Amber Wade (left) and DaNika Smalley pose inside the Wrangell Museum on March 21. The two Nolan Center staffers received grant funding for a four-day trip to Juneau to explore museums and archives in the capital city.
DaNika Smalley and Amber Wade traveled to Juneau last month to go back in time.
The pair conducted research at Sealaska Heritage Institute, the Tlingit & Haida Central Council archives and at the Alaska State Museum.
Their four-day trip was covered by grant funding through Museums Alaska with additional support from the national nonprofit Henry Luce Foundation and the CIRI Foundation, established by the Native corporation for the Cook Inlet region.
Smalley oversees collections for the Wrangell Museum, while Wade works as the Nolan Center coordinator.
The Museums Alaska grant is available to artists and to culture bearers. Smalley is a culture bearer and Wade is an artist, specializing in weaving and bead work.
On their trip to the capital city, the pair spent hours mulling over archives, making connections with other museum curators and gathering inspiration for potential changes at the Wrangell Museum.
"Just seeing everything in person was incredible," Wade said. "We can look all day long online, but it's so different when we get to be in the archive room and they're pulling out a giant six-foot drawer that has a Chilkat blanket in it from 200 years ago."
For Wade, the intimate experience with the Naasteidí Chilkat blanket was the highlight of the trip. Stored at Tlingit & Haida, the blanket was in near-mint condition when Harold Jacobs, a cultural resource specialist for Tlingit & Haida, presented it to her.
Upon laying hands on her clan's blanket, Wade began to tear up, but when Jacobs suggested to Wade that she don the blanket, she became overwhelmed with emotion.
"It was very special," she said. "I hardly know anything about the Naasteidí (side of my family). We don't even have a clan leader right now, so it's just very lost."
While looking through archives, Wade found another sentimental surprise: her great aunt's memoir.
For Smalley, the trip was equally as personal. One of her discoveries at the archives was a pair of photos of her direct ancestors dating back to the end of the 19th century. Smalley is working on making those photos available for the Wrangell Museum.
But the experience was fruitful for the pair on a professional level too. They learned where they can make improvements on the back end of museum operations, like acquiring grippy gloves rather than cotton gloves for handling artifacts. Smalley, since returning from Juneau, has also been exploring grant funding opportunities to remodel the Nolan Center's storage room for items not on display.
"I'm grateful for CIRI, the Henry Luce Foundation, Museums Alaska, and to our boss, Jeanie (Arnold), for making sure that we were able to go on this trip," Wade said. "It opened our eyes for a lot of where we can improve. And culturally, it was definitely fulfilling."
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