INTRODUCTION to the CATALOGUE of ALASKAN PHOTOGRAPHS of FREDERICA DE LAGUNA

Frederica de Laguna, student of Franz Boas and Professor of Anthropology at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, became well-known for her field work in Alaska. From 1930 to 1933, she conducted archaeological excavations on Prince William Sound and Cook Inlet in Southcentral Alaska. In 1935, she led an archaeological and geological survey in the middle and lower Yukon River Valley. When Frederica de Laguna returned to Alaska in 1949, she began a long-term, joint ethnological, archaeological, and historical study of the Northern Tlingit Indians of Southeastern Alaska: at Angoon in 1949 and 1950, and at in 1949, 1952, and 1954.

Inspired by one Yakutat clan’s traditional telling of ancestral migration from the Copper River in central Alaska, de Laguna conducted ethnographic investigations among the Atna (Ahnta) Athabaskans of the Copper River and their neighbors on the upper Tanana, in 1954, 1958, 1960, and 1968. During the first of her three seasons among the Atna, she worked in collaboration with Dr. Catherine McClellan of the university of Wisconsin, Madison, who co-authored the final report on that work. Frederica de Laguna was accompanied by Marie-Francoise Guedon during the final season of work. Guedon was then a graduate student at Bryn Mawr College, and is now a professor in the Department of Comparative Religion at the University of Ottawa.

After her retirement from Bryn Mawr College, Frederica de Laguna returned to Alaska in 1978 as guest archaeologist of a research party under the direction of Dr. William Workman, Professor of Anthropology, University of Alaska, Anchorage. He was conducting excavations on Yukon Island in Kachemak Bay, where de Laguna had worked in the early 1930s. Thereafter, she made a number of visits to Alaska, to take part in professional meetings, visit friends, and revisit archaeological sites or Native American communities. During these many trips, Frederica de Laguna photographed communities, archaeological sites, and natural surroundings. The bulk of those photographs have been willed to the Alaska State Library in Juneau.

The photographs in the De Laguna Collection have been assigned catalogue number PCA 350 by the Alaska State Library. The library sponsored the application to the Alaska Humanities Forum for the grant which made cataloguing the photographs possible. Although a single running number for the whole collection was at first considered desirable, it was soon abandoned as unrealistic, in view of the size of the collection and the problem of dealing with photographs which sometimes required long study to place. Therefore, the pictures taken each year have been catalogued separately, the collection number, 350, being followed by a number designating the year in which the photograph was made, e.g. 350-32-, followed by the running number within that year, 350-32-149. Such numbers are written in pencil on the back of each print or enlargement, and on the upper right corner of each film envelope, as appropriate. The original catalogue numbers used by Frederica De Laguna have been retained in this catalogue and are here given in brackets, with the symbols pk, L, or Roll, designating film pack, Leica, or roll film, respectively, followed by the film number within the film pack or roll. Such numbers often appear on the back of prints or enlargements.

There are extended biographical/historical and processing notes for some years, which have been entered separately.

1930

EXPLORATION of PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND and COOK INLET

The purpose of the expedition to Alaska in 1930 was two-fold: first to prospect Prince William Sound for sites that could be excavated by Kaj Birket-Smith, Danish anthropologist, and Frederica de Laguna at a future time, since he was now unable to participate due to ill health. And two: to investigate Cook Inlet and the Kenai Peninsula for sites of the people who made the large stone lamps with human figures in the bowls. The expedition was sponsored and supported by the University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania and its friends, also by Dr. Theodore de Laguna. Members were Frederica de Laguna [FdeL] and her younger brother Wallace de Laguna [WdeL], assisted from time to time by Lee Pratt [LP] of the Chugach National Forest and by Jack Fields [JF], a resident of Kachemak Bay, Cook Inlet.

