Alexandra J. “A.J.” McClanahan was CIRI’s historian for a decade, beginning in 1998. While at CIRI she wrote several books, including “A Reference in Time: Alaska Native History Day by Day” and “Alaska Scrapbook: Moments in Alaska History, 1816-1998.”
During a visit to Anchorage earlier this year, the Raven’s Circle sat down with A.J. to discuss how she got started, her time at CIRI, and her passion for Alaska Native culture and history.
You’re from Nebraska originally. How did you come to Alaska?
I was working at the Omaha World Herald as a legislative reporter. My focus was on water resources. Water is basically Nebraska’s oil, and the fight over resources in Nebraska and Alaska is very similar.
A reporter from the Anchorage Times sent an ad to all the press corps. He had been covering the legislature for Juneau and was looking for someone to replace him. I saw the ad and thought, that sounds interesting.
When I came to Alaska, they had filled the legislative-reporter position. The editor and I talked back and forth, and they ended up creating a position covering federal government agencies. This was in 1982, and the Alaska Board of Fisheries and Game was in the process of adopting regulations to create a rural subsistence priority. I started covering Fish and Game board meetings, and that’s what led to me focusing on Alaska Native issues for the Anchorage Times.
Where did your passion for Alaska Native people and culture and history come from?
When I covered the Fish and Game board meetings, I remember there were Yup’ik Elders testifying in their Native language with a translator. And I was just blown away, because where else in the world would you see this? They were very passionate about subsistence rights.
Covering the subsistence issue, I went out to Quinhagak and Tyonek and a few other Native villages. And for some reason they welcomed me, a non-Native, with open arms. It was such a gift.
How did you land the position as CIRI’s historian?
I was hired by (former CIRI President and CEO) Carl Marrs in 1998. I don’t even remember where I met Carl [laughs]; I’ve just always known him.
Before I worked at CIRI, I had written “Our Stories, Our Lives: Twenty-Three Elders of the Cook Inlet Region Talk About their Lives,” so I did have that background.
When Carl hired me, he said, “I really want materials on ANCSA (the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act).” I went to the office of Sen. Ted Stevens, and they didn’t have any materials on ANCSA. I was shocked. Later, I found out in speaking to (former Sealaska President and CEO) Byron Mallott that the Department of Law had everything related to ANCSA, and that Byron had copied it for Sealaska. We had at least three copies made for CIRI.
What was your process for digging into records and finding all this information?
The original idea for “A Reference in Time” was we wanted a key event in Native history—and, by extension, Alaska history— for every day of the year.
My husband (former Alaska Department of Natural Resources Commissioner) John Shively came to Alaska in 1965. He had worked for NANA, RurAL CAP and the Alaska Federation of Natives. He had a lot of materials himself.
With John’s materials, and the stuff from Byron, and because I’d been a reporter, I had a lot of materials of my own. When we started, we didn’t know if we could find events for every day of the year. But once we started sifting through information, there was so much. In fact, we had a hard time narrowing it down.
None of the books I worked on were assigned to me; there was no template. I do remember (former CIRI Chief Operating Officer) Mark Kroloff saying to me at one point, “You know, A.J., we didn’t really expect you to do quite this much.” But I loved it. The best I could ever hope for was to work for CIRI.
What have you seen that’s changed since your time with CIRI until now?
I think CIRI is putting much more focus on the younger generation. They didn’t invite Descendants to attend Annual Meetings unaccompanied until 2022, and now CIRI is really making an effort to involve young Shareholders and Descendants. It’s wonderful to see.
I’ve also seen CIRI embrace Dena’ina as the culture of the corporation and the region. When Cook Inlet Tribal Council (CITC) opened its new building in 2005, the original idea was to have all Alaska Native cultures featured. And Aaron (Leggett) and I were working together at that point. We were in a meeting with (CITC President and CEO) Gloria O’Neill, and I said, “Gloria, I really think it would be better to have a focus on Dena’ina, because this is Dena’ina country,” and she agreed 100%.
When did you leave Alaska?
It was 2008. I did not want to leave, but I had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and I was having problems. My daughter Natasha, just before her junior year of high school, she said, “We’re moving back to Nebraska.” And I’ll never forget, we drove the Alaska Highway, which we’d never done before, and on the way out of Anchorage, tears were streaming down her face. But we knew it was the right decision.
Do you miss being in Alaska? And maybe there were some things you were happy to leave behind?
I really miss it so much. I was so blessed. My daughter is adopted; she’s half Inupiaq. She came to us when she was six days old, and she’s 32 now. She loves Nebraska— she married someone from Nebraska—but I do remember when we first moved there, her saying to me, “Mom, I don’t know—is it Alaska or Nebraska?” And I said, “Well, Natasha, it’s both.”
John worked as a VISTA volunteer in the ‘60s in Yakutat. All these years he’s had a plot of land in Yakutat. He was actually adopted by the Tlingit people in Yakutat, so he has a Tlingit name and an Inupiaq name. He has strong ties to Yakutat, and that’s where we’re heading today. To me, that is Natasha’s piece of Alaska.
A list of A.J.’s books available for purchase can be found on The CIRI Foundation website.
