DOCSLIB.ORG

Cama'i America: Alaska Natives, Narrative, and the Spaces Of

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Cama'i America: Alaska Natives, Narrative, and the Spaces Of Cama’i America: Alaska Natives, Narrative, and the Spaces of Empire By Thomas Michael Swensen A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Ethnic Studies in the Graduate Division Of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Thomas J. Biolsi, Chair Professor Laura E. Perez Professor Keith Feldman Professor Hertha Sweet-wong Fall 2011 Cama’i America: Alaska Natives, Narrative, and the Spaces of Empire © 2011 by Thomas Michael Swensen Abstract Cama’i America: Alaska Natives, Narrative, and the Spaces of Empire by Thomas Michael Swensen Doctor of Philosophy in Ethnic Studies University of California, Berkeley Professor Thomas J. Biolsi, chair The word “cama’i” in the title, pronounced cha-my, is the Alutiiq word for “hello.” Given that in the nineteenth-century Alutiiqs, working in California, passed the word on to Kashaya speaking Pomo whom still presently use the greeting in their language today, I use the term to underscore global geopolitical articulations in the field of Native American and Indigenous studies. The first chapter, “Cama’i America,” examines oral narratives by conscripted Alaska Natives and colonized Kashaya Indians at the village of Metini, California during the Fort Ross trading period in the early nineteenth-century. The second chapter, “Citizens/Subjects in the Last Frontier,” analyzes Alaska Native citizenship during the movement that resulted in statehood in 1959. This chapter focuses on the textuality of the Alaska flag, adopted in 1927, and how images and representations of Jon “Benny” Benson, the flag’s Alutiiq designer, and the children of Athabascan Chief Luke, relate to the perceived incorporation of the region’s indigenous people into the nation’s racial culture and gender hierarchy. The third chapter, “Impossible Sovereignty,” reads the indigenously-produced films Our Aleut History: Alaska Natives in Progress (1986) and Aleut Story (2005) as indigenous heritage recovery projects with contrasting goals, covering twentieth-century enslavement, World War II internment, and United States citizenship. Chapter four, “Of Displacement and Domestication,” turns to the play River Woman as Tlingit writer and Alaska politician Diane E. Benson’s dramaturgical response to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971. The final chapter, “The Ends of Imperialism,” articulates the Bering region as an indigenous cultural center reading the Cold War-era politics of transcontinental Yupik culture through the work of “American” and “Russian” Bering Strait Yupik women writers. i Table of contents Acknowledgements iii Chapter One 1 Cama’i America Chapter Two 17 Citizens/Subjects in the Last Frontier Chapter three 33 Impossible Sovereignty Chapter Four 53 Of Displacement and Domestication Chapter Five 68 The Ends of Imperialism Image Appendix 85 Works Cited 93 End Notes 101 ii Acknowledgements My utmost appreciation goes towards the members of this dissertation’s committee. Dissertation Chair Professor Thomas J. Biolsi has exercised tremendous patience in his supervision of my work. Warm heartfelt thanks I extend to Professor Keith Feldman’s raw generosity and keen intellect. I wish to extend my gratitude toward Professor Sweet Wong for kindly reading numerous drafts of this project over the last few years. This project would not be possible if not for this important, and surely incomplete, list of people and organizations. Gordon Pullar, for all his work on the behalf of myself and all Alaska Natives. Shari M. Huhndorf, Brian Klopotek, the late Phillip Frickey, Saul-Ling Wong, Susan Gunter, Khatharya Um, Kathleen Karlyn, Catherine Ceniza Choy, Nina and Michael Vought, the staff at the Sweet branch of the Salt Lake City Library, Cal’s Native American Studies Librarian Jon Barry, K. Bambi Krause at N.A.T.H.P.O., Matt Basso, Angela Marie Smith, Pat Hilden, José David Saldívar, Floyd O’neil, Jeff Ostler, the late Peggy Pascoe, Jason Chang, Julie Choffel, and Cora, Blake Hauseman, and University of Oregon Ethnic Studies department. Jodi Byrd, Elizabeth Tsukahara, Leanne Howe, Robert Warrior, Matt Gilbert, John Mckinn, Fred Hoxie, Bob Parker Corbett Upton, Mimi Thi Nguyen, J K ēhaulani Kauanui, Woody Island Tribe, Koniag, inc, and Koniag Education