Tag: Koyukon Athabascan

Screenshot of the CLARA senior companion app showing a live speech caption that explains CLARA as a daily companion created in honor of Clara Holmberg Clark of Old Louden, Alaska. The text describes features including family check-ins, medication tracking, old-time fiddle music and simple ways to stay connected.
Athabascan in the Spotlight

Koyukon Athabascan App Developer Builds Technology With Purpose

Angela Gonzalez

My cousin, Tillila “Til” Beetus, is an Alaska Native youth advocate and app developer. She created several apps that serve specific purposes and honor her friends, family and loved ones. I would be impressed by just one app, but to create so many is a feat. Til is Koyukon Athabascan from Interior Alaska.

“These are more than just apps. They are tools designed to help people travel, heal, build, lead, protect communities, support survivors, care for elders, protect our waters, find funding, and create opportunities,” says Til.

Here is Til’s recent post where she describes each app. 

DREAM APP COLLECTION — TECHNOLOGY WITH PURPOSE
Feel free to share. I will need testers soon!

I have been busy building apps designed to solve real problems, help people, strengthen communities, and make everyday life a little easier. The process of Google reviewing each app takes a while, but they should all be up in the next few weeks.

✈️ AL — Wright Air Service Passenger App
Real-time flight information, arrival and departure boards, freight tracking, and bush weather updates for Alaska communities.
$0.99/month

🎨CHARLOTTE — Indigenous Marketplace
A marketplace for authentic Alaska Native and Native American art. Named after a beloved elder who always had a tent at the fair filled with beautiful crafts and good visits. Artists are verified under the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990. You can even put dancing boots on layaway! $4.99/year

💛CLARA — Senior Companion Assistant
A friendly daily companion for seniors with reminders, connection, and support. $9.99 one-time

Screenshot of the CLARA senior companion app showing a live speech caption that explains CLARA as a daily companion created in honor of Clara Holmberg Clark of Old Louden, Alaska. The text describes features including family check-ins, medication tracking, old-time fiddle music and simple ways to stay connected.
CLARA is a senior companion app created in honor of Clara Holmberg Clark of Old Louden, Alaska. The app is designed to help seniors stay connected with family, manage medications and use simple daily support tools.

🧡CORWIN — Youth Crisis Support
A private, 24/7 support app for youth with safe housing information, coping tools, resources, and trusted mentors. FREE

🎗️DONNIE — Cancer Care Companion
Helps cancer patients in rural Alaska coordinate rides to treatment, connect with caregivers, and track appointments. $9.99 one-time

💰FUND — Federal Grant Aggregator
Helps tribes, nonprofits, schools, and cities find federal funding opportunities and receive AI-powered help with grant applications. $4.99/month

🌿LEONA
A supportive, judgment-free space for neurodivergent and highly sensitive people to reflect, process, and feel understood. $0.99/month

🔥LESLIE — Wildland Fire Management
Helps wildland firefighters manage certifications, crew deployment, equipment, and gear. $4.99/year for firefighters | Crew and company subscriptions available

🦋LISA — Domestic Violence Support
A private, safe app with safety-planning tools, resources, and nearby help for survivors. FREE

🌊LUK-CHO — Anti-Trawler App
Helps protect coastal waters, fish, and marine life by tracking and reporting suspected illegal trawling activity. FREE

👩‍💼MARIE — Leadership & Management Toolkit
A management toolkit for tribal leaders, executives, administrators, nonprofits, and businesses. Named after a tireless tribal administrator who gives everything she has for her tribe. $4.99/month

👗MADI — AI Virtual Closet
A fun virtual closet for young girls to plan outfits and discover new style ideas. $4.99/year

👕MARRIK — What Should I Wear?
Helps guys decide what to wear based on the weather and their schedule. No fashion knowledge needed! $9.99 one-time

♻️REUSE
Helps neighbors give away and find free furniture, tools, and other useful items nearby. $4.99/year

🏡TEEPEE — Native Home Ownership Platform
Helps Alaska Native and Native American families navigate home loans, housing programs, and grants. $9.99/year

