Samara Kasayulie Kookesh, Empowering Our Shareholders
Storyknife, May/June 2025 edition
Samara Kasayulie Kookesh, a Calista Descendant with ties to Akiachak, was raised in a village, and after leaving for college and coming back, she wants to help those small but vital communities. Kookesh attained a bachelor’s degree in government with a minor in legal studies from Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona last December.
Kookesh, a Sealaska Shareholder, grew up in the Southeast Alaska village of Angoon, and while growing up she would visit her Kasayulie family in Akiachak along the Kuskokwim River near Bethel.
Kookesh says she first went to college to play basketball and generally wanted to go into law. Her early experiences opened her eyes to the workplace, and she considered working for a Tribe or an Alaska Native corporation. She firmly decided the direction she wanted to take when she interned with Tlingit & Haida, the regional tribal government for Southeast Alaska tribes.
I like working with the youth, and I like to give them a voice and the opportunity to become leaders.
Samara Kasayulie Kookesh, Calista Shareholder
“I was placed with an ICWA [Indian Child Welfare Act] office at Tlingit & Haida. I liked working with families, because once the families are strong the community can be strong,” Kookesh says.
“Also, I like working with the youth, and I like to give them a voice and the opportunity to become leaders.”
“I’m Tlingit and Yup’ik and grew up in a village for most of my life,” Kookesh says. “I understand there are difficulties and hardships because of coming from a village, but there are a lot of positive things. There will always be a sense of community and there will always be someone you can lean towards for support.”
Growing up, Kookesh would always like fishing with her family, and sometimes hunting or berry-picking. She sings and dances in the Tlingit tradition but also learned as a kid how to yuraq, Yup’ik style dance.
Kookesh says she is grateful for the support from both regions. It has made it possible for her to complete her degree. She left Alaska for nearly four years, and it helped her appreciate that sense of community from families in both regions.
“I’m grateful for the financial support that Calista Education & Culture and the Tribes and corporations have provided, but it also shows how much they believed and supported me,” Kookesh. “They wanted me to continue, get my degree, and it motivated me to keep attending classes. Knowing my corporations and Tribes were standing next to me helped a lot, because they believed in me.”
In Kookesh’s experience, she has seen her older cousins go and come back for their education, and she wants to be an example for her younger cousins and siblings.
“There are many leaders from village communities who have gone and come back to serve their community,” Kookesh says. “It’s OK to leave the village for a while, it may seem challenging at times, but the community and the village will always be there.”