m. Saturday, March 25 in the SHS gym.

There will be a special performance by Byron Nicholai, a well-known Yup’ik dancer and promoter of traditional culture and healthy living from Toksook Bay, Alaska. He’s also a Facebook star following his music video I Sing, You Dance.

Byron is 18 years old who is helping his mother out with the family and is still in high school. He has a Facebook page called “I Sing, You Dance.”

Byron tries to mix up the songs in different ways. He started his silly, fun videos on Facebook when he was 14 years old. Byron has also made his own album, according to an article at Alaska Public Radio.

During Saturday’s event, there will be cultural dance from the Native Dance group and Native Youth Olympics games. Those who come to the event will be served cultural food.

Students talking about suicide, alcohol and drug abuse, depression, and how they coped with those situations. The theme of the cultural night is “When the sun sets, we rise: Confronting our shadows.”