Mural painting provides student another way to explore Tlingit culture

Throughout her high school years, senior Mia Wiederspohn has been very invested in "everything Tlingit," learning Indigenous studies and its history in Wrangell.

She worked with mentor and teacher Xwaanlein Virginia Oliver to learn the language, then assisted Oliver to create the radio show "The Application of Learning Tlingit Language," 41 three- to five-minute episodes teaching words and phrases.

She also created and hosted her own five-episode radio program called "Mia's Gift," sharing her experiences with the language, traditional stories and the history of the Wrangell Institute, the Alaska Natives federal boarding school that closed in 1975.

For her senior project, Wiederspohn took on another medium to explore Tlingit culture, painting a formline design mural of two ravens, each roughly three feet wide and six feet tall, on the corner of B.B. Brock's, a Native-themed retail shop owned by elder Lovey Brock near the City Dock. "You know, red and black are the Tlingit colors, and so I did two black ravens facing each other with a red background."

She painted the mural last summer to complete her senior project ahead of time. "I just wanted to get it out of the way early," she said. "I didn't want to have to deal with doing it now, because I have college classes and a bunch of scholarships to do, and pretty hard classes in high school this year as well. So I got it out of the way early, which I wish more kids knew to do, because it took a lot of stress off of my plate."

The inspiration came during a high school art workshop hosted by Tlingit artist Doug Chilton. "We made wooden paddles for canoeing," Wiederspohn said. "Then we painted them, and Lovey Brock was in the workshop, and she kind of has a shaky hand, so she asked me politely to paint her paddle because she liked how mine looked."

Brock watched Wiederspohn closely as she worked on the elder's paddle, admiring her skill in painting traditional formline design. "She said, 'You should paint my shop,' and I said, 'Well, that might be a good senior project.'"

After getting the necessary supplies, Wiederspohn had to find the right design for the mural. "I went into Virginia Oliver's archives and I went through and I looked at all of her artwork that she has saved in her filing cabinets. And I found one that was really beautiful, and I sent a picture to Lovey and she just loved it."

One challenge involved preparing the exterior wall surface. "The wood on her shop is a little bit worn and torn, so I had to go and scrape off a bunch of paint and sand down her windowsills in the beginning. And that actually was pretty tedious," she said. "But it turned out really great. ... I sealed them with this resin. ... I think it'll stay pretty well."

"She did a great job," said Brock. "She painted the ravens because I'm Raven."

The most enjoyable part of the experience was spending time with friends while painting the mural on a warm, summer day. "I just had them go down there and sit with me. The sun was setting, and it was just so sunny and beautiful, and I was just painting and we're listening to music and chatting. It was just fun to be outside and doing something," Wiederspohn said.

She also learned from painting the mural the importance of culture and history. "It's taught me how much people appreciate the reflection of Tlingit culture in Wrangell," she said. "A bunch of people came up to me saying, 'This is so important that we show how proud we are of our culture,' and downtown there's not a lot going on showing our Tlingit culture and our history here. ... I think it's important to have that reflected all around town, not just Totem Park or Chief Shakes, but all around town you should be able to see who lived here historically. It's important to keep your roots."

As much as she's enjoyed her time at high school, she's ready to move on. "You know, it's so much fun to be around so many kids at once and have so many friends, but a lot of my friends are graduated and I'm honestly ready to go start my life. I think what I'll miss the most is my family more than anything. But I am excited to be uprooted and just go to college and get things rolling."

Wiederspohn plans to attend the University of Anchorage Alaska to study to become a dental hygienist. Eventually, she plans to return home but wants to explore other places first. "I think it's really important that I try living somewhere else, which will be Anchorage for a little while and, I don't know, maybe somewhere else too, but my heart's in Wrangell. I really can only imagine myself coming back and having a family here in the future."

An important aspect of creating her senior project involved leaving her own imprint on the town. "That's going to be there for a while," she said of the mural. "It's cool to leave my own tracks on Wrangell."