Hal Spackman and Blake Conway with the Sitka Historical Society share details about the return of the Society’s Holiday Train Village, which opens 12-4 pm December 17 at Harrigan Centennial Hall, and will be up all week. In addition to Toyland, there will be classic model trains (Conway, lead conductor), a selfie station with Santa and The Grinch, and a Gingerbread House contest.

Hal Spackman is the director of the Sitka History Museum; Sandi Riggs is the CEO of ALPS Federal Credit Union. ALPS is sponsoring a new exhibit at the museum that takes a look at Sitka’s history as a mill town, from roughly the end of WWII to 1993. The exhibit opens exclusively for ALPS members at 4 p.m. this Saturday, May 22, at Harrigan Centennial Hall, concurrent with the ALPS annual meeting. Refreshments provided. The exhibit will be up for the general public at the museum for about six months.

The new museum will have five permanent exhibits reflecting the important eras in Sitka’s history, and a sixth, temporary exhibit for the seldom-seen objects in the collection. (Image/HealyKohler Design)

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The Sitka Historical Society holds a grand opening for the new Sitka History Museum tonight, 6:30 p.m. Thursday, July 26 in Harrigan Centennial Hall. Participants can view the exhibits and enjoy light refreshments. The museum houses a research room, a curator’s office, and a collection room, as well as ample space for both a permanent and rotating temporary exhibit. The first temporary exhibit is devoted to Sitka’s involvement with WWII.

KCAW’s Peter Apathy interviewed Sitka Historical Society Director Hal Spackman, Board President Pat Alexander, and curator Jenya Anichenko about the museum’s evolution and community-focus. “The deep planning started about six years ago,” Alexander said, adding, “[We wanted] to create a model of excellence for community-driven celebration. It’s a living thing. It’s not just artifacts in the museum, but our members bring a lot of history.”

The framed art collection installed in the new Sitka History Museum’s collection storage. Photo/Sitka History Museum

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With an upcoming speaker series and grand opening of a museum on the horizon, Jeff Budd and Hal Spackman joined us in the studio to discuss the history of the Sitka Historical Society, and after years of planning, the opening of the Sitka History Museum this summer.

The Sitka Historical Society speaker series runs April 11, 25, and 28 at the Kettleson Memorial Library. The Sitka History Museum grand opening is tentatively set for June 2.

Alexander Baranov was the first general manager of the Russian-American Company, and the statue of him was erected to honor the role of commerce in Sitka’s past. KCAW Photo/Katherine Rose

Earlier this fall — right around the October Alaska Day Festival — a group of Sitkans renewed a conversation about a piece of bronze art in heart of downtown. Alexander Baranov was the first general manager of the Russian-American Company, and the statue of him was erected to honor the role of commerce in Sitka’s past. But for many, Baranov and the Russian-American Company are synonymous with colonization and the systematic oppression of Alaska Natives. In the second installment in our two-part series – Navigating Sitka’s Colonial History – KCAW’s Katherine Rose met with people on both sides of the issue and filed this report.

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There’s a bronze statue in front of Harrigan Centennial Hall. It’s nearly to scale – a man sitting hunched over beneath flags flapping in the wind, looking pensively in the distance. The man is Alexander Baranov, manager of the Russian American Company in the early 1800s. On the plaque beneath him is a quote:

“That we may dwell in amity and peace forever in this region.”

But for Louise Brady, the statue doesn’t bring her peace.

“It is, to me  a symbol of epidemics, of assimilation, of bad policy, of destruction of a way of life,” says Brady.

Last summer, as momentum grew in the South to tear down Confederate monuments, some Sitkans started to wonder about their own legacies to the past. Larry Edwards wrote a letter to the editor of the Sitka Sentinel calling for the removal of the Baranov statue. Martina Kurzer, his wife, signed it.

“This thing about the Baranov Statue didn’t bother me at all in the beginning until I learned the finer fabric of Sitka,” says Kurzer. “And I started to understand simply how having the statue there rubs in the fact again and again that the people who have been here on this land for 10,000 years are not in charge of this land anymore.”

After the letter appeared in the paper, it was re-posted on the Facebook page “Sitka Chatters” and ignited a comment war. Some called for the statue’s removal. Others defending it. The post has since been taken down. Brady says there’s a reason some don’t understand her discomfort with the statue.

“I think it ties into privilege,” Brady says. “Being able to say ‘I love living here, this is a beautiful place.’ I can just be here without understanding that there’s people who’ve been here for 10,000 years who were just granted citizenship less than 100 years ago.”

“Now that we know so much more about trauma and what trauma does to a person on a health level, we can ask is it still timely to have the statue of the oppressor right there in front of the community center?” Kurzer asks.