Foundation, The National Association of Tribal Preservation Officers, The University of Utah’s American West Center, KANA, Leisnoi, inc., the kind staff at the Utah Museum of Natural History, filmmaker Judy Ann Peterson, Francisca Cázares (really deserves an entire paragraph for continually going above and beyond her job on behalf of all graduate students at UC Berkeley Ethnic Studies), Jeffery McCarthy, Center on Diversity and Community at the University of Oregon, the staff at Westminster College’s HWAC, my graduate school colleagues at UC Berkeley, and my fellow Duck iii Chapter One: Cama’i America Let us start with a workable definition of empire: the use and abuse, and ignoring, of other people for one’s own welfare and convenience. Now in truth, America was born and bred of empire. William Appleman Williams, Empire as a Way of Life This introductory chapter explores the oral narratives and historical accounts of North American indigenous people, now referred to as Alaska Natives and California Indians, who were involved with the North American Russian empire during the nineteenth-century. Alaska Natives, as subjects of the Russian Crown, worked for the Russian American Company throughout the Pacific and Bering region, while the Southern Pomo, California Indians, hosted the Russian enterprise, known as Fort Ross, in the village of Metini on the Sonoma coast of Northern California. Through an examination of indigenous oral narrative and historical accounts, this chapter links indigenous people to imperial structure by inquiring into how they create and maintain cultural space within the coercive landscapes empire manifests. After the Russian and Spanish territoriality of their regions, both Alaska Natives and California Indians would of course find their lands occupied by the United States, another imperial project, from the mid-nineteenth-century to the present. Covering pre-United States occupation of Alaska and California, this chapter recognizes a transitional link between Russian and United States activities in North America through indigenous narrative in the consideration of my project’s broader inquiry of Indigenous people and “American” empire. In the essay “Empire as a Way of Life” Williams speaks to the United States’ rise as a global power by defining the nation as an empire “born and bred” from the “use and abuse” of others. In turn, he views the nation’s history as embodying a set of sinister deeds committed against other nations. Published in 1980 in the wake of the Vietnam War, “Empire as a Way of Life” is interested in constructing a genealogy to account for contemporary United States imperial formation. His views on national empire have clearly become the basis for a critical understanding of American history bringing into focus both those who benefitted, and those who were victimized in the rise of the nation as a global power. But what of the latter, those whose “welfare and convenience” empire has worked against? Does William’s important work hold true for the , national subaltern? And how has empire put them to use against their own interests in the service of empire’s beneficiaries? The term “America,” of course encompasses more than a single nation-state; it is a designation for two continents colonized by Eurasian empires 500 years ago, and perhaps should include US overseas possessions and spheres of influence, that are certainly part of the American empire. Since the original European entry, an imperial system has conscripted the labor of colonized people for resource extraction, transportation, and commerce in the “New World” and abroad, and incorporated territory for the colonial settlement of European populations. The “America[n]” nation, of which Williams writes, is part of a global system of neocolonial states. Perhaps to emphasize the global nature of this imperial system, Williams establishes an uncomplicated spatial demarcation between those benefiting from empire inside the United States, and those subordinate, external to the nation, whom embody the subaltern. This composes a common enough understanding of empire. Articulating Williams’ “workable definition,” and speaking to the spatial organization of empire, geographer Ronald Johnston 1 describes empire as “the creation and maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural and territorial” project, primarily “based on domination and subordination” of one territorially-based