Page 39 - Skagway Virtual Guide
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  MADE IN SKAGWAY
    SKAGWAY’S CRAFT INDUSTRY
The craft industry has always been an integral part of Skagway’s way-of-life, dating back many centuries to the era of its original settlers, the Tlingit (clingk-it). Detailed art was incorporated into almost all aspects of life for the Tlingit people, including house fronts, hats, blankets, totem poles and ceremonial objects. Locally-made goods such as cravings, canoes, eating utensils and other home goods were vital in trading with surrounding clans and eventually European settlers.
During the hustle and bustle of the Gold Rush stampede, European art and craft forms began to appear as a small number of craftspeople
SUPPORT LOCAL ARTISTS
Though Skagway’s population shrunk after the rush of the stampede and again after the closing of the railroad in 1982, the craft industry has only grown in response. Today, the art and crafts produced in Skagway are many and varied. They encompass a broad variety of mediums and traditions. The creators themselves come from as diverse a background as the goods they produce, including candle making, skin care products, culinary treats, wood carving, ivory carving, painting, drawing, photography, ceramics,
began to locally create and sell their work to the hundreds of stampeders who moved through or settled within Skagway. It was during this time that characters such as Herman (Jack) Kirmse became world renowned with his jewelry creations in gold, silver and Alaskan ivory, earning several awards at the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in 1909.
At the turn of the century, new craft trades grew, including furniture making and even the music publishing house of Latimer Musigraph where photographers, etchers, designers and engravers were employed as well as producing half-tone and line-cut works including maps.
jewelry, quilting, silk scarves, glass fusion, bead making and stained glass.
In 2015, the Skagway Development Corporation launched the Made in Skagway Program. The goal of the Made in Skagway program is to promote and support Skagway’s unique craft industry and our residents who create within it. So, as you walk the streets of Skagway and visit shops, look for the Made in Skagway logo to know you are buying something locally made and authentic.
 For more information about the program visit
www.madeinskagway.org
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