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Oscar Frank
Oscar Frank was interviewed on July 12, 1995 by Bill Schneider, Nellie Lord and Mary Ann Porter at the National Park Service office in Yakutat, Alaska. Nellie asked Oscar to do a recording on Tlingit history. He is the most senior of the people interviewed and his interview provides regional perspective and some details on figures in Tlingit history.
Digital Asset Information
Archive #: Oral History 95-71-30
Project: Wrangell-St.Elias National Park
Date of Interview: Jul 12, 1995
Narrator(s): Oscar Frank
Interviewer(s): Bill Schneider, Nellie Lord
People Present: Mary Ann Porter
Location of Interview:
Location of Topic:
Funding Partners:
National Park Service
Alternate Transcripts
There is no alternate transcript for this interview.
After clicking play, click on a section to navigate the audio or video clip.
Sections
1) Background information
2) His Tlingit names
3) His clan membership and origins
4) Earning cash wages around Yakutat
5) The Situk area
6) Glaciers
7) Bear paws/claws being stolen
8) Traditional objects of cultural patrimony
9) "The Teqwedi Shaman" (Plate #65) and a photo of "The Messenger"
10) "The Teqwedi Shaman"
11) Stories of the Russians
12) His education
13) Learning how to fish, and fishing
14) Changes during his lifetime, and sockeye salmon runs
15) Rejuvenating the sockeye salmon run
16) Giving advice to the future
Click play, then use Sections or Transcript to navigate the interview.
After clicking play, click a section of the transcript to navigate the audio or video clip.
Transcript
Section 1: Porter, Mary Ann\ Lord, Nellie\ Frank, Oscar\ National Park Service\ Yakutat
Section 2: Frank, Oscar -- traditional names\ Frank, Oscar -- stepfather\ dancers --professional\ Tlingit names -- origins
Section 3: Frank, Oscar -- clan name\ Yakutat\ Ahrnklin\ Frank, Oscar -- great-great uncles\ Mount Edgecumbe\ Angoon\ fishing\ subsistence\ land use\ hunting -- bears\ (Tlingit) Island\ village locations -- reasons for\ missionaries\ Old Village -- origins\ missionaries\ Sherman
Section 4: fishing\ Libby\ Frank, Oscar -- uncles\ railroad -- workers\ wages\ workers -- Chinese\ Yakutat Southern Railroad\ railroads -- passenger cars\ fishing\ Alaska Department of Fish and Game\ fishermen -- families
Section 5: people -- numbers of\ Situk River\ erosion\ glaciers\ Frank, Oscar -- uncle\ Frank, Oscar -- nephew\ water -- blocking\ water -- rising\ fishing
Section 6: prospectors\ water -- blocking
Section 7: Cordova\ Brown Bear Claw House\ Lost River\ theft\ museums\ National Park Service
Section 8: James, Alex\ museums
Section 9: Jackson, Sheldon\ carvings -- The Messenger\ shamans\ Sitka\ king salmon\ Yakutat\ Lost River\ food -- shortages\ messenger -- burials
Section 10: Sitka\ Teqwedi Shaman (Plate #65)\ shamans\ missionaries\ legends -- shaman hair story\ U.S. Army\ head pieces\ "Sun Ears"\ Russian sword cane
Section 11: kidnappings\ schools\ traveling -- Russia\ slaves\ smokehouses\ berries -- salmon berries\ language -- Russian\ snuff cans\ Brown, Justin\ attacking -- Russians\ forts -- Russian\ ships -- building\ Ankau\ John, Maggie\ Sitka\ Yakutat
Section 12: Mission\ Sheldon Jackson School\ Bureau of Indian Affairs\Sheldon Jackson School -- fire\ Frank, Oscar -- grandfather\ Old Village\ schools\ churches\ missionaries\ Chicago\ Sweden
Section 13: (Ellis), John\ Situk\ salmon\ fishing\ skiffs -- rowing\ oars\ drownings\ Frank, Oscar -- uncles
Section 14: boats -- outboard motors\ changes -- river\ transportation -- boats\ fish -- changes in numbers\ Situk River\ salmon -- sockeye\ salmon -- coho\ Alaska Department of Fish and Game\ food -- traditional\ subsistence\ welfare
Section 15: Swanson\ salmon -- sockeye\ Alaska Department of Fish and Game\ salmon -- spawning
Section 16: recording -- Tlingit culture\ subsistence\ Sitka\ (Burke), John\ fish -- steelhead trout\ land use\ fish -- salmon\ subsistence -- over exploitation\ Frank, Oscar -- uncles