As millions of people around the world are displaced from their homes, some are looking to the past for insight on the refugee crisis. A new museum exhibit in Anchorage tells the story of a plan to relocate European Jewish refugees to Alaska during World War II.
History
Community members, archaeologists race against time at Nunalleq
It’s been eight years since a small team began excavating an ancient village outside of Quinhagak. Now, archaeologists and tribal leaders are saving what they can before the site washes away. This summer, volunteers worked to recover what they could.
Man returns Alutiiq lamp to Kodiak Island
Artifacts sometimes end up in attics or storage boxes miles away from their places of origin. That was the case for one object that started on Kodiak Island and found itself in Soldotna many years later.
Historic Alaska newspapers are being posted online
Staff from Alaska’s State Libraries, Archives and Museums is working to digitize historic newspapers to be posted online. The first batch was posted in August — about 100,000 pages and more are on the way.
‘Our ancestors returned home’: How a Chilkat robe made its way back to Southeast Alaska
Drumming, dancing and telling stories over an afternoon, representatives from three Southeast Alaska tribes celebrated the return of their 100-plus-year-old Chilkat blanket. Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian members held a homecoming ceremony in the Shuká Hit clan house in Juneau.
Sealaska Heritage to celebrate Chilkat robe’s homecoming
Sealaska Heritage is celebrating the return of a 100-year-old Chilkat robe in a homecoming celebration that begins at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at the Walter Soboleff Building in the Shuká Hít clan house. Sealaska Heritage also plans to stream video of the celebration on Facebook Live.
Confederate statues were built to further a ‘white supremacist future’
President Trump hasn’t mentioned it as he’s defended the memorabilia over the past week, but historians say the statues were originally built to send a clear message to black Americans.
After WWII internment apology, a new generation of Aleuts seek out history
“To the Aleut people interned at Funter Bay and their descendants, who continue to carry this burden, I am sorry,” Wes Kuhns of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service told a small crowd at the St. George community center.
Metlakatla celebrates traditions on Founder’s Day
August 7, is Founder’s Day in Metlakatla. In 1887, Duncan arrived at Annette Island with about 800 Tsimshians from British Columbia and founded what is now Metlakatla Indian Community, about 15 miles south of Ketchikan.
Where did the Birdman of Alcatraz commit his first murder?
Many people are familiar with the story of Robert Stroud, one of the country’s most famous inmates of the last century, and how he spent over half his life in solitary confinement and gained fame for his careful study of birds and bird diseases. But many people probably don’t know that Stroud was initially sent to prison for a murder he committed just a few short blocks away from the present-day Alaska State Capitol in downtown Juneau.