people upon another (375). But does empire’s imagined geography not require a deeper analysis? What of those who were “born and bred” in empire—within its metropolitan “home”—who have been “use[d] and abuse[d]” themselves, in ways akin to empire’s overseas victims? Are not the internal imperial subaltern just as much a part of America as those in the position of “domination?” Care should be exercised in one presuming a clear territorial division between those who benefit and those who pay for global inequality, as in such equations as “the global north” vs. “the global south.” In the case of the Cherokee (indigenous to Southeastern North America), for example, Williams notes that an expanding United States “[m]ove[d] them out and force[d] them to adapt to surplus space,” overlooking how integral the Cherokee have been to
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Ch'u'itnu Traditional Cultural Landscape
    The Ch’u’itnu Traditional Cultural Landscape: A District Eligible for the National Register of Historic Places Submitted by The Native American Rights Fund On behalf of The Native Village of Tyonek By Alan S. Boraas, Ronald T. Stanek, Douglas R. Reger, and Thomas F. King April 3, 2015 Acknowledgments Many people have helped with the preparation of this report, and we are indebted to all of them. In particular, we would like to thank Shina DuVall, Archaeologist in the Alaska State Historic Preservation Office, for her guidance and feedback; Doug Tosa, GIS Analyst with the Alaska Center for the Environment, for his mapping and technical assistance; and NARF staff Shay Elbaum and Jill Rush, for their editorial contributions. 1 Executive Summary The intent of this document is to explain why the Ch’u’itnu (Chuitt River) drainage1 of Cook Inlet, Alaska constitutes a Traditional Cultural Landscape (TCL) associated with the indigenous Tyonek Dena’ina, or Tubughna,2 people. The Ch’u’itnu TCL as described in this paper should be recognized as eligible for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP or “National Register”), for purposes of assessing and resolving adverse effects on it under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) and its implementing regulations in 36 C.F.R. Part 800. The Tubughna people have used and occupied the Ch’u’itnu drainage as an essential part of their traditional territory since time immemorial. The landscape along the river, including the river mouth, has been and continues to be a place where the Tubughna carry out subsistence resource harvests, settlement, celebrations of life, and travel to accomplish these purposes.
    [Show full text]
  • Atlas of American Orthodox Christian Monasteries
    Atlas of American Orthodox Christian Monasteries Atlas of Whether used as a scholarly introduction into Eastern Christian monasticism or researcher’s directory or a travel guide, Alexei Krindatch brings together a fascinating collection of articles, facts, and statistics to comprehensively describe Orthodox Christian Monasteries in the United States. The careful examina- Atlas of American Orthodox tion of the key features of Orthodox monasteries provides solid academic frame for this book. With enticing verbal and photographic renderings, twenty-three Orthodox monastic communities scattered throughout the United States are brought to life for the reader. This is an essential book for anyone seeking to sample, explore or just better understand Orthodox Christian monastic life. Christian Monasteries Scott Thumma, Ph.D. Director Hartford Institute for Religion Research A truly delightful insight into Orthodox monasticism in the United States. The chapters on the history and tradition of Orthodox monasticism are carefully written to provide the reader with a solid theological understanding. They are then followed by a very human and personal description of the individual US Orthodox monasteries. A good resource for scholars, but also an excellent ‘tour guide’ for those seeking a more personal and intimate experience of monasticism. Thomas Gaunt, S.J., Ph.D. Executive Director Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) This is a fascinating and comprehensive guide to a small but important sector of American religious life. Whether you want to know about the history and theology of Orthodox monasticism or you just want to know what to expect if you visit, the stories, maps, and directories here are invaluable.
