| 1741 | (July) First Russian expedition to Aleutian Islands conducted by Vitus Bering. Bering dies and is buried on Bering Island in December 1741. |
| 1784 | First European settlement established in Alaska on Kodiak Island. |
| 1787 | The Confederate (U.S.) Congress passes the Northwest Ordinance. This Act provides for the governance of the Northwest Territory (U.S. territory northwest of the Ohio River), delineates the process for admitting new states to the union, guarantees that new states will have equal political partnership in the union, and protects the civil liberties of citizens of the Northwest Territory including the abolishment of slavery in the Northwest. |
| 1799 | Russian Czar Paul claims Alaska as Russian territory and establishes the Russian-American Company. Between 1822 and 1835, the Russian-American Company held a monopoly on European trade in Alaska. The Russian Navy prevented all foreign ships from entering Alaskan waterways. |
| 1835 | The Russian-Greek Orthodox Church establishes a Mission School for Eskimos in Nushagak, Alaska. |
| 1839 | Russia leases Alaskan land to the Hudson Bay Company, allowing the British to expand their trade routes in the north. To prevent conflict with the Russians, the British use Tlingit traders as middle-men, exploiting the already existing intertribal trade alliances between coastal Tlingit and inland Athapaskan - referred to as the “Grease Trail�?. |
| 1848 |
U.S. whalers begin commercial whaling in Alaska. In 1858, an estimated 200 whaling ships hunted bowhead whales along the Alaskan coast, bringing in approximately $14million in whale oil and baleen. Whalers traded with Eskimos, which ultimately caused the diminishment of traditional native trade networks. |
| 1852 | Louis Shotridge’s grandfather, Chief Tschartritsch, led the Chilkat Tlingit raid on Fort Selkirk to remove British from the Alaskan interior and to reestablish Tlingit trade rights with inland Athapaskans. |
| 1861 | The American Civil War begins (1861-1865). |
| 1867 |
Russia sells its Northwest American territory to the United States on October 18. The Treaty of Cession states that U.S. citizenship should be given to all people in Alaska “with the exception of uncivilized native tribes�?. |
| 1868 | The whale population is in severe decline due to over-hunting. Whalers turn to walrus hunting. More than100,000 walrus were killed between1868-1880. The mass extermination of walrus impacts Native Alaskans – particularly Eskimos – and their ability to obtain traditional food resources. |
| 1869 | The transcontinental railroad across the United States is completed. The railroad transports goods between Alaska and the Eastern U.S. and bypasses the risky, year-long ocean journey around South America. |
| 1870 | Yellowstone and Yosemite National Parks are established. |
| 1880 | The United States establishes the Northwest Trading Company. By 1880, this includes 6 trading posts and several fish canneries. |
| 1881 | The Haines Mission School is established. Louis Shotridge and Florence Kaatkwaaxsnéi, born in Chilkoot to the Raven moiety of the Lukaax.ádi Clan, both attend the School, where they meet and eventually marry. |
| 1882 | ** Louis Shotridge born in Kluckwan to the Eagle moiety of the Kaagwaantaan Clan (this is the probable year of LS birth, but it is not his official birth date).
The Tlingit village of Angoon, Alaska is bombed by a US Navy ship. This occurs in response to a conflict which arises between the crew of a whaling ship and villagers of Angoon after the death of a Tlingit man. (Angoon is awarded a settlement of $90,000 from the US Government in 1973.) |
| 1884 |
The United States creates the District of Alaska by passing the Alaska Organic Act. The Alaska Organic Act establishes an Alaskan civil government even though it is not yet an official United States Territory. The Act includes measures regarding land, governance and education that will affect the future of Native Alaskans:
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| 1886 | ** Louis Shotridge’s official year of birth. (This date is recognized as inaccurate.) |
| 1887 |
Founding of the University of Pennsylvania’s Free Museum of Science & Art in Philadelphia.
