Dauenhauer Tlingit Oral Literature Collection Introduction Call number: MC 5 Accession 2010.008 Date range: 1899-1999 Size: 9 boxes Processed by: Rick Huteson, Archival Assistant, & Zachary Jones, Archivist Processing date: November – December 2008. Additional materials added by Zach Jones in November 2009; August and November 2010; and January 2012. Finding by: Rick Huteson, Archival Assistant, & Zachary Jones, Archivist Intellectual Properties Note: Since SHI adheres to the Protocols for Native American Archival Materials, and since we desire to honor Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian traditional cultural belief that clans retain the intellectual property rights to clan stories or songs, patrons who use or study clan songs or stories are asked to credit clan ownership to stories and songs. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cite this collection as: MC 5, Item #, Tape # Dauenhauer Tlingit Oral Literature Collection Sealaska Heritage Institute Archives Juneau, Alaska 1 Dauenhauer Tlingit Oral Literature Collection Biographical Note Nora Marks Dauenhauer (b. 1927) is an American poet, short-story writer, and a scholar of the language and traditions of the Tlingit Indians of Southeast Alaska. Nora Marks herself is Tlingit, and was born May 8, 1927, the first of sixteen children of Emma Marks (1913-2006) of Yakutat, Alaska, and Willie Marks (1902-1981), a Tlingit from near Juneau, Alaska. Nora's Tlingit name at birth was Keixwnéi, and following her mother in the Tlingit matrilineal system, she is a member of the Raven moiety, L’uknax.ádi clan, and of the Shaka Hít or Canoe Prow House, from Alsek River. Emma's maternal grandfather had been Frank Italio (1870-1956), an informant to the anthropologist Frederica de Laguna whose knowledge was incorporated into De Laguna's 1972 ethnography of the northern Tlingit, Under Mount St. Elias. In circa 1972 Nora was selected and endorsed by Tlingit elders to document the Tlingit culture, and since that time Nora collected recordings and interviewed Tlingit elders. Nora earned a degree in anthropology and, with her husband Richard Dauenhauer, a poet and translator, she has authored numerous articles and also co-edited the Sealaska Heritage Institute's highly regarded four volume Classics of Tlingit Oral Literature series, titles which includes, Haa Shuká, Our Ancestors: Tlingit Oral Narratives (1987), Haa Tuwanáagu Yís, for Healing Our Spirit: Tlingit Oratory (1992), Haa Kusteeyí, Our Culture: Tlingit Life Stories. (1994), and Anóoshi Lingít Aaní Ká: Russians in Tlingit America, The Battles of Sitka 1802 and 1804 (2009). Richard L. Dauenhauer is an American poet and translator who married into, and became an expert on, the Tlingit nation of southeastern Alaska. His wife is the Tlingit poet and scholar Nora Marks Dauenhauer. Richard, who goes by Dick, holds a B.A. in Russian and Slavic languages from Syracuse University, a M.A. in German from the University of Texas, and a Ph.D. in comparative literature from the University of Wisconsin Madison, with his dissertation titled “Text and Context of Tlingit Oral Tradition.” He studied in Finland under a Fulbright Fellowship in 1966-1967, before coming to Alaska in the late 1960s to teach at Alaska Methodist University. He is an author and poet and has published several volumes of poetry as well as translations of poetry from languages including German, Russian, Finnish, and classical Greek. In 1981, he was named to a four-year term as Poet Laureate of Alaska. In the most recent decades Dauenhauer’s work has focused on the Tlingit of Southeast Alaska. He worked for the Sealaska Heritage Institute during the 1980s and 1990s, before moving to University of Alaska Southeast, where he became President's Professor of Alaska Native Languages. The author of numerous articles and book chapters, together the Richard Dauenhauer and his wife Nora Marks Dauenhauer are also the author-editors of the Sealaska Heritage Institute’s highly regarded Classics of Tlingit Oral Literature series, titles which include, Haa Shuká, Our Ancestors: Tlingit Oral Narratives (1987), Haa Tuwanáagu Yís, for Healing Our Spirit: Tlingit Oratory (1992), Haa Kusteeyí, Our Culture: Tlingit Life Stories. (1994), and Anóoshi Lingít Aaní Ká: Russians in Tlingit America, The Battles of Sitka 1802 and 1804 (2008). 2 Dauenhauer Tlingit Oral Literature Collection Provenance Note The materials in this collection were received by SHI in various batches between 2008 and 2012 from Richard L. Dauenhauer and Nora Marks Dauenhauer. They signed an official deed of gift on Nov. 13, 2012. Regarding specific accessions, Items 1-314 (Tapes 1-258) were received on November 15, 2008, Items 315-335 (Tapes 258-280) on November 4, 2009, Items 336-350 (Tapes 292-299) on August 20, 2010, Items 336-384 (Tapes 300-340) on November 3, 2010, Items 385-526 (Tapes 341-430) on January 30, 2012. 