Alaska Native group, Neiman Marcus settle lawsuit over coat
March 5, 2021
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JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) An Alaska Native cultural organization and the luxury department store Neiman Marcus have settled a lawsuit over the sale of a coat with a copyrighted, geometric design borrowed from Indigenous culture.
The Sealaska Heritage Institute said in a statement on Wednesday that both sides, including 10 other named defendants besides Neiman Marcus, agreed to terms “to resolve all disputes between them under U.S. and Tlingit law, KTOO Public Media reported.
The Juneau-based institute is the cultural arm of the Sealaska Corp., the Alaska Native corporation for the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian people of southeast Alaska.
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Take a stroll along some of Juneau’s downtown streets and you’ll find brand new signs with maps and information about each location. But the signs do more than just tell you where you are each one tells an oral history about the place as part of an audio storytelling project called Juneau Voices.
The new signs feature QR codes. Scan them and you’ll be taken to an audio story about the place. (Editor’s note: The QR codes on the signs are currently inactive, but will be ready to scan in early March.)
Ten stories are narrated by people from throughout Dzantik’i Héeni, or Juneau, whose family histories go back generations. The narrators include the late Kingeistí David Katzeek and Erin Tripp, whose Tlingit name is Xáalnook.
Radar Scans Uncover an Alaskan Fort Built to Scare Off Russia
27 JANUARY 2021
The Shís gi Noow or sapling fort was built by the Tlingit people in Alaska at the start of the 19th century: one last physical barrier to advancing Russian forces. Now, thanks to modern-day radar and imaging techniques, it s been rediscovered.
After the pivotal battle there in 1804, which marked the start of six decades of Russian rule, the true location of the Shís gi Noow had become uncertain – until new research found the fort s unusual perimeter shape in Sitka National Historical Park, at the mouth of Kasda Heen (Indian River).
The Historical Significance of Shiskinoow, the “Sapling Fort”
The Tlingit clans built Shiskinoow (also spelled Shís’gi Noow and translated to the “sapling fort”) to bolster their defenses against the Russian army . An
Antiquity press release for the new paper explains the story behind the creation of this culturally significant Alaskan fort:
“In 1799, Russia sent a small army to take over Alaska in order to develop the fur trade, but the Tlingit successfully expelled them in 1802. Expecting the Russians to return, the Tlingit built a wooden fort over two years – the trapezoidal-shaped Shiskinoow. The Tlingit armed it with guns, cannons and gunpowder obtained from British American traders.”