INTRODUCTION TO “TRIBAL DIVISIONS OF THE ESKIMO OF WESTERN ALASKA” BY FRANK H. WASKEY (1950) Kenneth L. Pratt Bureau of Indian Affairs, ANCSA Office, 3601 C Street, Suite 1100, Anchorage, AK 99503; [email protected] Several decades ago, while conducting research for a located his own copy of the manuscript and reproduced it study concerning Eskimo social groups in the Yukon- for me; in turn, I provided a copy to the APR. Kuskokwim region of southwest Alaska (Pratt 1984), I After reading it myself, I was convinced that Waskey’s came across a reference by Wendell Oswalt (1967) to an 1950 manuscript represented a significant contribution to unpublished manuscript by Frank H. Waskey (Fig. 1). the issue of historical Eskimo group boundaries in south- Unable to locate a copy of the manuscript through nor- west Alaska; it also contains some unique details about mal research channels, I contacted Oswalt (then profes- the region’s indigenous peoples. Its relative inaccessibil- sor of anthropology at the University of California at Los ity and potential value to future researchers is the basis Angeles) and requested his assistance. He suggested where for presenting the manuscript in its near-original form. the manuscript could likely be found and then generously Changes include the addition of maps to show the loca- explained how it came to be written and provided back- tions of selected places and groups mentioned. Bracketed ground information about its author. information has also been inserted to (1) better identify According to Oswalt (1983), who first learned of the places, groups, and landscape features mentioned; (2) clar- manuscript while enrolled as a student at the University of ify published sources alluded to by Waskey in the manu- Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) in the early 1950s, Waskey was script; and (3) provide spellings of certain Native words a friend of Ivar Skarland—head of the UAF Department and names that correspond with accepted modern orthog- of Anthropology from 1946 until his death in January raphies (e.g., Jacobson 2012). Corrected spellings of such 1965. Aware of Waskey’s extensive knowledge of and ex- words and names appear in brackets following their first perience with the Eskimo peoples of southwestern Alaska, mention in the text. Endnotes are intended to place the Skarland encouraged him to write about the region’s work in context and clarify, explain, or elaborate on some Eskimo groups and their respective geographic bound- of the key information it contains. Waskey’s original capi- aries. Waskey complied with the request and sent the talization is generally retained, except where indicated. manuscript to Skarland upon completion. Since it was maintained in the Department of Anthropology’s files for BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF many years, Oswalt assumed it was probably still there— FRANK H. WASKEY but also believed he had a copy of the manuscript in his personal library. The manuscript was not found at either Frank Hinman Waskey was born on 20 April 1875 in Lake the UAF Department of Anthropology or the Alaska and City, Minnesota. Following a six-year stint (1892–1898) as Polar Regions Collections and Archives (APR) at UAF, a salesman in the Minneapolis area, Waskey journeyed to which had a file on Waskey. Fortunately, however, Oswalt Alaska in 1898 and prospected in the vicinity of Hope, on Alaska Journal of Anthropology vol. 10, nos. 1&2 (2012) 37 Figure 1. Frank H. Waskey, ca. 1907 (Alaska State Library, Portrait File, ASL-Waskey-2). Turnagain Arm of Cook Inlet, until 1900. For the next which he returned to Alaska and resumed his mining and thirty years he prospected and mined in numerous parts prospecting activities. of Alaska including Nome, Iditarod, Marshall (Fortuna In 1930, Waskey became the proprietor of a trad- Ledge), Quinhagak, and the Kuskokwim River region. ing post in the Bristol Bay community of Dillingham, He was a successful, early participant in the Nome gold a business he continued to operate until 1956 (Atwood rush of 1899–1900 and became a prominent businessman and DeArmond 1977:103–104). During that period he in that community. Waskey’s reputation as a man of “in- traveled extensively in southwest Alaska and became a dustry and native intelligence” (McCollom 1973:55) con- student of Alaska Native life, languages, and traditions. tributed to his selection as Alaska’s first delegate to the U.S. He was a fairly competent speaker of the Central Yup’ik Congress. He served as Alaska’s delegate in Washington, Eskimo language, according to fluent speaker Wassilie D.C., from December 1906 through March 1907, after Evan (Fienup-Riordan 1996:297; Oswalt 1983). Waskey 38 tribal divisions of the eskimo of western alaska Figure 2. Walrus mask collected by Waskey at the Yup’ik Eskimo village of Qissunaq in 1946. 