By Alyssa Peterson, UAS Intern, and Zach Jones, Archivist
Title: Tlingit Oral Histories, Oratory, & Events Recordings Collection, 1910-2006
ID: MC/022
Primary Creator: Tlingit Indians.
Extent: 12.0 Boxes
Subjects: Tlingit Indians--History., Tlingit language.
This collection contains recordings dating from circa 1910 to 2007, and primarily consisting of oral history recordings, Tlingit oratory, and recordings of Tlingit events, such as cultural gatherings. These recordings have been obtained by SHI from various donors, and the collection will continue to grow as more recordings are obtained.
The vast bulk of the recordings in this collection are audio only, with a few audiovisual. Many of the recordings are entirely in the Tlingit language, and most with no English translations. The various speakers on these recordings provide information on many topics, including life histories and family genealogies; clan and crest histories; Tlingit political and social systems and customs; gathering and harvesting practices; art forms such as basketry, carving, weaving; legends and stories; songs; and the Tlingit language. Many Tlingit clans are represented in this collection. Overall, this collection provides a wealth of information on various subjects relative to Tlingit culture, oratory, history, and language.
Repository: Sealaska Heritage Institute Archives
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
Acquisition Method: Items 1-95 in the collection were transferred from SHI’s Culture Department on 9/15/2010 to SHI; Item 94 was donated by Clarence Jackson to on 3/27/2008; Items 96-97 were transferred from SHI’s Media & Publications Department on 11/30/2011; Items 98-101 were obtained by SHI prior to Oct. 2007; Items 102-03 were donated by Lawrence J. Jackson to SHI on 7/14/2003 (Acc.#2003.002); Items 104-05 were deposited with permission of the Indian University Archives of Traditional Music (Acc. # 2011.040); Item 106 was obtained by SHI prior to Oct. 2007; Item 107 was donated to SHI by Donald Gregory on 1/6/2012; Items 108-111 were obtained by SHI prior to Oct. 2007; Item 112 was generated by SHI and a copy was placed in SHI’s archival collection on 1/20/2012; Item 113 was donated by Byron Mallott 12/11/2011 (Acc. #2011.041); items 114-119 were obtained by SHI prior to Oct. 2007; Items 120-122 were obtained by SHI prior to Oct. 2007; Item 124 was donated to SHI by Ishmael Hope on April 11, 2012; Items 125-139 were received by SHI prior to Oct. 2007; Items 140-141 were generated by SHI and transferred to archives on July 12, 2012; Items 142-43 were copied from originals in the Rosita Worl collection and added to this collection on August 27, 2012; Items 144-183 were obtained prior to Oct. 2007; Item 184 was donated by Roy Peratrovich Jr. in 2008; Items 185-189 were obtained prior to Oct. 2007; Items 193-198 were donated by the Sealaska Corporation on 2/19/2013; Item 199 was generated by SHI and placed in archives on 2/21/2013; Item 200 was donated by Rosita Worl on 5/15/2013; Item 201 was received prior to Oct. 2007; Item 202 was donated by Tim Lindoff on 5/22/2013; Item 203 was received prior to Oct. 2007; Item 204 was donated by the Sealaska Corporation on 10/15/2013; Item 205 was donated by Jackie Kookesh on 12/29/13; Item 207 was donated by Paul Marks on 4/9/14; Item 208 was generated by SHI and donated to SHI by Sorrel Goodwin on 1/10/2011; Item 209 was generated by SHI in 2000 and 2002;
Item 193: Audio recording of William Thomas of Yakutat being interviewed by Judson Brown about Thomas’s life and father, as well as about Icy Bay and Point Maymbe, circa 1980s. Format; cassette and two CDs (Sides A & B), migrated in 2013. Speaking in the Tlingit language. Note: this appears to be William S. Thomas (1911-1988) (Lwoosh-Kaan) of the Teikweidí clan, Drum House, but this needs to be confirmed. Recording provides some speaking about the history of the Yaxhte Hit, Big Dipper House, L’eeneidí clan. Content review by DK. Side A content; story begins about a husband and wife’s new marriage, but how the wife was accidentally killed; thereafter the man and his son left, wandering in the wilderness. They passed by the Malaspina Glacier (Tlingit name Gwaaxsakách), but