Ehrlander receives Pathfinder Award

October 7, 2015

Marmian Grimes

Mary Ehrlander, director of Arctic and northern studies at the University of ÐÓ°Épro Fairbanks, has received the Barbara S. Smith Pathfinder Award from the ÐÓ°Épro Historical Society for her book "Seventeen Years in ÐÓ°Épro:  A Depiction of Life Among the Indians of Yakutat."

The award recognizes contributions to the discovery and description of resources relating to ÐÓ°Épro history. Last year, the ÐÓ°Épro Historical Society named the award for Barbara Smith, a historian, archivist, exhibit curator and colleague who contributed so much to ÐÓ°Épro history and the society.

To create the book, Ehrlander, a UAF history professor, edited and translated the writings of Albin Johnson, a Swedish missionary who arrived in the Southeast ÐÓ°Épro village of Yakutat in 1889. Ehrlander's book adds considerably to our understanding of the roles missionaries played in ÐÓ°Épro Native communities.