1931

EXPLORATION of PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND and COOK INLET

The purpose of this small archaeological expedition to Alaska was to explore more extensively two major sites in Kachemak Bay, Cook Inlet that had been visited in 1930 by Frederica de Laguna. The party in 1931 was sponsored and financed by the University (of Pennsylvania) Museum in Philadelphia and consisted of Frederica de Laguna [FdeL] as leader, her brother Wallace de Laguna [WdeL], and Edward Newman [EN], a classmate of the latter from Haverford College, Pennsylvania. Ed Newman later became Professor of Psychology at Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania. Frederica and Wallace de Laguna left Philadelphia the evening of Thursday, June 4, by train, arriving in Seattle early in the morning of June 8. Ed Newman joined them the next day and was outfitted in Seattle. On the return voyage to Seattle, the steamer visited canneries on Kodiak Island and the nearby Alaska Peninsula.

1932

EXCAVATIONS in KACHEMAK BAY

In 1931 only a small part of the Great Midden on Yukon Island could be excavated. The trench through Sections A - H, 40 feet long and six feet wide, although dug to a depth of seven feet at its deepest end (G, H), failed to reach the bottom of the midden, especially since the work had to be stopped whenever the high tides flooded the hole. The expansion into Sections 2D through 2G, 20 feet long and six feet wide, was begun when the tides became troublesome, but was not excavated below high tide level. At the end of the season, a tall pole was placed in the deepest corner of Section H in order to indicate the extent of the excavation, and the tent floors were left leaning against trees on the point where the camp had been, in anticipation of a return the next season. Fortunately the University Museum was pleased with the results in 1931 and with the promise of more finds, so sent Frederica de Laguna back to Yukon Island. The party consisted of Bill Newman (BN), younger brother of Ed Newman and also a Haverford College student, and should have included Wallace de Laguna. But at the last minute, the latter withdrew, sending instead Dana Street (DS), another Haverford undergraduate. Grace de Laguna was again the guest of the expedition, this time for the whole summer, getting breakfast, and assisting in camp chores and washing specimens. Frederica de Laguna arrived first in Seldovia and went with Jack Fields (JF) in his new gas boat, Goliath, to Tuxedni Bay on the west side of Cook Inlet where he had heard of a rock shelter with red cave paintings. Unable to reach the head of the bay because of the ebb tide, Fields left Frederica de Laguna on a bear trail to await his return, while he went on up the trail and found the cave. Bill Newman was the second to arrive, and he joined de Laguna and Fields on a trip across the Inlet: to Polly Creek, Crescent (Grecian) River, Tuxedni Bay, and Chinitna Bay, to copy the rock paintings and to look for sites. When Dana Street and Grace de Laguna arrived in Seldovia, Jack Fields took the assembled party back to Yukon Island where he stayed for several days to help set up camp and start the excavation of new sections in the Great Midden, adjacent to those of the previous year. He returned to the island several times to bring mail and supplies, and also to introduce natives of the area, chief among whom was Anisim, a Koniag who had been married to a local Indian

woman for 35 years and so could identify objects and places both in Alutiiq and Dena'ina. Just before the end of the season, the whole party explored a small site on Passage Island, at the entrance to Port Graham. Cave paintings in Tuxedni Bay, Indian (Chugachik) Island, and Sadie Cove were copied, a trip was made to Grewingk Glacier, and two peaks near Sadie Cove were climbed. During the course of the summer the party acquired a small black cat that was discovered at an abandoned camp on Jakolof Bay. She was given to the tender-hearted wife of the cannery watchman in Tutka Bay at the end of the summer. In addition to reaching the bottom of the Great Midden on the west beach, a stratigraphic sequence of the Kachemak Bay Eskimo culture was tentatively established, developing from Yukon Island I (the oldest), through II, sub-III, III, and IV (the last scantily represented), and all believed to antedate the Athabaskan (Dena'ina) occupation of Kachemak Bay. The material from Passage Island may also represent the last (IV) phase of the Kachemak Bay Eskimo culture. A lamp with a human figure in the bowl was found cached in the ruins of a prehistoric house pit in the Yukon Fox Farm midden on the east beach. It belonged to the culture of Yukon Island III, the "classic" phase in Kachemak Bay, thus establishing the cultural affiliations of such decorated lamps, and answering the problem that had inspired the initial archaeological reconnaissance of Cook Inlet in 1930. Cameras used by the party were Frederica de Laguna's large camera for 9 x 12 cm. film pack and a small camera [sm. cam.] (like Wallace de Laguna's) for roll film. Bill Newman and Dana Street did not have cameras.

