Assimilation and the Native People of Metlakahtla, Alaska

The activity can be used to:

• Introduce students to one of many different cultures that makes up Native Alaska.
• Introduce or reinforce the idea of cultural assimilation.
• Show the persistence of Native Alaska culture even when a group was thought of as primarily assimilated.

For grades 4–6 (but can also be used as an enrichment activity for higher grade levels). Approximate time needed is one class period.

Begin by providing or reviewing the definition of cultural assimilation: the process through which one group of people adopt the customs and practices of another, often larger or more dominant, group. Provide examples of different groups that have experienced cultural assimilation throughout U.S. history, such as immigrant communities. Examples should supply evidence that characterizes cultural assimilation, such as language, religion, dress, or marriage practices.

Ask students, working individually, to begin the activity and match the photographs to their descriptions while looking for evidence of cultural assimilation. Or work as a whole-class unit to make the matches (this would be a particularly good approach with younger students). Alternatively, assign the activity as a homework assignment after a class on cultural assimilation or Alaska Natives.

When students complete their matching, they will see a final photo of Tsimshian Natives “breaking the rules” by wearing traditional dress to a wedding ceremony. They should click “When You’re Done” to record their observations about cultural assimilation and to hypothesize as to why the people in the final photo would take such a risk. As a class, discuss their ideas, as well as their impressions of the effectiveness of assimilation practices.

Selected Additional Resources

• Students may benefit from a more extensive history of the village at Metlakahtla, available at www.metlakatla.com.
• Information about Reverend William Duncan and the settlement of Metlakahtla is available in several places online, such ABC BookWorld, a public service project spreading awareness of literary activity in British Columbia, Canada.
• Mique’l Askren, MA, discusses photography as a method used by the Metlakahtla community to retain and communicate “forbidden” elements of their culture Objects of Exchange: Social and Material Transformation on the Late Nineteenth-Century Northwest Coast.

This activity is, in part, an English adaptation of a version produced by Sarah Jansen as part of a DocsTeach course for teachers in Alaska in 2013. It was originally developed for bilingual middle school students.