The Sitka History Museum Permanent Exhibit Interpretative Panel Text Rough Draft October 2016
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The Sitka History Museum Permanent Exhibit Interpretative Panel Text Rough Draft October 2016 Feedback, comments, and suggested revisions may be submitted in writing only. Please adhere to word count restrictions noted for each panel. If submitting rewrites, please use active voice. Submissions received in passive voice will likely be edited. If submitting rewrites, please write for a broad audience. The Sitka History Museum values your feedback and will carefully consider all submissions. However, due to limitations in exhibit space and word count restrictions, not all suggestions may be incorporated in the final permanent exhibit. Please submit all feedback no later than October 21, 2016. Written feedback may be delivered to the following locations: [email protected] Sitka History Museum Administrative Office Geodetic Survey House 210 Seward Street Sitka, AK 99835 During Business Hours, 9A-5P Sitka History Museum Collections Lab 601 Alice Loop, Suite 104 Sitka, AK 99835 During Business Hours, 9A-5P G1.01 Encounter Sitka Headline-5 to 10 words Body copy-60 words Image captions-20 to 30 words A Land of Plenty Since time immemorial, people have come to Sitka, drawn by abundant resources and natural beauty. The struggle over the rights to the bounty from the land and sea has shaped Sitka’s past and influences the present. However, the many peoples lured to this land of plenty–Tlingit, Russian, American, and others–have gifted the town with a rich cultural heritage that is uniquely Sitka. Photo Captions: TBD G2.01 Since Time Immemorial Headline-3 to 5 words Intro-20 to 30 words Sub-headlines-5 to 8 words Body copy-60 to 80 words Image captions-20 to 30 words For thousands of years the Tlingit have called Southeast Alaska home, their numerous villages stretching from Dixon Entrance to Yakutat Bay. –The Tlingit Creation Story: Raven Steals the Daylight– In the beginning, people lived in darkness. An old man who lived with his daughter selfishly kept all of the light of the world hidden in a box. Raven decided to steal the light and transformed himself into a hemlock needle. Floating on water drunk by the old man’s daughter, Raven slipped down her throat and emerged later as a boy child. Raven found the box containing the light and asked the old man if he could play with it. The old man refused, and Raven began to cry. The old man loved his grandson and at last agreed. The old man tossed the ball of light and the boy transformed into Raven. He snatched the light in his beak and flew into the sky. Raven let the light go and it floated above the clouds, casting the first rays of sun onto the world. [edited for space] Photo Captions: TBD –A Life in Balance– Long before grocery stores, airplanes, and online shopping, the land and the sea provided everything necessary for a healthy and culturally-rich life. The Tlingit became masters of sustainable harvesting practices. They gathered berries, collected spruce roots to make baskets, and carved canoes and totem poles from cedar trees. They hunted deer, mountain goats, and sea mammals. Salmon, herring, and halibut were dietary staples. Dependent on a harmonious balance between man and nature, the Tlingit permitted nothing to go to waste. Photo Captions: TBD G2.02 The Tlingit People Headline-3 to 5 words Intro-20 to 30 words Body copy-40 to 50 words Image captions-20 to 30 words The Tlingit people have a complex social structure organized into two moieties, or descent groups: Raven and Eagle. Tlingit inherit their clan identity through their mother. Traditional Tlingit country was defined by tribes, or kwáans, that controlled a territory and the resources it contained. Within each kwáan, moieties subdivided into clans, and clans into kinship-based houses. Clans owned at.oow, or cultural property, such as clan crests, stories, and dances. Ceremonies where at.oow was displayed or performed validated ownership and cultural identity. Photo Captions: Traditional Tlingit Country Map caption: The Tlingit of Sitka are part of the Shee At'iká Ḵwáan and belong to the Kiks.