23 Facts About Rosita Worl

Rosita Kaahani Worl is an American anthropologist and Alaska Native cultural, business and political leader.

Rosita Worl is president of the Sealaska Heritage Institute, a Juneau-based nonprofit organization that preserves and advances the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian Native cultures of Southeast Alaska, and has held that position since 1997.

Rosita Worl served on the board of directors of the Sealaska regional Native corporation for 30 years, beginning in 1987, including as board vice president.

Rosita Worl is of the Ch'aak' moiety of the Shangukeidi Clan from the Kawdliyaayi Hit in Klukwan.

Rosita Worl has been associated with the Smithsonian Institution and was among four editors of "Living Our Cultures, Sharing Our Heritage: The First Peoples of Alaska," published in 2010 by Smithsonian Books.

Rosita Worl served on the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act National Review Committee from 2000 to 2013, including as its chairperson.

Rosita Worl studied the aboriginal whaling complex and served as a scientific advisor to the US Department of State for the International Whaling Commission and the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission.

Rosita Worl served as an adviser on Alaska Native and Rural Affairs to Alaska Gov.

Rosita Worl made the case that the revisions did not fully protect those corporations.

Rosita Worl served as a member of President Bill Clinton's Northwest Sustainability Commission.

Rosita Worl has served on numerous boards and committees, including the Alaska Federation of Natives, the Indigenous Languages Institute, the National Science Foundation Polar Programs Committee, the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission Scientific Committee and the National Museum of the American Indian.

Rosita Worl chaired the subsistence committee of the Alaska Federation of Natives and addressed federal officials in that role.

Rosita Worl estimated that at that time, the annual average per-person harvest was 544 pounds, making up about half of their caloric intake.

Rosita Worl noted that federal regulation of such harvests interfered with Alaska Natives' ability to feed themselves and their families.

In recent years, Rosita Worl has taken the Sealaska Heritage Institute in new directions.

Rosita Worl was born in a cabin on a beach near Petersburg, Alaska, in 1938.

Rosita Worl was raised by her grandmother, aunt and mother.

Rosita Worl attended for three years before her mother, Bessie Quinto, was able to take her home to live with her 12 brothers and sisters.

Rosita Worl said she recruited herself and started college by taking one class at a time.

Rosita Worl studied at Alaska Methodist University in Anchorage in the 1970s with noted language and folklore professor Richard Dauenhauer and others, earning a bachelor's degree.

Rosita Worl went on to earn a master's degree and a Ph.

Rosita Worl was awarded an honorary Doctor of Sciences degree from the University of Alaska Anchorage in 2012.

Rosita Worl has three children, Celeste, Rod, and Ricardo Rosita Worl, and six grandchildren, Rico, Crystal, Kyle, Miranda, Ricky, and Sage.