Pioneer Park in Fairbanks will be formally known as “Alaskaland” once again, 25 years after the former name was dropped.
The Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly voted 7-2 to revive the old name of the iconic borough park following public testimony and a debate about history, inclusivity and the meaning of “pioneer” during a meeting that ran into the wee hours of Friday morning.
The 44-acre historical preservation park abuts the Chena River and sits by the junction of two major Fairbanks roads, Airport Way and Peger Road. The Pioneers of Alaska helped found it in the early 1960s, creating the nonprofit Pioneer Memorial Park, Inc. to secure land from the state for a tourist attraction displaying historical exhibits. The grounds also hosted the 1967 event celebrating the centennial of the purchase of Alaska from Russia.
After the infamous Fairbanks flood, also in 1967, the park shifted hands. It was deeded to the State of Alaska then the City of Fairbanks on the same day in 1968; years later, in 1987, the city deeded it to the borough, according to records recently compiled by the borough. The location went by “Alaskaland” for over three decades until the Borough Assembly adopted the name “Pioneer Park” in 2001.
Borough Assembly members Scott Crass and Liz Reeves in December introduced the ordinance to reverse that change, and the proposal quickly became a hot topic in various public forums, like social media posts, the opinion page in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and commentary at borough meetings.
The ordinance refers to the borough’s 2021 Pioneer Park Master Plan, which describes the name as controversial and says community feedback noted it can alienate Alaska Native people. Crass and Reeves also cited letters the Assembly received from Alaska Native organizations, including Fairbanks Native Association, Denakkanaaga and Tanana Chiefs Conference, which support restoring the name “Alaskaland.”
Crass said at the meeting that the word “pioneer” has colonial connotations. And names, he said, make a difference.
“Some folks don’t understand the significance of a name, but names matter. They shape expectations. They signal identity. And they define what a space is for,” he said.
In a previous meeting, Crass also invoked the initial membership requirements for the Pioneers of Alaska, which “was and still is an organization formed from the need of helping each other survive,” according to the organization’s website.
The website says, when the organization got started in 1907, only white men who came to Alaska before 1900 could become members. Various eligibility rules changed at different times; the website says race requirements were dropped in 1982.
“Now, any man or woman who has been in Alaska for 20 years is eligible for membership,” according to the website.
Members of Pioneers of Alaska have been outspoken against the park name change, and many of them turned out to the Borough Assembly meeting last week. Some argued the name “Alaskaland” has the false connotation of a theme park, a point the 2021 park plan raises, as well. Pioneers of Alaska members also said they’ve poured personal time and resources into the park’s upkeep over the years.
Members additionally argued the name “Pioneer Park” better reflects the contents of the park, which includes museums and other historical exhibits, a playground, vendor spaces, an events center, a train ride and the S.S. Nenana, a wooden-hulled sternwheeler that’s a national historic landmark.
“We are a pioneering community. Our Pioneer Museum has many Native cultural exhibits as well as mining exhibits and a wonderful show on the Gold Stampede,” said Marilyn Nigro, a Pioneers of Alaska member.
There was also a clear split when it came to what meanings the word “pioneer” carries. Pioneers of Alaska member Linda Conley said she doesn’t think the current name of the park is discriminatory.
“There are pioneer Native people. They’re the ones who developed where they live, the things that they had. The ability to live in this state, in this climate, in early days for everybody was difficult,” she told the Assembly, in response to a question from Reeves.
But for many Alaska Native people, the term doesn’t reflect a shared sense of heritage, according to Tanana Chiefs Conference Chief/Chairman Sharon Hildebrand, who wrote to the Assembly that the word can instead represent “a period of hardship, displacement and loss.”
“It is rooted in a narrative of settlement that centers on one chapter of our state’s history, while not fully reflecting the presence and experiences of the Indigenous peoples who have lived here since time immemorial,” Hildebrand wrote.
Crass said at the meeting that the name of a public space maintained with millions of taxpayer dollars, like Pioneer Park, should be more inclusive.
“Your neighbors are telling you they don’t feel welcome there, and how you can deny that, I do not understand,” he said.
Crass and Reeves both said the issue was about the park name rather than current members of the Pioneers of Alaska, and for Reeves, the correspondence from leaders at multiple Alaska Native organizations solidified her stance, she said.
“No one is saying Pioneers of Alaska, in these letters, are problematic. They're saying the word ‘pioneer’ is problematic,” she said.
The final vote on the ordinance came after the Assembly referred the measure to the Borough Parks and Recreation Commission for its input, and commissioners in March recommended the Assembly either merge the two options or select an entirely new name instead of picking between “Pioneer Park” or “Alaskaland,” a direction the Assembly didn’t take. (Assistant Borough Attorney Ehren Lohse advised the Assembly at the meeting last week that choosing a different name would require drafting a new ordinance rather than amending the measure at hand.)
Those who voted against the name change said the process leading up to the final decision didn’t adequately gauge public sentiment, and Assemblymember Tammie Wilson noted the 2021 Pioneer Park Master Plan calls for a level of community engagement more robust than publicly noticing an ordinance to return to the former name.
“We pitted Fairbanksans against Fairbanksans for absolutely no reason,” Wilson said.
The plan says there was clear feedback from the public in support of a name change but suggested that the borough “consider undergoing a name change process, separate from this master plan, that includes a citizen advisory committee.”
Assemblymember Brett Rotermund, the other no vote, said that “somebody somewhere is always going to be offended by something,” and that killing the ordinance and putting the question to voters would be the best path forward.
The transition to “Alaskaland” will go into effect Sept. 4 and will cost $18,000, according to an updated estimate in the version of the ordinance that passed. The initial estimate was $50,000. Borough Mayor Grier Hopkins told Assembly members at an April 16 finance committee meeting that staff had reassessed the expenses since the measure was first introduced.