Daily Sitka Sentinel

April 23, 2020, Community Happenings

Sitka Artist’s Copper Work

Placed in Cordova Museum

A copper tináa by Sitka artist Jennifer Younger has been added to the museum collection at Ilanka Cultural Center in Cordova.

The piece was purchased through a Rasmuson Foundation’s Art Acquisition Fund grant with the assistance of Museums Alaska.

Younger crafted “Backbone of Our Ancestors” in 2017 out of 18-gauge painted copper with a partial silver plating. “Tináa” means “copper shield” in the Tlingit language. Younger is Tlingit of the Eagle Kaagwaantaan clan.

Yakutat elders taught Younger that the T form on the copper represents the backbone of the ancestors. This shape is known to the Northwest Coast Native people as tináa, t’a:w, t’aGu, hayazg, or copper. The piece is a symbol of wealth and supernatural power.

Younger’s mother, Jennie Wheeler, is a traditional artist known for spruce root weaving and skin sewing. Through her work, Younger continues the legacy passed down from her mother, by her grandmother, and great-grandmother. She draws inspiration from traditional Tlingit formline designs, historic artifacts, spruce root basket weaving patterns, and from the contrast and texture of metals.

“I am fulfilling my dream of pursuing something related to traditional Tlingit art, while having the freedom to express my own style,” Younger said in a press release from the museum.

Owning copper was traditionally considered a sign of wealth and stature in Northwest Coast indigenous cultures. The term “Northwest Coast” is comprised of Southeast Alaska and coastlines flowing south thereof. Some elders have said that tenáa’s were never used as shields, and others literally report tináa’s as “copper shields” – as is the way of oral history, the museum said.

Prior to Euro-American contact, the Yakutat region was inhabited by the southerly-migrating Eyak people. Tlingits moved north and pushed most Eyaks into the mouth of the Copper River and near present-day Cordova. Prolonged contact in the Yakutat area formally united the two distinct cultures. Both cultures recognize two moieties, Raven and Eagle, which granted intermarriages and adoption of social structure. The close relationship is reflected in the name “Yakutat,” originally deriving from an Eyak name, Ya.gada.at.

‘‘For how important copper was to both our indigenous people and to Cordova’s history, it is amazing that ICC only has a few copper item,’’ the museum said. ‘’Jennifer’s tenáa will be a significant addition to our cultural museum. We are honored to receive this grant and will be proud to display this beautiful piece once we open again.’’

The Ilanka Cultural Center preserves and exhibits a collection of prehistoric, historic and contemporary tribal artifacts.

Library to Offer

Technical Help

Sitka Public Library is offering distance tech help sessions over the phone to those who are having technical difficulties.

To request an appointment, email margot.oconnell@cityofsitka.org or call 747-4020 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Saturday. 

Teen Library

Board to Meet

Sitka Public Library Teen Advisory Board will meet online 6:30 p.m. Friday, April 24. Teens 13 years and older can join the board to brainstorm about library and youth services, and the youth library collection.

To participate call Maite at 747-4022 for information.

To-Go Craft Kits

Saturday at Library

Sitka Public Library offers free to-go craft kits for preschoolers 1 p.m. every Saturday through the shelter-in-place mandate.

The limited number of kits are on the free shelf in the library lobby.  For information call Maite at 747-4022.

Challenges Offered

For Teens, Tweens

Tweens and teens are invited to participate in Sitka Public Library’s online creative challenges 3 p.m. Thursdays.

Participants can find more information at the ‘‘Teens at Sitka Public Library’’ website or the sitkapubliclibraryteens Instagram account. Submissions will be entered into random prize drawings for new books and Old Harbor Books gift certificates. For information call Maite at 747-4022.

Story Time Online

Sitka Public Library offers online story time on both its and Sitka Babies and Books Facebook pages for preschoolers 10:30 a.m. every Thursday.

Included are readings, two songs or rhymes, book and activity suggestions to do at home. The readings follow copyright permission and will be deleted by the end of June.

For information call Maite at 747-4022.