Back to Sitka, Alaska History page
Fourth Grade Additional Materials and Suggestions for Use pdf
High School Additional Materials and Suggestions for Use pdf
Sitka Retakes - Eadweard Muybridge photos of Sitka in 1869, with retakes in 2017 by James Poulson
“Sitka’s First Decade Under the American Flag, 1867-1877 : Fourth Grade”
Fourth Grade Materials and Suggestions for Use
(Scroll down for High School Materials)
Click Here for Fourth Grade Materials and Suggestions for Use as a PDF
Materials:
Illustrated Narrative, 1867-1877, by Rebecca Poulson
Photo Pairs by Rebecca Poulson
Traditional Tlingit Country map by Tlingit Readers, Inc.
1867 Transfer Map of Sitka and index - a link to Alaska Digital Archives
40th Congress 2nd Session House of Representatives Executive Document 125 - property inventory for the Transfer Map
Superimposed Transfer Map over a Google Earth photo of Sitka
Kostrometinoff account - his handwritten letter describing his recollection of the transfer, and the transcription.
There are also other resources on the Alaska Historical Society website, under the Discover Alaska's History tab, as well as documents, articles and a podcast at 150th Anniversary of the Alaska Treaty of Cession under the About AHS tab.
Kahtahah, by Frances Lackey Paul (Alaska Northwest Books, 1976) which is out of print but not hard to get. It is by Frances Lackey Paul, but the book is the stories of Tillie Paul Tamaree (her mother in law). Tillie Paul was a remarkable woman with a remarkable life story, and it’s all here. Her adopted father was an important clan leader, and she grew up traditionally, but then lived with missionaries and became one herself. Her son was William Paul, a Tlingit lawyer who fought for land claims.
Some activities:
Photo pairs:
- Look closely at the old photos and the new ones, and see what you can tell about Sitka from what is shown.
- Compare the two, see what is different and what is the same.
- What are questions you have about those photos. How do you think you might find out the answers?
You can use the photos in the narrative, too, for study. The pictures of Sitka from the Coast Pilot are incredibly detailed.
You could compare the 1867 map of Alaska with a contemporary map, and compare what towns are marked on each.
Compare a new map, the 1867 map, and the Tlingit Country map.
Kostrometinof account: use the photos and the Transfer Map of Sitka to figure out where the soldiers landed, and where young George might have been, watching the events.
Discussion questions: Why might stereotypes be harmful? What are some stereotypes we have now (dumb blonde, etc.?)
See if you can find elements of the stereotype of “Indians” in media of today (noble, close to nature, wise, unsophisticated)
“Sitka’s First Decade Under the American Flag, 1867-1877 : High School”
High School Materials and Suggestions for Use
Click Here for High School Materials and Suggestions for Use as a PDF
Note: nearly all of the 19th century materials are extremely offensive.
Materials:
Sitka’s First Decade Under the American Flag, 1867-1877, by Rebecca Poulson
Photo Pairs by Rebecca Poulson
Traditional Tlingit Country map by Tlingit Readers, Inc.
1867 Transfer Map of Sitka and index - a link to Alaska Digital Archives
40th Congress 2nd Session House of Representatives Executive Document 125 - property inventory for the Transfer Map
Superimposed Transfer Map over a Google Earth photo of Sitka
Kostrometinoff account - his handwritten letter describing his recollection of the transfer, and the transcription.
1870 Report by Jeff Davis from House Executive Documents 3rd Session 41st Congress, 1870-71, Volume 2 Number 1
“Lo, The Poor Indian,” by Horace Greeley, from An Overland Journey, New York to San Francisco, the Summer of 1859
““The Canoe Rocks: We Do Not Know What Will Become of Us” The Complete Transcript of a Meeting Between Governor John Green Brady of Alaska and a Group of Tlingit Chiefs Juneau, December 14 1898” Article by Ted Hinckley, from the Western Historical Quarterly, July 1970
Treaty of Cession
Official Transfer Report
Alta California newspaper story about the transfer
"Memoirs of a Finnish Workman"
Delavan Bloodgood - “Eight Months at Sitka”
William Seward’s Speech at Sitka in 1869
There are also other resources on the Alaska Historical Society website, under the Discover Alaska's History tab, as well as documents, articles and a podcast at 150th Anniversary of the Alaska Treaty of Cession under the About AHS tab.
Books:
R. N. DeArmond, editor, Lady Franklin Visits Sitka, Alaska 1870, the Journal of Sophia Cracroft, Sir John Franklin’s Niece (Anchorage: Alaska Historical Society, 1981)which has the key to the Transfer map, as well as her niece’s observations, and an 1870 census by the Army
Robert N. DeArmond and Richard A. Pierce, The USS Saginaw in Alaska Waters, 1867-68 (Kingston, Ontario and Fairbanks, Alaska: Limestone Press, 1997- especially the parts about the shelling of Kake. This book has the account by a young midshipman, which is chilling.
An Army Doctor’s Wife on the Frontier: The Letters of Emily McCorkle FitzGerald from Alaska and the Far West, 1874-78 (University of Nebraska Press 1986), Includes her account of the Nez Perce War, which is where they went after Sitka, to Fort Lapwai.
Kahtahah, by Frances Lackey Paul (Alaska Northwest Books, 1976) which is out of print but not hard to get. It is by Frances Lackey Paul, but the book is the stories of Tillie Paul Tamaree (her mother in law). Tillie Paul was a remarkable woman with a remarkable life story, and it’s all here. Her adopted father was an important clan leader, and she grew up traditionally, but then lived with missionaries and became one herself. Her son was William Paul, a Tlingit lawyer who fought for land claims.
Some activities:
Photo pairs:
- Look closely at the old photos and the new ones, and see what you can tell about Sitka from what is shown.
- Compare the two, see what is different and what is the same.
- What are questions you have about those photos. How do you think you might find out the answers?
You can use the photos in the narrative, too, for study. The pictures of Sitka from the Coast Pilot are incredibly detailed.
You could compare the 1867 map of Alaska with a contemporary map, and compare what towns are marked on each.
Compare a new map, the 1867 map, and the "Tlingit Country" map.
Kostrometinof account: use the photos and the Transfer Map of Sitka to figure out where the soldiers landed, and where young George might have been, watching the events.
Discussion questions: Why might stereotypes be harmful? What are some stereotypes we have now (dumb blonde, etc.?)
Is democracy compatible with imperialism? (imperialism is taking over another country and not allowing the inhabitants to have a say in how they are governed) What is the situation now for Puerto Rico and other US Territories?
Read the various documents for attitudes expressed about Americans, Russians, Natives.
What attitudes survive today, and what are unacceptable?
Compare the viewpoints of two accounts
See if you can find elements of the stereotype of “Indians” in media of today (noble, close to nature, wise, prone to addiction, suffering from loss of culture)
After reading Seward’s speech, do you think it’s appropriate to have a statue of him in front of the state Legislature? The statue has been controversial - look up opinions on both sides and discuss.
Debate both sides of the Kake War - should they have destroyed the villages, or not.