Cyril George Indigenous Knowledge Center

In 2015, Assistant Professor of Alaska Native Languages X̱'unei - Lance A. Twitchell secured grant funds from the Rasmuson Foundation to help create a new centerpiece for Egan Library—the Cyril George Alaska Native Knowledge Center. This space will honor Ḵaalḵáawu Cyril George, a Tlingit leader from the Deisheetaan Clan of Angoon, who passed away in 2014. As X̱'unei wrote in the grant application, this project will “continue to reshape our campus in ways that focus energy on the visibility and centrality of indigenous voices.” This project is also supported by private donations.

After consultation with Library management, Alaska Native faculty and staff leaders, and UAS Facilities Planning staff, a space on the Main Level of the Library was selected as the future home of the Cyril George Collection. This space is literally right at the heart of the library, extending from behind the Reference Desk to the Reading Alcove and also repurposing a portion of the library currently used for microform collections.

Gift and grant funds will be used to purchase new shelving for the Cyril George Collection. The collection itself will initially be drawn from the Egan Library’s current collection of books and media on Alaska Native cultures, as well as on language revitalization and indigenous peoples worldwide. There will also be areas for study. In the future, there is interest in adding additional media stations and new furnishings, as well as continuing to grow the collection. Future funding will also be sought to enhance the space, potentially including the creation of four Tlingit houseposts.

The Library is aiming to have the Cyril George Alaska Native Knowledge Collection in place during Fall 2016.

Library Main Level showing future home for the Cyril George Collection

Through the fall, shelving was constructed, and then materials were pulled. Through the spring, materials were sorted into one of the 6 sub-collections. The sub-collections are listed in the electronic catalog, on the spine label, and have a corresponding colored tape with a Tlingit design.

The collection is currently shelved in a U shape. The inner sides include the sub-collections for Alaska Native Arts, Alaska Native Language, and Alaska Native Society. There are also the two material-based sub-collections, the Media and Oversize materials. On the outer shelves of the U sits the Global Indigenous Knowledge collection, with materials with more of a focus on other Native Americans, as well as more general language materials, and the literature. All of the indigenous literature can be found in the Global collection, including by Alaskans, so that they can all be located together for a broader collection representing Indigenous voices.

At this time, additional shelving is required before we can more broadly expand the Global Indigenous Knowledge collection to include materials focusing on Indigenous peoples outside of North America.

If you find a book elsewhere in the collection that you believe belongs in the Cyril George Collection, please let us know. Also, if you have any books to recommend that are not yet in the Collection, we are happy to take recommendations - you can use the Purchase Request Form or speak to a librarian. We will also happily accept donated materials.

After much moving and work, detailed on the previous tabs of this guide, the initial Cyril George Alaska Native Knowledge Center collection and study space has been completed. Responses have been positive, materials are being browsed and circulated, and the space is frequently being used by students studying.

The next stage of this special collection and study space is to upgrade it to the Cyril George Center for Indigenous Knowledge. The university has applied for grants to fund the transformation of this space in the library into a Clan House, including the Cyril George collection, a language instruction classroom, and other gathering and study space. Although so far grant applications have been unsuccessful, the university is considering pursuing this again either via a SIP grant or from another funding source. The Cyril George Indigenous Knowledge Center is likely an item on the next Campus Master Plan.

From the SIP application: updated floor plan, library main level, focusing on the Cyril George Indigenous Knowledge Center

Above: two concept images for the potential Cyril George Indigenous Knowledge Center, on the main floor of the Egan Library