❄️THAW — A Space to Heal
A private, trauma-informed space to release stress, reflect, and feel grounded and safe. $1.99/month

💉TUZDAY — GLP-1 Companion
Tracks shot days, protein, water, and refill reminders in one calm, encouraging place. $2.99/month

🔎WILLIS — MMIP Search & Rescue App
A 24/7 volunteer search-and-rescue coordination app with an MMIP alert network, offline mapping, and secure radio communication. FREE

📣NEE’ETSEK — Outreach Made Easier
Turn your logo and your cause into ready-to-use social media, radio, and TV outreach materials in minutes. $4.99/month

📚TIL — Today I Learned
Learn how to take your idea and start building your own business in just 7 days. $4.99 one-time for each business

Tillila closes by saying, “Technology should help people. That is what I am building. And this is only the beginning.”

About Til Beetus

Tillila “Til” Beetus is a Koyukon Athabascan entrepreneur and app developer based in Arizona, and founder of DREAM LLC, a Native-owned consulting business providing grant writing and business support to tribal governments and Alaska Native organizations. With an IT background and nearly 30 years of experience across tribal, nonprofit, and Alaska Native corporate settings, she is building a growing portfolio of apps rooted in real community needs — including REUSE (a free-item exchange app), Fund (a grant package builder for tribal orgs), TIL (an Indigenous entrepreneurship platform), and EETAA’/EENAA’ (support apps for Native parents), with more in the works.

She was named by her late grandmother Celia (Koyukuk) Beetus because she was born to help others.

Learn more about Dream LLC here.

Enaa basee’, Til for sharing your coding and app developing skills to create apps with a purpose.

Know someone whose story, work or community impact should be highlighted? If you’d like to suggest a future topic, nominate someone to be featured, or explore collaboration opportunities, I’d love to hear from you. Contact me.

Alaska Native/Indigenous People, Athabascan in the Spotlight

Dru-P – Koyukon Athabascan Rapper, Singer & Videographer

Angela Gonzalez

When I think about the artists who carry the heart of home into their work, I think of my relative Andrew “Dru-P” Marks. Dru-P is a Koyukon Athabascan rapper and singer from Tanana, Alaska. He’s also a talented videographer, a contract video producer, and a dad to two boys.

Andrew “Dru-P” Marks. Courtesy photo

Like a lot of village kids, his story isn’t one straight line. He grew up in several Alaskan villages, and even as he moved, one thing stayed constant: his childhood nickname, “Droopy.” Over time, he reshaped it into his artist name—Dru-P—and it fit.

He started making music the way so many of us start creating: by playing around, listening closely, and having fun with friends. He remembers looping instrumentals wherever he could find space and rapping over them. That curiosity of “parts of instrumentals where people weren’t talking” became a spark, and that spark became a craft.

He had a pause in music around 2011 when video work and life got busy, but he found his way back in 2020 during the pandemic. Not because he was chasing a trend, but because he missed the joy of it.

That joy matters. The Athabascan Woman Blog has always celebrated Native creatives who are building something real, through culture, storytelling, and everyday resilience. Dru-P’s work fits right in with that spirit and the kind of storytelling I love to share here. 

Dru-P’s newest project, Chill Protector Vibes, is an album shaped by reflection, healing, and forward movement. He collaborated with producer Ariano on several tracks and connected with the “emotional tone” of the instrumentals. This year, while selling a home and clearing it out, he found old items that brought back memories and stirred up strong feelings.

Dru-P released a new album, Chill Protector Vibes. Courtesy photo.

What stood out to me is how honestly he described that moment: how something that once felt like failure can look different with time, growth, and survival. He used writing as a way to name what he’d been carrying, including past trauma. But he also made sure the album didn’t get stuck in darkness. He added more songs and incorporated features from friends to shift the tone and broaden the story.

Today, he sees the album as inspiring—not because life was easy, but because he kept going.

