|
a.
|
Note: neth Lea.
He served for many years as a military chaplain with the Alaska Army National Guard reaching the rank of Colonel.
In a personal letter to Kenneth Lea, Dec 2007, Walter indicated that his grandmother, Mrs. Hunter, was the sister of Mrs. Emma Scott whose son Harry was therefore Walter's uncle. Walter gave his uncle's name, Xein, to Kenneth Lea.
This individual was was a resident of Sitka, AK in 1930 at the time of the US Census.
At the time of the 1939 US Census he was at Sitka, Ak. He was a single man working for the Booth Fish Co. He was noted as a partner in the firm with a man named Max Roscoe (an eskimo).
He was 1/2 Alaska native according to the 1944 BIA village census at Juneau, AK.
His photograph appears in the Juneau Empire, 23 May 1965.
He was director of native studies at the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1971. Juneau Empire, 28 Jan 1986
He was featured in an article in the Juneau Empire, 20 Nov 1998. The article included his photograph. It provided his date and place of birth.
He served the people of Alaska through his work in the ministry, as an educator, civic leader, speaker and proponent of the preservation of Alaska Native Culture.
He is Tlingit.
His parents were identified by the death certificate of his father Alexander Soboleff. First Judicial District, Sitka, AK dated 15 Sep 1920
He was a resident of Killisnoo, Terr. of Alaska in 1920.
His marriage to Genevieve Ross on 1 Jun 1938 at Sitka, AK was obtained from their marriage certificate. First Judicial District, Sitka, AK dated 1 Jun 1938.
He was then a Sitka resident.
He was to be ordained in late May according to an article in the Sitka Sentinel, 19 Mar 1940. He was then a student at Debuque University Theological Institute.
He was living in Juneau, AK in 2004.
The date and place of his marriage to Stella Buxton was obtained from the Ketchikan Daily News, 7 Jun 1997 The article included their photograph.
He was Raven moiety, L'eineidi clan (dog salmon0, Aanx'aak.hittaan (People of the Center of the Village House). His common Tlingit name was T"aawchan; his ceremonial name was KaaJaakwti. Haa Kusteei: Our Culture Edited by Nora Marks Dauenhauer and Richard Dauenhauer, 1994.
Whalesong Reporter - Vol. 19, Issue 9 - March 27, 1998 Walter Soboleff was born in Killisnoo, Alaska in 1908. His grandfather was a Russian Orthodox priest serving in Southeast Alaska. His mother, Anna Hunter, was a Tlingit born in Sitka. His father, Alexander (Sasha) Soboleff, who died when Walter was 12 years old, was the mechanic or engineer of the family. His uncle, Vincent Soboleff, was an accomplished photographer who left hundreds of photos of Tlingit cultural events, Russian Orthodox church events, and the fishing industry. Walter Soboleff grew up in a rich multicultural atmosphere. He remembers hearing his grandmother speaking German to him, Russian hymns from his time at the mission school in Sitka, and most of all, the Tlingit language and oral tradition of his mother. His memories of childhood reveal a close-knit and serene picture of loving adults watching over happy, playful children. He remembers how physically close the homes were, the constant interaction of children and adults, the feeling of security and mutual respect. The good memories extended to his school years. "I had a very happy school experience. My teachers were very good. The U.S. Government School at Killisnoo was a genuine red schoolhouse with a bell, and we each had a little slate to write on." In the fifth grade, he began to board at the Sheldon Jackson School in Sitka, and continued there through high school. He doesn't recall being prohibited from speaking Tlingit, although the Sheldon Jackson School expressly forbid the use of Native languages. Possibly, since Soboleff was already bilingual, he didn't suffer the trauma that many Native people did in school. English was just the language of school. After working at Cold Storage in Sitka and fishing for five years, he enrolled at Dubuque University in Iowa. He said that it was not his first choice, that he really wanted to become a medical doctor, but that's where the scholarship money was. He received his B.A. in education from there in 1937, and his Divinity degree in 1940, and began to serve as minister of the Memorial Presbyterian Church in Juneau. The church, which later merged with the Northern Light United Church, was just two years old when Dr. Soboleff became pastor. The church grew from one Sunday school classrooom to nine classrooms and a large chapel. Under his leadership, the church, originally built to serve the Tlingit people, extended such a warm welcome to people of all races, that it came to serve Haidas, Tsimshians, Caucasians, Blacks, and Filipinos, as well as Tlingits. Dr. Soboleff's return to Juneau in 1940 coincided with a revival of interest in their heritage among Native people. "In 1940, an interest in Tlingit culture