    [Show full text]
  • GET out the NATIVE VOTE Shareholderspotlight Clara Amidon the U.S
    SHAREHOLDER NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2020 2019 2020 Virutal Youth Art Contest ANCs Denied Potlatch 03 Winners 05 CARES Act Funding 06 President's Message .................... 2 October: Celebrating Heritage ..... 4 Winners' Circle .............................. 6 Board Corner ................................. 2 Shareholder Awards ..................... 4 Important Dates ............................ 7 2021 Board Recruitment ............... 2 Youth Educational Prizes .............. 5 Quarter 4 Distributions ................. 7 Nonprofit Spotlight ....................... 3 Recipe ............................................ 5 Missing Shareholders ................... 8 In Touch .......................................... 4 In Memory ..................................... 6 Stock Forfeiture ............................ 8 GET OUT THE NATIVE VOTE SHAREHOLDERSPotlight Clara Amidon The U.S. General Election is Tuesday, Nov. 3! CIRI shareholder Clara Amidon (Yup’ik and Unangan) never dreamed she’d be teaching virtually during a pandemic. In fact, growing up in Alaska’s Bristol Bay region in the 1960s and early ‘70s, her family didn’t even own a television. “We moved to Anchorage when I was 13, after my father passed away,” Clara recalls. “The city was a culture shock, and it took me a long while to get my footing. There were roads, homes, color TV… And not just one store—there were many! “How to fit in, how to adapt—it’s a learning process, and I remember it well,” Clara continued. “And then that survival mechanism kicks in. You figure things out quickly as a young person, especially as a young Native person, because Our People are taught to observe.” Those early memories helped prepare Clara for a career in teaching, first in Anchorage School District (ASD) public schools and then, for the last 13 years, at the Alaska Native Cultural Charter School (ANCCS). A K-8 school, the mission of the ANCCS is to build student excellence through traditional cultural learning.
    [Show full text]
  • Orthodox Mission Sunday
    ORTHODOX MISSION SUNDAY Performing Good Works for the Glory of God Leader’s Guide Level: Elementary School Bible Verse: "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works…" (Ephesians 2:10) Objectives: Introduce the idea that like St. Herman of Alaska, who followed in the footsteps of the first Apostles as a missionary saint, we are all created by God's hand for the purpose of doing good works. Explore the life of St. Herman of Alaska as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of his canon- ization this year August 9, 2020. Challenge students to consider how we can perform good works that show our love and praise to God. Act by collecting funds with the OCMC Mission Coin Boxes. Throughout Great Lent sup- port the work of the Mission Center so that many more can be empowered to share Christ's love to the world just like St. Herman. Overview: Opening Prayer Icebreaker - Telephone Activity #1 - Read and discuss the Bible Verse, Ephesians 2:10 Activity #2 - Read and discuss the life of St. Herman of Alaska Activity #3 - Picture Arrangement Game Activity #4 - Assemble OCMC coin boxes and sing/read the troparion of St. Herman. Offer the students cookies or biscuits following the lesson. Materials: Copies of the St. Herman Alaska icon for each student with crayons or color pencils. Copies of the pictures of St. Herman's life. Optional: Cookies or Biscuits to share with students. Note to Teacher: The Orthodox Christian Mission Center proclaims the Gospel message to all people around the world who are seeking the Body of Christ.
    [Show full text]
  • 2010 NAISA Program U of Arizona
    2 Welcome to NAISA 2010 On behalf of American Indian Studies, many individuals and units of the University of Arizona, and the generous sponsors listed below, we welcome you to the second annual meeting of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association/NAISA! American Indian Studies, as a GIDP/Graduate Interdisciplinary Program at the University of Arizona: • seeks to develop a strong understanding of the languages, cultures, and sovereignty of American Indians/Alaska Natives, which honors our ancestors and their wisdom. • maintains productive scholarship, teaching, research, and community development; and provides unique opportunities for students and scholars to explore issues from American Indian perspectives which place the land, its history and the people at the center. • promotes Indian self-determination, self-governance, and strong leadership as defined by Indian nations, tribes, and communities, all of which originated from the enduring beliefs and philosophies of our ancestors. The AIS Master’s program, established in 1982, was the first of its kind in the United States. By 1984, a minor in AIS at the doctorate level was approved by the Graduate College, and in 1997, the Arizona Board of Regents approved the PhD program, the first free-standing AIS doctoral program in the United States. We are proud to welcome you to the fourth gathering of international scholars brought together by NAISA (the second since the organization incorporated) at the Westin La Paloma in Tucson. Southern Arizona falls within the homelands of the Tohono O’odham nation, and the name Tucson derives from the O’odham chukson (spellings vary), meaning black basin place or black stone place, referring to the volcanic outcroppings of Sentinel Peak, also known as “A” Mountain.