Dru-P’s song called “Adonis” best represents the project. He shared a story about attending Catholic school for a year and being teased—especially when other kids mocked “the Natives downtown” and used that to target him. He described the song as a mix of love and trauma, and that’s how he views the album as a whole.

But what stays with me is how he flips that pain into pride in the second verse.

“Around here, Ch’eghwtsen’ we’re proud of our skin.” – Dru-P

That one line carries a lot of love, trauma, identity, and a refusal to shrink. 

Dru-P. Courtesy photo

Dru-P’s creative eye doesn’t stop with music. He got into videography by editing his own basketball highlight videos back when he and his friends had big dreams (and he jokes he ended up being “a lot better at running than basketball”).

As his skills grew, he started producing music videos for fun, took graphic design and video classes in college, and eventually built a career in media. He worked at KTVF Channel 11, producing commercials and supporting news, and today, he does contract video work while balancing family life. Anyone who edits at home with kids nearby knows it’s not always quiet, but he says he’s finding a rhythm, staying present for his boys while still creating.

His best advice is to protect the fun. When I asked what he’d tell aspiring musicians or videographers, Dru-P shared a quote from his friend TK Sweetsir that he lives by.

“It ain’t fun if you ain’t having fun.” – TK Sweetsir

That sounds simple, but it’s actually a powerful creative compass, especially when work gets heavy. Dru-P says he keeps video work fun by constantly challenging himself to learn new things, and he keeps music honest by rewriting when he knows he’s just going through the motions.

Dru-P is already looking ahead to next year. He plans to release a remix project from *Chill Protector Vibes* (with Ariano remixing about 10 instrumentals), perform more shows, and work toward a collab project with 2essentialz.

To preserve knowledge for the future, he also has additional Indigenous storytelling projects in the works, including documentaries on Elder craft projects. I commend him for this work. To me, that kind of storytelling helps keep culture moving forward. 

Dru-P’s work is rooted in Tanana, but it reaches far beyond it. It’s music made from memory, pride, family, and the decision to keep creating. 

Enaa baasee’, Andrew, for sharing your story and congratulations on the new album!

Subscribe to Dru-P on YouTube.

Listen to his new album, Chill Protector Vibes, on streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, and iTunes. You can also buy physical copies and merch at his performances.  

Dru-P calling. Courtesy photo

Athabascan in the Spotlight

From Kaltag to the Alaska Air National Guard: Honoring Technical Sergeant Wanda Solomon-Parsons

Angela Gonzalez
Technical Sergeant Wanda Solomon-Parsons at her retirement ceremony with her siblings. Photo by Angela Gonzalez

From the Yukon River village of Kaltag to the Alaska Air National Guard, Wanda Solomon-Parsons has lived a life rooted in hard work and service. Her father, First Sergeant William Solomon, Sr., served before her, setting the example she carried throughout her own remarkable career.

I first featured Wanda in 2014 (Wanda Solomon – Alaska Native Guardswoman) when she was actively serving. More than a decade later, she is celebrating retirement as a Technical Sergeant (E6) after 28 years of combined service in the Alaska Air and Army National Guard, including two tours in Afghanistan (2005 and 2012).

Wanda reflected that being both Alaska Native and a woman profoundly shaped her experience.

“It made me try harder due to being a minority and being a woman. I feel that both of these made it harder for me.” – Technical Sergeant Wanda Solomon-Parsons

Despite the obstacles, she stayed determined, building her skills, seeking every opportunity for training, and mentoring others along the way.

Even in retirement, Wanda plans to continue serving by staying connected with veterans, especially women she’s served alongside, and helping others navigate medical and counseling services. Her next steps include working part-time and joining Alaska Native corporation and community boards to continue giving back.

Her advice for young people, especially Alaska Native women, considering military service is simple but powerful:

“Do your soul searching and know for sure your desires, intent, and where you want to be in 20 years. Then go for your goal.”

Wanda says her military career “shaped me to be the person that I am today,” grounding her in family, health, and spiritual strength.

