TLINGIT ARTIST TELLS CAUTIONARY TALE ABOUT USE OF FEATHERS IN ART

SHI to work with Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) to address matter this week

Award-winning Tlingit carver Archie Cavanaugh is still reeling from federal charges that threatened to imprison him for 10 years and impose a $100,000 fine—all because he put feathers on his work.

Cavanaugh says he did not know he was prohibited by two federal laws from using flicker feathers and raven feathers on pieces for sale, and he wants other Native artists to know they could be in legal peril as well.

 

“It was devastating, it was depressive. It was hurtful, painful, for a carver—a Tlingit—to go through what I did, not knowing it was a law,” Cavanaugh said.

SHI is working with the Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) to introduce a resolution on the matter at its convention this week. The resolution would support a federal amendment to exempt Native handicrafts from the prohibition on the sale or purchase of nonedible parts of migratory birds that were taken for subsistence purposes, said SHI President Rosita Worl. It would be almost identical to an exemption in the handicraft language in the Marine Mammals Protection Act, Worl said. A federal policy announced last week by the U.S. Dept. of Justice is a step in the right direction, but the sale of Native art adorned with feathers of federally protected birds is still prohibited, she said.

“So many of our people use these materials and they’re not aware that selling them is prohibited. The use of flicker feathers is an ancient practice,” said Worl. “And as far as we’re aware, flicker feathers come from birds that are not endangered.”

Cavanaugh’s ordeal began when an agent with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently contacted him, saying the artist could face prison time and substantial fines because he was attempting to sell online a shakee.át (headdress) adorned with flicker feathers and a hat that had raven feathers on it. He says a farmer in the Lower 48 gave the flicker feathers to him and an animal control officer gave the raven feathers to him.

Cavanaugh faced charges under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act for attempted sale of the flicker feathers and under the Lacey Act for attempted sale of the raven feathers. He hired a lawyer and settled the case in October, agreeing to pay a $2,000 fine with no prison time. He also was forced to strip the feathers from his pieces and hand them over to the agency.

Cavanaugh says he complied to avoid prison time and a financially devastating fine, but he doesn’t understand why he isn’t allowed to sell especially items adorned with flicker feathers, which are found on ancient pieces. A revered Tlingit carver from Wrangell named Kaajisduáx.ch (Man For You To Hear*) sold such pieces, he said.

“He came from Wrangell all through Southeast doing all kinds of art projects for people, for tribes, for clans and he never did it for free. He was always paid tináa (copper shields),” he said.

The bottom line for Native people is Native artists cannot sell pieces adorned with feathers from birds protected under federal law—even if they are selling the pieces to other Native people as a clan’s at.óow (sacred clan objects) for use in ceremonies. In such a case, both the Native artist and the Native buyer could face felony charges.

“We as carvers carve shakee.áts, carve hats for our people to use in Indian dances, to use for ceremonial gatherings, to use when our people pass away that the opposite clans can meet,” he said.

“I’m just hoping Don Young, Murkowski, Begich will address this with our help, with AFN’s help, that they can put an amendment to this act that will give us the right to be Native people, to create artifacts that have been done for 10,000 years.”

The practice also would help Native people in economically depressed communities earn an income, Worl said.

Sealaska Heritage Institute was founded in 1980 to promote cultural diversity and cross-cultural understanding. The institute is governed by a Board of Trustees and guided by a Council of Traditional Scholars. Its mission is to perpetuate and enhance Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian cultures of Southeast Alaska.

CONTACT: Rosita Worl, SHI president, 907-463-4844; Archie Cavanaugh, Tlingit artist, 907-790-3669

RADIO STATION DONATES ARCHIVAL RECORDINGS TO SHI

Audio reels document the community of Wrangell

A Southeast Alaska radio station has donated to Sealaska Heritage Institute hundreds of audio recordings dating from the 1960s to the 1990s.

The collection donated by KSTK-FM documents the history and events of the community of Wrangell through interviews and talk shows over the years, said SHI Archivist and Collections Manager Zachary Jones.

The recordings touch upon topics of interest to the Native community and the community as a whole, Jones said.