started to awaken. People wanted to raise money to build an ANB hall. We had a performance of some of our traditional dances and songs. We rented the Gross-Alaska Theater and I was the emcee. People came from Angoon, Hoonah, and Haines to help. I think that's when people started to appreciate their culture again," he said. Soboleff served seven terms as president of the ANB, and for years was chairman of its scholarship committee. He also was appointed to the state Board of Education and served as its chairman. For several years he did radio broadcasts of the news in Tlingit, and also broadcast his church service over the radio. From about 1962 to 1970, Dr. Soboleff began to serve as minister-at-large on the Princeton Hall and other mission boats which served villages that had no resident pastor. In 1970, he retired from the ministry to start and direct an Alaska Native Studies Department at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He taught Tlingit history, language, and literature until his retirement in 1974. Dr. Soboleff spoke of this part of his life as a very exciting time. "There were 500 Native students, from Barrow to Metlakatla, hungry to know their language and the history of their villages. I was given a generous budget to bring people from villages all over the state to Fairbanks as resource people. The students were so eager, they never missed a class." Dr. Soboleff said he felt fortunate to have lived in such a time of transition for Native people. He is very aware of living in a time that will never be experienced again. "Culture is always changing. People are always in transition. Some manage it gracefully, and some struggle. Right now, everyone wants to claim a subsistence lifestyle. One of the first things you change, when a culture changes, is the language. The last thing to go is the food." The remarkable thing about Dr. Soboleff is that even though he spent years and years of his life in Western schooling, he speaks as if he spent his life outdoors. He once surprised someone in Nome, saying it must be herring season there because the gulls were making a peculiar sound. Sure enough, when they came in sight of the shore, it was "like milk" - full of gulls feeding on herring. "I used to hear them every day when I walked along the shore in Sitka," he said, but his years in Sitka were school years. He must have learned these things as a young child, and never lost them. "We Natives were the first Audubon Society members," he said with a twinkle in his eye, "we were the first conservationists." Education is a subject close to Dr. Soboleff's heart. "We need to rethink the native cycle of education in Alaska. Children need practical knowledge - how to hunt, how to put up fish - they need to know how to adapt to village life when they come back. When they experience what their parents had to go through, they gain a new respect." A look of deep sadness crossed his face as he said that the recent school board allocation of a small amount of money for Tlingit language instruction in Juneau schools was just "a beginning." The loss of their Native language has had the most devastating impact on Alaska Natives of all the changes they have lived through. Dr. Soboleff has said, "In the Native culture, your older people are the Native libraries." Walter Soboleff is a library himself. He has been both a participant and an observer of a changing culture. He has lived in two worlds, and continues to help each one understand the other.
Enjoy this wonderful piece on Dr. Soboleff!
Rosita
Rosita Worl Ph.D. Vice Chair - Sealaska Corporation
President - Sealaska Heritage Institute
One Sealaska Plaza Suite 301
Juneau, AK 99801
1908 was the year that the 88 million Americans living at the time heard about a "ball" dropping in New York's Time Square to celebrate the coming of a New Year; it was the first year that Americans would honor their mothers (Mother's Day). Teddy Roosevelt was President, a postage stamp cost 2 cents, and Henry Ford was developing the Model T which would sell for $850.00.
In sports, the 4th modern Olympic games would open in London, the Chicago Cubs would defeat Detroit to win the World Series and Jack Johnson would become the first black heavyweight champion of the world.
Around the world an earthquake would claim 70,000 to 100,000 victims in southern Italy, while in China 3 year old Pu Yi would become its last Emperor. In Siberia, a mysterious explosion would level hundreds of square miles of forest while on the seas, Fredrick A Cook falsely claimed to have reached the North Pole while Robert Peary sailed out of New York to try to accomplish the same.
Born that year were a number of "notables:" Amy Vanderbilt, Bette Davis, Edward R. Murrow, Edward Teller, Jimmy Stewart, John Kenneth Galbraith, Lyndon Baines Johnson, Thurgood Marshall, William Randolph Hearst, Jr., and in Alaska, a Tlingit boy, KAJAKTI, the subject of this letter.