The controversy swirling around the Baranov statue isn’t anything new. A gift to the city from Lloyd and Barbara Hames in 1989, the statue caused tension from the get-go. The night before the statue was dedicated, someone cut off its nose. That was after discovering that the head would be too hard to remove. The artist was able to repair it with putty for the ceremony the next day. It was defaced again in 2013, with cuts to its nose and forehead.

Photo/KCAW

“Has the statue had controversy surrounding it? Yes. But maybe controversy is good. Because it leads to conversations,” says Hal Spackman of the Sitka Historical Society. Spackman says the statue tells the story  of the Russian settlement. He says it was built to honor Sitka’s merchant past. While that doesn’t reflect the feelings of all Sitkans on their history, he says the fact that it happened means it’s worth remembering.

“We need to value all perspectives,” says Spackman. “It doesn’t mean that we devalue any perspectives.  And I hope we all can use those conversations to not just celebrate history but discuss history in a way that’s productive and moves us forward as a society.”

But Brady thinks the perspective the statue represents is one that’s told too often.

“I think that’s the power of the narrative and who gets to create the meaning,” Brady says. “Sure he can stay there if we get to tell the whole story. Maybe we can have a Tlingit woman warrior there?”

Earlier this month, a group of people met at Sitka Public Library to discuss commissioning a statue of K‘alyáan, who led the Kiks.ádi in the battle of 1804. The plan is not necessarily meant as a response or a foil to the other statue, but it’s hard not to note the contrast.

Brady says putting up a new statue isn’t a solution. Conversations need to happen, and that’s harder than it sounds.

“It isn’t easy. I wish it was as easy as putting up, answering statue for statue,” says Brady. “But unless we have that dialogue- and I think one of the things the dialogue gets so inflammatory is because racism is such an emotionally charged word. It’s difficult to have that conversation without having a language.”

For now, the bronze Baranov still sits downtown. Tourists take pictures of this relatively small monument most unaware of the large conversation that surrounds him.

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Carrie Spackman leads a group of cancer survivors and their caregivers around the bases at last weekend’s Relay For Life event (Photo KCAW/Katherine Rose).

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Sound of baseball hitting bat

So, there’s a bit of a scheduling conflict. The pee wee baseball team is playing a game tonight. And Relay For Life was supposed to start at 6:00, here on Moller Field, but everyone is working together. In fact, Carrie Spackman threw out the first pitch. Her husband, Hal Spackman, was pretty impressed.

“I’ve never seen her really throw a ball, so it’s pretty good that she got it there,” said Hal.

Carrie works as Sitka High School’s secretary, and she’s beloved by the students and staff. Four years ago, she discovered she had lung cancer.

“It’s something that you don’t expect, even because neither one of us ever smoked a day in our life, and yet she gets lung cancer, very low prognosis. But she’s four years out, and it looks like she’s cancer free.”

“Having cancer and needing the support from your friends and community is what I believe was half of my medicine,” added Carrie.

Carrie, along with about 15 other survivors don purple shirts for first event of the weekend– the survivor lap. They rounded the bases to Kelly Clarkson’s “What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger”

Clapping, music, sound of survivors rounding the bases

Each, year, communities across the country sponsor Relay for Life events. For 24 hours, people walk or run laps to raise awareness and funds for cancer research. In 2015, 276 million of ACS’s money went directly to those fighting cancer, patient support like flights and comped hotel rooms.

“Raising funds when you can’t do it or your family can’t is wonderful. They were right there all the time. They would just send me some monetary value, and that would go to transportation, lodging, whatever you need, so it’s very important,” said Spackman.

Hannah Ray is a community manager for the Alaska branch of the American Cancer Society and Relay for Life. She works with fourteen communities around the state, including Sitka. Ray says access to healthcare is a big factor.

“Our transportation is very different in Alaska. Obviously some of our communities can only be accessed by flights. I’ve taken the puddle jumpers out to Nome, and I can only imagine being a cancer patient there and not imagining what I was going to do,” said Ray.

In the past year, the American Cancer Society has helped over 1000 Alaskan cancer patients with their treatment, paying for transport, hotel rooms, and cosmetic kits for those undergoing chemotherapy and radiation.

After the survivors round the bases for the first lap, they go around again, this time with their caretakers, their families. Many of the children here this evening are dressed as ducks, with yellow feather boas and orange construction paper beaks. That’s for Carrie.

“I have a duck collection at the high school. I have about a thousand now. Kids come and go to colleges on vacations, and they always bring me back a little rubber duck. I just took on the duck collection, next time I’m gonna start with jewelry, but this time it was ducks,” said Spackman.

And like ducks, the driving events weren’t enough to keep people away. By the end of the event, Sitkans raised over $14,000, but the total is unofficial, as the team still has until August 1 to raise funds.

