Esther Littlefield

Esther Kasakan Littlefield (April 29, 1906[1] – June 17, 1997), also called Aan-woogeex', was a Tlingit artist who made blankets and ceremonial regalia including button blankets. She was awarded the National Heritage Fellowship in 1991.

Esther Littlefield
Aan-woogeex'
An older Tlingit woman, wearing a headband and robe with embroidered motifs
Esther Littlefield, from a 1982 newspaper
Born
Esther Edith Kasakan

April 29, 1906
Killisnoo, Alaska
DiedJune 17, 1997 (91 years)
Sitka, Alaska
NationalityTlingit, American
Other namesAanwoogeex, Esther Simpson
OccupationArtist

Early life

Esther Edith Kasakan was born in Killisnoo near Sitka, the daughter of James Kasakan and Lena Marie Daniel.[2] She was a member of the Kiksadi, a Tlingit clan.[3][4]

Career

Littlefield made hats, blankets, and robes for Tlingit ceremonial uses; her works used traditional emblems to represent people and events, and they served as an aid for storytelling.[5][6] She worked at the Sitka National Historical Park,[7] teaching handicraft classes at the Southeast Alaska Indian Cultural Center, beginning in 1969.[8][9][10] She received an award from the National Park Service in 1983,[7] and the Alaska Governor's Award for the Arts in 1984. In 1984, she was one of the featured Alaskan artists at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C.[11][12] In 1986, Sheldon Jackson College presented her with their annual Christian Citizenship Award.[13]

In 1991, Littlefield was awarded the National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.[4][14] "Artists such as Esther Littlefield are our living national treasures," said John Frohnmayer of the NEA. "They are the keepers of seasoned and mature artistic traditions that speak to us across hundreds of years and thousands of miles."[11]

Personal life

Esther Kasakan married twice; her first husband was Louis Simpson Sr.; they had four children together, and he died before 1940. Her second husband was Charles Livingston Littlefield; they had five children together, and he died in 1989.[15] Beyond her own nine children, she helped to raise several nieces and nephews, including Leonard K. Shotridge.[16] Esther Littlefield died in 1997, aged 91 years, in Sitka.[2]

References
  1. Some sources, including her gravestone, give 1907 as her birth year; 1906 is the year given in the US Social Security Death Index.
  2. "Services Scheduled for Mrs. Esther Littlefield". Daily Sitka Sentinel. 1997-06-19. p. 3. Retrieved 2022-08-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. "Speaker Picked for Native Week". Daily Sitka Sentinel. 1982-03-24. p. 6. Retrieved 2022-08-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. "Esther Littlefield". National Endowment for the Arts. Retrieved 2022-08-01.
  5. Fair, Susan W. (2006). Alaska Native Art: Tradition, Innovation, Continuity. University of Alaska Press. p. 155. ISBN 978-1-889963-79-2.
  6. "Button Robe, by Esther Littlefield". Bob's Alaska Insider. Retrieved 2022-08-01.
  7. "Watt on Alaska: People Count, Too". Daily Sitka Sentinel. 1983-08-26. p. 1. Retrieved 2022-08-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. Jones, Suzi. "Grandmotherly Knowledge, Grandfatherly Knowledge: Alaska's Traditional Native Arts" (); 20-21.
  9. "Esther Littlefield Given SJC Citizenship Award". Daily Sitka Sentinel. 1986-05-19. p. 4. Retrieved 2022-08-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. "Sitka Business Women Contribute to Community". Daily Sitka Sentinel. 1980-10-27. p. 3. Retrieved 2022-08-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. "Sitka Artist to Receive Heritage Award". Daily Sitka Sentinel. 1991-06-14. p. 13. Retrieved 2022-08-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. "Sitkans Join Washington Festival". Daily Sitka Sentinel. 1984-06-26. p. 1. Retrieved 2022-08-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. "Esther Littlefield Given SJC Citizenship Award". Daily Sitka Sentinel. 1986-05-19. p. 4. Retrieved 2022-08-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. "B.B. King, 15 Others Win Folk Art Grants". The Washington Post. May 20, 1991. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2022-08-01.
  15. "Services Scheduled for Charles Littlefield, 83". Daily Sitka Sentinel. 1989-10-30. p. 3. Retrieved 2022-08-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. "Services Scheduled for Leonard K. Shotridge". Daily Sitka Sentinel. 1987-08-20. p. 3. Retrieved 2022-08-02 – via Newspapers.com.
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