At the time of KAJAKTI's birth, Alaska had a population of about 63,000, 25,000 of whom were non Native. It was a "frontier" to the wild-eyed gold rushers and fishermen who had "stampeded" North to get rich on gold and fish. It had no central government, no legislature, and no "law and order" but for the US Marshall. It had an appointed governor, Walter Clarke - and for the first time that year - a popularly elected delegate to Congress, James Wickersham.
KAJAKTI, "One Slain in Battle," was born on November 14, 1908 to Alexander Ivan Soboleff, the son of a Russian Orthodox priest, and his wife, Anna Hunter of Killisnoo, Alaska. Kha'jaq'tii was born into a world where his mother's Tlingit culture was being forever changed by his father's European one. He was named after an Angoon Clan leader to whom he was related.
As a 7 year old, KAJAKTI was taken to an Iicht (shaman) by his mother and was treated for reasons he never understood. He also experienced being sent to the "Russian school" in Sitka as an 8 year old, only to be sent home again because of its closure due to the overthrow of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, its benefactor (1917). A year later, the 10 year old served as an interpreter for a doctor who visited Killisnoo during the 1918 flu epidemic which had brought many Alaska Native tribes to the edge of extinction.
In 1922, his father died at the age of 35 and his mother had to take the 13 year old boy to Sheldon Jackson at Sitka where he would live and receive an education. He received his 8th grade diploma in 1924 and completed high school in 1928, a great accomplishment for an Alaska Native of any tribe at the time. But that was not enough for KAJAKTI - he was so determined to go on to college that he enrolled at Oregon State College knowing full well that he only had enough money for just one semester. When his money ran out he lived at the YMCA in Seattle till he was able to work his passage back to Sitka on a steam ship.
In Sitka he would "eke out a living" working at a cold storage plant and as a fisherman's helper. And having taught himself how to play the trumpet and violin, he played on the Sitka Fireman's Band at night - this in
addition to selling suits on the side. Then in 1933, he got
called by the administrator of Sheldon Jackson where he got great news. He had received a scholarship to the University of Dubuque in Iowa. That fall, KAJAKTI took a steamer to Seattle and hitchhiked from Seattle to Dubuque, much of the trip being made laying on the front bumper of a truck already covered, as if by fleas, by depression era hitchhikers. He would receive his AB in 1937, having studied Greek and Hebrew, and his Bachelor of Divinity in May of 1940. Then, having achieved his goal, he again hitchhiked his way back to Seattle - this time underneath a freight train carrying heavy equipment, literally laying flat atop bolts.
Then, having been ordained, KAJAKTI married his high school sweetheart, Genevieve Ross, a Haida, and arrived in segregated Juneau in the fall of 1940 to become Missions Minister of the Memorial Presbyterian Church there. The rest, as they say, is "history." KAJAKTI,"One Slain in Battle," had chosen the shepherding of God's people as his field of "battle", and to our benefit and delight he is still in the field.
KAJAKTI, Dr. Walter Alexander Soboleff will be 100 on November 14, 2008. I told these brief snippets of his 'youth' because they illustrate what all young people can achieve if they put their mind to it; even a young Tlingit boy with no father to support him during a time when all Americans were undergoing a "great depression."
Walter has many accomplishments, too many to list here. But needless to say, he was an exemplary son, grandson, brother, friend, husband, father, grandfather, pastor, Missionary (with his mission boat, the Princeton Hall), educator (architect and first director of the "Native Studies" program at the University of Alaska, 1971)), corporate leader (Sealaska, Kootznoowoo, Sealaska Heritage Foundation), advisor and friend to governors, and now, elder to a whole generation of Alaska Natives - a direct link to a world that no longer exists.
Dr. Soboleff is a humble man, a leader, who in his lifetime has overcome all those things that keep Alaska Natives, indeed all people, from reaching their potential as Human Beings: poverty, bigotry, ignorance, shame, guilt, and fear.
KAJAKTI, Dr. Walter Alexander Soboleff, a Tlingit warrior, is a witness to history, a living treasure - a man to model our sons and grandsons after. Walter has 4 children: Janet C. Burke, Sasha, Walter Jr., and Ross Vincent Soboleff. He also remarried in 1997, 11 years after his beloved Genevieve's passing, to another wonderful lady, Stella Alice Atkinson, a Tshimshian from Metlakatla. Walter is still very active and lives in Juneau.
