Sealaska Heritage Institute

SHI's ARCHIVES & COLLECTIONS | HERITAGE FORWARD

SHI's Bent Wood Box of Archives & Collections

A major source for Southeast Alaska Native culture and history.

Professional and amateur researchers alike look to us as a primary source for information about the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian people of the Alaskan Panhandle. Whether you are simply curious or seriously scholarly, you will find an abundance of information in our archives and library, and through programs like our lecture series and visiting scholars. Looking for genealogical information? Check our resources page. Whatever your interest, the path to our peoples’ past starts here.

Native people preserving traditional knowledge and practices.

Our culture, history and language programs (along with our language programs) are informed by our Council of Traditional Scholars, a panel of clan leaders and elders with extensive knowledge of Southeast Alaska Native cultures. We periodically assemble the council to provide guidance and insight on both new and existing programs.

archives & collections department

SHI PRESERVING THE PAST FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS

It's SHI's mission to perpetuate and enhance Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian cultures.

SHI’s Archives and Art/Ethnographic Collections are stored deep in a large, climate-controlled, protected room at our headquarters in Juneau. Our archives, named in honor of the late Tlingit lawyer and activist William L. Paul, Sr., houses 3,100 linear feet of historical and cultural material documenting the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian language, culture, and history. It contains historical documents, manuscripts, personal papers, and more. It includes 60,000 photographs and 5,000 audio and audiovisual recordings, most of which cannot be found in other libraries or archives. We also care for more than 900 art and ethnographic objects, both ancient and modern. In addition, SHI serves as a repository on behalf of clans and tribes for cultural objects repatriated under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) for the Native people of Southeast Alaska. Many of SHI’s holdings are available to the public for educational and research purposes.

Whether you are simply curious or conducting scholarly research, you will find an abundance of information in our archives and library, and through programs like our lecture series and visiting scholars. Whatever your interest, the path to our peoples’ past starts here.

Click on the below links for more details:

Research and Explore with SHI

SHI’s collections are searchable in our online database. Our database is similar to a regular library catalog in some regards. Still, it is designed to be user-friendly for archival research by allowing you to find materials by the creator, subject, type of record, or keyword search.

For tips and tricks for using the database, this video series goes over the different elements of global searching, exploring the archives directory, and exploring the art and ethnographic directory. When you know what archival documents or museum objects you want to research, please write down the details of the materials (collection number or object ID number) and make an appointment to visit our facility by contacting archives staff at the email address listed below. Patrons unable to visit our onsite facility should contact the Archives for information about obtaining digital reproductions or photocopies. For more information, please contact our archivist at SHIArchives@sealaska.com. To request archival materials or ask a question, submit this form. The reading room is open to researchers Monday through Friday from 10 am-4 pm (closed 12-1) by appointment.

about this video

SHI SCIENTISTS (SHI’s Culture & History) DISCOVER AN ANCIENT TLINGIT FISHING TRAP IN SOUTHEAST ALASKA DATING 11,000 YEARS AGO

(Alaskan Natives pre-date Russia, in Alaska, by 1000s of years)

NATIVE PEOPLE

Preserving traditional knowledge and practices.

Our culture, history and language programs are informed by our Council of Traditional Scholars, a panel of clan leaders and elders with extensive knowledge of Southeast Alaska Native cultures.

We periodically assemble the council to provide guidance and insight on both new and existing programs.