Category: Artifact

An Artifact: chivtux “grass basket”

“The grass proved difficult to work with, but the weavers persisted” (1).

chivtux “grass basket”
Language: Unangam Tunuu (Attuan dialect)
Courtesy of: Alaska State Museum – Juneau

I cannot peel my eyes away from the Aluet Basketry collection at the Alaska State Museum. One basket that particularly stands out is a hand woven grass basket in the Attu style. There are three distinct types of Aleut Basketry that come from Atka Island, Unalaska Island and Attu Island.

The basket that catches my eye is not finished; strands of the most delicate grass splay in all directions and I cannot stop thinking about the woman who took the time to weave 1050 stitches per square inch. Each blade of grass for this basket was gathered in the summer on coastal hillsides; not too close to the the ocean or it would be too coarse and not too far away or the grass would be too brittle. The weaver then bundles, ages, and sorts each individual strand, before drying and splitting every blade of grass with a fingernail or needle. Before weaving, the grasses are often coloured with berries, tea, clay, coffee, and even onion skins for yellow (2).

As shown in the picture from the Alaska State Library Archives, Attu baskets are held upside down during the weaving process. The weaving is done from left to right while the basket is rotated clockwise.

Attu weavers maintain a strong tension with each strand of grass to create a finer weave than other Aleut styles. In fact many Attu baskets are so tightly woven that they are able to carry water. I am drawn to so much more than just the dexterity of the stitches, and the detail of the patterns. These baskets are representative of the spirituality, and the interwoven history. They exist, like all the art I see in the Alaska State Museum, because of the artists’ perseverance.

They persisted in the 1800s when Russians entered the Aleutians with force and brutality. They persisted in the 1900s when they watched the U.S. military burn their entire village to the ground, including the cured grass that the women had prepared all summer. During WW II Attuans were forcefully relocated to an abandoned herring factory, with poor water supply, little housing and no access to subsistence hunting and fishing. Within days of arrival these determined artists began collecting grass, similar to the grass that grew in  on Attu Island, and they began weaving.

 

Weaving is a deeply embedded part of life for the Attuan people. Babies sleep in woven cradles, and warriors wore woven belts that offered protection. Women wove clothing, mats, bedding and even sheets to separate rooms in their homes. Even the sun sleeps on a grass mat, while the moon (an important uncle) travels across the night sky.

 

Sources:

1. Alaska State Museum – Juneau
2. Alaska Native Collections
3. UAF, Murie Family Papers

Business as Unusual

The modern art and photography wing of the Alaska State Museum captured my attention for the majority of my visit. The intersection of tradition and modern cultural perspectives resonated with so much of what we have been discussing in our classes. Dynamic and changing, Alaskans as a people are working to preserve the past while embracing the future. Many of the works in that wing captured the now of Alaskan culture with respectful attention the state’s dynamic past.

Many thanks to SLAM for letting us visit and post media about their wonderful collection!

Snapper Charm

Fran Reed, 2000
ASM 2004-4-2

Body Fracture

Fran Reed, 2007
ASM 2007-31-1

I found these objects really fascinating – it impressed me as a modern retrospective on the indigenous practices of using all parts of an animal for food, tools, and art. The charm is magical in its construction – its familiar and foreign. (It is also a mix of natural and artificial materials). The second piece, Body Fracture seems more grounded as a fleshy reinvention of pottery. The interior texture of the artwork simultaneously intrigues me to touch it and feel the slightest bit nauseous.

Both made by Fran Reed who, according to my research, lives near Anchorage. I did a little bit of searching about Fran, and found out she’s a transplant to Alaska. Her Alaskan artwork grew from using fish skins as a medium. She was adopted into the Tsimshian Killer Whale clan. Her work has been featured around North America and in Europe.
Fran Reed Bio @ Alaska State Museum

I chose the sinew backed bows, which were listed as Inupiaq, and Yupik or unknown. The age of the bows was also not listed but they were all from northern Alaska, Canada and Siberia. I was drawn to this display because I have been practicing archery since I was a child. I find it amazing that nearly every culture has bows and arrows, and that bow types across cultures are remarkably similar.

http://museums.alaska.gov/asm/asmhome.html

These large, beautiful door hinges were in a glass case surrounded by artifacts from the time of Russian governance over Alaska, along with a beautiful old key and lock. The wood to which the hinges are attached says that they are from the “Haunted Chamber of the Baranov Castle in Sitka, Alaska 1889.” The hinges were given to the museum by M.C.A Farenholt in memory of his father, Rear Admiral O.W Farenholt. I found this intriguing; is there a Russian Castle in Sitka? Who was Rear Admiral O.W. Farenholt? What is the story behind the haunting?

Castle Hill, in Sitka, Alaska, was originally the site of a Tlingit village, but Russian Governor Baranov took the site by force in 1804-1806 and set up a headquarter for the Russian Governance. In 1836 a brick building was erected, and the Russian Governor lived in the building until it was handed over to the Americans in 1867. The building was destroyed in a fire in 1891, but the site remains a local attraction and National Historic Site.

Rear Admiral O.W. Farenholt was born in 1845 to German immigrants in Texas and passed away in California, 1920. He was a Navy officer who served in the Civil War and Spanish Amercian War, rising through the ranks and serving all over the world. In 1884 he was stationed on the USSPinta in Southern Alaska, protecting America’s interest in the seal and fur industry.

The “Haunted Chamber” was a local legend that seemed to spread in various form in the mid 19th century, but it was published as a poem, “The Legend of Baranoff Castle” by Henry E Hayden in 1891. The back of the door hinges’ plaque includes two lines from the published poem.  The legend refers to a Russian princess, name unknown, who fell in love with an American. Her father disapproved of the relationship and forced his daughter to marry a Russian of the father’s choosing. The princess was separated from her American lover and isolated in the castle until she was wed. The night after she was married, she saw her American lover’s ship returning to the Sitka harbor; she jumped out the window and fell to her death. Her ghost roamed the castle in a dark colored dress until her chamber door was locked, locking her in the room forever. The door remained locked until the castle burnt to the ground. However, the door hinges, the lock, and the key remain.

I had a lot of fun looking up the ghost story and comparing variations. The Alaska State Museum is great; I spent the entire morning browsing exhibits, and I did not make it through everything. The staff in the archival department was also very helpful with my more serious research project. What a fun day!