Biographical note
Born May 8, 1927, Nora Marks Dauenhauer was a Tlingit poet, writer, and Tlingit language scholar. Her husband, Richard Daunhauer, was an American linguist, professor, and poet, and became an advocate for the Tlingit language. From 2012 to 2014 Nora was the Alaska States Poet Laureate, and Richard was Poet Laureate of Alaska from 1981 to 1988. Nora and Richard recorded hundreds of personal narratives of Tlingit elders and others in the community. These recordings document Tlingit history, language, traditions, and subsistence through oral history, gatherings, and cultural programs. The Dauenhauers worked and were affiliated with Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) and published numerous books including coediting SHI's Classics of Tlingit Oral Literature series together.