U.S. Congress passes the General Allotment (Dawes) Act, which allows the U.S. government to divide jointly-held tribal reservation land into small, individually owned plots. While it intended to promote self-sufficient farming households among Native Americans, many plots were too small to be sustainable. |
| 1889 | U.S. legislation of fisheries begins to prevent the total elimination of the Alaska salmon population. |
| 1891 | Missionaries import Siberian reindeer herds into Alaska. |
| 1896 | Gold found near Dawson City, Alaska. The 2-year Klondike Gold Rush begins in 1897. |
| 1898 | The Homestead Act is extended to Alaska. U.S. acquires Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines. |
| 1900 | Alaska’s capital is established in Juneau. |
| 1904 | ** Louis Shotridge inherits position of Kluckwan Kaagwaantaan Clan Chief. |
| 1905 |
** G.B. Gordon meets Louis & Florence Shotridge at the Lewis & Clark Exposition in Portland, OR, and purchases several Tlingit objects from the couple, including the “Weeping Man�? (LINK) mask and several copper daggers (NA1242-NA1291) (LINKS)
Tongass National Forest is established. In 1935, the U.S. Congress recognizes that this land was unlawfully taken from Tlingit and Haida peoples. Congress encourages the tribes to file a lawsuit against the federal government for compensation. Native Alaskans filed their claim in 1947 and settled with the government in the 1960s, creating a foundation for later Native Alaskan land claims. |
| 1906 |
Louis Shotridge sends first shipment of Tlingit items to the Museum. Gordon returns all but 10 objects, because he was interested only in ‘old material’.
The Alaska Native Allotment Act authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to grant up to 160-acres of non-mineral lands to Native heads-of-household. The Preservation of American Antiquities Act was passed to prevent the removal or defacement of antiquities existing on land controlled by the Federal Government such as National Parks, Forests and Monuments. Penalties include fines of $500 and/or 6 months imprisonment. |
| 1910 | ** George Byron Gordon becomes director of The University Museum (1910-1927). |
| 1911 |
** Louis Shotridge meets with G.B. Gordon in New York City
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| 1912 | ** Louis & Florence Shotridge are employed by the Museum (LS official employment with the Museum lasts between 1912-1932)
Alaska Native Brotherhood is founded, with original chapters in Sitka, Juneau and Douglas. It is active throughout Southeastern Alaska by the mid-1920s. The ANB served as a community service organization in an era of change (clan to village structure) and was active throughout the twentieth-century in working for civil and land rights as well as cultural and language preservation for all Native Alaskans. Of note, though, the ANB is organized using a Western-based political structure and is founded in Christian ideology. Arizona and New Mexico become states of the United States. Through a second Alaska Organic Act, Alaska becomes an official U.S. territory with its own independent legislature. U.S. legislation prevents the hunting of sea-otter Novarupta, a volcano near Mt. Katmai on the Alaskan peninsula erupts – creating the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes Titanic sinks in the Atlantic Ocean during its maiden voyage from Southampton, England to New York City, NY. |
| 1913 |
Woodrow Wilson becomes president of the United States
Alaska Territory legislature gives non-Native Alaskan women the right to vote in the Shoup Women Suffrage Bill. Alaska’s law is passed 7 years before white women in other U.S. states and territories receive this right. |
| 1914 |
** Louis Shotridge studies in New York City with Franz Boas and works on a Tlingit grammar monograph which is published in 1917 by The University of Pennsylvania Museum Press. World War I begins (lasts through 1918 – 9 million dead, 22 million wounded) The Panama Canal officially opens, creating a waterway that connects the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean in the middle of the North and South American continents. |
| 1915 |
** Louis Shotridge is hired as a full-time Assistant Curator for the Museum.
** (June) Louis & Florence Shotridge begin The John Wanamaker Expedition to Alaska. LS is funded through an annual salary of $1200 per year. ** LS ultimately collects over 200 objects, including:
The first coast-to-coast long-distance telephone call is made by Alexander Graham Bell in New York City to Thomas Augustus Watson in San Francisco, forever changing trans-continental communication. Alaska Territory legislature passes a law (April 1915) allowing Native Alaskans to become U.S. citizens if they can provide endorsements from 5 white Alaskans and have proven to give up all tribal rights and relationships. Schoolteachers often approved citizenship applications, which required the examination of a person’s adoption of “the habits of civilized life�?. This Act parallels legislation found in the federal General Allotment (Dawes) Act of 1887. It was initially supported by the Alaska Native Brotherhood, because the Act granted voting rights to Native Alaskans. Alaska Native Sisterhood is founded. Chapters of the ANS often developed out of other women’s organizations such as church groups, when an ANB chapter was established in the community. |