Home <http://www.pcusa.org> > News Service <../index.htm> > Alaskan Abraham
08852 November 14, 2008 Alaskan Abraham Walter Soboleff, first Alaska Native Presbyterian minister, turns 100 by Jerry L. Van Marter <http://www.pcusa.org/form2mail/form2mail.jsp?f2name=Jerry+VanMarter&subject=News+Service+Web+site> Presbyterian News Service SITKA, AK â Walter Soboleff feels a particular kinship with Old Testament patriarch Abraham. âGo from your country and your kindred and your fatherâs house to the land that I will show youâ â that famous summons from God into an unknown future recorded in Genesis 12 â resonates deeply in Soboleffâs life and spirit. The Rev. Walter Soboleff, first Alaska Native ordained to the Presbyterian ministry. Soboleff turns 100 today (Nov. 14). Today (Nov. 14), Walter Soboleff turns 100. His journey of faith from the now-extinct Alaskan village named Killisnoo where he was born in 1908 to this day, when he is one of the most revered leaders in Alaska, is the stuff of sprawling saga that only James Michener could write. In fact, you could probably catch glimpses of Walter Soboleff in Michenerâs acclaimed novel, Alaska. During his remarkable life, Walter Soboleff became the first Alaska Native ordained to the ministry in the Presbyterian Church, the first preacher in Alaska to have his sermons broadcast live on radio, the co-founder of the first Alaska Native organization to work for the preservation of native language and culture. He is, today, after nearly 70 years of ministry, arguably the spiritual leader of Alaskaâs Native community. Soboleffâs grandfather, John, migrated to Alaska when it was still owned by Russia. John, a Russian Orthodox priest, baptized Walter in the little Russian church in Killisnoo on the southeast Alaskan mainland. The town was inexplicably abandoned in 1928. Walterâs father, Alexander Ivan Soboleff, married a Tlingit woman, Anna Hunter. When Alexander died at a young age and widowed Anna was unable to care for the family, she sent Walter to a Russian Orthodox boarding school in Sitka. This city had been the provincial capital of Alaska before the U.S. purchased it from the Russians in the mid-nineteenth century. The schoolâs financial support from the motherland dried up shortly after the Russian revolution in 1917. So Walter moved up the street to Sheldon Jackson School (now college) where he lived and studied from 5th grade through his high school graduation in 1928. He became a Presbyterian in 1921. âThere was no dissatisfaction,â Walter says. âI had been a [Russian Orthodox] altar boy and it was fun. Becoming Presbyterian was just one of those things.â Walter Soboleff enjoys the 100th birthday party thrown for him by Alaska Presbytery on Oct. 18 in Sitka, Alaska. The seeds of his call to ministry were planted by Jackson L. Webster, who taught theology at Sheldon Jackson School. âThere were only two of us in the class,â Walter recalls. âMr. Webster saw the possibility of me becoming a clergyman. I told him Iâd think it over. Three months later I told him Iâd give it a try.â Walter was offered a âfull rideâ to the Presbyterian Churchâs University of Dubuque. âThis was during the Depression and very few in Alaska, especially Natives, were in college at that time.â During his college years, Soboleff could seldom afford trips back home to Alaska. âIt got a little easier when I was in seminary (also at Dubuque) because seminary students could travel on the Northern Pacific railroad for a penny a mile.â During his second year of college Walter managed to save enough money from odd jobs to buy a ticket on a freighter from Seattle to Sitka. âSo I hitchhiked from Dubuque to Seattle ⦠now THAT was an adventure.â Though thousands of miles away from his beloved Alaska, Walter says he experienced very little homesickness. âThe campus had a strong Christian atmosphere and that was helpful,â he recalls. âAnd I made it my business to go to church every Sunday.â He describes his first two years of college as âa new world with new ideas opening up.â He confesses that he went through periods of doubt â both about his Christianity and about being so far from home. âBut simple faith is so powerful,â he says. Upon graduating from seminary in 1940, Soboleff, who had already established a reputation in the Midwest as a spell-binding preacher, turned down a number of pulpit offers in the lower 48 and returned home as pastor of Memorial Presbyterian Church in Juneau, a new church sponsored by the Board of National Missions. âMemorial Church was a mission to the Tlingits, because racial bias was so great that non-Natives wouldnât welcome Natives in their churches,â Walter says. Memorial Church had struggled for a number of years â had been without a pastor for two years before Soboleff came â âso the elders agreed to open the church to anyone who wanted to come, and all kinds of people started to attend!