ádi clan of Raven descent or the Kaagwaantaan clan of Eagle descent. G2:03 The Great Northern Expedition Headline-3 to 5 words Intro-20 to 30 words Body copy-40 to 50 words Image captions-20 to 30 words Alaska’s first gold rush began in 1741when Russia’s Great Northern Expedition reached North America. The “soft gold,” or sea otter pelts, the expedition returned with would forever change Alaska. As Russia’s fur trade depleted Siberian resources, Alaska’s abundant fur-bearing mammals prompted exploration. Vitus Bering led The Great Northern Expedition to Alaska, but his ship wrecked on the return trip. Surviving crew members built a boat and sailed home. The sea otter pelts worn on the journey sparked the Russian colonization of Alaska. Photo Captions: TBD G2:04 The Russian American Company Headline-3 to 5 words Intro-20 to 30 words Body copy-40 to 50 words Image captions-20 to 30 words News of Alaska’s riches quickly spread and fur trading companies flocked to North America. Small companies merged into powerful organizations, and by 1799 only the Russian American Company (RAC) remained. Tsar Paul I chartered the RAC, Russia’s first joint-stock company, and granted it a monopoly over all trade. In return, the RAC had to govern Russian America, build new settlements, and Russianize the Native population. The RAC’s first Chief Manager, Alexander Andreyevich Baranov, had a big job ahead of him. Photo Captions: TBD G2:05 The Battles of 1802 and 1804 Panel Headline-3 to 5 words Intro-20 to 30 words Sub-headlines-5 to 8 words Body copy-60 to 80 words Image captions-20 to 30 words PENDING CLAN APPROVAL Alexander Baranov ventured into Southeast Alaska to explore new sea otter hunting grounds and assert the RAC’s trade monopoly as American and British merchants encroached–he ventured into Tlingit Country. –Fort Saint Michael and the Battle of 1802– When Baranov established Fort Saint Michael north of Sitka in 1799, he believed he had Tlingit permission. However, Russian-Tlingit relations soon faltered. Not all Tlingit leaders approved of the settlement or Russian exploitation of Tlingit hunting territory, and some of the fort’s inhabitants treated the Tlingit horribly. On June 15, 1802, the Tlingit, led by Kiks.ádi Warrior Chief K’alyáan, attacked and burned the fort and killed many of its inhabitants. Survivors fled to the capital of Russian America at Kodiak. –The Sitka Battle of 1804– Following the Battle of 1802, the Kiks.ádi Shaman Stoonook foretold the return of the Russians and Baranov vowed to reestablish the colony. While Baranov gathered reinforcements, the Kiks.ádi built a fort at the present-day site of Sitka National Historical Park. In October of 1804, the Russians and the Kiks.ádi met in battle again. Both sides suffered casualties, but after the fourth day of fighting the Tlingit retreated to Peril Strait and the Russian American Company claimed Sitka. Photo Captions: TBD G3:01 Novo Arkhangelsk-Capital of Russian America Panel Headline-3 to 5 words Intro-20 to 30 words Sub-headlines-5 to 8 words Body copy-60 to 80 words Image captions-20 to 30 words The new Russian settlement at Sitka, named Novo Arkhangelsk, or New Archangel, soon became the capital of Russian America, a position it held for nearly sixty years. PENDING CLAN APPROVAL –Precarious Peace– The Kiks.ádi lost the Battle of 1804, but they did not lose the war. They relocated to an abandoned fort near Point Craven at Peril Strait called Chaatlk’aanoow. They regained their strength, replenished ammunition, and blocked traders from traveling to Sitka with supplies for the Russians. The Kiks.ádi rejected Baranov’s attempts at a peace treaty until he agreed that the land and its resources belonged to the Tlingit. In return, the Kiks.ádi allowed the RAC a small settlement at Sitka. –The Birth of the Capital– Following the Battle of 1804, the RAC quickly got to work constructing a village heavily fortified against the Tlingit with armed and maned blockhouses and a large stockade, or fence. By 1808, Baranov moved the capital of Russian America to New Archangel and the settlement soon became a metropolis on the North American Pacific Coast at a time when most of San Francisco, California was still used primarily for grazing cattle. Photo Captions: TBD G3:02 Uganax and Sugpiaq in Sitka Panel Headline-3 to 5 words Intro-20 to 30 words Body copy-40 to 50 words Image captions-20 to 30 words Russians began their Alaskan campaign in the Aleutian Islands and quickly found that they could not match the skill and efficiency of the native Unangax and Sugpiaq hunters. Russians used coercive measures and hostile force to compel the Unangax and Sugpiaq to relocate to new colonies and hunt sea otters for the company. The Tlingit had long considered Unangax and Sugpiaq their enemies and cultural tensions flared when the Russians arrived with the Native hunters. Photo Captions: TBD G3:03 Creoles of Alaska Panel Headline-3 to 5 words Intro-20 to 30 words Body copy-40 to 50 words Image captions-20 to 30 words Today, descendants of the Unangax and Sugpiaq who came to Southeast Alaska with the Russians continue to live in Sitka and contribute to the cultural fabric of this community. The RAC encouraged marriage between Russians and Natives, hoping to improve cultural relations. Russia considered their children, called Creoles, citizens and provided for their education.