If you are participating in the Alaska AHEC rotation program, you will be working with a rural and/or underserved population within Alaska. For most of you, this will mean working with people from a culture other than your own. The resources on this page will give you some basic information about various cultural groups found in our state. Learning about them prior to your visit will help you make a smooth transition and to feel more at home. (Please see "Before You Go" below.)

Alaska is a big state and contains many cultures. The Alaska Native population, which makes up approximately 16% of the state population, is divided into eleven distinct cultures, speaking twenty different languages. In addition, you will find many other ethnic communities including: Hispanic/Latino, Native Hawaiian, a variety of Pacific Islander and Asian cultures, as well as African Americans. To better prepare you for your cross-cultural experience, we suggest you read the following two articles. Both are fairly short and should take only 20 to 30 minutes to read. We also ask that you print out a copy of the Workplace Assessment Tool below, take it to your site and complete it sometime during your time there. Then return the survey to the AHEC office that is funding your travel upon the completion of your rotation.

• Communication Across Cultures
• Working on Common Cross-cultural Communication Challenges
• Workplace Assessment Tool

Before You Go : We have included a variety of articles, books, videos and websites on Alaska and cross-cultural communication on the Resource List Page.

For more information about Alaska history and cultures, and for links to regional sites, click on the regions of the map below.