“It’s especially great for Sealaska Heritage Institute because it documents a portion of the Native community—the community’s concerns, their culture, their language, their history and their art. But the collection is also really important because it documents the wider community of Wrangell, not just the Native community, and that’s important, too,” Jones said.

The recordings will be of use to anyone interested in studying Southeast Alaska. The recordings cover a broad range of topics, including cultural, historical and even ecological information, said Jones.

“Speakers include the noted Tlingit Elder Walter Soboleff speaking, Native artists, influential individual Esther Shay as well as individuals like the mayor of Wrangell speaking to Congressman Don Young,” Jones said.

The donation brings another vital resource that will allow SHI to continue its work in writing tribal histories from the words of those who were part of Native history, said SHI President Rosita Worl.  

“The public, including Natives, grew up without the benefit of learning about Native history since it was not taught in school. It is as if Natives had no history. This collection will help fill this gap,” said Worl, adding she is also hopeful that this collection and other collections in SHI’s archives might encourage Native students to become historians since at the present time we do not have a single Native historian.  

SHI Trustee Ethel Lund, who is from Wrangell, was excited KSTK made the donation to the institute, saying there is very little documentation on Wrangell consolidated in one public facility.

“Most of our history is scattered in different homes and the documentation is not centered in one place like this will be at SHI, where it will be accessible to us,” Lund said.

The recordings are on approximately 200 reels and must first be digitized for use by patrons of the archive, which is located in Sealaska Plaza and open to the public.

Sealaska Heritage Institute is a private, nonprofit founded in 1980 to promote cultural diversity and cross-cultural understanding. The institute is governed by a Board of Trustees and guided by a Council of Traditional Scholars. Its mission is to perpetuate and enhance Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian cultures of Southeast Alaska.

CONTACT: Rosita Worl, 907-463-4844; Michael Symons, KSTK General Manager, 907-874-2345

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

Zachary Jones, a historian and archivist for Sealaska Heritage Institute, will be in Wrangell this week to talk to the public about his ongoing research to document the 1869 Battle of Wrangell.

The conflict between U.S. Army soldiers stationed at Fort Wrangell and the local Tlingit Indians is being studied by Jones through the support of SHI and a National Park Service American Battlefield Preservation Program grant.

Jones will give a public presentation about his research at the Wrangell Museum at 7 pm, Wednesday, Sept. 19.

The public is invited to attend and participate--Jones is seeking to record oral histories of those in Wrangell willing to speak about the 1869 conflict.

For more information contact Jones by clicking here.

Alaska Native Studies offered at UAS

Juneau Empire

August 26, 2012

The University of Alaska Southeast is expanding its options for studying Alaska Native language and culture with more courses and a new major.

Fall 2012 Alaska Native Language courses open

The fall semester at the University of Alaska Southeast starts August 30. The department of Alaska Native Studies encourages the learning of the languages of Southeast Alaska. There are plenty of openings in Alaska Native language courses including Tlingit, Tlingit for the Family and Home, and Tlingit for the Dormant Speaker. For more information, or to sign up for classes, go to: http://www.uas.alaska.edu and click on the schedule icon or call 796-6100.

UAS new degree: Alaska Native Studies

The University of Alaska Southeast is pleased to announce a new degree offering in Alaska Native Studies. Course requirements for a Bachelor of Arts in Alaska Native Studies include courses in Tlingit and Haida, Northwest Coast Art, History and Culture, Alaska Native Social Change and cross disciplinary courses with Alaska Native themes.

The long term intention is to build a degree for people who want to work with Alaska Native languages, people and organizations. Classes will be developed that examine traditional ecological knowledge (Lingít Ethnobotany), Native American Critical Theory, Native Americans and Film, Documenting Alaska Native Languages, Alaska Native Language Revitalization, Placenames and Geography, Alaska Native and Federal Indian Law, and more.

For more information, please contact Xh’unei - Lance A. Twitchell, Assistant Professor of Alaska Native Languages at 796-6114.

NPS Grant Funds Battle of Wrangell Research

Wrangell, 1886. Richard Wood Collection, Sealaska Heritage Institute Archives.

To read the recent press release by KSTA about Sealaska Heritage Institute's grant project to document the 1869 Battle of Wrangell, click here.