[Guests from Angoon; similar to #25 (PC).] Merrill

Item — Box: PCA 57

Identifier: PCA0057-28

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

Photographs include Sitka, Tlingit Indian culture, Russian Orthodox Church and schools, ca. 1897-1929.

E. W. Merrill photographs are found in many Northwest collections, but original glass plates are located at the U.S. National Park Service and Sheldon Jackson College at Sitka. There are approximately 200 glass plates at the Park Service and about 900 at Sheldon Jackson.

In 1978, the National Park Service's Merrill collection was copied in a cooperative project with the Alaska State Library and Sheldon Jackson College. Prints and copy negatives from the glass plates are available at the Alaska State Library (PCA 57-1 to 157); reproductions can be obtained for educational purposes. NOTE: There are restrictions on use of some Tlingit Indian images (see list of sensitive views, Pages 3-5). Permission from the U.S. National Park Service in Sitka is required to reproduce these. Contact:

Sitka National Historical Park, U.S.N.P.S. Box 738 Sitka, Alaska 99835

or call (907) 747-6281

A list of subject groups used by Merrill for arranging his glass plates is included in the guide to this collection (see Pages 6-7).

Views from #158 on are from various sources; negatives for these were made from the prints. Views #227-247 were copied from the originals owned by Joe Ashby of Sitka in 1988. Views 255-259 were acquired through a purchase via the Alaska State Museum, (Accession 2000-041) and have no provenance.

The photographs were originally organized by subject based upon Merrill's filing arrangement for the glass plates at the National Park Service. Specific details on Tlingit images were provided by Peter Corey (PC), curator, Sheldon Jackson Museum, in May 1993.

In 2007 the campus of the Sheldon Jackson College closed temporarily. At that time the original glass plates held by the college were moved for safe storage at the Sitka National Historical Park. A finding guide, with reference images from those plates, was put on file with the Alaska State Library. The guide is shelved with PCA 57 and may be viewed by the public.

Dates

circa 1897-1929

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is available for viewing, however, the photographs may not be photocopied.

Extent

1 items

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English

Additional Description

Photo Identification

This photo was identified for me by my grandmother Annie [Paul] Jacobs, 1980 and by Mary [Thom] John, 1983.

Taken on the porch of Ghooch Hít (Wolf House) that was also called Ch’aak Hít (Eagle House); there were three Wolf Houses in Sitka next to each other, this was the middle house. Its caretaker was Augustus Bean (Kh’alyaan Éesh, Keitxút’ch).

FRONT ROW L-R: Kashaxhaaw (George Johnson) Deisheetaan- Raven House, wearing Sleeping Man headdress; Khaateenaa (Peter Dick) Deisheetaan- Basket Bay Arch House, wearing dragonfly shirt.; Kwaal Eesh (Jimmy Hanson) Deisheetaan- Steel House, wearing Dragonfly Headdress (purchased in 1985 and donated by a private collector to Kootznoowu; on loan to the Alaska State Museum); Woolshookh (Little Jack) Deisheetaan- Freshwater Spring House, wearing Bear Hat; Khaakwajee (Andrew Dick) Deisheetaan- Basket Bay Arch House, holding a; Kheelt’ (Larry Jackson) Dakhl’aweidí- Killerwhale House, (child wearing Chilkat Robe); Yaxhlahaat (Annie Jack) Teikhweidí- Valley House, dressed as a “naa kaani”; Kootla.aa (John Fred) Wooshkeetaan- Fort House, dressed as a “naa kaani”
SECOND ROW L-R:
Deiyikt’aa (Tom Phillips) Kiks.ádi- Strong House, wearing Beaver Hat from paternal grandfathers’; Unknown X’aw (Mary Jones) Teikweidí- Bear House; Aayaax (Sam Johnson) Deisheetaan- Raven House, wearing Hawk Headdress; Yeilk’ ( ) Deisheetaan- Steel House, wearing Raven Headdress [PC] Unknown; S.Kein (Harry Scott) L’eeneidí- Dog Salmon House
BACK ROW L-R:
L.aangooshu (Billy Jones) Deisheetaan- Raven Bones House, w/ Raven Married to Killerwhale Song Leader’s Paddle; Kichnaalxh (Killisnoo Jake) Deisheetaan- Steel House, wearing Atseiyi S’aaxhw (Sheltered Area Under a Tree Hat) [PC] and the Multiplying Wolf Chilkat Tunic; Khaa tlein (John Paul, Jr.) Deisheetaan- Needlefish House, w/ Beaver Song Leader’s Paddle; Yeilnaawu (Dick Yetlma) Deisheetaan- Raven House, wearing Beaver Chilkat Shirt from the Needlefish House; L’axhkeik’w (Jimmy Albert) Deisheetaan- Freshwater Spring House, holding Bear Song Leader’s Paddle; Shaawat Goox (Mary Albert) Dakhl’aweidí- Killerwhale Tooth House, dressed as a “naa káani”; Kaaxoo.át’ch ( ) Deisheetaan- End of the Trail House, wearing Beaver Ears and wearing the Raven Shirt currently in the Seattle Art Museum; Took’ (Charlie John) Deisheetaan- House Standing Sideways, wearing the Floating Island Robe; Aanxhisxhaa (Pete Johnson) Deisheetaan- Raven’s Bones House (man in doorway wearing a “crown”)

--Per Harold Jacobs.