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Finding Aids to Individual Collections in the Archive of Folk Culture
THE AGNES BELLINGER TLINGIT COLLECTION
AFC 1986/017
Library of Congress
Washington DC
September 1994
Physical Description: |
Manuscripts 1 folder Videotapes 1 VHS videotape, approximately
40 minutes AFC 1986/017:v1 1 Beta videotape, approximately 90 minutes
AFC 1986/017:v2 |
Key Subjects: |
clothing and dress; dance music; musical instruments;
social life and customs; Tlingit dance |
Access and Reproduction: |
Viewing access to the collection is unrestricted. Duplication
of the materials may be governed by copyright and other restrictions.
Videotape 1986/017:v1 is copyrighted by KTOO TV Juneau. Publication
of the materials requires standard permissions. |
Scope and Content Note
The Agnes Bellinger Tlingit Collection consists of two videotapes and
one booklet on traditional music, dance, and other customs of the Tlingit
nation of southeast Alaska. Donated by Agnes Bellinger in 1986, the materials
document her efforts to revitalize the traditional Tlingit culture through
performance, lectures, and writings.
Collection Inventory and Description
Videotape 1986/017:v1 runs approximately 40 minutes.
Produced by KTOO TV in Juneau, Alaska, it contains two segments about the
Eagle-Raven Dancers (Eagle and Raven are the two Tlingit moieties). The
first segment, taped for news broadcast, shows Bellinger, director of the
dance group, teaching a class on rhythms. She explains that in the class
the children learn about their heritage and culture and the customs of
singing and dancing. The segment includes dance demonstrations and short
interviews with two tribal advisors and one of the students. The second
segment was part of the TV station's coverage of the Alaska Folk Festival
in Centennial Hall, Juneau, Alaska (n.d.). It features the performance
of the Eagle-Raven Dancers before a live audience. The dancers, clad in
traditional regalia that includes headdresses and hats, button blankets,
face paint, and paraphernalia, perform six numbers, including an entrance
song, clan song, and exit song. Drumming and chanting accompany the dancing.
Videotape 1986/017:v2 runs approximately 90 minutes.
It documents a lecture by Agnes Bellinger at an unnamed museum inside a
replica of a Tlingit clanhouse (n.d.). Although the video is dark, her
lecture is audible. She describes traditional Tlingit culture in terms
of social structure, oral education, and material culture. She also answers
questions from the audience.
The 18-page booklet, Tracks Along The Beach: Tales of the Raven,
was compiled by Agnes Bellinger (private printing). It documents traditional
oral literature of the Tlingit people, specifically seven stories about
the Raven, their creation hero.
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