In recognition of the 50^th Anniversary of the signing of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) in December 1971, the UAF Oral History Program has just launched the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act Project Jukebox online interactive website that combines oral history recordings, film, photos and documents to tell the story behind the fight for passage of ANCSA, its role in Alaska’s history, and its legacy.

Funding for the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act Project Jukebox was provided by the Alaska State Library through an Interlibrary Cooperation Grant based on American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.

Eighty sculptures in and around Ketchikan, Alaska, tell the ancestral stories of Indigenous clans

The totem poles in Ketchikan represent the ancestral traditions of the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian people. The Ketchikan Museum’s collection at the Totem Heritage Center alone has more than 30 poles from the 19th century, relocated from the original villages in which they were found, and still owned by the descendants of those villages.

Chief Johnson’s pole—a must-see in Ketchikan—is made from just one western red cedar log. It has a bird at the top called a Kadjuk (the crest of Johnson’s clan), followed by a 33-foot stretch of uncarved pole that’s meant to symbolize the bird’s importance. Below that are representations of Fog Woman and Raven.

"The World’s Largest Collection of Standing Totem Poles Keeps Getting Bigger" by Jennifer Billock, September 19, 2022. Smithsonian Magazine.

The Tlingit ceremonial garment called a Naaxein or Chilkat robe was born from the hands of a Tlingit weaver around the year 1900. The weaving is exquisitely complex and beautiful, and very few examples of this technique remain. But its exile from Tlingit culture in the intervening century wrought heavily on its appearance. Now, the robe is almost too fragile to pick up.

“Every time it’s flipped and moved, little pieces of it come off, because it’s in a pliable, fragile state,” explains museum curator Angie Demma.

Worst of all, the robe hasn’t been worn, danced in, or loved by Alaska Native people in more than 120 years. Nor has it been able to pass on its knowledge of traditional weaving techniques. At least not until this past spring...

Following the welcome ceremony, LIDAR scanners were brought to the center to digitize the robe. The resulting 3D image has such high definition that the robe can be zoomed in on and turned over and around, allowing examination in minute detail. So while the actual elder robe now lies comfortably in a protected case, new generations of Chilkat weavers can learn from it in digital form.

"Alaska Natives Use Virtual Imagery to Preserve and Pass on Culture" by Frank Hopper, September 19, 2022.YES! Magazine.

From the ReVision Mission on KTOO's website:

National headlines often approach Alaska through the language of loss and crisis, painting residents as passive victims of systemic racism, climate change or historical trauma. ReVision Alaska approaches the challenges facing Alaska through the eyes of those working on solutions, offering visions of social equity, cultural resurgence, economic transition, and hope.

Weaving Our Identity premiered on September 29. For centuries, indigenous artifacts have been stolen and put on display in distant museums around the world, including the sacred textiles of Southeast indigenous peoples, known as Chilkat robes. Weaving Our Identity presents the story of a collaboration of indigenous weavers, chemists and Alaska State Museum curators, who are researching historic and new yarn dyeing techniques.