New Photos Showing Regalia

SHI Special Collections recently processed a collection of digital photos capturing views of Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian regalia. The collection consists of seven CD-Rs that contain approximately 500 digital photographs which were taken at the Sealaska Heritage Institute’s Celebration festival in 2004. The pictures in this collection were taken by a special team working to document and photograph Native regalia and the history behind specific regalia pieces. Participating individuals allowed their regalia to be photographed and then were interviewed about their regalia. The project was known as the Dance Regalia Documentary Project and was managed by Tlingit artist and weaver Clarissa Hudson. The project was sponsored by the Sealaska Heritage Institute and Artstream Cultural Resources, with additional funding provided by the Alaska Humanities Forum.

The pictures on our CD-Rs include individuals and families in various poses displaying/wearing their regalia. All individuals are identified and signed a waiver granting SHI rights to use these photographs for educational purposes. There are approximately 500 images and there were around 50 studio shoots, wherein either an individual or a group posed for photographs. Photographs were taken by Donna Foulke and Clarissa Hudson. A sample of these photos can be viewed online via SHI Special Collection’s webalbum. Additional information and more specific details about the Dance Regalia Documentary Project can be found via the project’s website, by clicking here.

All in all, SHI Special Collections is grateful to have these and other historic images. As a non-profit organization dedicated to serving the public, SHI Special Collections obtains images primarily by donation. If you or your family have old photographs you would be willing to donate please contact SHI’s archivist.

Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian Genealogy

Since genealogists are the largest user group of archival repositories in the United States, I wanted to make a post about conducting genealogy research at our facility. First off, if you have never conducted genealogy research you should be aware that it can be time consuming and require a great deal of work on the part of the genealogist. Before visiting an archive, a genealogy researcher should already know what they are looking for and be prepared to conduct research. For example, I recommend that a genealogy researcher should:

• Compile as much information as possible about your family. Start with yourself, parents, and grandparents.
• Ask your relatives about your family history. Often, family members remember stories or information, or possess documents, that can help start you on your way. Write this information down.

• Look in family records (letters, family Bibles, scrapbooks, diaries, photographs, baptisms, and news clippings, etc).
• And know exactly what type of information you want. Are you looking for mechanical information such as birth and death data? Or are you looking for personal stories and information about certain family members?
• Be aware about how to conduct historical research by using primary sources.

These are some good starting points. A host of other informative sources are available about how to conduct genealogy research. I’d recommend you visit National Archives’ webpage by clicking here. Juneau-based researchers should also know that there is a local genealogical society, the Gastineau Genealogical Society, which could prove helpful. Additionally, people should be aware of the genealogical research conducted by Kenneth Lea, who has indexed around 35,000 Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian names on ancestry.com, which can be viewed by clicking here. Lastly, there are numerous organizations and archives in Alaska and elsewhere in the USA that could have sources to aid genealogists, some of these I have listed on the right column of this blog, under the title “Southeast Alaska Native Studies Links.”

As for resources at Sealaska Heritage Institute, we have some materials that could help people learn about family history, but please be aware that we do not have materials on most Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian families at this point. We do not have census information or family history records. However, some of our collections that could provide information for genealogists include our Curry-Weissbrodt Collection and our audiovisual recordings collection. The Curry-Weissbrodt Collection contains the papers of lawyers for the Tlingit and Haida from the 1920s up to the ANCSA period. Some papers consist of depositions from select Alaska Natives and information about the people in specific villages. Next, our audiovisual recordings collection consists of around 600 recordings, some of which are oral history interviews wherein people talked about their family, history of their clan, and similar topics. Please feel free to contact the archivist for further details.

We must also emphasize, that Sealaska Corporation maintains shareholder records, which are confidential and not available to the public or for genealogical research. In closing, we desire to help assist people in their research and are more than happy to assist genealogists. Importantly, should you have any old family papers, photographs, or other materials that you would like to be preserved in our archival facility, please contact the archivist about making a possible donation. (above featured Arthur J. Demmert photo was donated to SHI in early 2008, image captures Sheldon Jackson College students, class of 1933)

Note update: SHI now has a specific webpage devoted to assisting patrons with genealogical research. SHI also contains the BIA census records for the state of Alaska, which are a great genealogical tool.

