Education Resources at the City Museum

Resources to Borrow

The following education kits and resources are free to borrow for educational use and may be picked up at any CBJ Library or the City Museum. To reserve an education kit or other resource, please complete a Checkout Form.

(DVD) Gold Town The Story of Juneau (1995)

This 28-minute docudrama depicts the people and incidents that led to the discovery of gold and the subsequent development of Juneau and Douglas. Created by Lisle Hebert in 1995, the film is based upon the books, The Founding of Juneau and Old Gold by Robert DeArmond, and Hard Rock Gold by David and Brenda Stone.

(DVD) Juneau Capital Stories (2008)

These digital stories were created by 6th grade students at Dzantik’i Heeni Middle School and 7th grade students at Floyd Dryden Middle School with direction from JDCM staff during the 2007-2008 school year. Stories fall into four main categories:

  • Alaska’s Capital – Sitka to Juneau, Early History (Russian Alaska), To Move the Capital: Pro and Con, Juneau’s Gold Mining History, Alaska’s Government
  • The Quest for Statehood – Process of Becoming a State, Parts 1&2; Bartlett and Gruening: Alaska’s Dynamic Duo; Judge James Wickersham; An In-Depth Look at Alaska’s Model Constitution; How Statehood Affected the Native Community; Looking Back at 50 Years of Statehood
  • Elizabeth Peratrovich and Civil Rights in Alaska – Civil Rights in Alaska: Roy and Elizabeth Peratrovich, Parts 1&2; ANB & ANS
  • Cultures of Juneau – The Haida, The Tlingit, Anglo-Europeans, Filipinos in Alaska, Polynesians in Alaska

(DVD) Juneau City Built on Gold (2006)

The Juneau-Douglas City Museum celebrates local history with this DVD, created in 2006 by museum staff, volunteers, and community members. This 26-minute documentary highlights local history, culture, and heritage. It begins with an introduction to Tlingit life in the Juneau area, follows the city’s history through the gold rush days and the fight for statehood. This is the same video that the Museum shows in our Video Room and would make a great introduction to the Museum before a visit.

(DVD) The Empty Chair (2015)

(Abridged Education Version) This DVD includes two 25 minute segments on the forced removal and resettlement of Juneau's Japanese Community, 1941-1951.

(KIT) Local Disasters & Preparedness

KIT DESCRIPTION: Grades 6-12 Includes detailed lesson plans. Students identify common man-made and natural disasters, compare and contrast artifacts and archives and a museum’s role in maintaining artifacts & archives, identify local disasters and evaluate how to prepare for a disaster, choose items that should be included in an emergency response kit, and evaluate difficult real-life scenarios that are targeted to their age group and refer to known localities in Juneau. The following items are included in the kit:

  • Lesson Guide
  • 12 Double-Sided Venn Diagram Mats
  • 17 Student Worksheet Originals for Copying
  • 13 Decks of Juneau Disasters and Preparedness Cards

(KIT) Montana Creek Fish Trap

KIT DESCRIPTION: Grades 3-5. Includes detailed lesson plans. Students try a funnel trap, describe what a trap is, what its purpose is, and what makes it effective. Students  observe the Kaxdegoowu Héen Sháali (Montana Creek Fish Trap), learn about traditional Tlingit fishing and the making of the replica trap housed at the City Museum. Students design a trap using everyday materials and present their findings. The following items are included in the kit:

  • Lesson Guide
  • Model Trap (made from a plastic water bottle) and 2 marbles
  • See, Think, Wonder Chart
  • English Vocabulary Chart & Definitions
  • Tlingit Vocabulary Chart & Definitions
  • The Replica Poster
  • Traditional Tlingit Fishing Poster
  • Kaxdegoohu Héen Sháali Poster
  • Kaxdegoohu Héen Sháali Location Poster
  • Build a Trap Challenge Poster
  • The Prince and the Salmon People, by Claire Rudolf Murphy