19 cm high x 11.4 cm wide x 5.2 cm deep. Wood, root, natural paints (University of Alaska Museum of the North, Catalog No. UAM-0314- 4351; photograph by Barry McWayne). gathered a broad range of information from Native vil- larly consulted. He was also an important source of local lagers of the region. In 1946 he collected ten dance masks geographical names for surveyors of the U.S. Coast and (Fig. 2) and five “humorous masks”—one of which was a Geodetic Survey (USC&GS) and the U.S. Geological caricature of himself (Fig. 3)—at the village of Qissunaq Survey (USGS): this may account for a major mountain (Kashunuk); he later sold them to the University of Alaska in the Bristol Bay region being named in his honor (see Museum (Fienup-Riordan 1996:297–303). That Waskey Orth 1967:1030). was well-known to Native residents of the region is evi- In addition to his manuscript on Eskimo group denced by the fact that he is discussed in Yup’ik oral his- boundaries, Waskey’s wide-ranging interests resulted in tory accounts recorded up to thirty years after his death. an article written for the scientific community regard- Examples include comments about Waskey’s artifact pur- ing Alaska’s geology and its economic potential (Waskey chasing activities (Fienup-Riordan 1996:297–298; Post 1946). The “Frank H. Waskey Papers” are housed at 1984), his interest in mining and minerals (Smith 1988), APR in Fairbanks (Waskey 1919–1954); however, near- and his work as a trader (Sundown 1984; cf. Andrews ly all of the materials contained therein are photocop- 1989:84–85). People of the region also identified him by ies. The items with the most potential research value at least two different Yup’ik names: Neqyacagaq (“little are two handwritten “travel” diaries (91 and 115 pages fishy one”) and Uaskiq (Fienup-Riordan 1996:297–298), in length, respectively) which, for example, describe as- the latter of which is a Yup’ik rendering of “Waskey.” pects of the trading Waskey conducted with Native vil- Local prospectors and airplane pilots were another lagers. Unfortunately, the poor copy quality of the diaries source of information about the region who Waskey regu- makes much of Waskey’s writing difficult to decipher. It is Alaska Journal of Anthropology vol. 10, nos. 1&2 (2012) 39 Figure 3. Caricature mask of Frank Waskey. Collected by Waskey at the Yup’ik Eskimo village of Qissunaq in 1946. 19 cm high x 12 cm wide x 6 cm deep. Wood, natural paints (University of Alaska Museum, Catalog No. UAM-0314- 4356; photograph by Barry McWayne). unknown if his original diaries still exist and, if so, where ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS they are located. The small APR collection also includes several versions of a manuscript on Eskimo place names, a I thank Wendell H. Oswalt for initially bringing the number of Eskimo tales, an account of fossil sequoia finds Waskey manuscript to my attention and Robert M. in southwestern Alaska, descriptions of various rocks and Drozda and Erica Hill for review comments that were minerals, and assorted correspondence. helpful to my edit of the manuscript. I am also grateful to After retiring from his Dillingham business in 1956, Sandra Johnston of the Alaska State Library and Angela Waskey moved to Oakville, Washington, where he con- Linn of the University of Alaska Museum of the North tinued to trade in Alaska Native artifacts. He died on for assistance they provided with the photographs used in 26 January 1964 at the age of eighty-eight and was buried this paper. in Shelton, Washington. 40 tribal divisions of the eskimo of western alaska REFERENCES 1983 Letter to Ken Pratt dated 11 January. Author’s personal files, Anchorage. Andrews, Elizabeth F. Post, Peter 1989 The Akulmiut: Territorial Dimensions of a Yup’ik 1984 Oral history interview (Tape 84BAY049). Charles Eskimo Society. Technical Paper 177, Alaska De- Haecker, interviewer; Pauline Walter, interpreter. partment of Fish and Game, Subsistence Divi- 8 August; Tununak, Alaska. Bureau of Indian sion, Juneau. Affairs, ANCSA Office, Anchorage. Atwood, Evangeline, and Robert N. 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