Icons of a bygone era – Model canoes and kayaks from 19th century Russian Alaska in scattered...

24.4.2014 Åbo Akademi - Domkyrkotorget 3 - 20500 Åbo 1

Marcus Lepola

Icons of a bygone era – Model canoes

and kayaks from 19th century Russian

Alaska in scattered Finnish collections

Finland as part of the Russian

empire

• The Finnish

War1809.

• Wast Russian

empire employed

mariners and

vessels from

Finland and the

Baltic.


Alaskan model boats in Finland

• The first model kayaks and

canoes from the Tlingit and the

Aleut and or the Alutiiq

appeared in Finland in 1825 as a

donation to the Åbo Academy

by the mariner Arvid Adolf

Etholén.

• Finnish sailors, colonials and

mariners would collect these

crafts up until the sale of Alaska

in 1867.


Museums • The Russian period in Finland

coincided with a national

awakening.

• Lönnroth, Cygnaeus, Snellman,

Runeberg.

• The strive for education and

science in combination with

growing maritime trade brought

about the establishment of several

”colonial” museums in Finland.


Colonial / Maritime Museums

• The earliest museums in Finland were located

in schools.

• Museums established pre 1867 also included

artifacts from Russian America in their

collections.



Alaskan collections in Finland

Alaskan model boats in museums

• The National Museum 36

• Åbo Gymnasium 9

• Finnish Seafarers Museum 6

• Furuhjelm Collection 4

• Borgå Gymnasium 2

• Kuopio Gymnasium 2

• Norsen Gymnasium 1


24.4.2014 9

Russian Alaska


Sitka 1837

Origins of the model canoe

• Model boats and kayaks come from at

least three different ethnic groups;

• Alutiiq/sugpiaq.

• Aleut

• Dena’ina

• Yup’ik eskimo

• Tlingit


Old style pre 1825 Aleut,

single hatch kayak (baidarka)


Borgå Gymnasium

Later style Aleut 1825-1900



Finnish Seafarers Society Museum


Later style Aleut 1825-1900


The Furuhjelm Collection

Alutiiq two/three seat

kayaks(baidarkas)



Dena’ina model kayak



Tlingit Model Canoe


Åbo Gymnasium –Turku Museum Center


Dena’ina model birch bark canoe

Borgå Gymnasium

Model boats in indigenous

societies

• Model kayaks have had a ritual meaning

for the Aleuts. They have also had

educational function.

• In a 19th century context they were

sold as souvenirs to mariners,

sometimes even made by women.

• Easy to transport in crates, good

availability in Russian Amerika

• Model birch bark canoes and models

kayaks could be bought in Sitka in 1841.

The former for 3 rubels and the latter

for 20 rubels a piece.


Model boats in Finnish museums

• Model boats from Alaska impressed explorers

and collectors, but would also pass knowledge

to a wider audience who would never

personally encounter these crafts in the native

landscape.

• Although the models were possibly intended

for trade, some surviving pieces are the last

evidence of watercrafts that have long since

disappered from the coastal waterways of

Alaska.

• In Finland these were often perceived as

trophies and icons of Finnish Maritime feats.


Conclusion

• The ritual value of model canoes and kayaks for the

Alaskan natives decreased as they were sold as

souvenirs for the European visitors and colonists i the

19th century.

• They were popular pieces in early museum collections

due to their appeal and practical size.

• Today some old types of Alaskan vessels only survive

as models in European, Russian and Finnish

collections.



Thank you!

Icons of a bygone era – Model canoes and kayaks from 19th century Russian Alaska in scattered...

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