1933

AMERICAN-DANISH EXPEDITION to PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND

Historical Note: The expedition, under the joint leadership of Frederica de Laguna (University Museum, Philadelphia) and Kaj Birket-Smith (National Museum, Copenhagen) had three objectives: (1) to study the culture of the last Eyak at Cordova and Simpson Bay, and (2) to make an ethnographic study of the Chugach Eskimo in connection with (3) explorations of Chugach archaeology. The other member of the party was Norman Reynolds, then a graduate student in Anthropolgy at the University of Washington. He participated in all phases of the work. Wallace de Laguna, who devoted himself to archaeology, joined the party in the summer as did Grace de Laguna, as a guest of the expedition. Birket-Smith sailed from Copenhagen to Seattle via the Panama Canal and joined Frederica de Laguna and Norman Reynolds on the Alaska Steamship Company's ship departing Seattle April 22. They arrived in Cordova April 26. Since it was too wintery (planes were still landing and taking off from Eyak Lake), the first weeks (April 26-May 14) were devoted to Eyak ethnography, in which Reynolds' linguistic ability proved most useful. Galushia Nelson and his wife, Annie, were the principal informants, although Gus Nelson, Galushia's older brother, Old Man Dude (an Eyak shaman living in Simpson Bay), and Johnny Stevens (an Atna [Ahtna] shaman living among the Eyak at Old Town), were also helpful. Copies of all field notes were shared by Birket-Smith and de Laguna. The results of the intensive three weeks of ethnography were published in Birket-Smith and de Laguna, The Eyak Indians of the Copper River Delta, Alaska, Copenhagen, 1938. The American author organized the descriptive portion (Part I), utilizing not only the scanty information available in published sources, but also the reminiscenses of Colonel (then Lieutenant) W. R. Abercrombie whom she visited for a week in the fall of 1935. She was also responsible for the section on Folklore, chiefly told by Galushia and Annie Nelson (Part II), the summary of previous writers on the Eyak (Part III), and the appendices on Eyak geneologies, kinship and language. Birket-Smith contributed the meticulously detailed analysis of Eyak ethnology in the context of circumpolar and Northwest American cultures (Part (IV).

As soon as the ground thawed sufficiently to permit digging (May 14), the party set up camp at Palugvik (Site 14) on Hawkins Island. They were accompanied by Chief Makari ("Makaka") Chimowitski, as informant on Chugach culture, and by his daughter, Mrs. Matrona ("Ma") Tiedmann, as interpreter. For the month of their visit, Birket-Smith and de Laguna usually alternated between excavating the site and working with the old chief. In the evenings, the latter usually told myths and legends. As with the Eyak information, all ethnographic notes were typed and copies shared. As had been previously decided, the ethnography of the Chugach was published by Birket-Smith as The Chugach Eskimo, 1953. When Makari and Matrona Tiedmann left, ca. June 15, the party at Palugvik was joined by Wallace and Grace de Laguna. In addition to continued excavation at the main midden on the West Point, the burial ledge on the East Point was excavated and trips were made to various sites in the vicinity, especially those with red pictographs (Sites 12 and 13). From July 25 - August 9, the party was taken on a trip to the northern and western parts of Prince William Sound aboard the U.S. Forest Service launch, Chugach. While Norman Reynolds, Birket-Smith, and Grace de Laguna remained at Chenega for ethnographic work, Frederica and Wallace de Laguna chartered a gas boat belonging to Billy Paye and excavated at Palutat Cave (Site 44) on an island in Long Bay. Birket-Smith left the party at Latouche, Montague Island, on August 9 to return to Denmark, but the rest returned to Palugvik to continue excavations until August 25 when a week's trip with Matrona and August ("Pa") Tiedmann was made on their fishing boat to reported sites on the eastern part of the Sound. Additional ethnographic information on the Eyak was obtained in Cordova before the party left on September 9. The archaeological specimens were divided between the National Museum of Denmark and the University Museum of Philadelphia by separating them, as evenly as possible, into two groups, and then drawing lots as to which institution was to obtain which. A small collection of duplicates was given to the University of Washington (Burke Museum) in recognition of Reynolds' contribution. Frederica de Laguna was responsible for the archaeological report, Chugach Prehistory: The Archaeology of Prince William Sound, 1956.

