ARCUS received this very sad news from Dr. Douglas W. Veltre, Professor
of Anthropology at the University of Alaska Anchorage.
Northern studies lost one of its most esteemed practitioners on June 15,
2004, with the death of Allen P. McCartney, who had suffered from
Parkinson's disease for the last several years. He was 63 years old.
Al's interest in the Arctic began as an undergraduate student at the
University of Arkansas, when he studied the wartime internment of Aleuts
in southeastern Alaska. His first field work came in 1962, when he took
part as a student worker on an archaeological project in the Nikolski
village area in the eastern Aleutian Islands under the direction of
William Laughlin, then of the University of Wisconsin. He received his
M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Wisconsin in 1967 and 1971. Al's work in
the Aleut region continued over the next forty years and included
archaeological surveys throughout the Aleutian Islands as well as major
excavations on the Alaska Peninsula, Unalaska Island, and St. Paul
Island. Al also pursued archaeological research in the Canadian Arctic.
In addition to studying the Thule culture, he developed an extensive
guide to the analysis of whale bone remains. More recently, he was
involved in research on prehistoric whaling cultures in north Alaska.
Al served as Professor of Anthropology at the University of Arkansas
from 1970 until his retirement in 2003. Over his career, he produced
numerous publications and conference papers. He wrote extensively about
maritime adaptations, whale hunting peoples, prehistoric use of iron,
cultural ecology, and Aleut-Russian contact. Al served as editor of the
journal "Arctic Anthropology" for 13 years; a soon to be released issue
of that journal honors his contributions to northern scholarship. He
received the Alaska Anthropological Association's Professional
Achievement Award in 2003.
Al was a dedicated, generous, and highly respected scholar who added
greatly to our knowledge of the archaeology and history of the North
American Arctic. His work has influenced several generations of students
and has been an inspiration to his colleagues. To those who have learned
from his efforts, as well as to those of us who knew him well, he will
be sorely missed.
Funeral arrangements are pending. Dr. Nancy McCartney and sons Erin and
Kevin may be reached at 1638 West Maple, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701.
Douglas W. Veltre
Professor of Anthropology and
Aleut-L List Owner (http://lists.uaa.alaska.edu/mailman/listinfo/aleut-l)
University of Alaska Anchorage
3211 Providence Avenue
Anchorage, AK 99508
Phone: 907-786-6847
Fax: 907-786-6850
E-mail: afdwv [at] uaa.alaska.edu