Louis Minard

Louis Minard was interviewed on December 8, 1999 by Kristen Griffin and Karen Brewster at the Southeast Alaska Indian Cultural Center in Sitka, Alaska. At the time of the interview, Louis was eighty-four years old, had a broad face, and wore thick smoke-tinted glasses which shaded his eyes. He was about 5' 4" tall and walked assisted by two aluminum crutches, since rheumatoid arthritis and two hip replacement surgeries made it difficult for him to walk. After over twenty years of talking to Sitka National Historical Park visitors about his carving, he was comfortable with public speaking and the interview setting. He spoke thoughtfully and with determination, and his straight-forward answers to questions made it clear that he had thought about and discussed these topics before. He told stories with the emphasis and suspense of a good performer. Louis took a break from cutting a fine-lined design in a gold bracelet he was making to talk to us. In preperation for our interview, he took the magnifier lens off his glasses, turned off the bright, swing-arm lamp over his work area, and pulled off his work apron and hung it over his bench. We also turned off the small electric space heater at his feet to keep its noise off the recording. In this interview, Louis sat in his high-legged chair behind his workbench and talked about how he got involved with silver carving, who his teachers were, the importance of knowing history, and his long association with the Southeast Alaska Indian Cultural Center as an artist, tradition bearer, and educator. He also talks about the Killer Whale Clan House origin story, the importance of the Cultural Center for Native artists, and receiving the Governor's Award for the Arts.