Sydney Akagi is a Tlingit Chikat and Ravenstail weaver passionate about preserving traditional arts and furthering her cultural knowledge. 

Sydney was born and raised in Southeast Alaska, the traditional land of the Lingit Aani, and continues to reside there today, while spending her summers on the Taku River, raising her children, building, weaving and processing sockeye. 

She is an enrolled member of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, Sydney’s Tlingit name is Tleinax Shaawat, and she is of the Kiks.adi Clan (Raven/Frog) from Sheet’ka (Sitka, AK).

Sydney wove her first piece, a small wall hanging, in 2018 with her mentor Lily Hope. Sydney became enthralled with weaving and would weave late into the night, practicing the fingering techniques and studying any material she could find. Sydney took the leap in January 2020 and became a full time weaver. Since 2020, Sydney has been awarded grants from the Rasumuson Foundation, Native Arts and Cultures Foundation, Bill Holm Center, Native Arts and Crafts Readiness Program, and the Bunnell Street Arts, all making Sydney’s dream of being a weaver and carrying on this knowledge possible.

You will also find that Sydney has a love for beading and has been known to photograph an event or two over the years.

You can find more of Sydney’s work, and follow her on instagram

@roots.and.rivers

or her photography page

@sydneyakagiphoto