The Alaska State Museum presents new work by Lingit weaver Shgendootan George. Miscellaneous Events of the Day - Yee een kakkwalaneek yáa Aangóont akawdulgaaní opens Friday, November 6 as the latest exhibit in the museum’s 2024–2026 Solo Artist Exhibition Series.
George is Lingít, Dakl'aweidí of Kéet Ooxú Hít (Killer Whale Tooth House), from the village of Angoon. “Yee een kakkwalaneek yáa Aangóont akawdulgaaní” translates as “I will tell you all the story of when Angoon was set afire.” For this exhibit, George made a series of robes—Naaxein (Chilkat), Yéil koowú (Raven’s Tail), and Kaayuka.óot x’oow (button blankets)—to tell the history of the bombardment of her village in 1882. Each of the 10 robes recounts an episode related to the destruction of Angoon. The robes cover the events before the shelling, the attack by the U.S. Navy, survival, rebuilding, and the U.S. Navy apology in 2024.
The exhibit opening will begin in the atrium at 5 pm, where George’s robes will be danced, many for the first time. The robes will then move into the museum. Photographs, drawings, ship’s logs, and accounts of the events connected with each of the robes will also be on display. George will give a talk about her work, her process, and the story of the robes at 7 pm in the lecture hall.
George is a housemaster of the Killer Whale Tooth House and a lifelong educator. She is a 2023 Rasmuson Fellowship Award recipient. Her work is in the permanent collections of the Sealaska Heritage Institute, Museum of the North, and the Juneau-Douglas City Museum.
Miscellaneous Events of the Day - Yee een kakkwalaneek yáa Aangóont akawdulgaaní will be on exhibit at the Alaska State Museum through March 20, 2027.
Top image: Déix Hándít L’ée - 200 Blankets worn by Awastí Elizabeth George-Frank. Bottom image: Táakwde yaa kugaháa - Winter Started to Come worn by Kichnalx/AanDeinaAt Edward Gordon Kookesh III.
Thank you to the Friends of the Alaska State Library, Archives, and Museum for sponsoring the solo artist exhibition series. Shgendootan George’s solo artist booklet was sponsored in part by Sealaska Heritage Institute.