Tips for finding books on NW Coast Native topics

Quite regularly people visit our repository to use our book collections and other resources. While we don’t have every book on the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian people, that is our lofty goal. Since our books can be viewed onsite only (we are a non-circulating library), there are now a number of great resources out there to help people find the books they want and that are available, which is what I wanted to post about this week. I wanted to make everyone aware of WorldCat, a ‘world catalog’ or database of the world’s books. This international database can be used by anyone, and allows users to search a database of all books produced in the world (or at least listed by participating libraries, which means most all US & Canadian libraries, many European, Australia and New Zealand, etc.). It also provides search categories for music, movies, and other, which can be helpful. Once you find a book you want, WorldCat tells you where the nearest library is that holds the book. Users can also quickly create a username and create favorite lists of books they want to read (or movies to watch, etc.), and view lists others have created. WorldCat has largely become the premier library resource. It is also starting to link with Facebook, for any of those out there who are Facebook users, to stay connect with the rising technological/social generation. All in all, this new revolutionary ‘world’ catalog is really changing things for information seekers. I encourage everyone to spend a few minutes just exploring WorldCat and use it anytime you have information needs.

SHI Awarded Grant to Post Catalogs of Holdings Online

[To view SHI's online archival, library, and ethnographic presence, click here.]

Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) has received a grant to create an online catalog of its archival and ethnographic collections and to catalog its book holdings in an online library database.

The project is a huge step forward in making the institute’s materials more accessible to the public, said SHI Archivist Zachary Jones, noting for the first time a full listing of SHI’s collections will be available via the Internet.

“This is going to transform the way we operate, up our effectiveness and hopefully bring more people in and serve people better,” Jones said.

“It allows us to let people know in a more effective way what we have and to bring them in here. We want people to use our materials. The most important part about having these great collections is getting people to use them,” he said

To get a sense of SHI’s collections, patrons currently must contact Jones directly or go to SHI’s Juneau office to peruse catalogs of the institute’s holdings, which include more than 5,000 publications, approximately 20,000 photographic images, roughly 1,000 cultural objects, nearly 2,500 media items, and more than 750 linear feet of manuscript material that document the history, culture, heritage, and language of the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian people of Southeast Alaska.

The two-year, $148-thousand grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) will allow people to search SHI’s archival and ethnographic holdings on the Internet by using keywords or browse searching for authors and subjects. The archival catalog will give descriptions of the materials, but people still will have to go to the institute’s office to view the collections.

SHI’s book holdings will be cataloged in the online Capital Cities Library Information Center, a catalog that is shared by the Juneau Public Library, the Alaska State Library, the University of Alaska/Southeast, and other libraries in the Juneau City and Borough area. The institute eventually will post links to the databases on its website at www.sealaskaheritage.org.

Sealaska Heritage Institute is a regional nonprofit representing the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian people of Southeast Alaska. Its mission is to perpetuate and enhance Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian cultures.

A version of this press release was also published in the Juneau Empire, which can be viewed via clicking here.

Collecting The Voice of Brotherhood

Last week one of our Board of Trustees, Dr. Walter A. Soboleff, donated some additional Alaska Native Brotherhood (ANB) papers to SHI Special Collections. (Over the years Dr. Soboleff has donated a large collection of his ANB papers to SHI, some of which can be viewed online by clicking here.) Dr. Soboleff has been involved with the Alaska Native Brotherhood for decades, and even served as its Grand President and in other ranking ANB offices. Of special interest concerning this most recent donation, it contained numerous issues of the ANB & ANS periodical The Voice of Brotherhood. This periodical was produced monthly by ANB and ANS from 1954 to 1976 and is quite rare today. WorldCat, a database of international library holdings, shows that only 12 libraries in the world have partial or complete runs of Voice of Brotherhood (most all of these 12 have incomplete runs). While our collection is not complete either, as we are missing issues from a few years, we are working to collect all the issues produced by ANB & ANS. If you have any copies of Voice of Brotherhood and are interested in donating them to us please contact the archivist.

Regarding the Voice of Brotherhood, this periodical is especially important for researchers because it contains very informative information about historic ANB & ANS activities. The periodical talks about ANB’s efforts to fight for land claims, stop racism, improve conditions for Alaska Natives, and their work on various other important issues. Before 1971 when ANCSA (the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act) was passed and Native corporations were established, ANB regularly served as the voice of Alaska Native people. ANB first hired the lawyers (like James E. Curry and I. E. Weissbrodt) worked on the judicial settlement of Southeast Alaska Native land claims. ANB and ANS truly worked tirelessly for the betterment of Alaskan communities. SHI Special Collections is proud to make available to the public our historic collections of ANB papers and issues of the Voice of Brotherhood.