Russian Church Indian Society of Saint Basil the Great: Sash and Ribbon.

This set, which includes the sash and the ribbon signified membership in the Saint Basil Russian Orthodox Brotherhood (established in 1902). This brotherhood, which was predominately Alaska Native, was attached to the parish of Saint Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church in Juneau, Alaska. This church, which was built and established in 1894, has a long history of being the home of several Orthodox Brotherhoods. The establishment of Russian Orthodox Brotherhoods’ amongst the Tlingit in the 1890’s-1900’s was part of an effort to continue Alaska Native education in Russian Orthodox customs and theology, but also to promote temperance and mutual aid. The Tlingit utilized these brotherhoods to strengthen their relationship within the church structure, thereby maintaining the power and prestige of the traditional Tlingit aristocracy within these new institutions. Although the Russian missionaries often promoted their establishment with the idea that the brotherhoods would help put a stop to traditional native customs and beliefs that were” incompatible with Christianity”, the Tlingit very skillfully utilized the brotherhoods to further indigenize the Russian Church, even organizing brotherhood membership along matrilineal clan lines.
The Saint Basil Brotherhood sash and ribbon are both in the colors of the flag of the Russian Empire, with the ribbon identifying the brotherhood and founding year in gold lettering, along with a sequined gold six-pointed star.
The sash/ribbon set was donated to the museum by Brian Wallace, whose family are lifelong members of Juneau’s Tlingit Orthodox community.

Russian Church Brotherhood Sash and Ribbon
Early 1900s
Gift of Brian Wallace
2007-17-1& 2007-17-2

This sash and ribbon belonged to Charlie Jimmy, one of the founders of the St. Basil the Great Russian Church Indian Society, who wore them during meetings of the society held in the L’eeneidí Yaxte Hít (Dog Salmon Clan Big Dipper House) in the Juneau Indian village. Made of fragile silk, their survival is nearly miraculous, and due to the care given by Margaret Cropley, Dorothy Wallace, and her son Brian Wallace, the donor.

In the late 1800s, the Russian Orthodox Church established mutual aid societies and brotherhood groups to strengthen Orthodox values, but Tlingit members used these organizations to strengthen their community and reinforce traditional social structures to counter overwhelming pressure to assimilate and adopt “civilized” customs as introduced by the missionaries. Sashes, made of delicate silk in the colors of the Russian flag, may be the forerunner of sashes used by the Alaska Native Brotherhood. The ribbon is inscribed: “Marshal, Russian Church Indian Society of the St. Basil the Great, Organized January 1, 1902, Juneau, Alaska.”

Russian Imperial Medal “For Zeal” (Presented at Unalaska, circa 1852):

A Russian medal bearing the likeness of Emperor Nicholas I presented to Russian Orthodox priest Innokentii Shaiashnikov (1824-1883) of Unalaska. Of Russian and Aleut descent, he is the member of an important cohort of Alaska-born priests that spread Orthodoxy to the furthest reaches of Alaska. He served the church at Russian Mission and St. Michael, and in 1844 was installed as parish priest at Unalaska, where he served for over three decades. He is remembered as a teacher, leader, musician, translator, and linguist of the Aleut language. The medal passed down through several generations of the family of Nicholas Gray, a teacher in the Russian Orthodox Church in Unalaska, and later postmaster and representative of the Alaska Commercial Company.


Alaska State Museum, 2007-17-1 (Sash), Photo by Sara Boesser
Alaska State Museum, 2007-17-2 (Ribbon), Photo by Sara Boesser
Alaska State Museum, 2005-12-1, (Medal), Photo by Sara Boesser