14 Facts About Andrew Gronholdt

Andrew Gronholdt was a famous Aleut from Sand Point, Alaska, in the Shumagin Islands south of the lower Alaska Peninsula and became famous for rejuvenating the ancient Unangan art of carving hunting hats called chagudax.

In January 2012, a book was published posthumously by Gronholdt titled "Chagudax: A Small Window into the Life of An Aleut Bentwood Hat Carver" Gronholdt's woodworking techniques, wood steaming and bending methods, and instructional design methodologies were legendary.

Andrew Gronholdt was born on August 26,1915, in Sand Point on Popof Island in the Shumagin Islands.

Andrew Gronholdt's mother is Anna Dushkin, who was from a tiny Aleut village on the southside of the Alaska Peninsula named Belkofski, about a dozen miles north east of King Cove, Alaska.

Andrew Gronholdt began attending elementary school in Belkofski and later completed grade school in Sand Point in the Shumagin Islands.

On January 21,1942, at Unga, Gronholdt married Elisabeth Z Rodgers, the daughter of Frank Rodgers and Zenia Lois Larsen.

Andrew Gronholdt, believing that the creation of these bentwood hunting hats was an important component of the ancient Unangan culture, went from Sand Point to several other communities within the Aleutians, teaching others this lost art.

Andrew Gronholdt taught at several schools including Sand Point and Unalaska.

Andrew Gronholdt crafted wooden pumps, known as chxuusi-x, which was used to bail water out of the skin-on-frame iqyax, the Aleut sea kayaks.

Andrew Gronholdt believed in the importance of the Aleut people getting involved and voicing their opinion to help make the community better, serving on the board of directors for the Shumagin Corporation and serving for over 21 years on the board of directors in several positions at the Aleut Corporation.

At the beginning of each of her classes, Okalena Patricia Lekanoff-Gregory tells all of her new students about her great instructor, Andrew Gronholdt, and has a fine portrait of Gronholdt displayed at the carving table, next to the carving knives.

Andrew Gronholdt died on March 13,1998, in Edmonds, Washington, at the age of 82.

Andrew Gronholdt was laid to rest at Evergreen Washelli Memorial Park next to his wife Elisabeth.

The 96-page book, edited by Michael Livingston and Sharon Andrew Gronholdt-Dye, contains 144 illustrations.