| 1917 |
** (June) Florence Shotridge dies from Tuberculosis.
The Russian Revolution and Civil War begin, lasting through 1920. The U.S. enters WWI by declaring war against Germany, Austria-Hungary and sends combat troops to aid France. Mt. McKinley National Park is established in Alaska. |
| 1918 |
** Louis Shotridge visits Sitka, where he meets and marries Elizabeth Cook of the Xat’ka.aayi clan in 1919.
World-wide influenza epidemic begins
(lasts through 1920 – 22 million dead world-wide; 500,000 dead in US). |
| 1919 |
Treaty of Versailles is signed, officially ending military and territory hostilities of World War I.
** (Spring) Louis Shotridge & Elizabeth Cook return to Philadelphia |
| 1920 | Prohibition of alcohol begins with the ratification of the 18th Amendment. |
| 1921 | Warren G. Harding becomes president of the United States. |
| 1922 |
** Louis Shotridge & family undertake a second long-term Alaska expedition
(total budget of $10,000 is funded primarily by the Museum through 1927). Artifacts include:
** Louis Shotridge involved in the Whale House / clan inheritance controversy (tensions finally ease in 1925) Soviet states form the USSR US federal court grants Native Alaskans the right to vote (2 years before Native Peoples in other states/territories receive this right). |
| 1923 |
** Louis Shotridge’s second son, Richard Thomas, is born
President Harding dies in office – 3 weeks after visiting Alaska for the opening of the federally sponsored Alaskan Railroad; Calvin Coolidge becomes president. Alaska Railroad from Seward to Fairbanks is completed. |
| 1924 |
The Indian Citizenship Act grants Native Americans the right to U.S. citizenship without having to rescind tribal memberships or property rights (some states – including Alaska, 1925 “Alaska Voters’ Literacy Act�? - still actively denied voting rights, others later passively denied voting rights by requiring that registered voters be able to read and write in English).
US Congress passes the White Act, preventing the trapping of fish at stream mouths. |
| 1925 |
** Louis Shotridge’s daughter, Lilian, is born.
** Louis Shotridge is ill throughout the winter. Creation of the Alaska Game Commission. |
| 1927 |
** G.B. Gordon dies from a fall while Shotridge is still in Alaska.
** (October) Elizabeth Cook is diagnosed with Tuberculosis.
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| 1928 |
** Elizabeth Cook dies from Tuberculosis
(LS received a telegraph regarding the severity of her illness and was able to be with her before her death.)
** (August) Louis Shotridge returns to Alaska with EC’s body. ** LS & family spend winter in Alaska, ill and facing financial difficulties. Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin. |
| 1929 |
** (May 1) Sends “Shark Helmet�? to the Museum.
** (May 9) Mails a draft of his article “Bride of Tongass�? to the Museum. ** (May 15) Louis Shotridge makes his final visit to the Museum to install the American Wing. He is accompanied by his son, Louis Jr. Herbert Hoover becomes president of the United States. Black Friday (October 24) precipitates decade-long global economic Depression. |
| 1930 |
** (May) Louis Shotridge returns to Alaska with his son, where he resides until his death (in spite of a serious decline in funds due to the Stock Market crash, he purchases the Kluckwan houseposts in November). ** Louis Shotridge attends the last council of the head of the Kaagwaantaan Finned House. ** (December) Louis Shotridge is elected president of the Alaska Native Brotherhood. ** Many Chiefs begin to offer objects to him. Gandhi protests the British Salt Tax; begins his March to the Sea. |
| 1931 |
** (February) Financial situation at the Museum is grim, causing the Museum’s Board to closely scrutinize all purchases and staff salaries.