CATALOGUE OF ALASKA PICTURES, 1935 EXPLORATION OF THE MIDDLE AND LOWER YUKON RIVER In the summer of 1935, with funds granted by the American Philosophical Society to the University Museum, Philadelphia, an anthropological and geological exploration in the Yukon River valley was undertaken in the hope of discovering traces of late Pleistocene or early post-Pleistocene human occupation. Frederica de Laguna was chief of party; the geologist was Dr. A. J. ("Jack") Eardley [JE], then Assistant Professor of Geology at the University of Michigan; the assistants were Kenneth ("Ken") Gorton [KG], one of Eardley's students, and Norman ("Sandy") Reynolds [NR], a graduate student of Anthropology at the University of Washington. Although no traces of PaleoIndian remains were found, more recent archaeological sites were discovered and explored, and ethnographic data on the modem culture and remembered past of the Native American Yukon peoples were gathered. The results of the geological work were published by Eardley in "Unconsolidated Sediments and Topographic Features of the Lower Yukon Valley," Bulletin of the Geological Society of America, 48:303-342, 1937, and "Yukon Channel Shifting," Bulletin of the Geological Society of America, 49:343-358, 1938. The results of the summer's anthropological investigations are found in "Expedition to the Yukon," Bulletin of the University Museum (Philadelphia), December 1935, pp. 50-57; "An Archaeological Reconnaissance of the Middle and Lower Yukon Valley, Alaska," American Antiquity, Vol. 2, No. 1, January, pp. 6-12 (de Laguna 1936a); "Indian Masks from the Lower Yukon," American Anthropologist, Vol 38 (1): 569-585, pls. 17-20 (de Laguna 1936b), and The Prehistory of Northern North America as Seen from the Yukon. Memoir 3, Society for American Archaeology, 1947, also by de Laguna. In addition, Tales from the Dena, collected by de Laguna and Reynolds, edited by de Laguna, and illustrated by Dale De Armond, is being published by the University of Washington Press (1994). A companion volume, Travels Among the Dena, an account of the explorations, is being planned. Some of the 1935 photographs are published in these.

1949 EXPLORATION OF SOUTHEASTERN ALASKA

The objective of the first season, the 1949 trip to Southeastern Alaska, was to discover some area within the territory of the northern Tlingit where an integrated program of archaeological, ethnological and acculturation studies could best be undertaken. During the summer of 1949, field assistance came from Edward ("Ed") Malin [EM], a graduate of the University of Colorado, and from William ("Bill") Irving [WI], then an undergraduate at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. We visited the tribal territories of the Yakutat (June 8-July 13), Chilkat-Chilkoot (July 17-Aug. 4), and Kootznahoo or Angoon people (Aug. 12-29). As a result of this survey, the Yakutat and Angoon areas were judged to be particularly suitable for further work. Archaeological investigations in the Chilkat area were disappointing.

1950 ANGOON As a result of the survey made in 1949 of Northern Tlingit areas, Angoon was selected as the first present-day Native community to be studied, together with the archaeological remains presumed to belong to the ancestors of the current inhabitants. "The fieldwork of the two seasons was conceived and carried out as preliminary and necessary steps of a larger and more ambitious project,... The ultimate aim [of which] was to trace the development of Tlingit culture from the earliest period represented by discoverable remains down to the present time." [de Laguna. 1960:5] The second season (June 14-Sept. 14, 1950) was spent at Angoon in order to see what could be learned through a coordinated program of ethnological and archaeological work. The archaeological research was carried out chiefly by Francis ("Fritz") A. Riddell [FAR], graduate student in anthropology at the University of California, and Lloyd R. Collins [LC], graduate student at the University of Oregon. Ethnological investigations were undertaken by Dr. Catharine ("Kitty") McClellan [CMcC] and Dr. Frederica de Laguna [FdeL] who also, especially during the last weeks of the summer, participated in the excavations. The latter were concentrated at one rather small site, but explorations were made of other sites in the vicinity of Angoon, supplementing the survey of the previous summer. [de Laguna. 1960:x] The objective of the first season was to discover some area within the terriotry of the northern Tlingit wehere an integrated program of archaeological, ethnological, and acculturation studies could best be undertaken.