Anchorage school haunt draws visitors through Native legends

The final opportunity to walk through the Trials of Aangaayuk occurs on Thursday evening from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Alaska Native Cultural Charter School. The event features a darkened tunnel system constructed inside the school library, where families encounter characters based on Alaska Native legends.

Manuel Acuña, vice president of the Friends of the Alaska Native Cultural Charter School nonprofit, led the project. He explained that the stories serve a practical purpose beyond entertainment. "A lot of these stories in Alaska Native culture, like many cultures around the world, they were created to keep children safe, to teach them life lessons that are incorporated into these stories," Acuña said. He noted that the experience also builds cultural pride for students and residents alike.

The production relies on community effort. More than 40 volunteers and students constructed the set pieces using papier-mâché, monster mud, foam, and modified animatronics. Over a dozen students from the charter school and Kusilvak Career Academy work as scare actors during the event. Tanisha Charles, president of the school's Parent Teacher Organization, described the project as a chance for children to learn new skills. "They're putting together these characters, they're building, they're setting up lights. So it's a new experience for them," Charles said.

The haunt is organized around seven specific stories from various Alaska Native cultures. Visitors receive background reading materials at the entrance before entering the spirit realm. The route includes a witch's hut, a cemetery, and catacombs covered in spiderwebs. One section features an ice cave where an actor represents Qalupalik, a figure from Inuit culture described by Acuña as a northern version of the boogeyman.

Near the end of the tour, participants pass through a tunnel filled with hanging seaweed representing the Tlingit Ottermen. They then enter a village of Little People, known as Ircenrraat, where glowing red eyes follow them through the darkness. Parent Ruthie Hale noted that this particular story is common in Alaska Native cultures. "We actually believe in Little People," Hale said. Her daughter, Elizabeth Weaver, 12, found the section frightening but educational. "It was kind of cave-ish.. and their faces were, like, creepy and everything, and they were just, like, really scary," Weaver said.

The event began as a haunted house in Acuña's yard but expanded to the school setting after growing too large for the private space. This is the fourth year the school has hosted the attraction. Participants like Lyla Radcliffe, 10, react with excitement to the figures. "I screamed several times," Radcliffe said, citing the Alaska Big Foot section as her favorite part of the experience.

Alyson Ruley, an Anchorage resident originally from Napakiak in the Bethel area, visited with her husband and two children. She praised the team's ability to integrate different cultural narratives into the physical layout. "They did pretty good incorporating all of our old stories and all of the different rooms and how they look different," Ruley said.