Alaska anthropologist and cultural leader Rosita Worl awarded National Humanities Medal

Rosita Worl, an anthropologist and cultural leader who was born in Petersburg, has been awarded the 2023 National Humanities Medal.

Worl, 87, is president of the Sealaska Heritage Institute and holds Ph.D. in anthropology from Harvard University.

Worl, who is Tlingit, is a longtime leader in Alaska’s Native community, advocating for subsistence practices and promoting cultural traditions on a national level. Worl has conducted research throughout Alaska, including fieldwork in the Arctic. Worl has also taught at University of Alaska Southeast. She also has an honorary Doctor of Sciences degree from the University of Alaska Anchorage.

The National Humanities Medal was launched in 1996, and since then 225 medals have been awarded, including 207 to individuals and 18 to organizations.

The medals will be presented in a private White House ceremony at 1:30 p.m. AKDT. The ceremony will be livestreamed on the White House YouTube page. The 2022 class of medalists will be awarded Monday as well. Other 2023 recipients include actor and literacy advocate LeVar Burton and chef Anthony Bourdain, who is being awarded posthumously.

The National Humanities Medal honorees will be recognized alongside National Medal of the Arts recipients. This year that list includes hip-hop icons Missy Elliott and Queen Latifah, stage actress Idina Menzel and filmmakers Spike Lee and Steven Spielberg.