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July 18, 2002

OREGON MAN DONATES ANCIENT NATIVE CULTURAL OBJECTS TO SHI

An Oregon man has donated more than 50 Alaska Native cultural objects and an old slide collection to Sealaska Heritage Institute. It is the largest private collection of cultural objects ever given to SHI, said Dr. Rosita Worl, president of the institute.

The collection includes baskets, halibut hooks, carving tools, spoons, a rattle and a number of stone objects that appear prehistoric, said Worl, a Tlingit anthropologist.

"It’s an amazing collection, and we are excited to have it," said Worl, noting it’s uncommon for private collectors to give artifacts back to Native people. The Native American Graves and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) requires museums to forfeit certain cultural objects to Native clans upon request but the federal law does not pertain to private, individual collections.

One of the most interesting items is a Haida ceremonial whistle, said Sorrel Goodwin, a SHI archivist who is studying the collection. 

“The whistle has traces of red ocher, which indicates it was used in ceremonies,” said Sorrel, a former curatorial specialist for several museums, most recently the Mitchell Museum of the American Indian in Illinois.

The collection was donated by Bob Bowlsby, an Oregon businessman who came into possession of it in the 1960s. Bowlsby said he was working as a spokesman for an Oregon school district about 35 years ago when an elderly woman contacted him. The woman, now deceased, was a retired teacher who taught for years in Alaska, said Bowlsby, adding villagers gave her the objects as gifts during her travels in the state. The woman donated the collection to Bowlsby so instructors would be able to use the objects to teach Indian Studies classes, he said.

"Her intent was to further educate the students and let them see firsthand actually how advanced some of these tribal people were back in those days," Bowlsby said. "She lived amongst them and saw the kinds of things they were able to produce. I think that’s what she wanted to get across to the kids -- that the Indians were quite advanced. They did a lot of things with a few tools. We have to go out and buy something now, they would be able to make it."

The Oregon school district used the cultural objects in classes for several years, but Bowlsby said he withdrew the collection after many choice objects turned up missing. The collection has been in storage for about 30 years, said Bowlsby, who decided to donate it to SHI in July.

"It made me feel very good that it was finally going home," Bowlsby said. "It was going back to where it belonged, and I was convinced that the institute could put it to better use than sitting in boxes in my home."

SHI plans to study the collection to determine the origin and age of the objects. The institute also will ensure the objects are preserved.

Contact: Sorrel Goodwin, SHI Archivist (907) 463-4844 and Bob Bowlsby, (503) 924-4100. Click here for photos.

News Article:
"Sealaska receives artifact gift"