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Veniaminov comes to Alaska
Ivan Veniaminov first came to Unalaska. There he worked with Native leaders to develop a written version of Native languages. He also built a church in Unalaska and opened a bilingual (Russian & Aleut) school. From 1834-1838 he was assigned to Sitka. After his wife's death he was elevated to Bishop of Kamchatk, the Kuriles and Aleutian Islands. He continued to teach, build, and travel, designing St. Micheal's Cathedral in Sitka, which was consecrated in 1848. In 1850, he transferred to Yakutsk. -
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Veniaminov Comes to Alaska
Ivan Veniaminov first came to Unalaska. There he worked with Native leaders to develop a written version of Native languages. He also built a church in Unalaska and opened a bilingual (Russian & Aleut) school. From 1834-1838 he was assigned to Sitka. After his wife's death he was elevated to Bishop of Kamchatk, the Kuriles and Aleutian Islands. He continued to teach, build, and travel, designing St. Micheal's Cathedral in Sitka, which was consecrated in 1848. In 1850, he transferred to Yakutsk. -
"Seward's Folly" and School Closing
Secretary of State William Seward signed a treaty with the Russian Minister to the United States Edouard de Stoeckl to purchase Alaska from Russia for $7 million. By this time, there were no remaining Russian schools operating in Alaska. -
Sheldon Jackson and Missionary Schools
Sheldon Jackson initiated policies to change the educational system in Alaska. He established six Presbyterian mission schools and encouraged other missionaries to establish similar schools. The ultimate goal was to convert Alaska Natives into American Protestant Christians. -
Wrangell School
An army private was upset that there was no school for the Tlingit people near Sitka. He sent his commander a letter. The commanding officer sent the letter to Sheldon Jackson, who supervised the Home Missions of the Territories in Denver, Colorado. Sheldon Jackson sent Amanda McFarland, a Presbyterian missionary, arrived at Wrangell in 1877 to open a mission and school. The next year it became a girls school, and records show that it was open until 1889. -
Mission School in Sitka
The Mission School was opened by John G. Brody in 1878. In 1884, it became the first Sitka Industrial Training School, offering carpentry, machine work and carving. later, courses for girls were added, such as sewing, mending, cooking washing, ironing and cleaning. As late as 1905, the Sitka School, Roman Catholic Mission of the Holy Cross and a school at the Tsimshiah reserve at Metlakatla were the only training schools open to Natives. -
Mandatory Attendance in Sitka
Commander Henry Glass, the Senior Navy Officer required the native children to attend school. When he found attendance declining, he completed a census, numbered houses, gave each child a tag, and started contacting parents/families of students who were absent. If they chose not to come to school for no acceptable reason, the family was fined or faced other consequences. Attendance improved. -
First Organic Act
The First Organic Act created the District of Alaska. Although the act allowed for a school system, district and circuit courts, and the enforcement of mining laws. All officials were appointed by the president, the act didn't allow for an Alaskan representative in D.C., the few officials appointed could not hope to govern the large territory, and no provision was made for a system of land laws or for the collection of taxes.
Sheldon Jackson was appointed as the first general agent of education. -
Jackson as Agent of Education
Jackson's role in Alaska was to supply education to the children. Several schools were created, but separated for white and Native children. Jackson believed the Native children needed to become civilized and started by banning use of Native Languages in all schools. -
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Gold Rush, Boom Times and the Revision of the Organic Act
Gold rush boom towns often had schools in the winter. Circle City had a school in 1898. Most of the boom town schools closed. Congress revised the Organic Act of 1884 in 1900, providing for the incorporation of towns in Alaska. In 1905, congress passed the Nelson Act. It provided for the education of the white children and children of mixed blood who lead a "civilized life" in parts of the territory outside incorporated areas. The Federal Bureau of Education was in charge. -
Nelson Act
Provided for establishment of schools outside incorporated towns. Governor of Territory of Alaska made ex-officio superintendent. Thus a dual system of education in Alaska (federal and territorial, later state) begins. -
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Boarding Schools
During this time period, the only secondary education options open to most students in smaller, more rural communities of Alaska were remote boarding schools. At these boarding schools, students were discouraged from and even punished for speaking their native language. Other aspects of Native culture were similarly and actively oppressed. -
Education in Rural Areas
Federal Bureau of Education extends educational services to more remote sections of Alaska and by this year assumes responsibility for formal education of most rural Native people.
Only option open for high schools in small rural communities was to attend distant BIA boarding high schools, with the exception of a small number of church-affiliated boarding high schools. -
Johnson-O'Malley Act
The Johnson-O’Malley Act was passed on April 16, 1934, to subsidize education, medical attention, and other services provided by States or Territories to Indians living within their borders. This led to the beginning of negotiations between Alaska Territorial Department of Education and the Bureau of Indian Affairs for the transfer of federally-operated, rural BIA elementary schools to the territory. -
Division of State Operated Schools
Alaska State Department of Education declared need for special provisions to accommodate conditions in rural Alaska. The ASDE established the Division of State Operated Schools which took responsibility for rural and on-base military schools and created a governor’s committee to explore the merger of BIA and state schools. -
Molly Hooch Case
Molly Hootch, a 16-year-old from the Yukon River village of Emmonak, and Anna Tobeluk, an 18-year-old from the village of Nunapitchuk, sue Alaska for failing to provide local high schools in predominantly Alaska Native villages. Tobeluk argues that the state is discriminating against Alaska Native students and contributing to dropout rates. In October, the signing of the Tobeluck Consent Decree commits the state to provide high schools in Alaska Native villages. Eventually 105 high schools open. -
Regional Education Attendance Areas
Pressure on legislature for more local control from Alaska Native people led to the abolishing of State Operated Schools. Separate rural school districts called Regional Education Attendance Areas (REAAs) were established. -
Rural High Schools
The Governor of Alaska signed a consent decree related to Molly Hootch as an out-of-court settlement, and the state agreed that it would establish a high school program in every community in
Alaska where there was an elementary school (with a minimum enrollment of 8 students) and one or more secondary students, unless the community specifically declined.
