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Writing

Ilegvak is a 2025 The Institute for Journalism & Natural Resources Crown of the Continent Institute Fellow, a 2024 Alaska Humanities Forum Storytelling Fellow and Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant recipient, and a 2023 Inuit Art Foundation’s Alaska Native Art Writing Fellow. He has been published in First Alaskans Magazine, Alaska Humanities Forum and the Inuit Art Quarterly, with articles covering various topics, including art, politics, Native rights and environmental justice. He is a member of the Indigenous Journalist Association. His work is increasingly focused on climate change and its disproportionate effects on Indigenous peoples and how Native cultural knowledge systems have solutions to this global crisis.

Published Article Links

Change is a Process: What If Philanthropy Had the Courage to Take Its Cues From Nature?

by Erin Lynn Williams and Ilegvak, The Center for Effective Philanthropy, May 27, 2025

Individualism. Competition. Risk aversion. Short-termism. Scarcity. Presumed expertise. Many of the norms by which philanthropy operates perpetuate the very narratives our sector seeks to change. In this series on the CEP blog, contributors who represent a cross-section of philanthropy examine some of the common ‘myths’ by which philanthropy operates and ask, “what if?”, offering approaches, interventions, and new visions for how philanthropy could operate for a more just world.

Seagull Egg Hunting

FORUM Magazine, Winter Issue 2024-25

Puffed-up seagulls calmly stand on thin legs in the cool morning air, their grey and white feathers contrasting against the rocky edges. They are scattered among patches of moss and vibrant, short green foliage that wobbles in the wind. They are the only plants growing on the island besides seaweed, the algae pools, and the lichen-speckled rocks. It’s the third summer I have harvested seagull eggs, a once-a-year event that quickly became an obsession. Harvesting gull eggs is like the ultimate Easter egg hunt for adults. It teems with anticipation where the rich sweetness of ancestral food and cultural tradition are the hidden treats waiting to be found.

Tribal Clean Energy Summit

First Alaskans Magazine, Summer Issue 2023

The summit was abundant with people, information, and an eagerness to learn about low-carbon energy and new Federal programs like the $1 Trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the $300+ Billion Inflation Reduction Act. Five keynote speakers graced the stage from June 13-15. The summit also hosted three workshops and three general assembly panels—six concurrent sessions such as Energy Planning & Development, Off-shore Wind Development, and Creative Funding Solutions. Five other sessions were conducted pertaining to Workforce Development, Emerging Clean Energy Technologies, and Project Siting.

Mary Peltola Won: Why did mainstream media treat her like a loser?

First Alaskans Magazine, Fall Issue 2022

As problematic as the CNN article is, at its time of publication, it is noticeably more comprehensive, offering in-depth insights into who she is and how she speaks to the broad diversity of Alaskans, as well as how Peltola became an elected member of Congress. Analyzing several other mainstream news publications that reported about Mary’s win points to the stark settler colonial misogyny and anti-Nativeness, coupled with the glaring reluctance to accept that an Indigenous woman was elected on her own merits.

Tanning Fish Skin: The packaging of our soul food

First Alaskans Magazine, Fall Issue 2021

Information about traditional fish skin sewing and tanning techniques is available almost exclusively in ethnographic museums and anthropological documents sourcing knowledge from Indigenous communities. Yet, the creative control, voice, and the majority audience for these resources are not Alaska Natives, with the exception of an article by Nadia Jackinsky-Sethi (Alutiiq), Fish Skin as a Textile Material in Alaska Native Cultures.

Life Briefly Without Internet

FORUM Magazine, Winter Issue 2024-25

Over the sixteen days, the internet service was out, and I started to use the publicly available satellite internet at the library as a tool for specific tasks, as I did as a kid when the internet first emerged. Picking it up and then setting it down. Less as the all-encompassing reality that I never leave. I created a list of what I needed to use it for before going to the library. This physical separation from it was liberating, combined with the communal aspects of flocking to a watering hole, helped it feel like a haunting I could finally shake.

Presences of Arctic Homelands Artist profile: Erin Ggaadimits Ivalu Gingrich

First Alaskans Magazine, Winter Issue 2024

Smooth, round curvatures of ripe blueberries extend from the wall and stand suspended in space. Multiple long strands of maroon beads connect the masks to portray the lifeline of a plant akin to its roots and how they are held up in place by the spongy moss amongst the vast open tundra. They patiently endure the high-pitched buzz of mosquitoes under the heat of endless summer sunlight and a breeze blowing from the rolling Arctic plain that looks flat as it stretches seamlessly into the horizon. Circular eyes stare wide with wonder and calmly greet you, convinced that you are just as awed by the mystery of life. And the sweet-tangy offering of blueberries.

Suited for Sustenance

Inuit Art Quarterly, Winter Issue Vol 36.4, 2023

To read back issues, visit Inuit Art Quarterly’s website

Erin Ggaadimits Ivalu Gingrich Natchiq

Inuit Art Quarterly, Fall Issue Vol 36.3, 2023

To read back issues, visit Inuit Art Quarterly’s website

Dealing with the Danger in Front of You: setting the stage for the climate battle on our terms

First Alaskans Magazine, Spring Issue 2022

Justin speaks with the same eloquence you find in great literary works. The cadence in his voice is rooted in the form of being that has been breathing life into cultural traditions and a reflection of a way of knowing that has existed for thousands upon thousands of years. This article focuses on the ancestral power of his words. Justin will speak for himself in this work, as transcribed from the interview, which may seem odd at first. Yet this is also an Alaska Native cultural approach to communication and intergenerational transfer of knowledge.

Furs & Futures

First Alaskans Magazine, Spring Issue 2021

My journey as a practitioner and culture bearer of traditional Alaska Native knowledge and art began at age eight, when I attended Dog Point Fish Camp. There I engaged in traditional foods harvesting, arts and cultural protocol. The loss of my Father at a young age to an alcohol-related boating accident while being raised outside of my culture added to the pain of intergenerational trauma and the confusion of not knowing what it was or where it stemmed from. I began to internalize oppression, enduring suicidal ideation for over a decade and living inside a bottle, praying to a God that I was not sure existed for help. I knew if I kept walking the path I was on, I would soon be dead. Regardless, I understood that a life of addiction and self-hatred was no life at all.