The collection consists of two books of drawings by Guy Kakarook. The books have been disbound and the pages laminated. The drawings depict life along the Yukon River and the area of St. Michael between 1894 and 1903. Volume 1 contains winter scenes and Volume 2 contains summer scenes. The date 1895 appears in pencil on the cover of Volume 1 and may be the date of production or of collection.
Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or National Anthropological Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
Biographical Note:
Guy Kakarook was a Inupiat artist born in the 1860s in Atnuk, a small village 75 miles north of St. Michael, Alaska. He is known for his engraved ivory, as well as his drawings in watercolor, ink, and crayon on paper. Kakarook traveled to St. Michael to trade and to find work on the many Yukon River steamers owned by traders and Russian missionaries.
Sheldon Jackson (1834-1909) was a Presbyterian minister, missionary, and political leader. In 1885, Jackson was appointed General Agent of Education in the Alaska Territory.
Other Sheldon Jackson materials purchased by the Bureau of American Ethnology are held by the National Anthropological Archives in MS 316703 and by the Department of Anthropology object collections (Accession 66880).
Genre/Form:
Works of art
Watercolors
Citation:
Guy Kakarook drawings (MS 316702), National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution