National Anthropological Archives

Guide to Native Alaskan drawings collected by the United States Bureau of Education, circa 1890-1900

Summary

Collection ID:
NAA.MS260447
Creators:
Ivanoff, Stephan
Unknown
United States. Bureau of Education
Dates:
circa 1890-1900
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
124 Drawings (visual works)
graphite, ink, crayon, and watercolor
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The collection consists of 124 drawings made by Native Alaskan artists. A few of the drawings are signed by the artist, Stephan Ivanoff; the majority of the drawings are unsigned and the artists have not been identified. The drawings depict scenes of Native Alaskan life, including hunting and fishing, reindeer herding, trade, sledding, games, and ceremonies. The drawings were collected by the United States Bureau of Education for exhibition purposes.
Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or National Anthropological Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The drawings are arranged in order by inventory number. The inventory numbers roughly following the thematic organization in Alaskan Eskimo Life in the 1890s as Sketched by Native Artists. Some drawings have been rehoused in conservation mounts and are stored out of sequence.

Biographical Note

Biographical Note
Stephan Ivanoff was born in Unalakleet, Alaska to a Yu'pik mother and Russian father. He filled various roles as a translator, deacon of the Swedish Covenant Church, and teaching assistant at the Swedish Evangelical Mission School at Unalakleet around the turn of the twentieth century.

Historical Note

Historical Note
The Bureau of Education, also known as the Office of Education or Department of Education, was a unit within the United States Department of the Interior from 1867 to 1972.

Administration

Custodial History
The drawings were collected by the United States Bureau of Education, Department of the Interior circa 1890-1900. The drawings were held in the museum collection of the Bureau of Education and were exhibited at various expositions before 1910. In 1910, the Bureau of Education museum was dissolved, and its collections were transferred to the United States National Museum (USNM Accession 51115 and 51116). The drawings were cataloged (USNM Catalog 260447), but subsequently misplaced. They were found in summer 1967 in Smithsonian Institution Department of Anthropology storage. They were transferred from the object collections of the Department of Anthropology to the National Anthropological Archives by George Phebus, Processing Lab, February, 1972.
Processing Information
The collection was reprocessed in 2023. The archivist replaced the titles previously assigned to the drawings with the titles and/or captions provided on the drawings. Untitled drawings wee assigned titles in square brackets [].

Using the Collection

Preferred Citation
Native Alaskan drawings collected by the United States Bureau of Education (MS 260447), National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Conditions Governing Use
Contact the repository for terms of use.

More Information

Local Numbers

Local Numbers
USNM Accession 51115
NAA MS 260447

Variant Title

Variant Title
Collection previously titled "Scenes of native life including hunting, sledding, games, animal husbandry and ceremonies."

Publication Note

Publication Note
Almost all drawings were published in:
George Phebus, Jr., Alaskan Eskimo Life in the 1890s as Sketched by Native Artists, Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1972.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Works of art Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Drawings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Alaskan Eskimo Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Inupiaq (Alaskan Inupiat Eskimo) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Yup'ik (Yupik Eskimo) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Saami (Lapp) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hunting Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sleds Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Rites and ceremonies Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Games Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Alaska Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
North America Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Arctic regions Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

National Anthropological Archives
Museum Support Center
4210 Silver Hill Road
Suitland, Maryland 20746
Business Number: Phone: 301.238.1300
Fax Number: Fax: 301.238.2883
naa@si.edu