Sealaska Historic Sites Research Papers, 1965-1983 | Sealaska Heritage Institute Archives

This collection consists of the research papers of anthropologists Rosita Worl and Chuck Smythe relating to their work for Sealaska Corporation and its effort during the 1970s and 1980s to locate, protect, and preserve historic and sacred sites in Southeast Alaska. Much of this effort was connected to 14(h)(1) legislation for the Conveyance of Cemetery Sites and Historical Places as outlined by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. These efforts also generated cultural information about the historic habitation of the Tlingit and Haida people throughout Southeast Alaska. The sites that Sealaska worked to document and protect with this project included historic village settlements—both permanent and seasonal settlement sites, cemetery or grave sites, sacred sites of cultural value, Petroglyphs/Pictographs, subsistence sites, forts and battle areas, and other sites that are of special interest. This collection is subject to restrictions that seek to protect historic sites and their locations.

Boxes 1-2 contain working and research files, which are comprised of correspondence, notes, transcribed oral history recordings, copies of 18^th and 19^th century European exploration diaries, and other that document the work and research the Corporation through Worl and Smythe undertook to document the sites in question.

Box 3 contains handwritten transcriptions of Sealaska Historic Sites interview recordings. Currently, the original recordings for these transcriptions are not in the collection. The transcriptions are of six different tapes interviewing four people. One is dated to 1965, while the rest are undated. The interviews contain information on geographical locations and the oral histories associated with them. The interviews are mostly in Tlingit, with little English translation.

RESTRICTIONS: Researchers should know that this collection is not open to the general public, since these materials contain information about 14(h)1 sites. To prevent further vandalism to these sites, only researchers with reasonable cause are allowed to examine these materials.