Welcome to the Park of the Week Newsletter for October 31, 2024. This week we’re featuring Alaska’s oldest designated historical park, originally established in 1910.
Sitka National Historical Park
Location
Sitka, Southeast Alaska, United States
Claim to fame
The Tlingit people first came to Sitka (Sheet’ka) around 10,000 years ago. In 1741, Russia declared Sitka the capital of Russian American and began a sometimes violent occupation of the community that lasted over 100 years. In 1867, Russia transferred governance of Alaska to the United States.
In the early years of the 20th century, District of Alaska Governor John G. Brady began collecting totem poles from across Alaska to display in a public park in Sitka. By 1910, the site was declared a national monument honoring the Tlingit, Haida, Russian, and Alaskan cultures and history.
Reason to visit
Sitka National Historical Park’s visitor center contains exhibits of Tlingit and Russian artifacts. The park’s trails weave through the temperate rainforest and are lined with totem poles. Visitors can also explore the Russian Bishop’s House, built in the early 1840s and one of the only remaining structures from the era of Russian Alaska.
Wild Fact
Totem poles, like the ones housed at Sitka National Historical Park, are one of the most iconic and impressive examples of indigenous Pacific Northwestern art. They often commemorate significant ancestors, events, heroes, or stories.
The totem poles at Sitka have deteriorated since their collection in 1904 and 1905. Many of them have been recarved and are on their second or even third iteration. Modern Tlingit carvers recreate these masterpieces, thereby maintaining important cultural artifacts as well as the art of Tlingit carving.
Want to learn more about Sitka National Historical Park? Check out the park’s website.
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