(KIT) Observing & Learning from Artifacts

KIT DESCRIPTION: Grades K-4. Includes detailed lesson plans. This kit is designed to take the learner from the basics of understanding what an artifact is, to using artifacts to help tell stories of the past, in particular, the past as it relates to the communities and people of Juneau and Douglas Alaska. Learners will visit the City Museum to observe artifacts in the Museum setting. The following items are included in the kit:

  • Lesson Guide
  • 1 Sam & Dave Dig a Hole, by Mac Barnett
  • 1 P’ésk’a and the First Salmon Ceremony, by Scot Ritchie
  • 1 Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge, by Mem Fox
  • 1 Aunt Flossie’s Hats (and Crab Cakes Later), by Elizabeth Fitzgerald Howard
  • 1 Dinner at Aunt Connie’s House, by Faith Ringgold
  • 1 The Auction, by Jan Andrews
  • 1 The Wooden Doll, by Susan Bonners
  • 1 Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story of the Underground Railroad, by Ellen Levine
  • 16 Artifacts
  • 21 Spoons (varying sizes and types)
  • 12 Historic Photographs of Juneau-Douglas
  • 6 Artifact/Non-Artifact Photographs
  • 1 Historic Bedroom Photograph
  • 1 Modern Bedroom Photograph
  • 16 Artifact Description Cards
  • 12 Historic Photograph Description Cards with Answer Key

(KIT) Totem Pole: Oral Narrative in Art Form

KIT DESCRIPTION: Grades 1-3  Students are introduced to the creation of totem poles and the significance behind the art. They will hear an oral narrative and link it to a totem pole that re-tells the story through art. They will create their own totem pole that tells a story. This kit includes teacher resources and hands-on materials for students.

  • Lesson Guide with writing activities
  • Formline Design Elements (Mini Posters)
  • Oral Narratives: Gonokadeit and Dukt’ootl’
  • Adze, made by Herb Sheakley
  • Small Totem Pole, carved by Herb Sheakley
  • Laminated Paper Model of the Gonokadeit Pole in Wrangell

(KIT) Wood & Waterways: A Look at Tlingit Canoes

KIT DESCRIPTION: Grades 3-5. Includes detailed lesson plans. Students observe a model Tlingit canoe, learn about Tlingit navigation of waterways and use of local materials, Tlingit paddling phrases, and the steps of canoe construction.Students describe what a boat is (specifically a canoe), what its purpose is, and what makes it effective. Students design a boat using everyday materials and present their findings. The following items are included in the kit:

  • Lesson Guide
  • 3 Copies Little Whale, by Roy A. Peratrovich, Jr.
  • 1 Model Tlingit Canoe
  • 5 Model Paddles
  • 3 Historical Canoe Photographs
  • 1 Thumb Drive (Wood & Waterways PowerPoint Presentation)
  • 30 Student Sets of How to Make a Canoe pieces (12 pcs per set)
  • 1 Teacher Set of How to Make a Canoe pieces (12 pc Magnetic)
  • 1 Tlingit Aani Map
  • Aluminum Foil

(MATERIALS) Fishing History Bag

Bag includes books and materials:

  • Life-sized fish fact panels of five species of Pacific salmon, halibut, herring, and eulachon
  • Montana Creek Fish Trap Facts & History brochure
  • Montana Creek Fish Trap Education Binder
  • Montana Creek Fish Trap Exhibit Panels
  • Section of Fish Trap Replica and Spruce Root
  • The Tlingit Way: How to Treat Salmon by Patricia H. Partnow
  • A Day in the Life of a Commercial Fisherman by John F. Klein
  • What’s it Like to be a…Fisherman by Janet Craig
  • Model of Montana Creek Fish Trap booklet
  • Fish Traps of Alaska  handout
  • Fish Traps Around the World  handout
  • What was Happening in the World when the Montana Creek Fish Trap was Built?  handout
  • Montana Creek Fish Trap Matching Game from the AK State Museum
  • Map of Mendenhall Valley c. 1750 by Richard Carstensen
  • Digitally Created Photo of Mendenhall Valley c. 1867 by Richard Carstensen

(MATERIALS) Geology History Bag

Bag includes books and rock samples.

