With deep gratitude, we wish to recognize and thank those who have honored us with their generous contributions to the upholding balance exhibit. Artists, lenders, volunteers and donors gave essential guidance, valuable time and exceptional artwork of their own creation and from personal collections that were vital in making this exhibit possible.

upholding balanceSummer 2017 Newsletter

an exploration of Northwest Coast Design from 1900 to present

Above: Gavin Hudson and Kandi McGilton in front of Gavin’s leather robe created by David Robert Boxley, and octopus bag created by Kandi.

Above: Stephen Jackson looks at a display of work by parents Nathan and Dorica Jackson.

Right: View of the exhibit exploring tradition and innovation in Northwest Coast art.

Lower Right: Delores Churchill, Teresa Varnell and family viewing weavings showing the continuity carried by their lineage.

Exhibited Artists:Primrose AdamsVictor AdamsSophielynda AgoneyStarla Williams AgoneyCharles Gustav AndersonGeorge J. BeckDempsey BobDora BoltonDavid A. BoxleyDavid Robert Boxley, Gyibaawm LaxhaZack Boxley, TguwaalksidmAlison BremnerSteve BrownLillian BuchertAgnus BuxtonLydia CharlesHarry ChoquetteDelores ChurchillHolly ChurchillClaude Davidson

Reg DavidsonRobert DavidsonKen DeckerFreda DiesingDiane Douglas-WillardFlora DundasNora Edenshaw-CogoJulia FawcettMatt FawcettFred ForesterErnestine GlessingAllie HighBill HolmErik HudsonJack HudsonJohn HudsonMary Baines HudsonDorica JacksonNathan Paul JacksonNorman JacksonNorman Jackson (of Kake)Stephen Jackson

Philip JanzeChief JohnsonFrank JohnsonVesta JohnsonKenneth WhiteEsther LittlefieldJohn MarksStan MarsdenMarvin OliverCasper MatherEmma MatherFlora MatherGeorge MatherPaul MatherKandi McGilton, Mangyepsa GyipaaygDa-ka-xeen MehnerAlfred MilotteDuane PascoSelina PeratrovichMabel PikeJackson PolysWayne Price

Lucy RainmanIsabelle RorickCheryl SamuelLinda SchrackEsther SheaIsrael ShotridgeErnest SmeltzerTaats, Kathy Kato YatesLisa TelfordArt ThompsonTommy JosephAnnette Hudson TophamFred TroutCarrie Anne VanderhoopEvelyn VanderhoopTiffany VanderhoopApril VarnellDonald VarnellWilliam WhiteEmma WilliamsCrystal WorlRico Worl

Michael Nicoll YahgulanaasJones George YeltatzieLee Youngblood

Photographers:Hall AndersonGeorge J. BeckFred W. CarlyonPeter CoreyAsahel Curtis Photo CompanyElliot L. FisherGail FisherDuncan FrazierOtto Daniel GoetzeMarilyn HolmesHunt FamilyHarriet Elizabeth HuntFrank La RocheKatie LaRoneMildred MantyAlfred MilottePartridge Photo Company

Michael PennD.J. PielechArthur Clarence PillsburyCathy RutledgePaulu T. SaariOtto C. SchallererRay C. SnowVincent SoboloffLee Youngblood

Contributing Institutions and CompaniesBritish Columbia Provincial MuseumBurke Museum of Natural History & CultureKetchikan Daily NewsOregon Historical SocietyTrickster Co.Washington State Historical Society

We invite you to join us in honoring and celebrating the living tradition of Northwest Coast art by experiencing this rich exhibit of works that spans across time and reaches beyond borders, on display at the Tongass Historical Museum through March 2018.

Ketchikan Museums is pleased to welcome back five stellar tour guides with invaluable expertise and experience. John Radzilowski, Larry Reed, Peter Stanton, Teresa DeWitt and Brandon Castle introduce museum visitors to Ketchikan’s history and culture through one-on-one interpretation and guided group tours throughout the summer. Each has a wealth of historical information, and adds their own unique interests and perspective. We are lucky to have such welcoming and knowledgeable locals to connect thousands of visitors, as well as residents and their guests, to Ketchikan’s history and Native art traditions.

This year we are proud to welcome guides Joshua Alguire and Spencer Landis to the Ketchikan Museums team. Joshua was born and raised in Ketchikan and is a recent Ketchikan High School graduate. He has taken several Spring Break weaving classes with Holly Churchill at the Totem Heritage Center and has a strong interest in sharing his heritage. Spencer Landis is also a recent graduate from Ketchikan High School. She is a welcoming presence who is eager to learn and to share, and a bright and professional representative of Ketchikan to all who visit.

We hope you, and your friends and family, have the opportunity to meet our summer guides at the Tongass Historical Museum and the Totem Heritage Center. They are dedicated to providing informed, authentic and engaging information and are a valuable resource for locals and visitors alike.

Summer Season at Ketchikan Museums

Brandon Castle: Field Museum InternBrandon Castle is off to Chicago to gain invaluable museum knowledge and experience. Brandon tells us more about his upcoming opportunity:

During the past spring semester at Fort Lewis College in Durango, CO, I finished my sophomore year working towards a BA in Anthropology and minor in Native American And Indigenous Studies. I have been working closely with professors and other FLC staff to find opportunities for Native students interested in anthropology and culture.

Through hard work, a supportive faculty, and networking I was given the opportunity to intern at Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History under the Martin-Mullen’s North American Anthropology Collections Internship. I will be working primarily in the North American exhibit collections and reaching out to to various tribes in the Chicago area. I will be working under the supervision of several museum employees and a doctorate level curator of North American Anthropology. I hope to learn from this experience and share what knowledge I have gained with the nations of Alaska. The internship contract is from June 12 to August 18, 2017. The Field Museum hosts around 200 interns during the summer.

