Tlingit Tales
The Reverend Scott Shields is scheduled to give a talk about his experience with his Tlingit family in a special program at Rock Springs Library on Saturday, Nov. 10 at 2:00. The program is in conjunction with Rev. Shields’ exhibit in the Clarence and Mary Samuels Resource Room at the Community Fine Arts Center. The exhibit consists of Northwest Coast Native artwork including woodcarving and appliqué that he created along with clothing and artifacts. The focus of Rev. Shields’ talk at the library will include a description of the materials used in traditional clothing and accessories like harbor seal skin, ermine fur, felted wool, moose and deer hide and hooves, red and yellow cedar, alder and abalone shell. Rev. Shields will also explain how the Native people of South East Alaska are very unique from the tribes of the lower 48 with artwork and culture that does not really borrow from other Native tribes and each piece tells a story in their oral tradition. Shields will also touch on the interaction of the early Christian missionaries to the area who did not understand the meaning of totem poles and how these misunderstandings resulted in their destruction.
