National Anthropological Archives

Guide to the Guy Kakarook drawings, circa 1900

Summary

Collection ID:
NAA.MS316702
Creators:
Kakarook, Guy
Jackson, Sheldon, 1834-1909
Dates:
circa 1900
Languages:
No linguistic content; Not applicable
.
Physical Description:
2 Volumes
disbound and laminated; 64 drawings
crayon, ink, and watercolor
10 x 8 inches
Repository:
Container:
316702/316703
1-12

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The collection consists of two books of drawings by Guy Kakarook. The books have been disbound and the pages laminated. The drawings depict life along the Yukon River and the area of St. Michael between 1894 and 1903. Volume 1 contains winter scenes and Volume 2 contains summer scenes. The date 1895 appears in pencil on the cover of Volume 1 and may be the date of production or of collection.
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 As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today.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.

Biographical Note

Biographical Note
Guy Kakarook was a Inupiat artist born in the 1860s in Atnuk, a small village 75 miles north of St. Michael, Alaska. He is known for his engraved ivory, as well as his drawings in watercolor, ink, and crayon on paper. Kakarook traveled to St. Michael to trade and to find work on the many Yukon River steamers owned by traders and Russian missionaries.
Biographical Note
Sheldon Jackson (1834-1909) was a Presbyterian minister, missionary, and political leader. In 1885, Jackson was appointed General Agent of Education in the Alaska Territory.

Administration

Custodial History
The drawings were part of an Alaskan ethnological and geological collection made by Rev. Sheldon Jackson. The Bureau of American Ethnology (BAE) purchased the collection from Jackson's daughter, (Elizabeth) Lesley Jackson, in July 1921. The collection was transferred from the BAE to the United States National Museum (Accession Number 66880). The drawings were transferred from the object collections of the Department of Anthropology to the National Anthropological Archives in 1969.

Digital Content


Using the Collection

Preferred Citation
Guy Kakarook drawings (MS 316702), National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution

Related Materials
Other Sheldon Jackson materials purchased by the Bureau of American Ethnology are held by the National Anthropological Archives in MS 316703 and by the Department of Anthropology object collections (Accession 66880).

More Information

Local Numbers

Local Numbers
NAA MS 316702
USNM Accession 66880
OPPS NEG MNH 2039
OPPS NEG MNH 2039-A--O
OPPS NEG MNH 2040
OPPS NEG MNH 2040-A--N
OPPS NEG MNH 1712
OPPS NEG MNH 1712-A--Z
OPPS NEG MNH 1713
OPPS NEG MNH 1713-A--D
OPPS NEG MNH 37193-A
OPPS NEG MNH 37193-B

Variant Title

Variant Title
Drawings of Eskimo scenes


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Works of art Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Watercolors Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Inupiaq (Alaskan Inupiat Eskimo) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Alaska Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
North America Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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