Displaying conflict: the visitor's experience at the Kolmakovskii blockhouse

Abstract

"A blockhouse sits outside of the University of Alaska Museum of the North in Fairbanks, Alaska. Built in 1841 by the Russian-American Company, the structure has been removed from its original location in the Yukon-Kuskokwim River Delta, reconstructed, and presented to the public as a part of the museum's collection. However, little information is currently provided about the blockhouse or its history. While the current display lacks sufficient context, the Ethnology & History Department of the museum has received grant funds to improve the preservation and presentation of the Kolmakovskii Blockhouse. This thesis will provide a history of Russian advancement into the Yukon-Kuskokwim region, of Kolmakovskii Redoubt, and of the recent changes in museum theory and practice as they relate to the display of similar artifacts. While this structure is inherently valuable and worthy of preservation, its most noteworthy feature is its ability to evoke complex and conflicting responses to history as well as museum theory and practice. Suggestions will be made for improving the visitor's experience to the blockhouse, drawing on the structure's evocative nature"--Leaf iii.