Iñupiaq men in qayaqs, Noatak, Alaska, circa 1929. Edward S. Curtis Collection, Library of Congress Digital Collections.
Crossing the Chilkoot Pass, circa 1898. Courtesy Candy Waugaman and Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park.
The Gold Rush boomtown of Nome on the Seward Peninsula, 1900. Courtesy of U.S. Geological Survey Photographic Library.
With a grant from the Alaska Historical Commission, Anjuli Grantham has produced a special podcast called “Alaska Out of the Vault” that examines Alaska in the decades around the Treaty of Cession. It focuses on what was occurring in Alaska–not in Washington, DC–and what themes and transitions were afoot rather than the big, iconic moments that tend to receive the most attention.
Unangan puffin skin parka, circa 1880s. Photo courtesy of Alaska State Museum.
Anjuli selected objects to communicate stories that relate truths about Alaska in the 1800s, and conducted interviews with anthropologists, historians, museum curators, and Alaska Native people to help provide broader context. Four episodes cover how Alaska Natives were impacted by the Russian-American Company, how the transition to American military rule played out on the ground, and how American businesses and capitalism transformed lives and cultures.
You can listen to the podcast at www.anjuligrantham.com/alaskaoutofthevault, or find “Alaska Out of the Vault” wherever you listen to podcasts.
For more information, contact Anjuli Grantham at www.anjuligrantham.com.