By Zachary R. Jones, Archivist
Title: Names: Keys to Our Past and Cultural Continuity Collection, 2006-2007
ID: MC/001
Primary Creator: Sealaska Heritage Institute
Other Creators: Kiks.ádi Clan of Wrangell
Extent: 1.0 Boxes
Date Acquired: 03/21/2012
Subjects: Tlingit Indians--History., Tlingit language.
The material in the collection was generated by Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) between 2006 and 2007 as part of two grant programs, including an Alaska Humanities Forum (AHF) grant proposal entitled; Names: Keys to Our Past and Cultural Continuity, and a National Park Service (NPS) grant entitled Keys to Our Past and Cultural Continuity. These grants sought to document Tlingit clan names and their histories. The AHF grant maintained a focus on the voluntary participating Wrangell Kiks.ádi Clan. The grant interviewed Wrangell Kiks.ádi Clan individuals, such as Marge Byrd, to document clan names, as well as examined recordings already in the possession of SHI, such as recordings of Herbert Bradley, Esther Littlefield, Jane Campbell, and Matilda Paul. Although primarily Kiks.ádi names were documented through this effort, other names associated with the clans of Wrangell were also mentioned. The NPS grant primarily focused on researching published literature that documented clan names, researching some of the recordings held by SHI, and interviewing some individuals, such as Klawock elder Clara Peratrovich. Peratrovich spoke about the names of her clan, family, and names she knew.
This collection contains five three-ring binders with material from these grant project, including from the AHF research papers on the Wrangell Kiks.ádi Clan, transcribed interviews of Wrangell Kiks.ádi Clan interviews, original recordings on CD, and other papers relative to the AHF grant project. The NPS grant project materials are contained in two folders within a three-ring binder, which contains transcriptions of Clara Peratrovich articulations about names, charts/lists of clan names given by Peratrovich, and then general clan name research files.
The Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) is a regional Native non-profit organization founded for the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian people of Southeast Alaska. SHI was established in 1981 by Sealaska Corp., a for-profit company formed under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA). SHI, formerly Sealaska Heritage Foundation, administers Sealaska Corp.'s cultural and educational programs.
SHI was conceived by Clan Leaders, Traditional Scholars and Elders at the first Sealaska Elders Conference in 1980. During that meeting, the Elders likened Native culture to a blanket. The late George Davis (Kichnáalx—Lk’aanaaw) of Angoon, spoke these memorable words: “We don’t want what you did here to only echo in the air, how our grandfathers used to do things… Yes. You have unwrapped it for us. That is why we will open again this container of wisdom left in our care.” These wise traditional leaders told the new leaders that their hands were growing weary of holding onto the metaphorical blanket, this "container of wisdom." They said they were transferring this responsibility to the Corporation. In response to this directive, Sealaska Corporation created its non-profit arm, Sealaska Heritage Institute, to administer cultural and educational programs for the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian.
During its first decade of operation, under the leadership of David Katzeek, SHI began to administer its Scholarship Program from funds set aside by Sealaska Corporation for this purpose. The second major focus at that time was the documentation of oral traditions, a project led by Tlingit scholar Dr. Nora Marks Dauenhauer and her husband, Dr. Richard Dauenhauer. Over nearly a 20-year period, these efforts led to several major publications by the Institute of the Dauenhauer’s work, including: “Because We Cherish You…” Sealaska Elders Speak to the Future, in 1981; Haa Shuká, Our Ancestors, Volume I of our Tlingit Oral Narratives (1987); Haa Tuwunáagu Yís: for Healing our Spirit. Vol. 2, Tlingit Oral Narratives. (1990); the Third Edition of Beginning Tlingit in 1991; Haa Kusteeyí, Our Culture: Tlingit Life Stories (1994); and Aan Aduspelled X’úx’, Tlingit Spelling Book in 1999. A number of these publications were co-published by the Institute and University of Washington Press. During this period, the Institute also created Naa Kahídi Theater, which won national acclaim for its dramatic presentation of Native legends.
One year after SHI was founded the Institute sponsored the first United Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian Traditional Celebration, held in Juneau. Celebration '82 was so popular that our Board of Trustees decided the festival should become a biennial event. New dance groups began to form in response to Celebration, and every other year, the festival grew. Today, nearly every community in Southeast as well as Anchorage, the Seattle area, Hawaii and Canada, are represented by roughly two-thousand dancers in nearly fifty dance groups. During Celebration, workshops on various aspects of traditional culture and history also occur. Because SHI is the only major region-wide organization dedicated to cultural preservation, its Board of Trustees has mandated that Celebration be dedicated solely to honoring our traditional culture.
More recently, while continuing to honor the Institute's mission statement, “To perpetuate the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian cultures,” the Trustees in 1997 adopted language restoration as the foremost priority of the Institute. Few funds were available initially for this objective, but the Institute launched an aggressive fund-raising campaign, and today, SHI sponsors and supports numerous language and culture programs across Southeast Alaska. The Institute also sponsors archival projects, historical research, and new publications. Since SHI’s founding, it has had four presidents; David Katzeek (1980-1991), Dennis Demmert (1992-1996), Ted Wright (1996-1998), and Rosita Worl (1998-present).
Repository: Sealaska Heritage Institute Archives
Access Restrictions: This collection is open to research according to the policies of the Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI).
Use Restrictions: 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.
Acquisition Source: Sealaska Heritage Institute, Culture Department
Acquisition Method: The material in the collection was generated by Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) between 2006 and 2007 as part of an Alaska Humanities Forum grant proposal entitled; Names: Keys to Our Past and Cultural Continuity, and a National Park Service grant project entitled Keys to Our Past and Cultural Continuity. This project was carried out by SHI’s Culture Department, and these files were transferred to SHI’s archives from the Culture Department on March 21, 2012.