Ketchikan’s History Reaching the World

The Tongass Historical Museum hosted 22,272 visitors in the 2016 season prior to closure for renovation of the Centennial Building in September.

The Totem Heritage Center hosted 35,384 visitors in the 2016 summer season, and gave specialized guided tours to 3,961 people. The number of visitors increased by nearly 10% from 2015.

Above: John Radzilowski introduces visitors to the Totem Heritage Center.

Right: Welcome guides Spencer Landis and Joshua Alguire.

VISIT US THIS SUMMER!

The Tongass Historical Musuem and Totem Heritage Center

are open 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. daily through September.

Admission is FREE for locals and their guests.

Brandon Castle presents native art and cultural traditions to a Totem Heritage Center tour group.

Visitors at the Tongass Historical Museum

The 2016-2017 renovation of the Tongass Historical Museum’s main floor created unique challenges and opportunities for collections storage. To prepare for construction, all contents on the main level, including artifacts, exhibit cases, and tools and equipment, were relocated. Smaller items stayed within the building, while large artifacts, equipment, and supplies moved off-site. Additionally, a significant portion of the collection on the lower level was moved for asbestos abatement and drilling in collections storage rooms. Approximately 6,000 artifacts, 92 linear feet of archives, 3,500 library books, 16 filing cabinets of collections records and research materials, and 43 boxes of institutional records were moved in less than eight weeks!

Now that this phase of renovation is complete and the building is reopened, we are returning artifacts to storage. The collections move is a thoughtful process, allowing us to maximize our limited storage areas and increase stewardship

of the items in our care. We now have additional secure areas for collections storage and a room dedicated to processing collections, artifact photography, and supply storage.

In many instances, we are creating new home locations for artifacts. Items previously on exhibit must have dedicated spaces, and because storage shelving and supports were rearranged, some artifacts can’t return to their previous locations. As we reorganize, we are grouping together related objects, segregating old loans, and moving some artifacts to shelving that better houses the object. We are also evaluating artifacts for display in the new permanent exhibit and for potential deaccession. Moving collections within the building is expected to wrap up this summer so larger items currently off-site can move this fall.

-Hayley Chambers, Sr. Curator of Collections

Throughout spring, Gloria Burns watched the rainforest for signs that the cedar sap had started flowing for bark harvesting to be at its height. Students who signed up for Cedar Bark Harvesting class had to respond to nature; this season, field and classroom sessions fell on the last two weekends of May.

With permission from the U. S. Forest Service, students spent a full day in the field on Gravina Island, followed by a half-day session in stands surrounding Ketchikan, learning how to safely, respectfully and sustainably harvest cedar bark for personal use. Gloria imparted traditional rules of harvesting along with techniques. Bark should be collected as far into the forest as possible to leave accessible trees for elders and gathered sparingly to preserve trees for future generations. Following a full strenouous day outdoors, students spent a day in the classroom learning to process bark for weaving. Outer bark is removed in the forest, then indoors the inner bark must be carefully peeled into one-eighth inch strips and bundled for drying. The next weekend brought a day split between the forest and the Totem Heritage Center. Students focused on producing the highest quality materials possible.

Thank you to Gloria Burns and all participating students for responding to nature’s timing and for a safe, successful class!

Cedar Bark Harvesting with Gloria Burns

Collections on the Move

Left: Gloria Burns teaches how to identify cedar trees for harvesting.

Right: Beads of flowing sap in a strip of harvested bark.

With May’s warming weather, Native Arts Studies Program students went into the forest to learn how to harvest and process cedar bark for weaving, guided by Gloria Burns.

Above: Cedar Bark Harvesting class during a half day of local harvesting.

Nonprofit Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDKetchikan, Alaska

Permit No. 95

629 Dock StreetKetchikan, Alaska 99901

Totem Heritage Center Tongass Historical Museum

Ketchikan Museums Calendar

Native Arts Studies Program

The 2017-2018 Class Schedule will be released in September.

Classes and Open Craft Night will begin in October.

Get the schedule sent to you! Call 225-5900 or e-mail StaceyW@ktn-ak.us

upholding balanceAn exploration of Modern Northwest Coast Design from 1900 to present

On exhibit through March 2018

Permanent ExhibitOpening May 2018

Want to learn more ways to participate, and see the creation unfold? Join our e-mail list!

Call 225-5900 or e-mail StaceyW@ktn-ak.us

Teachers! Interested in bringing your students to the Ketchikan Museums?

Field trips will be starting again in October.

Open HoursMay 4 - September 30

8:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M. Daily

www.KetchikanMuseums.org

4th of July festivities in Ketchikan still continue today-

though motors have long replaced horses.Horse-drawn parade float on Mission Street with girls waving 48-star flags. circa 1905. Photographer: Forest J. Hunt, THS 63.9.10.9

Tongass Historical Museum 629 Dock Street, Ketchikan 907.225.5600, Admission $3 (locals free)

Anita Maxwell, Acting Museum Director Tara Hofmann, Administrative SecretaryHayley Chambers, Sr. Curator of CollectionsErika Brown, RegistrarSteven Villano, Curator of ExhibitsLance Bifoss, Museum Attendant Totem Heritage Center 601 Deermount Street, Ketchikan 907.225.5900, Admission $5 (locals free)

Anita Maxwell, Sr. Curator of Programs Ann Froeschle, Program CoordinatorStacey Williams, Program Assistant

Frog bowl carved by Dempsey Bob, circa 1985. KM 87.2.41.1On display in upholding balance.