August 2020 News & Events
FREE August Admission
Enjoy FREE admission to the City Museum, this month thanks to another generous donation from the Friends of the Juneau-Douglas City Museum!
Visit the Museum by Appointment Only
Thursday-Saturday | 8:30 am - 10 am
The City Museum is open by appointment only on Thursday, Friday and Saturday mornings from 8:30 am to 9:55 am for individuals or household groups wishing to tour the City Museum without other visitors. Call 586-3572 to schedule.
The Wooshkeetaan totem pole in progress at Sealaska Plaza 1980-81
Nathan Jackson with Steve Brown carving the Wooshkeetaan Totem Pole at Sealaska Plaza 1980-81
Nathan Jackson 1980-81
The Wooshkeetaan Totem Pole
Join us as we journey towards installing the Wooshkeetaan Totem Pole in a new indoor location.
The City Museum has two totem poles in the permanent collection- the Auk Tribe and Wooshkeetaan Totem Poles. These poles were commissioned by the Juneau Centennial Committee as part of the 1980 Juneau Centennial Celebration and were carved by Nathan Jackson and Steve Brown with assistance from Dorcus Jackson in 1980 and 1981 from donated red cedar logs harvested near Wrangell. The two poles were designed to honor the two moieties, Tléix’ Shangukeidí (Eagle/Wolf) and Tléix’ Laayaneidí (Raven/Crow), of the Áak’w Ḵwáan, the original inhabitants of this area. In June of 1983, the two totem poles were installed in front of the newly completed Centennial Hall. Around twenty years later, it was determined that both totem poles needed to be moved to indoor locations to protect them from weather. The Auk Tribe pole was installed inside the atrium at the Juneau-Douglas High School in 2003 and the Wooshkeetaan Totem Pole remains in storage awaiting a new home. The City Museum invites you to join our journey towards installing the Wooshkeetaan Totem Pole in a new indoor location. Here are three ways you can support this project:

Make a donation
To help with installation costs, donations can be directed through the Friends of the Juneau-Douglas City Museum at fojdcm.org  or by sending a check to PO Box 22450, Juneau, AK 99802

Volunteer
To volunteer to serve on an advisory or steering committee call Beth Weigel at 907-586-3572.

Follow our progress
For updates, videos, and historical tidbits about the Wooshkeetaan totem pole, visit our website, Facebook page and YouTube Channel:

Thank you!
City Museum Participates in "Month of Play"
In August, The City Museum is participating in Parks and Recreation's 16th annual Day of Play which has been turned into a Month of Play due to COVID-19 safety precautions. Interested families will have "passports" provided by Parks and Recreation which include scavenger hunt questions for a variety of locations around town. As families visit each site, they can record answers to the scavenger hunt questions in their passports. At the City Museum, families will be answering two questions about the totem poles located outside the building. Free totem pole activity sheets will be available inside the Museum at the front desk.
Echoes of War: Unangax̂ Internment during WWII is on display in t he Murray Gallery.
Temporary Exhibit
Through October 18, 2021
Echoes of War: Unangax̂ Internment during WWII
Echoes of War: Unangax̂ Internment during WWII brings attention to the history of the Unangax̂ internment camps in Southeast, Alaska. It is the story of the people of St. Paul and St. George (the Pribilof Islands) who experienced internment in Southeast Alaska at Funter Bay from June 1942 to May 1944, and their subsequent return home to the Pribilof Islands. Telling this story in the words of those who experienced it, we aim to highlight this event and shed light on a topic that is often excluded from history books and school curriculums around the country.

This exhibit was originally intended to be our summer 2020 exhibit. Due to the pandemic, we have extended the exhibit through October 18th, 2021. We hope more people will have an opportunity to visit the City Museum next summer.
MUSEUM INFORMATION


Gallery Hours
Thursday-Sunday: 10 am - 4 pm

Appointment Only Hours
Wednesday-Saturday: 8:30 am - 9:55 am

Office Hours (phone or email)
Monday-Friday: 8:30 am - 4:30 pm

August Admission
FREE

Contact
907 586-3572
The Juneau-Douglas City Museum fosters among its diverse audiences an awareness of Juneau's cultural heritage, values and community memory so we may draw strength and perspective from the past, inspire learning, and find purpose for the future. As a public trust, we collect, preserve, interpret, and exhibit those materials that document the cultures and history of the Juneau and Douglas area.