Wood: For thousands of years, Alaskans have been carving out their story.
Supplied by nature.
Forged into culture.
Though wood resources across Alaska’s ecosystems varied—and much was treeless during the Ice Age and for millennia after, even to today—cultures found a way to get this versatile raw material, even if it was collecting what drifted in on the ocean. Then they used it to shape the objects that touched every aspect of their lives, from everyday activities like eating to special rituals and sacred moments like masked dancing and drumming and honoring ancestors. In the southeast, where cedars towered, totem poles and large wood plank lodges were possible. In the far north, where only shrubby willow and dwarf birch could survive, and along the treeless Aleutian archipelago, even smaller objects like spear shafts sometimes had to be stitched together from fragments of wood.
Ancient Alaskans were attuned to the attributes of wood, and each part of the tree was mined for its particular properties. The curve between trunk and root was essential for the bow of a boat and made sturdy adze handles. The straight wood of the lower trunk was good for bows and arrows and split cleanly into planks. Bark became light and watertight containers. Root fibers wove ritual hats. Gnarls and knots formed features on masks and burls became bowls and ladles. An abundance of woodworking tools like adzes, mauls, chisels, splitting wedges, and even fire itself were used for cutting, sanding, shaving, whittling, bending, and steaming, taking full advantage of wood’s malleable character. But more than just shaped for utility, wood’s plastic nature allowed for personalization: drum handles curved to fit to a particular hand, say, or a whale carved into the bottom of a boat seat to honor the animal below.
The text featured on the poster is copied below.
Boreal Forest
spruce, birch
Athabascans were blessed by an abundance of birch and spruce in their forest-scape homeland in Alaska’s interior. They knew that wood on the compressed side of leaning trees was hard and strong and prized it for shaping sled runners that could withstand loads and landscape irregularities. It also made excellent bows and arrows—strong enough to fell mighty game like moose and caribou. It could also be easily shaved to create the straightest-flying arrows. They knew there was also strength in flexibility, so in the spring and summer they carefully stripped the outmost layer of birch bark to bend and stitch with threaded spruce root into lightweight berry baskets and watertight containers. Higher up the tree, the most nimble of birch branches became the elegantly arced frames of snowshoes that would let them glide atop the snow.
About Archaeology Month Posters
The archaeological heritage of 42 states is celebrated each year during their respective archaeology months or weeks. April is Archaeology Month in Alaska, by proclamation of the governor. Educational posters are produced by each state to promote awareness of the value of archaeology and archaeological resources. Posters are sent to schools, libraries, agencies, and institutions throughout the state.
Production of the annual Alaska Archaeology Month poster is coordinated by the Alaska Anthropological Association’s Public Education Group. Sponsors include the National Park Service, Ukpeaġvik Iñupiat Corporation, Colorado State University Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Bureau of Land Management, University of Alaska Anchorage Department of Anthropology, the Alaska Office of History and Archaeology, and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Cultural Resources Division.