    [Show full text]
  • UC Merced Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology
    UC Merced Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology Title Murder, Massacre, and Mayhem on the California Coast, 1814 –1815: Newly Translated Russian American Company Documents Reveal Company Concern Over Violent Clashes Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6s42s953 Journal Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology, 34(1) ISSN 0191-3557 Authors Morris, Susan L. Farris, Glenn J. Schwartz, Steven J. et al. Publication Date 2014 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology | Vol. 34, No. 1 (2014) | pp. 81–100 Murder, Massacre, and Mayhem on the California Coast, 1814 –1815: Newly Translated Russian American Company Documents Reveal Company Concern Over Violent Clashes SUSAN L. MORRIS Susan L. Morris Consulting, 155 Rincon Street, Ventura, CA 93001 GLENN J. FARRIS Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, 2425 Elendil Lane, Davis, CA 95616 STEVEN J. SCHWARTZ Range Sustainability Office, Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, Point Mugu, CA 93042-5049 IRINA VLADI L. WENDER Department of English, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-3170 BORIS DRALYUK Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1502 The Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island, whose solitary 18‑year stay on an island off the coast of southern California was commemorated in Scott O’Dell’s novel, Island of the Blue Dolphins, has been of considerable interest since she was abandoned on the island in 1835 and brought to Santa Barbara in 1853. We examine one of the factors that may have contributed to the Lone Woman’s abandonment and discuss several newly‑translated Russian American Company (RAC) documents, one of which gives details of a long‑rumored deadly conflict between a Russian‑led crew of Alaskan native otter hunters and the San Nicolas Island natives (Nicoleño).
    [Show full text]
  • Fieldwork and Linguistic Analysis in Indigenous Languages of the Americas
    Fieldwork and Linguistic Analysis in Indigenous Languages of the Americas edited by Andrea L. Berez, Jean Mulder, and Daisy Rosenblum Language Documentation & Conservation Special Publication No. 2 Published as a sPecial Publication of language documentation & conservation language documentation & conservation Department of Linguistics, UHM Moore Hall 569 1890 East-West Road Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96822 USA http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/ldc university of hawai‘i Press 2840 Kolowalu Street Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96822-1888 USA © All texts and images are copyright to the respective authors. 2010 All chapters are licensed under Creative Commons Licenses Cover design by Cameron Chrichton Cover photograph of salmon drying racks near Lime Village, Alaska, by Andrea L. Berez Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication data ISBN 978-0-8248-3530-9 http://hdl.handle.net/10125/4463 Contents Foreword iii Marianne Mithun Contributors v Acknowledgments viii 1. Introduction: The Boasian tradition and contemporary practice 1 in linguistic fieldwork in the Americas Daisy Rosenblum and Andrea L. Berez 2. Sociopragmatic influences on the development and use of the 9 discourse marker vet in Ixil Maya Jule Gómez de García, Melissa Axelrod, and María Luz García 3. Classifying clitics in Sm’algyax: 33 Approaching theory from the field Jean Mulder and Holly Sellers 4. Noun class and number in Kiowa-Tanoan: Comparative-historical 57 research and respecting speakers’ rights in fieldwork Logan Sutton 5. The story of *o in the Cariban family 91 Spike Gildea, B.J. Hoff, and Sérgio Meira 6. Multiple functions, multiple techniques: 125 The role of methodology in a study of Zapotec determiners Donna Fenton 7.
