“It’s about what we know and how it’s all connected.” Preserving the history in the Mat-Su

The Matanuska Susitna Borough (MSB) Historical Preservation Commission is holding a series of public outreach meetings as they begin to craft a new Historic Preservation Plan for the MSB. And for Gerrit Verbeek, a Planner with the MSB, and Project Lead for the MSB Historic Preservation Plan, the time to do just that is now.

“A lot of the settlement history, the American settlement began in the 1900’s and then the boom throughout World War II, and all of the people who were here in and around that time, we are losing them, and our link to that time,” said Verbeek, who led the first public outreach meeting on Thursday evening at the Wasilla Public Library.

“When we lose them, the keepers of the knowledge and memories, those stories from those times are gone,” Verbeek said.

The concept of a historic preservation plan is not new. It is actually written into the MSB code and was adopted in 1987, and has not been updated since then.

The MSB has changed over the 36 years, as the MSB has grown by leaps and bounds. To think of it another way, as Verbeek said, for every 1 person there was in 1987, there are now 3.

In June 2019, the MSB received a certified local government grant from the State Historic Preservation Office to begin the update. The purpose of the grant is to complete Phase I of the update: creation of an inventory of the Borough’s past historic preservation efforts; public outreach to gain important knowledge about the Borough’s history, and the development of community goals, priorities and a vision for preservation planning in the Borough, which will be crucial when the plan is drafted in Phase II of the update.

Phase I is an opportunity to learn from historic knowledge bearers and the greater community about the rich and diverse histories of the Borough. The robust public outreach process in this phase will allow us to develop a plan that will address the priorities of the community.

“If you want cultural preservation, and if you want the memories of how life in the Borough was in the past to be preserved, you have to work very hard to do that.”

The goal of the Historical Preservation Commission is to promote and maintain cultural heritage and historic integrity within the MSB and to cultivate economic benefits through historic preservation.

“It serves as a first stop to learn a region’s history. If you are trying to identify connections and things, and find a broad overview of the history of the MSB, everything about the Borough.”

Within that, the Historical Preservation Plan’s goal is to give that broad overview of everything about the Borough-culturally, socially, economically, agriculturally. Verbeek says other historical themes will include the military influence, Dene subsistence practices, archaeology, trade networks, transportation, and patterns of demography.

Verbeek points to a map of the MSB from 1951 in which anyone can see the names and connections from then to now, but also the blank spots from that time to now, in which things have dramatically changed.

“The goal is to be clear about what we know and how it’s all connected,” he says.

Verbeek says that the connection to the past is woven in the things that are known, but also in the things that remain unknown.

“What don’t we know? What do we suspect maybe exists out there that we need to focus more on mapping out and tracking down those resources?”

To do this, the Historic Preservation Commission is working to protect significant historic and prehistoric resources, material remains, writing and oral histories within the MSB, and some resources that have gone beyond the MSB, to Anchorage, Juneau, and even down to the lower 48 in the National Archives in Maryland.

“Half of the battle is figuring out what exists and where it exists, which is another goal of the Historical Preservation Plan.”

So, what is considered historic? The pipeline, for example, brought families up to Alaska during the 1970’s as it was being built, and subsequently, as some of those involved may have moved on, or out of state, would be historic.

“That is a really challenging term, because so many different communities use it interchangeably,” says Verbeek. “To professionals, historic strictly has to do with recorded things- what’s on paper, what’s on film? It’s not oral tradition. Academically, the start of history is when a culture picked up.”

In Alaska, history is an interesting concept because the indigenous tribes were nomadic and didn’t invent writing, instead passing knowledge and traditions through story.

“If you have to travel 200-mile circuits every year, carrying everything you have on your back, it makes more sense to develop a strong system of oral traditions.”

Verbeek recognizes that the use of history and its different meanings is something that needs to be addressed early and succinctly, and can be a source of conversation throughout this process.

“So, there is a difficult discussion to be had of academic definition of history not being completely compatible with indigenous oral traditions. When you talk about history, I think of history as the sum total of the past, and when others think of history, they think of the pipeline, or historical buildings, that’s 50 years. For the purposes of this plan, we’re going to use history as the sum total of the past, the whole of human settlement, including material culture, oral tradition, and archaeology.”

Verbeek says that the intent is to help guide policy.

“There has been a lot of frustration among people when they feel like they have to tell policy-makers over and over and over what they want, and the policy-makers don’t necessarily listen. So another goal here is to create a document which expresses what our plans and priorities are for the next 10 years, so we can hand it to our policy-makers and show the consensus, what brings people in from the public, institutions and organizations who hold assets, what the government has, what subject matter experts think is important.”

The timeline for this project spans the next 14 months, with the public outreach meetings taking place later this week, and from the feedback, drafting different sections of the Historical Preservation Plans. Later this year, there will be additional public outreach meetings to narrow down the goals and objectives that the community would like to see for the project.

As for the diverse tribes woven throughout the MSB, and their valued input and correct representation, currently, the Knik and Chickaloon tribes have representation on the Historical Preservation Commission, and Verbeek is looking forward to what those, and any other tribes, are willing to share.

“The different tribes-Knik, Dena’ina, and Chickaloon-have a big seat at the table. We are definitely asking them for their input on what they need to pursue not only their own cultural preservation goals, but also how this can serve them. We are striving to serve all of the communities,” said Verbeek.

Aside from reaching out to the public, Verbeek says that it is vital to reach out to institutions to figure out what their plans are for the next ten years, what resources they have available to share, and what kind of support they can offer.

The outlined end date is August, 2024, at which time the Historical Preservation Plan is expected to be ready for presentation to MSB Assembly.

The 3 remaining public open houses to discuss a new historic preservation plan will be held at the following locations:

June 27, at the Chickaloon Community Center, from 6:00 pm-8:00 pm.

June 28, at the Talkeetna Public Library, from 6:00 pm-8:00 pm.

June 29, at the MSB Assembly Chambers in Palmer, from 6:00 pm-8:00 pm.

“Our history is made up of stories, and we are hopeful that the community will embrace this, suggest stories to include, and help guide us to be really effective in meeting the objectives of this.”

For more information, visit www.matsugov.us/projects/historic-preservation-plan-update-2020