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150 Years:

Kenai Peninsula history conference

THIS SITE IS SHUTTING DOWN. PLEASE GO INSTEAD TO: https://www.kenaipeninsulahistoricalassociation.org/

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AGENDA
keynote sPEAKER
Andrei Znamenski
has studied history and anthropology both in Russia and the United States. His major interests include Native people and religions of Alaska and Siberia. His first book, Shamanism and Christianity (1999) explores indigenous responses to 19th-century Russian Orthodox missionaries.  A follow-up project, Through Orthodox Eyes (2003), translates the journals of Kenai area missionaries who worked among the Dena’ina in south-central Alaska.  His other books are The Beauty of the Primitive: Shamanism and Western Imagination (2007), Red Shambhala (2011), and two anthologies he edited.  Znamenski has lived and traveled extensively in Siberia, Alaska, northern Europe, and Japan, and was the keynote speaker at the 2009 annual meeting of the Alaska Historical Society. Formerly a resident scholar at the Library of Congress, then a foreign visiting professor at Hokkaido University, Japan, he is currently Professor of History at the University of Memphis.
HOW TO GET THERE?
Main history conference:
Kenai Peninsula College, Kenai River Campus
156 College Rd, Soldotna AK 99669
Take the Sterling Highway to Kalifornsky Beach Road (just south of the Kenai River Bridge) and turn west.  Go 1.7 miles, then turn right onto Community College Drive.  Follow it 1.4 miles; the campus is on the right.  http://www.kpc.alaska.edu/about/maps-directions/kpc_maps/
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Exhibits will be in the Commons of the McLane Building.  Presentations, movies, and the panel discussion will be in the Ward Building, room 102.
Auxiliary events:
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Book Fair, to benefit ROSSIA, on Saturday, April 22, at KPC
Field trips on Sunday, April 23, details pending
see those links for updates
MAP
SPEAKERS
Registration
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SOLD OUT!
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Sorry!  you still can attend the free, public book fair on Saturday.  See the book fair link for details.
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Later this year a dvd with a video of the conference and a proceedings book will be available.

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RSVP

Contact us at KenaiPeninsulaHistory@gmail.com or (907) 460-7554.

150 Years:
kenai peninsula history
conference
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For the first time in a generation, friends and residents of the Kenai

Peninsula will come together to explore its unique history and cultural

diversity.  The 150th anniversary of the US purchase of Alaska from Russia

presents an opportunity to learn about the dramas of the past, their

legacies in the present, and their lessons for the future.

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The conference will focus on the 1800s, particularly the period around 1867,

when rule of Alaska transferred from the Russian American Company to the

United States military.  It will examine the ongoing interactions among the area’s Alutiiq/Chugach, Dena’ina, Russian, and U.S. cultures.  Specific topics, to be determined by participants’ interest, may include: resource use and stewardship (such as fur trapping, mining, and salmon fisheries), the role of the Russian Orthodox Church, the story of the garrison of Fort Kenay, and preservation of traditional knowledge (such as indigenous languages, Russian foods, and local foods and medicines).

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Scheduled for April 2017, the conference will include presentations about Alaska and local history, plus community activities for all ages.  The main conference presentations will be at Kenai Peninsula College in Soldotna on Friday and Saturday April 21-22.  Tie-in activities are being planned for other communities and schools around the peninsula.

 

The nonprofit conference relies on volunteers.  Presenters are welcome, but so are people of all ages and background who can donate time to make the conference realize its potential.  Tasks may include: telling civic groups about the conference, sharing history and culture with school children, hosting field trips, helping participants with transportation, set up, take down, filming events, and serving refreshments during breaks.  Please contact us at the email below if you would like to be on our mailing list and get involved.

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Stay tuned for updates.  This winter we will issue a call for speakers and for community activities linked to our themes of history and cultures.  At the beginning of 2017 we will firm up the agenda and set up registration.

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