    [Show full text]
  • First Nations Perspectives on Sea Otter Conservation in British Columbia and Alaska: Insights Into Coupled Human Àocean Systems
    Chapter 11 First Nations Perspectives on Sea Otter Conservation in British Columbia and Alaska: Insights into Coupled Human ÀOcean Systems Anne K. Salomon 1, Kii’iljuus Barb J. Wilson 2, Xanius Elroy White 3, Nick Tanape Sr. 4 and Tom Mexsis Happynook 5 1School of Resource and Environmental Management, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada, 2Skidegate, Haida Gwaii, BC, Canada, 3Bella Bella, BC, Canada, 4Nanwalek, AK, USA, 5Uu-a-thluk Council of Ha’wiih, Huu-ay-aht, BC, Canada Sea Otter Conservation. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-801402-8.00011-1 © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 301 302 Sea Otter Conservation INTRODUCTION: REGIME SHIFTS AND TRANSFORMATIONS ALONG NORTH AMERICA’S NORTHWEST COAST One of our legends explains that the sea otter was originally a man. While col- lecting chitons he was trapped by an incoming tide. To save himself, he wished to become an otter. His transformation created all otters. Alutiiq Museum and Archaeological Repository (2005) Human interactions with sea otters and kelp forest ecosystems have spanned millennia ( Figure 11.1 ; Rick et al., 2011 ). In fact, archeological evidence suggests that the highly productive kelp forests of the Pacific Rim may have sustained the original coastal ocean migration route of maritime people to the Americas near the end of the Pleistocene ( Erlandson et al., 2007 ). Similarly, many coastal First Nations stories speak of ancestors who came from the sea (Boas, 1932; Brown and Brown, 2009; Guujaaw, 2005; Swanton, 1909). Yet this vast and aqueous “kelp highway,” providing food, tools, trade goods, and safe anchorage for sophisticated watercraft, would have been highly susceptible to overgrazing by sea urchins had it not been FIGURE 11.1 Sea otter pictographs from Kachemak Bay, Alaska.
    [Show full text]
  • Saints of North America
    SAINTS OF NORTH AMERICA An Activity Book for Orthodox Children and Parents Department of Christian Education • Orthodox Church in America AINTS SOF NORTH AMERICA An Activity Book for Orthodox Children and Parents Department of Christian Education • Orthodox Church in America Contributors Maria Proch Alexandra Lobas Safchuk Jewelann Y. Stefanar Valerie Zahirsky Nicholas W. Zebrun Christine Kaniuk Zebrun Activities Kathryn Kessler Myra Kovalak Webmaster John E. Pusey Illustrations Christine Kaniuk Zebrun Permission is granted to duplicate for parish or personal use. All other rights reserved. Copyright © 2007 Orthodox Church in America P.O. Box 675, Syosset, NY 11781 All rights reserved. 2 Contents 4 Introduction 5 St. Alexander Hotovitsky Missionary of America 9 St. Alexis Toth Confessor and Defender of Orthodoxy 24 St. Herman of Alaska Wonderworker of All America 36 St. Innocent Enlightener of the Aleuts and Apostle to America 30 St. Jacob Netsvetov Enlightener of the Native People of Alaska 34 St. John Kochurov Missionary to America 39 St. John Maximovitch St. John of San Francisco and Shanghai 43 St. Juvenaly Hieromartyr of Iliamna 47 St. Nicholas of Ochrid & Zicha St. Nicholas of South Canaan 52 St. Peter the Aleut Holy Martyr of San Francisco 56 St. Raphael Hawaweeny Bishop of Brooklyn 61 St. Tikhon Patriarch of Moscow and Apostle to America 62 Glossary 63 Answer Keys 70 Additional Activities Copyright © Orthodox Church in America 3 Introduction to Parents and Teachers Dear Parents and Teachers, This activity book was created with the intention of providing information and creative activities featuring twelve North American Saints who are widely recognized as shining examples of our Orthodox faith on this continent.
