Re: Canuck defined
From: Floyd L. Davidson (floyd_at_barrow.com)
Date: 03/16/05
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Date: Wed, 16 Mar 2005 01:53:30 -0900
Steve Hayes <hayesmstw@hotmail.com> wrote:
Don't know whats causing it, but your articles are showing up
multiple times.
>On Tue, 15 Mar 2005 02:04:43 -0900, floyd@barrow.com (Floyd L. Davidson)
>wrote:
>>Steve Hayes <hayesmstw@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>Not that assimilation wasn't attempted beginning in the 1870's,
>>just that it was unsuccessful until the late 1940s. By the
>>1960's a change had taken place that became obvious: traditional
>>education of Native youth was no longer functional. It was then
>>that the effect took place, where an entire generation became
>>adults without knowing how traditional Native governance worked.
>
>I seem to recall that an education official was sent from the US with orders
>to Anglicise the natives, and encouraged the establishment of boarding schools
>for that purpose.
You are probably thinking of Sheldon Jackson (1834-1909). He
was a Presbyterian missionary who, from 1877 to 1909 worked
tirelessly to screw up the Native people of Alaska. (Okay, so
that isn't quite what the history books say, but it's
true... :-)
He did do some interesting things, and his dedication is indeed
remarkable, even if what he was dedicated to was not. The most
significant thing he did was to literally divide up Alaska and
parcel out territories to each and every church or missionary
organization willing to take on the task of saving the Native
people from themselves. And because Barrow was the most
difficult and inhospitable place of them all, he could not ask
anyone else to go there and gave that to his own Presbyterian
church. As a result, there has been a large Presbyterian
influence in Barrow since the first church was built here in
1896.
Another result is that in most parts of Alaska you'll find that
one, or maybe two, missionary churches were established and to
this day are dominant. Usually when there are two or three, one
of them is the Russian Orthodox church with of course preceded
Jackson.
Jackson was very much into "civilizing" the savages. He built a
school (indeed, he was instrumental in passage of the Organic
Act of 1884 that finally provided civil governance for Alaska,
and money for education) in southeastern intended to make White
men out of Tlingit Indians.
>My computer has run out of memory to look them up, and I'm
>afraid it may crash if I reboot, but titles of books I recall are "Bashful no
>longer", "Nuvendaltin Q'hutana" and "Orthodox Alaska".
"Bashful No Longer" is by Wendell Oswalt, and isn't bad at all.
Of course if you want to know what is wrong with anthropology in
Alaska historically, read his first book, "Napaskiak -- And
Alaskan Eskimo Community" recounting studies done in the 1950's
and published in 1963. (I'd imagine that to this day if you
mention Oswalt's name in Napaskiak you might get an earfull!)
"Nuvendaltin Quht'ana: The People of Nondalton" is not a work
that I'm familiar with.
"Orthodox Alaska" is of course Father Oleksa. His books are
fine, but to really appreciate him you have to see him talk.
Not just hear, but *see* him! He's a guy who can keep an
audience gripping their chairs with their attention absolutely
riveted for fear of missing a single word, and do it for hours.
And of course he lectures wearing the black robes of
a priest.
There are two other people whose works should be mentioned too.
Ann Fienup-Riordan has written several books about Yup'ik
culture, and is just absolutely fascinating to read. Oscar
Angayuqaq Kawagley is another person who writes wonderful words,
but listening to him is just beyond imagination.
<http://arcticcircle.uconn.edu/HistoryCulture/kawagley.html>
Oscar also has the distinct advantage of being a genuine Yup'ik
Elder. Which among other things means that he was literally
raised to teach his worldview. The man can take some concept of
Yup'ik culture that you've heard about many times and never been
able to see what the significance is, or how it could even be...
and in half an hour he *will* convince you *that is* the way the
world actually works, or at least should work.
>Perhaps we should take this discussion to sci.anthropology, as it is getting
>off-topic here in soc.genealogy.britain, but I find it very interesting.
An off topic thread won't hurt anyone. And sci.anthropology is
probably more likely to attract flamers. Besides, once a thread
gets going in virtually *any* newsgroup, you really don't want
to drop that newsgroup because you can never tell who is reading
it there, or not.
>>The Russian history in Alaska is very much misunderstood. They
>>made absolutely no effort to conquer, assimilate, change, or
>>whatever, the Native population of Alaska. They barely
>>scratched the surface as far as even exploring the geography!
>>The entire Russian America period is one of mercantile
>>operations!
>
>They did, however, exploit the natives economically and treat them unjustly.
>Some missionaries had harsh words for some of the promyshleniki.
Oh, definitely. If we on occasion think of Capitalist Pigs as
being less than compassionate, they appear to be a near emulation
of Jesus compared to Russian merchants in the 18th and 19th
centuries.
...
>>In fact, the Russians were vastly different, even when some of
>>the effects were the same.
>
>I have been interested in comparing the efforts of the Russian North American
>Company in Alaska with the Dutch East India Company in South Africa, and the
>differences between Protestant and Orthodox missionaries in both places.
I know virtually nothing about the Dutch East India Company, so I can't
really comment.
>Oleksa (in "Orthodox Alaska" records the correspondence between an Orthodox
>priest and the matron of a Protestant boarding school, and their attitude to
>the natives and their culture are poles apart.
The Orthodox church was put in charge of relations with the
Native people, and sent to Alaska specifically to get between
the Natives and the merchants. Given how crude, class conscious,
and distant Moscow was, you can imagine how bad it must have
been if the Czar thought correction was necessary!
Oleksa, because he has done research in Russia, is an authority on
the history of the Russian period in Alaska. That results in some
really interesting conflicts with the only other history available
for that period, which is Hubert Howe Bancroft's "History of Alaska"
published in 1886. Bancroft was not exactly kind to the Orthodox
church, and it clearly annoys Oleksa anytime Bancroft is used as
the only source to indict the church's activities in Alaska. And
of course he is indeed correct (and at the drop of a hat can rattle
off detail after fascinating detail). I've read Bancroft multiple
times and hence when I hear Oleksa's comments they actually make
sense to me.
-- Floyd L. Davidson <http://web.newsguy.com/floyd_davidson> Ukpeagvik (Barrow, Alaska) floyd@barrow.com
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