Wrangell house gets center spotlight at new museum

An exhibit built by Wrangell craftsmen is now one of the first sights visitors see when entering the new Alaska State Museum in Juneau.

The museum, formally named the Father Andrew P. Kashevaroff Library, Archives and Museum Building, was completed and opened to the public in June, and features more than twice the floor space of its predecessor. Completely replacing the capital's previous museum, the $139 million project was the largest scale project the city had seen in over four decades.

Soon after passing through the terrazzo floored, high-ceilinged lobby and the museum's front desk, patrons are sure to notice a traditional tribal house built in the fashion of the Tlingit Auk Kwáan clans, just inside the entrance to the museum's Alaska Native wing. Those familiar with Wrangell may recognize its many similarities to the house on Chief Shakes Island, being built of the same red cedar, capped with copper and its surfaced adzed by many of the same hands.

The crew which finished renovating the Wrangell historical site was contracted to build the new house, which replaces one featured on the old museum's first floor that had been a popular attraction. Museum curator of collections Steve Henrikson explained Todd White of White Construction had been selected to head up the project due to his team's stellar work on the Shakes project back in 2013.

"We'd heard a lot of good things about the crew there that worked on it," he said.

Working with a rough drawing of a northern-style house, White collaborated on its design with Steve Brown, a master carver and former Wrangell resident now living in Sequim, Washington. Carving for nearly half a century, he lived on the island during the mid-1980s and helped carve the totem poles at City Park.

They surprised the museum with the addition of copper trim, which is meant more than for looks, as it helps protect the beam ends from oversaturation.

The house structure was designed similarly to those used by the Auk Kwáan of the Juneau area. However, some other liberties were taken for aesthetic and practical reasons. For instance, Henrikson noted a Juneau house would more likely have used Sitka spruce as its main building material.

"We just really love cedar," he admitted.

The house also was unable to feature the terraced floor structure common to the design, and is fully accessible to visitors with limited mobility.

"The space for the exhibit really determined the size of the house," Henrikson explained.

Between the support columns and new health and safety requirements, a balance was struck which made the most of the available space and has ended up with a well-received exhibit since it opened in June.

"It will be seen for a long time by a million people a year," commented White. He got to see the finished house and exhibit for the first time on Tuesday. "To see everything together, it was really incredible."

"Reviews of the exhibit have been really good," Henrikson noted. In particular, the exhibit's presentation and accuracy have been praised, which he attributed to years of consultation with Native elders and research.

On a basic level, the tribal house had a survival component, providing a comfortable shelter during the winter months. But in a larger context the house formed the basis of the clan, whose members lived together within its walls.

"The clan was the biggest political unit in the culture," Henrikson observed. Prior to later consolidation under the United States, clans were largely independent. Few groups grew to need more than 10 or 15 houses, and each house was led by its own chief. At a certain point, houses could split off and form clans in their own right.

"The house was kind of like a nation unto itself," he summarized.

Inside the display, a variety of household and everyday items highlight centuries' worth of knowledge and expertise, from the tools of subsistence activities like fishing and hunting to skills like weaving and the arts.

"We wanted to use the exhibit of those items to talk about Tlingit society," he explained.

Ceremonial items and clan regalia are also displayed, in a way which portrays the reciprocal social relationship between the Eagle and Raven moieties. Symbols of each moiety face each other from opposite sides of the room, as though conversing in a formal situation. Respect is a value which underpins the Tlingit culture, a concept the display tries to convey.

"We have been working with the Auk Kwáan with what items go in here," said Jackie Manning, curator of exhibitions at the museum.

The exhibit last week added a Chilkat article in the process of being woven, and Manning explained they were working on adding a screen and house posts to the exhibit. Another of the items on display is the Kiks.ádi clan hat rescued from a Sothesby's auction by Tlingit Haida Central Council in 2014.

"There are still some things being finished up in here, but it's mostly here," she said.

The interactive display of the Tlingit house was one of the features people wanted the new museum to carry over from the old, one of many touches to the facility paying such tribute.

"We wanted to make homage to the original building," said Paul Gardinier, a designer on the museum project. The traditional doorposts from the museum's previous incarnation grace the entrance to the gallery, and the new house has as its backdrop a mural featuring the old village near modern-day Juneau.

White was excited to have been included in the project, and was very pleased with how it turned out.

"It was neat to be really passionate about what you do, and to be recognized for it," he said. "It was an honor to do the project. I worked with some really good people."

White said he could not have done it without the help of Brown, Richard Oliver, Peter White, Lee Romane, Michael Maleski or Jim Holder. Susie Beebe held a special place on the crew, doing the vast majority of the adzing, working in Wrangell Cooperative Association's new cultural center and carving facility from the winter of 2014 through much of 2015.