  • Minerals, Metals, and Rocks (large spiral-bound book)
  • The Juneau Gold Belt and Juneau Mining History (large spiral-bound book)
  • Traditional Tlingit Uses of Stone (Té) (large spiral-bound book)
  • Box with 8 different rock samples found in the Juneau area
  • Let's Go Rock Collecting by Roma Gans, illustrated by Holly Keller
  • Jump into Science: Rocks & Minerals by Steve Tomecek, illustrated by Kyle Poling (National Geographic Kids)
  • A Rock is Lively by Dianna Hutts Aston and Sylvia Long

(MATERIALS) Juneau Empire 75th Edition

This three-part edition was published in 1987 in celebration of the Empire's 75th anniversary. Each part contains articles on various facets of Juneau history, as well as reproductions of historic articles.

  • Part One, October 1987
  • Part Two, November 1987
  • Part Three, November 1987

(MATERIALS) Maps, Guides, & Books

After you complete the Checkout Form, Museum staff will contact you to specify which of the following items you want to borrow.

  • 1914 Map of Downtown Juneau
  • Gold Creek Flume Stories
  • Historic Downtown Juneau Walking Tour Guide
  • Perseverance Trail Guide
  • Treadwell Mine Historic Trail: Walking Trail Map & Historic Guide
  • The Centennial Gazetteer: A Guide to Juneau, Alaska Place Names
  • Children of the Gold Rush (Murphy & Haigh)
  • Gold Rush Women (Murphy & Haigh)
  • Growing up in Juneau: The Last Hundred Years (Scandling)
  • I Remember Treadwell (Mahaffy)
  • Kahtahah (Paul)
  • Looking Back on Juneau: The First Hundred Years (Davis)
  • Names on the Chart and How They Got There (DeArmond)
  • Old Gold: Historical Vignettes of Juneau, Alaska (DeArmond)
  • Raven House Mouse (Steinbright)
  • Sushi and Sourdough (Kanazawa)
  • Wild Edible Plants (Biggs)

Resources to Download

The following materials are free to download for personal or educational use. For more information, please call the City Museum at 907-586-3572.

Explore, Learn, and Create

The following activities provide children and adults with fun place-based activities you can do from home.

Outdoor I Spy Activity

The Outdoor I Spy activity takes users on a 20 to 30 minute walk in the downtown Juneau historic district, searching for the sites of 6 visual clues. At each discovery, there is information to share about the building’s or monument’s history and significance. The brochure is best printed double-sided and folded together into a booklet. The visual clues found on the last page of the download can be printed and cut apart into cards to show to or hand out to the I-Spy players.

Totem Poles & Public Art

There are many Tlingit totem poles in Juneau.  Here are a few resources to learn about the Tlingit poles located at the City Museum.

Fish Trap Binder Front PageFish Trap Education Binder

Resource materials to teach about the Montana Creek fish trap, located at the City Museum, as well as fish traps in general. These files are larger PDFs and may take a while to load.

Wooden Canoe on DisplayWood & Waterways: A Look at Tlingit Canoes

A manual for teachers about the creation, history, and use of canoes by the Tlingit and Haida people of Southeast Alaska and the Yakutat area. Educators may also borrow a physical copy of the manual from the Museum. These files are larger PDFs and may take a while to load.

Book Cover - Alaska Native Brotherhood: a Centennial CelebrationThe Alaska Native Brotherhood: A Centennial Celebration (2012 Exhibit)

See the link below for PDF copies of the 2012 exhibit panels which cover the 100-year history of the Alaska Native Brotherhood and also provide some history for the Alaska Native Sisterhood. Several of the exhibit panels are available for educators to borrow, and the Museum also has some panels on display that classes can view on a Museum visit.