ABOUT US
Since time immemorial, the Chilkat Tlingits have lived in the Chilkat Valley, in a village called Klukwan. Klukwan is a small, ancient Alaska Native village positioned on the banks of the Chilkat River in Southeast Alaska. It is located 22 miles north of Haines, Alaska. The Tlingit name for Klukwan is Tlakw Aan, meaning, “eternal village”. An area that now covers approximately 2,000 acres, the elders will tell you that in ancestral times, the traditional Chilkat Tlingit Territory covered 2.6 million acres, and that the mountain tops were considered their fence posts.
It is the mission of the Chilkat Indian Village (CIV) to perpetuate traditional knowledge to preserve and revitalize the cultural and historic heritage, to improve community self-sufficiency, and to move toward total wellness.
Preserving and sharing tribal historical and cultural resources through tribal archives ‘to perpetuate tribal knowledge’ is a need identified during CIV’S 2010 community strategic planning session. There is an abundance of unique materials of cultural significance in the Klukwan Library archives and the village as a whole. The Tribal Council and Library staff have identified the need to digitally preserve elements of our cultural heritage to protect and provide greater access to materials from our collections.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The Klukwan Digital Archives project was funded by a Native American/Native Hawaiian Library Services Enhancement Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
The project was launched in 2021 to gather and digitize unique physical materials related to Chilkat Tlingit history, traditions and culture to preserve these collections and increase access to heritage resources through online digital archives. These materials consist of a variety of formats: photographs, hand-written and typed documents, videos, audio recordings, and an assortment of born-digital formats.
WHY WE DIGITIZE
Some of these items are vulnerable to deterioration, and the valuable information they contain, important to perpetuating tribal knowledge, will be lost if they are not digitized and preserved. Tribal members express concern that materials stored in private homes might be discarded by those who don’t realize their importance.
Many materials are stored in ways that make them inaccessible or difficult to access. We needed to create a living archive, ensuring that materials and information about them are easily accessible to different users, according to the protocols developed. Access to our cultural heritage is needed for identity building, to facilitate lifelong learning and help us build a sustainable future. Chilkat Tlingit culture recognizes the connection between the past, present, and future generation. The duty of the present generations is to maintain the knowledge and practices that form our way of life for future generations.
DIGITAL ARCHIVES WEBSITE
The Klukwan Digital Archives website uses the Mukurtu Content Management System (CMS). The mission of Mukurtu (MOOK-oo-too) is to empower communities to manage, share, narrate, and exchange their digital heritage in culturally relevant and ethically-minded ways.
We will build on policies, skills, knowledge and relationships that have been acquired through past projects. Community values and Tlingit protocols will guide our work. Partners for this project are: Jilkaat Kwaan Heritage Center (JKHC), Alaska State Library; the Huna Heritage Foundation. The Project Team is a capable group with the needed skills and experience to ensure project success and allow the tribe to address its priorities for library services.
A Digital Archives Committee (DAC) was formed and is comprised of Library staff, JKHC Curator and Cultural Education Lead, a Tribal Council member, and the Tribal Administrator. They prioritize digital heritage resources to be included in the online archives based on historical significance, preservation purpose and patron demand, gather information on the resources, develop metadata, plan the Mukurtu site assuring it incorporates cultural values and protocols in the privacy level system, and monitor quality for the project.
COPYRIGHT FOR MATERIALS
Chilkat Indian Village will hold the copyright for all digital resources they own the rights to or have created. In some cases, a specific agreement with an exception allowing for joint copyright may be reached with a donor and indicated in the deed of gift.
CIV is committed to complying with and adhering to legal, ethical and cultural rights, permissions, and protocols for the Klukwan Digital Archives. CIV worked with the Digital Archives Committee to establish protocols regarding access and use for the various digitized resources, especially those that are culturally sensitive or that contain sacred information. In addition, clan owned materials will be handled according to long established protocols for access and use.
Materials will be available through the online Klukwan Digital Archives using the Mukurtu platform which will allow the Committee to designate the appropriate level of permission and/or restrictions for access. Materials will be made accessible when they are in the public domain, the rights are owned by CIV and there are no protocol restrictions necessary, and/or CIV has permission to share the resources.
HOW WE DIGITIZE
Most of the digitization is done by library staff using Dell Latitude 5480 laptops as well as their desktop computers; Epson Perfection v850 Photo Scanner; Lexmark 332dw color printer, Albiner copy stand with lights, magnetic copy board, fluorescent daylight lightstand, and a Canon EOS 5D Mark III camera. CIV also worked with SummitDay Media in Anchorage, Alaska and the Haines Sheldon Museum in Haines, Alaska to convert some of the materials.
ACCESS TO MATERIALS
Depending what materials are included in this project, CIV may not always have full information about the copyright holder of works. We will strive to obtain clear permission from any donors that give items to be shared on the portal. Films and recordings created by CIV in past projects have signed release forms on file. The desire is to make responsible decisions for sharing the resources and to acknowledge that additional information may come to light in the future that could impact that decision. If concerns are expressed at a later date the Digital Archives Committee will review the situation on a case-by-base basis and decide the best way to handle the situation.
CHILKAT INDIAN VILLAGE CONTACT INFORMATION
HC 60 Box 2207, Haines, Alaska 99827 – 907-767-5505 ext. 250 – 32 Chilkat Avenue, Klukwan, Alaska.
Website: https://chilkat-nsn.gov
This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services NAE-250427-OLS-21 Enhancement Grant, www.imls.gov.
“The views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this website do not necessarily represent those of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.”