â Walter says. âNo one could imagine an integrated church in Alaska!â In 1947 a local radio station began broadcasting Memorial Churchâs worship services â another first in Alaska â and soon Soboleff developed a devoted following that reached far beyond the walls of his tiny sanctuary. After overcoming segregation in his congregation, Soboleff trained his sights on the bigger problem, helping to found the Alaska Native Brotherhood, which eventually prodded the Alaska legislature to pass statewide anti-discrimination laws. Over the next 30 years, Soboleff worked tirelessly to expand the anti-Native discrimination gains into programs throughout the state to honor and preserve Native Alaska language, art and culture. In 1970 he moved to Fairbanks, where he started the first Alaska Native Studies Department in the state at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. âIt was a far cry from 1904, when the Federal government banned Native identity programs,â Walter says. âAfter that the Tlingit culture went underground, because Natives didnât want to lose their identity.â Interest in preserving Native culture continues to grow, Walter says. âThe high schools and colleges are teaching language and art â there is great appreciation for Native culture and people.â Soboleff was crushed when, in 1962, Alaska Presbytery and the Board of National Missions decided to close Memorial Presbyterian Church. âI never knew why,â he says wistfully. âIt was a flourishing little church. The members fought it, but it was a losing battle.â Further adventures were awaiting. For the next eight years, Soboleff plied the frigid waters of Alaskaâs intra-coastal waterways as a âtraveling evangelistâ on two small ships. These âfloating sanctuariesâ â the Princeton Hall and then the Anna Jackman â were owned by the Presbyterian Church. The floating ministry regularly visited between eight and 10 remote village churches, bringing a teaching, preaching and sacramental ministry to the furthest reaches of Alaska. The ships also visited marine stations and logging camps and during the summers conducted vacation Bible schools in villages that were only accessible by sea. âThe workers in the camps appreciated our efforts to minister with them,â Walter says, âand, oh, those young people, how they loved to see us coming to teach them the Bible!â Student body officers of Sheldon Jackson School in 1928 â Walter Soboleff is top row, second from left. Photos by Jerry van Marter Improved educational opportunities are the most significant development Soboleff has seen in his beloved Alaska during his lifetime. âOur young people are so much better educated than when I was one of few Natives in college,â he says. âWe have Native doctors, lawyers, educators, political leaders â it has made our people so much stronger.â Such growth is not without its challenges for the church, however. âThe government and the Native corporations have drained a lot of our leadership into the corporate world, which is good, I guess, but we have problems of leadership in the spiritual world,â Walter says. âOn the other hand, we have Native leaders who are active in our churches, and thatâs good.â After 100 years Soboleff has few regrets. The only one heâs willing to mention is âthat I havenât won more people to Jesus. It makes my Easter when I can lead someone to Jesus during Lent,â he says. âIf each person would challenge himself or herself to lead just one person to Jesus each year, the church would double!â Soboleff says. âBut too many people think itâs the preacherâs job when we all KNOW itâs each Christianâs job.â Soboleff is still very active. He travels regularly between his home in Juneau and Sitka, where his wife lives in a nursing home. He preaches regularly and is a fixture on radio and television, interviewed constantly on radio and television and quoted in the newspapers, fiercely defending Native Alaskans rights and culture and gently calling people to forswear the material for the sake of the spiritual. For 100 years that faith has propelled Walter Soboleff. âItâs Jesus that makes these things happen,â he says. âAnd whatever Jesus has made me do makes me feel so good.â
The following was obtained from the Juneau Empire, 13 Nov 2009.
By Klas Stolpe | JUNEAU EMPIRE
Walter Soboleff has done a lot in his 100-plus years on Earth, but his family's gift of a cruise through the Panama Canal is something new.
"I've never been on a vacation cruise," Soboleff said last week before leaving town for the trip. "Never out on the ocean in warm weather. I think I will just be taking a rest, seeing the canal and the gates open and the ships passing through. I know I will be leaving my wool shirt at home."
As a child, Soboleff never knew what a birthday party was, and through high school and college he never paid any attention to his birthday. He turns 101 on Saturday.
"My parents would say, 'This is your birthday Walter,' and that is all," he said.