3 Dauenhauer Tlingit Oral Literature Collection Scope & Content Note This collection contains approximately 500 audio recordings on CD, which were collected or created by scholars Nora Marks Dauenhauer and Richard Dauenhauer. These recordings date from 1899 to 1999, contain speaking in English and Tlingit (the bulk in Tlingit), and document a vast array of subjects and topics concerning Tlingit history, culture, subsistence, land issues, language and other aspects of importance relative to the Tlingit. The recordings capture the words of Tlingit elders, orators, activists, cultural specialists, and others, as well as the audio from various conferences, Tlingit gatherings and events, and other cultural programs. These recordings are very rich with content and contain important information about the Tlingit people. The CDs that comprise this collection were obtained from the Dauenhauers, after University of Alaska Southeast staff migrated these recordings to CD format per grant funding. The Dauenhauers retain the original format recordings (reels, cassettes, etc.). The CDs contained a numbering system kept by the Dauenhauers, found on these CDs upon donation to SHI, and SHI archival staff has retained this numbering system, which is reflected in the inventory. Descriptive information about the content of the recordings, which are labeled on individual CDs, has also been retained. When requesting a recording from this collection, please include the Item number and the Tape number to assist staff in locating the recording. From 2011 to 2013 via an IMLS Enhancement Grant, recordings in this collection with limited to no descriptive information were reviewed by fluent Tlingit speakers, who provided detailed feedback. Item descriptions were updated from this feedback, providing a better documentation of this collection for the public. These fluent speaking reviewers primarily included David Katzeek (Shangukeidí clan) of Klukwan, Fred White (Shangukeidí clan) of Yakutat, and Marsha Hotch (Gaanaxteidí clan) of Klukwan. The final box in the collection contains documents from some their reviews, which can greatly assist researchers in understanding additional details of the recordings. In 2012 SHI received a document from the Dauenhauers that detailed the contents of part of the collection, with recordings description primarily from Nora Marks Dauenhauer. Description by Nora has been noted as ‘content by NMD’. 4 Dauenhauer Tlingit Oral Literature Collection Inventory Box 1: Items 1-73, Tapes 1-60. Item 1: Oral Literature Collection; Tape 1-2. Tape one: Robert Zuboff (Kak’weidí Clan, Kaakáakw Hít), Mosquito, 1974, as published in Haa Shuka. CD track 1. Tape 2: Frank Johnson, Strong man, published in Haa Shuka. CD track 2. Item 2: Oral Literature Collection; Tape 3: Recording of Frank Dick Sr. (Naakilaan; of the Raven Coho Clan, Far Out House) and Jennie White Dick (Jeinik, of the Eagle Thunderbird Clan, Thunderbird House), recorded 2-11-78, speaking is entirely in Tlingit. Interviewer is Nora Dauenhauer. 22:18 minutes in length. Content includes; a) Frank Dick Sr. talking about Clan House locations in the Dry Bay and the Alsek River area and the Aakwe River and the Clan houses on the of Guséixh on the Aakwe River; b) Genealogy of Nora Dauenhauer’s family and Shamans of the areas; and c) a short Raven story about King salmon. Recording concerns the people of Yakutat and Dry Bay, the Lukaax.ádi Clan, and clans of the speakers. Item 3: Oral Literature Collection; Tape 4: Recording of Frank Dick, recorded 2-11-78, speaking is entirely in Tlingit. Interviewer appears to be Nora Dauenhauer. 23:02 minutes in length. Continued from Tape 3. Content: a) Discussion of place names in Dry Bay Alsek river area of the north Gulf coast of Southeast Alaska, b) Short discussion of Raven story when Raven beached the Whale on Bear Island in Dry Bay, c) Discussion of (Lukaax.ádi) Raven Sockeye Clan genealogy, Clan Shaman names in Dry Bay Alsek river area. [Migrated from a broken cassette; there are 1 or more short gaps where a splice was made or the Tape would not play.] Item 4: Oral Literature Collection; Tape 5: Robert Zuboff (Kak’weidí Clan, Kaakáakw Hít), Tlingit speaking, from reel to reel 1. Notes say “Undated but probably recorded by O.W. Frost at APU during the 1972-73 academic year.” 31:45 minutes in length. First 29 minutes is entirely in Tlingit, last two minutes in English. English speaks about a story connecting coastal Tlingit to the inland Tlingit at Teslin, Yukon. Tlingit speaking includes Zuboff telling Raven stories. English translation provided on Tape 6 [next tape]. Item 5: Oral Literature Collection; Tape 6: Robert Zuboff, English speaking, from reel to reel 1. Notes say “Undated, probably recorded by O.W. Frost at APU during 1972-73 academic year.” Speaking in English. 59 minutes in length. Content is continued from Tape 5; an English version from Tlingit stories told on Tape 5. Raven stories; the raven chased down from heaven, and salmon runs. How the tide master brought the flood. Item 6: Oral Literature Collection; Tape 7: Recording labeled “Esther Johnson,” from reel to reel; songs from Yakutat.