they lost their canoe and had to walk back a great distance in the winter, how they were freezing as they traveled, and the son’s snowshoes and shoes froze to his feet, and had to be removed. Since the child had no shoes the father put his own gloves on the child’s feet, then how they found some food. Side B content; continued from previous, the speaker tells the story of a father and son traveling in the wilderness, traveling in the great cold and with little food, their story of survival and a father’s love and kindness toward his young son during this time, then they return home shortly after the First World War ends to Yaxhte Hit, but are greeted with the painful news that the government and settlers were taking his family’s land, his clan’s land, his people’s land, then a discussion on the futile discussions with the BIA, how the government took the land. The story then shifts to the father and son, landless, hunting above the tree line for mountain goats, the father sees beautiful and shinning rocks there, but they are like grave stones. [Note: this powerful telling may well be both historical and metaphorical, which denotes the plight of the Tlingit and the pain associated with the dispossession of land.]
Item 194: Audio recording of an unidentified woman being interviewed by Judson Brown, cassette labeled “Tinnah [tináa] story-copper. Travels to many river as a fish … Copper River,” undated. Format; cassette and CD, migrated in 2013. Speaking is primarily in the Tlingit language. Content by DK: unidentified woman gives a story about the origin of copper tínaa, the story begins with the beautiful woman and her marriage to a wealthy young man, their wedding, a pathway of furs for her to walk on is put forth, but she later finds out she had married a slave and there was shame, but they stay together and travel all over Southeast Alaska and up to Aan Tlien, a place near Anchorage. Then the story switches to a dreamlike account of a child falling asleep on a lake, the lake draining and copper was found where the lake once was, then a discussion on how the Kaagwaantaan previously had a house on Kodiak Island.
Item 195: Audio recording of Walter A. Soboleff speaking in Tlingit about the history of Juneau, undated. Format; cassette and CD, migrated in 2013. Speaking is in the Tlingit language. Length; 6 minutes. Note: this recording contains Soboleff speaking, then it abruptly stops, and was recorded over with non-associated content.
Item 196: Audio recording of William Johnson of Hoonah speaking about an Owl dish loaned to Sealaska Corporation in 1980 [and returned shortly thereafter to Johnson], recorded by the Corporation’s corporate secretary in 1980. Speaking in Tlingit. Format; cassette and CD, migrated in 2013. Length; 6 minutes.
Item 197: Audio recording of Jim Young (Chookaneidí clan) speaking in Tlingit about Neka Bay near Hoonah, possibly speaking to Frank See Sr., dated 7/20/1965. Format; cassette and CD, migrated in 2013. Speaking is in the Tlingit language. Content by DK: Young speaks generally about the area of Neka Bay, though more in general terms, but gives the name of an island in the bay as being named Daaxhát Kanádaa Noow [5:48], Young asserts his ownership of the land, asserts his knowledge since other who know the history of Neka Bay had died, then he tells a story/joke about a trip to gather sea gull eggs within Glacier Bay, which he calls Kéidládee K’wát’aaní.
Item 198: Audio recording of the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the Saxman Totem Pole Park. Format; cassette.
Item 199: Audiovisual recording of the memorial service for Clarence Jackson held in Juneau on 2/2/2013, recorded by SHI staff Kathy Dye. Format; DVD (two copies).
Item 200: Audiovisual recording of master artist Nathan Jackson carving a wall screen and talking about being an artist, recorded circa 1970. 14 minutes in length. Narrated by Rosita Worl and Nathan Jackson. Migrated from reel in 2013; from the Rosita Worl collection. Content includes Jackson speaking about what it means to be an artist, how to be an artist, while he talks about his work at carving a specific wall screen that was commissioned by the Peabody Museum, Harvard University.