We recently celebrated Wanda’s retirement, a day filled with laughter, stories of courage, and heartfelt gratitude. Friends, relatives, and fellow service members shared messages of pride and love from across Alaska and beyond. That outpouring of community pride speaks volumes about Wanda’s impact. 

Her 28 years of service reflect not only personal dedication but also the collective strength of her people, showing what it means to see an Alaska Native, Koyukon Athabascan woman leading and protecting with honor.

Congratulations, Technical Sergeant Wanda Solomon-Parsons, on your retirement and extraordinary legacy. Enaa baasee’ for your service and example.

🎥 Watch Wanda’s story: SSgt Wanda Solomon, U.S. Army – Afghanistan — interview by Larry Cappetto for Voices of History (YouTube, July 9, 2025)

Alaska Native/Indigenous People

Film Screening: Attla at the Anchorage Museum

Angela Gonzalez
The Anchorage Museum presents ATTLA (2019).
Director: Catharine Axley
Run Time: 61 min.
Rating: Not Rated
Release Year: 2019
Featuring: George Attla, Joe Bifelt, Rose Attla Ambrose

The Anchorage Museum is screening Attla on Thursday, Nov. 13, 6:30–8 p.m. in the Auditorium. The powerful documentary about legendary Huslia sprint musher George Attla was directed by Catharine Axley and featured on PBS’s Independent Lens (2019). The film interweaves interviews and archival footage as Attla comes out of retirement to train his grandnephew Joe Bifelt, carrying his legacy forward.

He was an icon for me growing up, and for so many across Alaska! It’s exciting to see new audiences still discovering legendary George Attla’s story. 

“Sharing stories like this helps remind us that resilience, determination, and connection to place are powerful forces,” says Janet Asaro of the Anchorage Museum. Independent Lens aptly called Attla “a rare sports film that blends the excitement of sprint mushing with the humanity of a cultural icon.”

While you’re there, visit the museum’s Dog Show exhibition, a heartfelt look at how dogs help us live, work, and connect, from sled teams in the North to pets and working dogs across the U.S. It highlights the deep human–dog bond and how it shapes culture and everyday life.

Details & tickets ($8; $5 for members): Check the Anchorage Museum website for the Nov. 13 screening of Attla.

Alaska Native/Indigenous People

Spirit of the Wind (1979): Anchorage Screening & Fundraiser

Angela Gonzalez
Spirit of the Wind (1979) Presented by AMIPA and Doyon Foundation
Director: Ralph Liddle 
Run Time: 103 min. 
Rating: PG 
Release Year: 1979
Starring: Pius Savage, George Clutesi, Slim Pickens, Chief Dan George, Rose Attla Ambrose

Here’s a rare chance to see Spirit of the Wind (1979), the biopic about my great-uncle, legendary Huslia sprint musher George Attla, on the big screen in Anchorage. AMIPA and Doyon Foundation are co-presenting a fundraiser screening at Bear Tooth Theatre Pub on Sunday, November 16 at 4:00 PM. Folks often ask where they can watch this film, and this is one great way. I wouldn’t be surprised if it sells out.

AMIPA’s Kevin Tripp shared why this one matters right now: “Most importantly: it’s a great movie, shot in Alaska with Alaskans, that tells an amazing Alaska—and Alaska Native—story.” He also noted the film is showing from a new Digital Cinema Package (DCP), which is a fresh digital version that the director and cinematographer say hasn’t looked this good on a big screen since 1979.

A part of the proceeds benefit Alaska Moving Image Preservation Association (AMIPA)and the Doyon Foundation. AMIPA’s share supports an endowment at the Alaska Community Foundation in memory of Lael Morgan, so your ticket helps preserve Alaska’s moving-image history while you enjoy a classic. 

Tickets are $15 and on sale now: beartooththeatre.filmbot.com/movies/spirit-of-the-wind-1979-presented-by-amipa/.

If George Attla’s story has touched you, or if you’ve never seen the “Huslia Husler” brought to life, come out, bring friends and family, and help spread the word. Heritage Month is the perfect time to celebrate Alaska Native stories on Alaska’s big screen.