Scope and Contents: This four-box collection contains the Alaska Native Sisterhood (ANS) papers of Emma G. Widmark dating from the 1980s to 2007. Her papers consist of her correspondence for ANS (1987-2007), newsletters of the ANS Executive Committee entitled Executive Echoes (1995-2006), meeting minutes of ANS Juneau Camp 2 (2000-2001), ANS Saxman Camp 14 (1999) and those of the ANB and ANS Executive Committee. Also included are papers from the ANS and ANB Executive Committee work at the Grand Camp Conventions, including resolutions, executive committee binders with minutes, correspondence, and other. Lastly, the collection contains a mixture of Widmark’s working papers, which consist of notes, programs, a few scattered reports, and other papers documenting the work of ANS during this period. Overall, this collection documents aspects of the labors of ANS Executive Committee and the Juneau ANS camp.
While this collection documents various aspects of ANS, a significant portion of this collection documents the ANB & ANS verbal conflict with Juneau’s Territorial Sportsman during the mid 1990s. This conflict occurred as ANB & ANS felt the Territorial Sportsman was supporting legislation that hurt landless Tlingit in Southeast Alaska, whereas the Territorial Sportsman felt they supported legislation that enhanced sportsman’s rights in Southeast Alaska. As result, ANB & ANS encouraged a boycott of the annual Salmon Derby, the proceeds for which went toward scholarships. The conflict was later resolved and documents (correspondence, working papers, and clippings) in the collection discuss this process.
Note: Researchers further interested in researching Emma Widmark should be aware that additional Emma Widmark ANS papers are held by the heirs of Emma Widmark, including by Edith Jacobson of Point Hope, Alaska.
| Sealaska Heritage Institute Archives
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