Wrangell Sentinel -

KSTK FM has donated hundreds of audio recordings dating from the 1960s to the 1990s to Sealaska Heritage Institute.

The collection donated by the station documents the history and events of the community of Wrangell through interviews and talk shows over the years, said SHI archivist and collections manager Zachary Jones.

 According to Jones, the recordings deal with topics of interest to both the Native community and Wrangell as a whole.

 “It’s especially great for Sealaska Heritage Institute because it documents a portion of the Native community, the community’s concerns, their culture, their language, their history and their art. But the collection is also really important because it documents the wider community of Wrangell, not just the Native community, and that’s important, too,” Jones said.

The recordings will be of use to anyone interested in studying Southeast Alaska and cover a broad range of topics, including cultural, historical and ecological information, Jones added.

“Speakers include the noted Tlingit Elder Walter Soboleff speaking, Native artists, influential individual Esther Shay as well as individuals like the mayor of Wrangell speaking to Congressman Don Young,” he said.

 According to history SHI President Rosita Worl, the donation provides a resource that will allow SHI to continue its work in writing tribal histories from the words of those who were part of Native history.

 “The public, including Natives, grew up without the benefit of learning about Native history since it was not taught in school. It is as if Natives had no history. This collection will help fill this gap,” Worl said, adding she is also hopeful that this collection and other collections in SHI’s archives might encourage Native students to become historians.  

SHI Trustee Ethel Lund, who is from Wrangell, was excited KSTK made the donation to the institute, saying there is very little documentation on Wrangell’s Native history.

“Most of our history is scattered in different homes and the documentation is not centered in one place like this will be at SHI, where it will be accessible to us,” Lund said.

The recordings comprise approximately 200 reels and will be digitized for users of the archive at Sealaska Plaza.