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About Us
Mission Statement
Sealaska Heritage Institute seeks to collect and preserve
materials that document the
history, culture, heritage, and language of the Tlingit, Haida, and
Tsimshian people and to make these materials available to the public for
educational and research purposes. Materials collected by the institute
include books, manuscript papers (such as personal diaries,
correspondence, meeting minutes), photographs, recordings (such as audio
and visual recordings), and cultural or ethnographical objects. SHI also
serves as a repository on behalf of clans and tribes for cultural
objects repatriated under the Native American Graves Protection and
Repatriation Act for Native people of Southeast Alaska.
Use Policies
Because of the special and rare nature of our
holdings, we operate as a non-circulating research facility,
meaning that our materials may be used on site only. We
accept inquiries about our collections in person or via email, mail, or
phone if patrons are unable to visit our onsite facility. Although
patrons are welcome to stop by anytime during our regular operation
hours, patrons are encouraged to notify SHI's staff in
advance. Please also note that because of the rare and fragile nature of
our holdings, we have some special rules regarding the
use of our holdings, such as wearing gloves when handling certain
objects, viewing only one object at a time, and other standard security
procedures, etc. Upon arrival, staff will provide
patrons with specific details about these practices. Overall, SHI
desires to have people use and learn from the great collections it
preserves, so please contact and visit SHI.
History and Current Status of Collections Facility
The
Sealaska Heritage Institute is a regional Native non-profit organization
founded for the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian people of Southeast
Alaska. SHI was established in 1980 by the Sealaska Corporation, a
for-profit company formed under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act
(ANCSA) in 1971. SHI, formerly Sealaska Heritage Foundation, administers
the Sealaska Corporation’s cultural and educational programs.
Regarding the creation of SHI's collections facility, in early 1982 SHI was offered the extensive and historically valuable legal papers of attorneys James E. Curry and I. E. Weissbrodt, legal firms which had fought for the rights of the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian people throughout the twentieth century. In response, SHI established a collections department and hired a professional archivist to care for this collection and begin an archival program. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, SHI continued to receive numerous significant donations of various format, including photographs, audio recordings, and manuscript papers, as well as cultural objects. In the late 1990s, SHI assumed the responsibility of managing the Sealaska Corporation’s substantial ethnographic collection. With regular growth and the advent of the Corporation’s ethnographic collection falling under the care of SHI, the institute's policies were expanded to care for items as a professional museum and research facility.
Presently, SHI has a goal to obtain a new and expanded facility in order to better care for all of its collections and become accredited by AAM Standards and meet federal guidelines outlined in regulation 36 CFR 79, which will allow SHI to be both a state and federally designated repository for archeological or ethnographic objects found on state or federal lands in Southeast Alaska.