Soboleff's mother, Anna Hunter, was a Tlingit orphaned in Sitka who traveled to Killisnoo, which is located 2 miles southeast of Angoon, by canoe with her brother to stay with an aunt. His father, Alexander Soboleff, the son of Russian Orthodox reverend Ivan Soboleff, lived in Killisnoo with his parents and three brothers. Walter was born in Killisnoo in 1908 and grew up in Tenakee just 10 steps from the U.S. Government School.
"I loved every class there," Soboleff recalled. "I loved the red school, its smell in the rain, the sound of the bell and writing on my slate in English and Tlingit ... and I remember the biggest lesson I ever learned in the chapel there, 'Take care of the old person you are going to become.'"
At 5 years old, he began boarding at Sitka's Sheldon Jackson School. At 10, he interpreted for a visiting doctor during the 1918 flu epidemic. He had a thirst for knowledge and civic duty.
"I really admired the Gettysburg Address and would recite it in Tlingit," he commented on a favorite lesson. "Abraham Lincoln was one of my heroes. It's a great speech, a gem, he just put the words together so wonderful."
Other early role models Soboleff cites are his father, who died when Walter was 12, and mother; Booker T. Washington; and Rudyard Kipling. Another influence was the the Tlingit Rev. George Benson, who made a written Bible translation of which only the gospel of John is known to exist today, Soboleff said.
"He could open the Bible and make a free translation of English into the Tlingit language," Soboleff said. "And he could do it so beautifully."
In 1925, while a freshmen at Sheldon Jackson High School, Soboleff took his first real job earning 25-cents an hour working 10 hours a day at a Hood Bay fish cannery. He would continue working at a fish plant in Killisnoo in the summers.
"It was a lot of back breaking work," Soboleff said. "None of the modern machinery like today. That was the way life was then ... you had to work hard, you couldn't just sit and earn money. We were just coming into the Western culture and cash economy, we would work part-time and other time prepare food for the winter."
In 1928, Soboleff left Sitka on board an Admiral Lines steam ship to Seattle and hitchhiked to Oregon Agricultural College, now Oregon State.
"My four years of high school were wonderful, it was such an exciting time of learning," Soboleff gushed. "But college, now that was exciting. You have to study to produce; you just can't talk off the cuff all the time. A lot of people do that and it's like hot air."
The Great Depression limited him to just a semester of science at OAC and he hitchhiked to Seattle via freight train, staying at a YMCA. He received a scholarship in 1933 to the University of Dubuque in Iowa, earning a bachelor's in education in 1937 and graduate degree in divinity in 1940. In the summer, he'd return to Alaska and work on the seine boats out of Sitka or the cold storage.
The price of salmon then included humpies selling for 4 cents a fish, dog salmon for 5 cents, and red salmon for 35 cents.
"You could buy something for a dollar in those days," Soboleff said.
After college and ordainment, he married Haida sweetheart Genevieve Ross and settled in Juneau as pastor of the Memorial Presbyterian Church - now Northern Light United Church - in 1940, broadcasting half of the service over the radio each Sunday morning. He would also do news in Tlingit for the town and short meditations out to the fishermen. His Tlingit congregation soon grew to include all racial and ethnic groups. Ministry travel via the vessels Princeton Hall, Anna Jackman, and "an assortment of fishing boats if needed," included many small villages, lighthouse stations, and logging camps in Southeast Alaska.
"I loved the boats and the routes we took and the people I met," Soboleff said. "Time seemed to go by so fast and I think I learned more than I taught."
Genevieve Soboleff died in January 1986. Walter remarried in 1999 to Tshimshian Stella Alice Atkinson, who passed away last April. He has four children: daughter Janet C. Burke, and sons Sasha, Walter Jr., and Ross Vincent Soboleff.
He only stopped driving four years ago because he figured he should stop while he was ahead and because there was no place he needed to go in a hurry.
When asked what he wanted for his birthday, Soboleff smiled and thought about the big wild game stews he grew up on. Then he asked for no more wars.
"What do people fight about? Isn't this a civilized world? Nobody wins."
He was adamant in dislike for airport security checks and shoe removals and the fear that exists today.
"Do we have to live like this? Is it necessary? People are getting so used to accepting this. It is crazy. And races not liking each other ... Alaska had it and the United States had it. People just can't grow up. The world needs a good philosophy of life. My philosophy of life is tolerance, it doesn't hurt you."
