REFERENCE CODE: AkAMH

REPOSITORY NAME:
Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center
Bob and Evangeline Atwood Alaska Resource Center
625 C Street
Anchorage, AK 99501
Phone: 907-929-9235
Fax: 907-929-9233
Email: resourcecenter@anchoragemuseum.org

Guide prepared by: Sara Piasecki, Photo Archivist

TITLE: Nathan L. Smith Photographs

COLLECTION NUMBER: B2001.038

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

Dates: 1930-1936

Extent: 59 items, .01 linear feet

Language and Scripts: The collection is in English.

Name of creator(s): Nathan L. Smith

Administrative/Biographical History:
Nathan L. Smith was a school teacher in Alaska in the 1930s. He was an amateur photographer,
and photographed people and activities in the communities he served.

Scope and Content Description:
The collection consists of 59 black-and-white photographs depicting Alaska Native people and
culture, primarily around the village of Gambell on St. Lawrence Island, Alaska. There are
several images of a whale hunt.

Arrangement:
Not applicable

CONDITIONS GOVERNING ACCESS AND USE

Restrictions on Access: The collection is open for research use.

Physical Access: Original items in good condition.

Technical Access: No special equipment is needed to access the materials.


Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use:
The Anchorage Museum is the owner of the materials and makes available reproductions for
research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Anchorage
Museum before any reproduction use. The Anchorage Museum does not necessarily hold
copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may
require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.

Preferred Citation:
Nathan L. Smith Photographs; Anchorage Museum, B2001.038

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Acquisition and Appraisal Information
Donated by Virginia Smith Sherwood, daughter of Nathan Smith, on October 15, 2001.

RELATED MATERIALS
B2001.023, Eklutna Vocational School – Northern Light Collection

SUBJECTS
Smith, Nathan L., fl. 1930-1941
Sherwood, Virginia Smith
Yuit Eskimos--Alaska--Saint Lawrence Island
Yuit Eskimos--Dwellings
Yupik Eskimos--Alaska-- Saint Lawrence Island
Yupik Eskimos--Dwellings
Whaling--Alaska—Gambell
School buildings--Alaska—Gambell
Boats and boating—Alaska—Saint Lawrence Island
Canneries—Alaska—Sand Point
Saint Lawrence Island (Alaska)
Gambell (Alaska)
Ukivok (Alaska)
Sand Point (Alaska)
Dutch Harbor (Alaska)
Nome (Alaska)

Detailed Description of the Collection

B1/F1
 1 — Skin tossing, 4 th of July [blanket toss]
 2 — Setting out in pursuit of whale [men in wooden boat]
 3 — Booshu, with sealskin eyeshade to show that he is victorious captain [with other men in wooden boat, coming ashore]
 4 — Four pokes of inflated seal skins are attached to whale to give extra buoyancy
 5 — A successful whaler returning to the village [men in wooden boat]
6 — The boat which first harpooned the whale leads the procession to the ice when it is towed in for cutting [four wooden boats coming ashore]
 7 — The whale boats maneuver the dead whale into position, alongside shore ice, where it is fastened by walrus skin rope [taken from boat: men on shore and in boats, dog]
8 — Cutting up a whale [taken from shore: men on shore and in boats]
9 — Removing whalebone (baleen) from mouth of bowhead whale
 10 — A big seal, also called mukluk, oogorok, bearded seal
 11 — Part of the 20,000 reindeer on St. Lawrence Island at roundup time 1933 [men removing reindeer from wooden pen]
 12 — Splitting a walrus hide [man with hide stretched on wooden rack]
 13 — Drying walrus meat, frame of oomiak [umiak] on top of drying rack
 14 — Building an oomiak [umiak], Charles and Amy Slwooko’s house [man and woman with umiak frame]
 15 — Walrus stomachs drying. These are used for drum heads. Clement Ungott’s grandfather’s house [group of people sitting outside of wooden house]
 16 — Jungiyan’s house [man standing at window of small wooden house]
 17 — Eskimo house – roof removed for summer during which family lives in tent or small frame bldg [wooden house with sled frames, shovel]
 18 — Koozata’s house, regular roof put on in spring of 1986 [large group with children sitting outside wooden structure]
 19 — 1931, 4 th of July games [group of boys lined up for sack race, villagers observing, next to Eskimo house]
 20 — 1931, 4 th of July, skin roof removed from house in summer [group of women, children, and man observing games, next to Eskimo house]
 21 — Walunga’s house 2/3/32 [winter scene]
 22 — Gambell in winter, 1/25/32 [cluster of houses]
 23 — Teacherage, winter; schoolhouse to the right
 24 — Schoolhouse 1931, built in 1894
 25 — School children in Gambell [large group outside schoolhouse]
 26 — Alngiiwhtag and grandfather Tivukaroo, bird & fawn parkas
 27 — Booshu’s wife, wearing plume of white reindeer hair & walrus intestine parka in celebration of her husband’s catching whale [woman, dog]
 28 — Isabel Otiyokok and Jeanie showing Siberian Eskimo type of parka worn by St. Lawrence Is. Woman [woman and girl on steps of wooden building]
 29 — Richard Oktiyok, wife Edna and son Frank, S.W. cape. Center parka reindeer, others are murre [group in front of building, dogs]
 30 — Siberian Eskimo woman from Indian Point
 31 — Baby walrus [walrus carcass strapped to man’s back]
 32 — Josephine Ungott & mother in law Alice Anasook. Note tattooed designs on arms, also on face
 33 — Dorcas Achak 1935
 34 — Polar bears. James Aningayou with son Norman and nephew Daniel, mother polar bear & 2 cubs [group posing with carcasses, dog]
 35 — Mary Boolowon, later married Samuel Irigoo [woman with two children]
 36 — Grace Kulukhon 1935
 37 — Kuroga, about 65 years old, 1931
 38 — Jimmie Otiyohok and family. Uniform is a cast-off from Coast Guard [man, woman, two children, buildings in background]
 39 — Moses and Edna Soonagrok, strongest man in Gambell
 40 — Tinmaywon, about 75 years old 1931
 41 — Gladys and Virginia Smith in oomiak [umiak], 1933
 42 — Annie Horace and Virginia Smith with spider crab, Spring 1936
 43 — Bessie Kozaata & Barbara Ekeya with Virginia & Barbara Smith
 44 — Bessie and Grace Kozaata & Virginia Smith
 45 — Lucy Wahinga and Virginia Smith
 46 — Nathan Smith, Feb. 1932
 47 — Nathan Smith with dogsled
 48 — Gladys Smith, Virginia Smith, and Sam Troutman leaving Gambell for Savoonga, 1932 [group with dog team]
 49 — Dog team at fawning camp, St. Lawrence Island, April 1932 [several teams]
 50 — Winter scene, shoveling boat ramp, 2/3/32
 51 — Siberian boats with masts up
 52 — USMS Boxer, Oct. 15, 1931, from Gambell
 53 — Schooner C.S. Holmes, supply ship for Arctic, last full sailing ship on Puget Sound & Bering Sea
 54 — The North Star at King Island, 1934 [ship at dock]
 55 — Alaska Cannery, Sand Point, 1934
 56 — Dutch Harbor 1934
 57 — SS Victoria at Dutch Harbor, 1934
 58 — Men at Pioneer Igloo Hotel, Nome, 1934 [five men lined up against wall]
 59 — Dog at sunrise