Item 202: Audio recording entitled “Hoonah Songs,” undated. Migrated by SHI staff in 2013, originals in the possession of donor Tim Lindoff. Contains singing (and some speaking) in Tlingit, primarily songs of the people and clans of Hoonah. Two discs.
Item 203: Audio recording of Jennie and Charlie White speaking about Shangukeidí history, recorded 2/18/1986. Cassette labeled “Jennie White/Charlie White, notes, 2/18/86. Jennie White/Esther Johnson, Thunderbird song, 1972, Klukwan.” Speaking in Tlingit. 29 minutes in length (Side A & B). Migrated from cassette in 2013; format; cassette and CD.
Item 204: August 11, 1983, Audio-visual Clarence Jackson interviewing Elders Scotty Jackson and Johnny C. Jackson. Family genealogy—which includes a large number of Tlingit names— of the Jackson family; clan history of the Kaach.ádi, which includes Lukaax.ádi history; and a description of the Kake area, which include a large number of place names. Note: the original VHS recording is located in the oversized MC 22, Box 11.
Item 205: 5/9/96. Audio discussion by Angayuqaq Oscar Kawagley, Andy Hope III, Matthew and Bessie Fred, and others on the Southeast region’s involvement in the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative. According to Ray Barnhardt, “The Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative (AKRSI) was established in 1994 under the auspices of the Alaska Federation of Natives, which has served as the institutional home base and support structure for the AKRSI in cooperation with the University of Alaska, with funding from the National Science Foundation. The purpose of the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative has been to implement a set of initiatives that systematically document the Indigenous knowledge systems of Alaska Native people and develop pedagogical practices that appropriately integrate Indigenous knowledge and ways of knowing into all aspects of the education system. In practical terms, the most important intended outcome is an increased recognition of the complementary nature of Native and western knowledge, so both can be effectively utilized as a foundation for the school curriculum and integrated into a more comprehensive approach to education that is grounded in the existing cultural and physical environment in which students live.” Angayuqaq Oscar Kawagley offered a cogent summary of the “philosophical underpinnings” of ARSI, along with analysis of the issues facing modern education and practical suggestions for implementing Native ways of knowing in the school system. Andy Hope gave a summary of the Southeast Region’s involvement in ARSI. Matthew Fred, a Tlingit Elder from Angoon, shared his thoughts and concerns about Native education. Bessie Fred told of her experience as a beading instructor and cultural teacher in the Chatham School district. A few other unidentified speakers asked questions and offered their thoughts.
Item 206: Audio of Austin Hammond, Daanawáak, telling about the names he received from clan relatives of the Lukaax.ádi clan; the Lukaax.ádi clan houses; how his grandfather, Wóosh Káa Kei Yadugwéich (Joe Whiskers) instructed him to listen to the stories; urging his grandchildren to listen to the stories; Yéil Kutláakw, Raven Stories. The Raven stories include the Raven and his brother-in-law, Ganook and their challenging each other over their age; the story of Kei.á Daakeit, the Box of Daylight; and how Raven and the Owl brought fire to the world.
Item 207: Audio of Rosita Worl narrating a video entitled Tlingit Aani: Enter the Tlingit World, for the Peabody Museum of Harvard Exhibition in 1976, curated by Rosita Worl and Peter Cory. The video includes dancing by the Marks Trail Geisán Dancers, and a feast, all narrated by Rosita Worl. Some of the people included in the dancing and festivities include Austin Hammond, Willie Marks, Johnny Marks, Jimmie Marks and Rosita Worl.
Item 208: Audiovisual recorded interview with Sorrel Goodwin (L’eeneidí clan) about the history of the L’eeneidí clan and the Áak’w Ḵwáan Tlingit, interviewed by SHI Archivist Zach Jones, 1/10/2011. Restricted; access to the public on with the permission of Goodwin. See Archivist for details.