Walter Soboleff, born Kha'jaq'tii (One Slain in Battle), paused as he looked at the tribal art adorning his trailer walls; the art of the Raven moiety and Dog Salmon clan in the Tlingit nation.
"Sh yáa.awudanéiyi a kwáan," he said in Tlingit. "Respect People. Respect yourself, too, and other people will respect you."
His obituary appeared in the Juneau Empire, 23 May 2011.
Long time Juneau and Alaska Tlingit spiritual leader, elder statesman, and native icon Walter Soboleff died early Sunday morning in his home, surrounded by family.
According to daughter Janet Burke, Soboleff died from bone cancer and prostate cancer.
âMemorial services are pending,â Burke said. âNo date is set yet. This very quickly can get out of our hands because we know the scope of our fatherâs influence on so many people. When we think of him we think of the knowledge he had, the knowledge of his culture and the love for his family. That was so important to him.â
Soboleff had turned 102 years old on Nov. 14, 2010.
Soboleff's mother, Anna Hunter, was a Tlingit orphaned in Sitka who traveled to Killisnoo, which is located 2 miles southeast of Angoon, by canoe with her brother to stay with an aunt. His father, Alexander Soboleff, the son of Russian Orthodox minister Ivan Soboleff, lived in Killisnoo with his parents and three brothers.
Walter was born in Killisnoo in 1908 as Kha'jaq'tii (One Slain in Battle), his tribal art collected over his many years would be that of the Raven moiety and Dog Salmon clan in the Tlingit nation.
Soboleff liked to compare his birth in Killisnoo as the year the Tongass National Forest celebrated its first birthday.
As a child, Soboleff never knew what a birthday party was. Through high school and college he never paid any attention to his birthday.
"My parents would say, 'This is your birthday Walter,' and that is all," Soboleff said.
Walter grew up in Tenakee just 10 steps from the U.S. Government School.
He loved every class there and once stated, "I loved the red school, its smell in the rain, the sound of the bell and writing on my slate in English and Tlingit ... and I remember the biggest lesson I ever learned in the chapel there, 'Take care of the old person you are going to become.'"
The Tongass Forest made Killisnoo a bustling productive community and its people processed everything from herring to whales and used everything from blueberries to Sitka spruce.
At 5 years old, he began boarding at Sitka's Sheldon Jackson School. At 10, he interpreted for a visiting doctor during the 1918 flu epidemic. He had a thirst for knowledge and civic duty.
He admired the Gettysburg Address and would recite it in Tlingit. His favorite lesson was a speech by Abraham Lincoln, one of his heroes.
Other early role models were his father, who died when Walter was 12, and mother; Booker T. Washington; and Rudyard Kipling. Another influence was Tlingit Rev. George Benson, who made a written Bible translation of which only the gospel of John is known to exist today.
In 1925, while a freshman at Sheldon Jackson High School, Soboleff took his first real job, working 10 hours a day at a Hood Bay fish cannery for 25 cents an hour. He would continue working at a fish plant in Killisnoo in the summers.
The work was hard, with no modern machinery like today.
"You had to work hard, you couldn't just sit and earn money,â Soboleff said in a past interview. We were coming into Western culture and cash economy, working part-time and the other time prepare food for the winter."
In 1928, Soboleff left Sitka on board an Admiral Lines steam ship to Seattle and hitchhiked to Oregon Agricultural College, now Oregon State University.
Soboleff loved his four high school years as exciting learning, but was enthralled by college.
âNow that was exciting,â Soboleff said in a past interview. âYou have to study to produce; you just can't talk off the cuff all the time. A lot of people do that and it's like hot air."
The Great Depression limited him to just a semester of science at OAC and he hitchhiked to Seattle, staying at a YMCA once there.
He received a scholarship in 1933 to the University of Dubuque in Iowa, earning a bachelor's degree in education in 1937 and graduate degree in divinity in 1940. In the summer, he'd return to Alaska and work on the seine boats out of Sitka or the cold storage.
The price of salmon then included humpies selling for 4 cents a fish, dog salmon for 5 cents, and red salmon for 35 cents.
