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Alaska Film Archives

About the Collection

Over the past half century, the University of Alaska Fairbanks has built the largest collection of archival films in and about Alaska. The collection combines hundreds of donations of film and videos to UAF by individuals, organizations and institutions. Materials range from professional productions to amateur home-movies, made in and about Alaska from the earliest days of filmmaking through today. Since 1993 these materials have been held by the Alaska Film Archives, a unit of Alaska and Polar Regions Collections & Archives in the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library. Films and videos selected for this portal project are a sampling of the thousands available for checkout on DVD through the Rasmuson Library. Unless otherwise noted, items are presented here in their entirety, unedited and uncut. Short, popular clips from the collection can be viewed on our YouTube channel. Read more about the Alaska Film Archives.

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Alaska Review 48
Alaska Review 48
Mark O. Badger and Edward Coll report on the sealing industry on St. Paul Island in the Pribilofs and on recent efforts by the federal government to phase out funding of the seal harvest. Life on the island under Russian and United States rule is examined, and island residents talk about having lived as wards of the federal government and about having been relocated to internment camps in Southeast Alaska during World War II. Managers explain the seal harvest process, and activists talk about their opposition to the harvest. The possible future of the people of St. Paul Island is touched upon. Those interviewed include: Larry Merculief, president of Tanadgusix Corporation; Gabe Stepetin, resident of St. Paul Island; Father Michael Lestenkof, priest on St. Paul Island; Joe Scordino of the National Marine Fisheries Service; Mike Zacharof, supervisor of the By-Products Plant on St. Paul Island; Leslie Dierhauf, veterinarian and voluntary observer of the seal harvest; Captain Paul Watson of Greenpeace; Pamela Wilson, director of the Seal Rescue Fund; and Dr. Charles Fowler of the National Marine Fisheries Service. The program contains views of a St. Paul celebration at the end of sealing season, historical photos and drawings of Aleut peoples, interior and exterior views of the Russian Orthodox Church on St. Paul Island, seal harvest activities and the treatment and packing of seal skins, and scenes from the Wartime Relocation Commission Hearings in Anchorage. The program also contains Public Service Announcements (PSAs) about litter and recycling in Alaska and recycling in general.