above:  photo of me at around five years old

I was a young actress in a play that my Mom wrote, directed and produced each year.  I played the role of an angel, and I remember being backstage, with the other angels, in our costumes, all of us girls bunched together, waiting for our cue to emerge out onto the stage.  We were electric, and giggly.

The play unfolded the nativity, yet all the dialouge was in Iñupiaq.  Songs sung, by a choir.  I later became Mary, holding a newly born younger cousin of mine.

Also at a young age, I was an actress in a short local commercial.  I was a patient in a dentist chair.  I remember the bright lights, and another cue, which I executed well.

Now that I am older, I understand that Elders can easily observe traits in young people that are growing up before their eyes.  I have seen glimpses of performance traits within one of my own young nieces, and I have talked to her parents about this.

I imagine my Mom, who took this photo, thinking about my traits that were emerging, and how she thrust me into a commercial, and encouraged me to play an instrument and put me amongst the angels in the wings, waiting to play our part in a larger story.

I like this photo because much later on, I would take on the character of a polar bear.

I remember this dress, when I was a young girl.  I wanted her to keep it for me, as I imagined myself growing into it, as it hung in the flimsy wooden closet of our trailer.  It held promise.  

She ended up giving it to my culturally adopted sister, who did fit it at the time, and I remember being upset, expressing myself to my Mom, not understanding that holding onto it for years and years, that dust might settle upon it, that it might lose it's sheen, it's appeal. 

My Mom passed in 2020, and recently, I finally had the right energy to digitize all of her old photos.  I was afraid of weeping before, yet now, I am able to reflect, and am happy to see glimmers of her through different moments in time.  Like this one, before I was even a glint in her eye, next to her love, a man from Missouri, who is also part American Indian, a mystery that I am unwrapping.

My Dad is still here.  He lives about a 10-12 hour drive from me, and we have gotten closer since her passing.  Here in Texas, I explain my southern accent by being half from "Missoura". 

These photos reveal myself to me.  I see her shining, and I think of my own smile. 

Shaped by their love, by the anticipation of me. 

I changed my name, it became official on December 31st, 2024.  I have a new name for the new year!  My former legal name was Allison Ann Warden, and my artist name was Allison Akootchook Warden.  My artistic name had integrated one of my traditional Iñupiaq names, Akootchook.  Now, my legal name is Aisa (pronounced Eye-suh) Warden.
It is also my artistic name.

Everyone is curious as to WHY I changed my name.  I'm not ready to share the full story here now, yet I can say that I love having a new name!  It does go along with my major move from Alaska to Texas, which happened in October of 2023.  It is a support to that major move.  

Above, I am wearing a cowboy hat and scarf, which makes me think that I must have known somehow that I would eventually become a Texan!  More soon, I am redesigning my entire site to honor my change in my name. 

​My niece asked me if she can still call me Allison, and I said no.  I am Aisa now!