The renaming of Sitka’s Baranof Elementary School has been put on hold, pending more input from tribal and other community members.
The Sitka School board on March 2 decided to table a final decision, after surprising resistance from within the tribal community itself.
The issue has been before the Sitka School board for over a year, since January of 2021, when it was referred to the Sitka Tribe of Alaska.
Former school board member Yeidikook’áa Dionne Brady-Howard now sits on the Tribal Council. During the government-to-government portion of the March 2, 2022, meeting of the board, she restated the rationale for seeking out the Tribe’s advice in changing the name.
“We recognize the intention of the board, in turning it (the name change) over to the Tribe,” she said, “not as a way of passing the buck, but recognizing that since our schools were once one of the major agents of colonization of our people, that it seemed like a natural step then that the responsibility for coming up with a recommendation would be handed over to the Tribe.”
But the Tribe’s ultimate recommendation – from its Cultural Resources Committee – has prompted some pushback: Charlie Joseph Sr. Awdigaan Hít, which means “a place of sunshine and joy.”
The significance of Charlie Joseph Sr. in cultural education is beyond question, but – as has been clear from the beginning – singling out Joseph among all of Sitka’s outstanding cultural educators, would create problems within the tribal community.
Tribal citizen Melonie Boord suggested that the school board did not go far enough in handing the issue to the Tribe.
“This has been heartbreaking and really sad, all around,” Boord said. “I think this would indicate something is not right with your process. People were not heard until now, and they were not part of the decision making process on the tribal or the community level.”
Boord conducted a survey which was returned by over 700 Sitkans. Half of them favored Awdigaan Hít, one-quarter favored leaving the name unchanged, and 14-percent favored the name Charlie Joseph Sr. Awdigaan Hít. Nevertheless, the poll was conducted online, and may have missed many.
Pauline Duncan taught at Baranof Elementary for 28 years. She said that she was one of over 200 tribal elders who were left out of the decision. Personally, she took issue with the imbalance in Sitka between publicly honoring men and honoring women – particularly in street names. She thought the Baranof name change was an opportunity for redress.
“Please keep in mind that the impact you will make will really made a difference to high risk children and high risk women,” said Duncan.
The school board also heard from tribal citizens who said that naming things after people was not consistent with Tlingit tradition. Assembly member Crystal Duncan argued the point.
“I know Charlie didn’t do it for the glory and he is remembered at the most appropriate way — through our oral traditions,” said Duncan. “There is a way to honor him and those who helped establish the SNEP program (Sitka Native Education Program), but this is not it.”
Sitka School Board members were in a quandary: They had sought the formal advice of the Sitka Tribe of Alaska, and now they had it, and an undertaking that had started with the best of intentions apparently had backfired.
Board member Paul Rioux said he was willing to hold off for a while.
“I know when we started this process, I was hopeful that it was going to be a process of unity, and healing, and you know, progress as a community,” said Rioux. “And my email box doesn’t reflect that.”
A motion to table action on a Baranof Elementary School name change passed 4-1.
Note: This story was update on 3-11-22 to include the detail that Melonie Boord’s poll was distributed electronically.
