ON THE RUN – Girls, coaches and supporters in the Girls on the Run program jog through Crescent Park Saturday during a 5K run, the culminating event in the 10-week program. Dozens of girls in grades 3 to 5 took part in this year’s program, which organizers say blends physical activity with life skill development, including managing emotions, fostering friendships, and expressing empathy. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
The Assembly is winding up work on the city budgets f [ ... ]
By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
Alaska state lawmakers are preparing for a final vote on a bill t [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
Playing in variable weather in the last regular seaso [ ... ]
By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
The Alaska House of Representatives voted 22-18 late Sunday to ba [ ... ]
By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
Alaska lawmakers overwhelmingly voted to support a federal pro [ ... ]
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
May 10
At 12:19 a.m. a man was reported to [ ... ]
Native Artist Residency
Program at SJ Museum
Sheldon Jackson Museum has announced the participants for [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
The Assembly voted 6-0 at a special meeting Thursday [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
Sitka Police said today that officers responding to a report of a man found unrespo [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
A week and a half after passing an initial budget for [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
Sitka High routed the Thunder Mountain Falcons on the baseball diamond Thurs [ ... ]
Sitka Tribe of Alaska and the U.S. Forest Service, Sitka Ranger District, signed a memorandum of und [ ... ]
By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
Members of the Alaska Senate have killed, at least temporarily, a [ ... ]
By YERETH ROSEN
Alaska Beacon
What in Alaska counts as a village? When it comes to state money [ ... ]
By YERETH ROSEN
Alaska Beacon
The regional corporation owned by the Iñupiat people of Northwes [ ... ]
By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
The Alaska Supreme Court proposed hearing the state’s appeal [ ... ]
By ANDREW KITCHENMAN
Alaska Beacon
The Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. board of trustees is conside [ ... ]
Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
May 9
At 5:35 a.m. a caller s [ ... ]
Life Celebration
For Bill Jolley
A service and celebration of life for William (Bill) Jolley, 85, will [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
The Assembly will conduct a remote interview tonight [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Quilts with hidden messages, quilts with embroidery, [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
Seventy-three Mt. Edgecumbe High School seniors collected diplomas this morn [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
One driver was taken to the hospital and two vehicles were totaled Thursday ni [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
Two top athletes from the Mt. Edgecumbe Lady Braves b [ ... ]
Daily Sitka Sentinel
Sitka Tribe Calls for Relocating Statue
By ARIADNE WILL
Sentinel Staff Writer
Sitka Tribe of Alaska tribal council passed a resolution Tuesday supporting the relocation of the Alexander Baranof statue to a museum.
The resolution states that STA’s general manager will work with the City and Borough of Sitka to relocate the statue and to commission a new monument that will “honor all of Sitka’s past, present, and future generations.”
The statue has a central and highly visible location in front of Harrigan Centennial Hall.
The STA resolution recognizes that Alexander Baranof is an important part of Sitka’s history, but emphasizes the pain Baranof caused indigenous peoples of Sitka and other parts of Alaska.
“It is well known that Alexander Baranof as director of the Russian-American Fur Company left an indelible mark on the history of Sitka,” the resolution reads. “However, it is also well known that much of this history involves Baranof directly overseeing enslavement of Tlingit and Aleut people to hunt fur mammals to near extinction; violation of Native women, families, and law; murder and theft of indigenous property – often justified under a theory of racial and cultural superiority.”
Dionne Brady-Howard beats a drum as she leads a Tlingit song during a gathering in front of the Baranof statue recently. The group was calling for the relocation of the 1989 bronze statue of the 19th century Russian American Company figure. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
The resolution notes that the statue of Baranof does not, for many, represent a peaceful arrival of European people to the area.
“The violence dispensed by Baranof continues to ripple through time, with waves of historical trauma still causing pain for Native people this very day,” it says. “The Baranof statue’s prominence at a focal gathering spot in Sitka continues to incite divisions in our community.”
The resolution – and the push to remove and relocate the statue – comes at a time when many have been educating themselves on racism, imperialism, and colonialism.
“I’m glad people are doing more research,” Tribal Chairman KathyHope Erickson told the Sentinel.
Erickson said she’s glad to be working with the City on this issue.
“(It’s) really gratifying, pleasing, and a good opportunity to bring our two governments – the city government and the Tribal government – closer together,” she said.
In its current location, the statue is seen widely by not just Sitkans, but by visitors who likely know little about Sitka’s complex history.
“The placement at a center-point risks a wrong message to Sitka’s residents and visitors,” the STA resolution says. “The monument to Baranof continues to normalize a figure steeped in racial division, violence, and injustice.”
The resolution follows a citizen petition asking the Assembly to remove the statue, and a peaceful protest in front of Harrigan Centennial Hall in late June.
The monument was a gift to the city from Lloyd and Barbara Hames in 1989. Grandson Brian Hames said in a statement at the June 23 Assembly meeting that the decision to move it is not the family’s to make.
“This statue was a gift, and like any gift, whatever is ultimately done with it, is up to the recipient, the City of Sitka,” he said.
Login Form
20 YEARS AGO
May 2004
The Assembly voted Tuesday to drop further consideration of converting any of the Crescent Harbor tennis courts into a parking lot. When the proposal came up at the last Assembly meeting it met with public opposition.
50 YEARS AGO
May 1974
Photo caption: Members of Baranof Jaycees – Bill Howey, Bill Aragon, Dave Audette and Paul Garwood Jr. – are all smiles following a television auction that netted the group over $1,000 for community improvement projects.