Hoonah Women Crayon Portraits

Summary: 
These portraits were discovered in 2007 while a local Hoonah resident was cleaning the Kaagwaantaan clan house. The photos are likely from the late 1800s to early 1900s.
Description: 

It is uncertain who the women are in these portraits. An attempt to identify them after the portraits were discovered was made by the Executive Director of HHF at the time. She published the images in the August 2007 Huna Totem newsletter. The identity of these women is still unknown. The time range can be approximated by the type of images they are. They are known as Crayon Portraits.

According to the Alaska State Museum Conservator, Scott Carrlee,

These are also called crayon photos or crayon drawings, and they were done to augment the poor quality of photographic enlargements at that time [~1860’s to the turn of the century].  The negative would be blown up, but much detail was lost, so an artist would draw onto the black and white enlargement to restore the photos clarity, and then he would put some color in as well.

Protocol: 
Hoonah Community Members Public Access
Community: 
Hoonah Community Members
Category: 
People and Places
Rights: 
For permission to use, reproduce, circulate or publish please contact the site administrator at amelia.wilson@hunaheritage.com or (907) 789-8646.
Traditional Knowledge Labels: 
Licensing Options: 
Creative Commons License

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)