Crossroads Alaska

Native Cultures of Alaska and Siberia

Featuring Photographs by Carl Hansen and Laurie Minor-Penland

"Crossroads of Continents brings us a superb panorama of the region's cultural past...It is one of the best and most comprehensive books ever assembled about this, the culturally richest and most diverse region of the north." --New York Times Book Review

"A book that deserves a long life...Crossroads of Continents celebrates and explores the diversity and common ancestry of the Siberian and Alaskan peoples of the Bering Straits...This is one of those indefatigable books that almost anyone would take along to the proverbial island." --Arctic

Spoons and Baskets

Nanai (round) and Oroch (square) birch baskets from the Khabarovsk region, Siberia. The round basket was made by Nanai artist A.K. Samar in 1991. Khabarovsk Regional Museum, Russia, #VX-312 and #490. 13.5 cm and 20 cm.

Koniag bone spoon collected in 1935 by Ales Hrdlicka on Kodiak Island, Alaska, dated around A.D. 1400, and Tlingit engraved mountain goat horn spoon from the late 1800s. National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, #A377796 and #E176708. 146cm and 17.5 cm.

Aleut Kayak

Aleut model of a two-man baidarka (or kayak) from the Commander Islands, Russia, collected in 1891 by N.M. Tilman. Made of wood, gutskin, bone, fabric, and glass beads. Vladivostok Maritime Museum, Russia, #2305. 49 cm.

Floats for an actual kayak are made of inflated sealskins, and attached to the harpoon in order to slow down the wounded game, and allow the hunter to locate and retrieve it later when the animal sinks. The Aleut are very skilled at maneuvering kayaks, which can also be made as three-man crafts. Aleut hunters would not hesitate to hunt a large whale, armed with magic protection from ancestor-whalers and with aconite poison smeared on their harpoon.

Udegei Hunting Panache

Udegei hunter's hat called bogdo made by Irina Ivanovna Kialungzioga, from the village of Gvasiugi, Amur River, Siberia, in 1984-86. The materi- als she used are fabric, various furs, including squirrel for the tuft, silk, and leather. Khabarovsk Regional Museum, Russia, # 9123-3 (hat). 27 cm.

Collector's Doll

Yupik male doll in gutskin parka, made by Louise Toll from Hooper Bay, Alaska, of fabric, fur, gutskin, and beads. University of Alaska Museum, Fairbanks, # UA83-3-13. 30.5 cm.

Shaman and Helping Spirit

Udegei shaman-ancestor figure riding his helping spirit, collected in 1959 by V.G. Lar'kin in the village of Gvasiugi.

The wooden shaman is dressed in leather and fur. It is a powerful protector for the practicing shaman, as it represents a shaman traveling to the world of spirits on the back of his helping spirit, a tiger-like beast.

Vladivostok Maritime Museum, Russia, # 4511-19. 35.5 cm (beast) and 27 cm (shaman).

Koryak Malakhai

Koryak adult man's hat called malakhai, made after 1950 of two layers of reindeer fur for the winter, otter fur, dog fur, beads, leather, and plastic. Kamchatta Regional Museum, Russia, # 28270. 28.5 cm.

Koryak Pouch

Koryak bird foot bag from Kamchatka, Siberia, about 1950, made of bird feet, reindeer fur, leather, and beads. Kamchatka Regional Museum, Russia, #11082.26.5cm.

Ball Pincushon

Inupiaq pincushion made by Grace Bailey from Kotzebue, Alaska, in 1986, of bleached sealskin, leather, felt, sequins, and beads. University of Alaska Museum, Fairbanks, #UA86-13-26. lOcm.

Trade

Ancient Native trading networks across Bering Strait expanded by the late 1700s, when new products became available. Tobacco, beads, and metal were among the most popular trade items. Clockwise from the top:

Yupik snuff box with a face, collected by Edward W. Nelson in Kushunuk, Alaska, in the 1870s. The eyes and labrets are made of ivory. National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, #E036260. 7.8 cm.

Alaska peg calendar collected in the 1950s by Rhoda Thomas, University of Alaska Museum, Fairbanks, #UA67-98-278AB. 22.5 cm. Missionaries gave such calendars to Native converts to help them keep track of weekdays and remember when to go to church.

Athapaskan doll mittens from Rampart, Alaska, made between 1908 and 1920, of smoked hide, plucked beaver fur, and glass beads. University of Alaska Museum, Fairbanks, #UA900-79AB. 11 cm. The American eagle is beaded on the back of the mitts.

Eskimo pipefiom Norton Sound, Alaska, from the 1870s, collected by Edward W. Nelson. Made of wood, iron, leather, brass, and beads. National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, #E032870. 19 cm. A metal piece for cleaning the pipe bowl is attached to the pipe with beadwork strands.

Ainu bronze pipe bowl from Southern Sakhalin Island, late 1800s-early 1900s. Sakhalin Regional Museum, Russia, #VX B/N. 7.8 cm.

Tlingit wooden pipe bowl from Chatham Strait, Alaska, from the 1880s. National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution, #9246. 6cm.The bowl opens like the mouth of a bird-like creature.

Yupik snuff box in the shape of a fish, collected by Edward W. Nelson in Kulwoguwigumut, Kuskokwim Bay, Alaska, in the 1870s. National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, #E036282. 9 cm. The lid is underneath the belly of the fish.

Aleut basket bottle made by Mary Hillhouse from Nikolski, Alaska, in 1982, of twined grass and thread embroidery over a glass bottle with metal lid. University of Alaska Museum, Fairbanks, #83-3-30-ab. 11.2 cm. The fine basket-making tradition of the Aleuts weaves itself around a Euro-American bottle.

Trade glass beads collected in St. Lawrence Island, Alaska, in the late 1800s-early 1900s. University of Alaska Museum, Fairbanks, #UA71-341. 35 cm.

In the center: Ainu womans blue glass beads from Sakhalin Island, Russia, from the late 1800s-early 1900s. Sakhalin Regional Museum, Russia, #58. 70 cm.