George Phebus Jr

As Sketched by Native Artists

George Phebus took an interest in the sketches, but attempts to research their origin resulted in meager historical and geographical data. Phebus concluded that the art was a product of various students in public and private schools in northwestern Alaska during the 1890s and observes, "Their greatest value lies in their providing us with a pictorial record of Alaskan Eskimo life as depicted by native artists just prior to the drastic changes of the 20th century."