Born in Moscow, Khalit Aisin has worked in international relations for 30 years. He currently serves as the Deputy Consul General at the Russian Consulate in Seattle. (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)

A band of Russian performers, with their sights set on Sitka, are reportedly still in Moscow awaiting visas. As the mystery of their travel plans deepens, one Russian did make it to the Alaska Day festivities this past weekend.

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Though born in Moscow, Khalit Asin lives in the United States. He’s the Deputy Consul General of the Consulate General of Russia in Seattle and was greeted by a small party at the Rocky Gutierrez airport.

KCAW: Welcome to Sitka.
Asin: Thank you so much.

One thing that’s striking about Asin: he’s an impeccably dressed man, with white hair neatly trimmed and a tidy suitcase for the weekend. When asked why he wanted to come to Sitka, he said it’s always been high on his travel list – particularly on Alaska Day.

“I’m a curious man, still curious man,” said Aisin. “I would like to see with my own eyes and what’s going on and happened here more than a century ago.”

Zlata Lund came down from Anchorage to serve as a translator. Her mother Natalia joined her, presenting Asin a stack of blinis – thin pancakes – on a silver platter. (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)

Zlata Lund came down from Anchorage to serve as a translator. Her mother Natalia joined her, presenting Asin a stack of blinis – thin pancakes – on a silver platter. Though Zlata had mentally prepared for a whole cohort of Russians, she wasn’t disappointed it was only one.

“One is better than none,” Lund said. “It’s supposed to start somewhere. This is the beginning. 2017 is coming. Hopefully in that year, we will speak history. We will talk history. We will commemorate history. We will learn history.”

Hal Spackman, the director of the Sitka Historical Society, anticipates there will be wave of Russian interest in Sitka these next two years. He considers the 150th anniversary of the transfer a ripe chance for tourism, bringing money and pride. “I had my grandchildren here and they were beaming to be able to welcome that person,” he said. “And that will be a memory for the rest of their life.”

One of his children, Tanner Steinson, bestowed Asin a wooden platter shaped like a fish. He shyly said the gift was on behalf of the children of Alaska. Asin beamed and tucked it under his arm. The greeting party then immediately got to work configuring the diplomat’s itinerary.

Spackman: We want to make this experience fun for you. You might want a tour of the area and see, even though it’s rainy and cloudy.

And he was off. In 48 hours, Asin took that rain-washed tour of downtown. Went to the ball. And he found some time, right before Sunday’s parade, to meet me in the lobby of the Westmark Hotel. He had 10 minutes and got straight to business.

“I was born in Moscow in 1958, so I am a rather grown up person,” Aisin said.” Aisin got a degree from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MIGMO). In his 30-year career, he’s lived on practically every continent. He worked first in Africa for ten years – Zimbabwe, Zambia, Ghana.

“After that,” Aisin said, “it was Europe, a little Austria, then central Asia, then Baltic Republic, and after that, San Francisco and now Seattle.”

He’s been there for a year. Part of his job is to foster bilateral relations and this trip to Sitka fits that bill.

I asked Aisin what he thought about burgeoning hostility between our two countries in Syrian airspace. Aisin said that was a conversation he should leave up to what he called “the big bosses.”

He added that these developments haven’t affected his job much, and that he’s doing what he can to improve relations from his side of the Bering Strait. Aisin said, “This June, the legislature of the state of Washington proclaimed the month of June as a month of Russian-American historical heritage.”

Aisin considers this a huge victory for the consulate and he’s pleased to see that Sitka has long embraced this history. “Especially during this Alaska Day, on the 18th of October. Of course, this day belongs to the history of our two countries, Russia and the United States,” Aisin said.

And with that, Deputy Consul General Aisin was whisked away to his next stop. The Fortress of the Bear.

Mayor Mim McConnell and Sitka Historical Society Director Hal Spackman greeted Russian Deputy Consul General Khalit Aisin at the airport today (10-17-15). Spackman’s grandson Tanner Steinson presented Aisin a wooden platter, “a gift from the children of Alaska.” (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)

Though the 68 Russian performers are still in Moscow, awaiting visas, one Russian did step off the plane today (10-17-15). Based in Seattle, Russian Deputy Consul General Khalit Aisin will be in Sitka all this weekend to partake in the Alaska Day festivities.

Aisin was also presented with a picture of the inside of Baranof’s Castle. Sitka brought Zlata Lund and her mother down from Anchorage to serve as Russian translators. (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)

Sitka Historical Society Director Hal Spackman said he was very pleased Aisin made the journey and that he hopes even more Russian visitors come for the sesquicentennial of the 1867 transfer in 2017. “Sitka has a spiritual connection for not only Alaskans and Sitkans and the first people, but it has a connection to Russia.”

As for those 68 Russian performers? Spackman said that last he heard, the Russian Embassy has not yet released their visas and they are still in Moscow – though hoping to arrive towards the end of October. “The mystery it’s building for the community is quite intriguing,” Spackman said.