    [Show full text]
  • Where We Found a Whale"
    ______ __.,,,,---­ ....... l-:~-- ~ ·--~-- - "Where We Found a Whale" A -~lSTORY OF LAKE CLARK NATlONAL PARK AND PRESERVE Brian Fagan “Where We Found a Whale” A HISTORY OF LAKE CLARK NATIONAL PARK AND PRESERVE Brian Fagan s the nation’s principal conservation agency, the Department of the Interior has resposibility for most of our nationally owned public lands and natural and cultural resources. This includes fostering the wisest use of our land and water resources, protect- ing our fish and wildlife, preserving the environmental and cultural values of our national parks and historical places, and providing for enjoyment of life Athrough outdoor recreation. The Cultural Resource Programs of the National Park Service have respon- sibilities that include stewardship of historic buildings, museum collections, archaeological sites, cultural landscapes, oral and written histories, and ethno- graphic resources. Our mission is to identify, evaluate, and preserve the cultural resources of the park areas and to bring an understanding of these resources to the public. Congress has mandated that we preserve these resources because they are important components of our national and personal identity. Published by the United States Department of the Interior National Park Service Lake Clark National Park and Preserve ISBN 978-0-9796432-4-8 NPS Research/Resources Management Report NPR/AP/CRR/2008-69 For Jeanne Schaaf with Grateful Thanks “Then she said: “Now look where you come from—the sunrise side.” He turned and saw that they were at a land above the human land, which was below them to the east. And all kinds of people were coming up from the lower country, and they didn’t have any clothes on.
    [Show full text]
  • Embellishments of the Alaska Native Gut Parka
    University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings Textile Society of America 2008 Embellishments of the Alaska Native Gut Parka Fran Reed [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/tsaconf Part of the Art and Design Commons Reed, Fran, "Embellishments of the Alaska Native Gut Parka" (2008). Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings. 127. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/tsaconf/127 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Textile Society of America at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Embellishments of the Alaska Native Gut Parka Fran Reed (1943 - 2008) [email protected] Dealing with the various and extreme weather conditions in Alaska is a serious matter. Coastal Native Alaskans have been surviving in these severe environments for millennia. Without a local general store in which to buy a nice rain slicker, one must be resourceful with what is available. Between the hot summers and frigid winters are the transition seasons when it rains. Bird skins and fish skins were used extensively to make raincoats but it is the gut skin parka that proved so universal along the coast of Alaska (Fig. 1). From village to village different preparations, stitching methods and artistic styles are apparent and expressed in the embellishments that define the region, the culture and the function of these beautiful outer garments. For hundreds of years the indigenous people of the circumpolar region survived extreme conditions on their ingenuity and creativity.
    [Show full text]
  • Patterns in the Adoption of Russian National Traditions by Alaskan
    Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 360 European Multilingualism: Shaping Sustainable Educational and Social Environment (EMSSESE 2019) Patterns in the Adoption of Russian Linguistic and National Traditions by Alaskan Natives Ivan Savelev Department of international law and comparative jurisprudence Northern (Arctic) Federal University Arkhangelsk, Russia [email protected] Research supported by Russian Scientific Fund (project № 17–18–01567) Abstract: During the past two and a half centuries adopt Russian traditions and integrate them into their own the traditions and culture of the native people of Alaska unique cultures. have been affected first by the Russian and then by the Anglo-American culture. The traces of the Russian II. METHOD AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND influence can be observed even 150 years after the Critical analysis of regulatory, narrative, and other cession of this territory to the US, as verified by the historical sources was implemented to meet the study expeditions of Russian America Heritage Project objective. The Russian cultural borrowings were documenting sustained the Russian influence, the identified during the Russian America Heritage Project religious one in the first place. At the initial stage of with the help of semi-structured interviews with exploration of Russian America, influence was representatives of the native groups of Alaska, based on a predominantly exercised through taking amanats pre-generated questionnaire followed by the reviews of (hostages) resulting in close contacts between the the data acquired. Russian fur hunters and the representatives of native population. In contrast to Siberia, where this practice Between the 1860s and the present day, the European originated from, Alaskan amanats were treated quite civilization in its Anglo-American form began affecting kindly and passed the Russian customs and traditions to regional populations.
    [Show full text]