** (February) At-sa is published in the Museum Journal. ** Louis Shotridge is highly active with responsibilities to the Alaska Native Brotherhood. ** (December) Louis Shotridge refuses reelection as president of the Alaska Native Brotherhood because of his involvement with the Museum. ** (December) The Museum cuts Louis Shotridge’s salary by 15%. Control of Native Alaskan education is transferred to the Office of Indian Affairs; later becomes the Alaska Indian Service. ** Louis Shotridge meets and marries Mary Kasakan of the Kiks.ádi Clan in Sitka. ** Louis Shotridge collects Shaman’s remains for the Museum. The Empire State building opens in New York City. |
| 1932 | The Great Depression continues – 30 million unemployed world-wide.
** (May 26) Louis Shotridge is officially cut from the Museum’s payroll due to budget cuts caused by the Depression economy – only two staff in the American section (Mason and H. Newell Wardle) remained as paid employees during the Depression years. US government determines that Aleuts and Eskimos are to be considered as “wards of the nation�? and are subject to all national laws and benefits. Franklin D. Roosevelt wins a landslide victory in the US presidential election. |
| 1933 | The Bureau of Indian Affairs is reformed – sale of Native lands is stopped. |
| 1935 | ** Louis Shotridge finds employment as a Government Fisheries Stream Guard. |
| 1936 | U.S. Congress passes the Indian Reorganization Act, which is also extended to Native Alaskan governments. The Act allows Alaska Natives to establish reservations and develop self-governing communities. The IRA was eventually overturned, but, the governing bodies created under the Act remain among the few types of Native authority recognized the by the U.S. government. |
| 1937 | ** Louis Shotridge dies from a broken neck caused by a fall at his guard house. |
| 1939 | World War II begins (1939-1945). |
| 1942 | Japanese bomb Dutch Harbor and invade Kiska and Attu on the Aleutian Chain, Alaska. |
| 1945 | The Alaska Nondiscrimination Act is passed, ending legal segregation in the territory. |
| 1959 | Alaska becomes the 49th state of the United States. Alaska Statehood Act states that the state of Alaska does not have the right to land if the official right or title of that land is held by a Native Alaskan. |
| 1966 | Alaska Federation of Natives is founded in Anchorage, AK |
| 1971 | Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act becomes law. This Act provides for native-owned private corporations to control 40 million acres of Alaskan land. This Act does not allow these areas to be recognized as “Indian Country�? – which would give tribes greater power than the corporations or the federal government over this land. Provisions of the Act exclude the Annette Island Reserve, the only remaining reservation in Alaska. |
| 1973 | Angoon, Alaska awarded reparation settlement of $90,000 for village bombardment of 1882. |
| 1980 | The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act becomes law, creating 80 million acres of new parks, preserves and monuments in Alaska. |
| 1989 |
US Congress passes the National Museum of the American Indian Act, which establishes the National Museum of the American Indian as part of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. The museum has stewardship of more than 800,000 pieces, many of which were originally collected by George Gustav Heye between 1900-1930 and were initially held at the University of Pennsylvania Museum. The NMAI Act requires that the Smithsonian review all pieces in their collection and consider human remains and funerary objects for repatriation if their return is requested by a Native American community or individual. (March 24) The Exxon Valdez hits Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska, and spills over 10.8 million gallons of crude oil, one of history’s worst human-made environmental disasters. |
| 1990 | US Congress passes the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), creating a systematic process by which Native Americans can request the return of human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects and objects of cultural patrimony. The Act also established penalties for non-compliance and a committee to review disputes. |
| 1996 |
NMAI Act is amended, making special provisions for the inventory and repatriation of unassociated funerary objects, sacred objects and objects of cultural patrimony. |
| 1998 | Court ruling determines that Alaska Native Land affected by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act is not “Indian Country�?, severely diminishing the power of tribal governments over this land. |
| 2007 | Penn Museum receives 2 year IMLS grant to produce Louis Shotridge Digital Archive. |
| 2009 | Penn Museum receives a one year extension to the IMLS grant to incorporate Shotridge collections of the Alaska State Library. |