Soboleff once said "You could buy something for a dollar in those days.â
After college and ordainment, he married Haida sweetheart Genevieve Ross and settled in Juneau as pastor of the Memorial Presbyterian Church â now Northern Light United Church â in 1940, broadcasting half of the service over the radio each Sunday morning. He would also do news in Tlingit for the town and short meditations out to the fishermen. His Tlingit congregation soon grew to include all racial and ethnic groups.
Ministry travel via the vessels Princeton Hall, Anna Jackman, and "an assortment of fishing boats if needed," included many small villages, lighthouse stations, and logging camps in Southeast Alaska.
Soboleff loved the boats and the routes he took and the people he met. He said the time seemed to go by so fast and he learned more than he taught.
When Alaska became a state, both Soboleff and the Tongass he so loved turned 50. When they both turned 100 Soboleff was still championing the cause of native rights, cultural education, and a love for humanity.
Soboleff attended as many functions in Juneau as possible and was a settling presence at Central Council, Sealaska, the Alaska Native Brotherhood, the Gold Medal basketball tournament, Centennial Hall, the State Capitol, and Celebration events.
Walter was preceded in death by wife Genevieve in January 1986. Walter remarried in 1999 to Tshimshian Stella Alice Atkinson, who passed in April 2008.
Five years ago Soboleff said he stopped driving because he figured he should stop while he was ahead and because there was no place he needed to go in a hurry.
When asked, at that time, what he wanted for his birthday, he smiled and thought about the big wild game stews he grew up on, but in typical Soboleff sincerity he asked for no more wars.
"What do people fight about?â Soboleff had said at the time. âIsn't this a civilized world? Nobody wins."
Walter disliked airport security checks and shoe removals and the fear that exists today.
He questioned why people live like that and people getting used to it and accepting it.
Walter questioned why races did not like each other and had experienced it in Alaska growing up and saw it through the world.
âPeople just can't grow up,â he once said. âThe world needs a good philosophy of life. My philosophy of life is tolerance, it doesn't hurt you."
And then he said in Tlingit, "Sh yáa.awudanéiyi a kwáan. Respect People. Respect yourself, too, and other people will respect you."
I was sent a photocopy of the front of a book "Alaska for the Curious" and a page entitled "Soboleff Family (A study in Alaskan genealogy), it was on page 123. It was sent anonymously and included a handwritten note. The following is unsubstantiated and further research is needed.
"Walter, son of Alex, by marriage only-not blood-his blood line is Japanese-father George Masuoka"
The following was obtained from Ancestry.com and MAY be the same individual.
George Kinnoshin Matsuoka
 in the California, Federal Naturalization Records, 1843-1999 Name: George Kinnoshin Matsuoka
[Kinnoshin Matsuoka]Â
Petition Age: 41
Record Type: Petition
Birth Date: 18 Nov 1885
Birth Place: Murotsu, kumage, Japan
Petition Date: 1926 He and his wife didn't marry until 1918.
Petition Place: California, USA
Spouse: Asa Yokomichi Matsuoka
Petition Number: 116788 He arrived in the US on 14 Oct 1902 aboard the SS America Maru under the name Kinnoshin Matsuoka.
Source Citation
National Archives at San Francisco; San Bruno, California; NAI Number: 605504; Record Group Title: RG 21; Record Group Number: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009
Source Information
Ancestry.com. California, Federal Naturalization Records, 1843-1999 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.
Original data:
Naturalization Records. National Archives at Riverside, Peris, California.
Naturalization Records. National Archives at San Francisco, San Bruno, California.
A full list of sources can be found here.
Description
This database consists of naturalization records for California from U.S. District Courts
George Kinoshin Matsuoka
 in the California, Death Index, 1940-1997 Name: George Kinoshin Matsuoka
Social Security #: 546447307
Gender: Male
Birth Date: 18 Nov 1885
Birth Place: Japan
Death Date: 3 Mar 1979
Death Place: Sacramento
Source Information
Ancestry.com. California, Death Index, 1940-1997 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2000.
Original data: State of California. California Death Index, 1940-1997. Sacramento, CA, USA: State of California Department of Health Services, Center for Health Statistics.
Description
This database is an index to the death records in State of California, USA, from 1940 through 1997. The database provides such valuable information as first, last and middle names of the descendants, birth dates, mother's maiden name, father's last name, sex, birth place, death place, residence at time of death, death date, social security number (when available), and the age of the individual when they died.
Note: His marriage to Stella Buxton is based on the personal knowledge of Ken
|
