<p>By <em>Paapi</em> Merlin Koonooka (St. Lawrence Island Yupik), 2009<br></p> <p><strong>Sea, Land, Rivers</strong></p> <p><em>Sivuqaq</em>, the Yupik name for St. Lawrence Island, rises out of the Bering Sea in the heart of a vast and bountiful marine ecosystem. All around us, depending on the time of year, we have walrus, whales and seals. Standing on the point at Gambell, you can watch ducks and seabirds flying by in endless motion over the sea. Our island lies just below the Arctic Circle, so the winters are long and often extreme. The wind gusts at fifty miles per hour, and the wind chill can get to minus fifty degrees Fahrenheit or lower. When spring and summer bring longer daylight and new life, people travel out from the villages of Gambell and Savoonga to their hunting and fishing camps around the island. Many of those places are ancient settlements where our ancestors lived up to two thousand years ago.</p> <p>I was born and raised in Gambell and have been a subsistence hunter there for my entire life, going back to when we traveled with dog teams instead of on snow machines and all-terrain vehicles. Marine mammals, fish, birds, eggs, reindeer and wild plants are important in the island diet throughout the year, far more so than store-bought foods. On the tundra and mountainsides people gather <em>ququngaq</em> (willow leaf), <em>nunivak</em> (roseroot), <em>angukaq</em> (dwarf fireweed) and various edible roots. In late summer the <em>aqavzik</em> (cloudberry) and <em>pagunghaq</em> (crowberry) ripen.</p> <p>Walrus have always been essential to our way of life. We hunt them in open water and later on the frozen ocean, making use of nearly everything as either food or material. The meat and fat are bundled into large <em>tuugtuq</em> (meatballs) to store in underground food cellars, and in the past that meat sustained our dog teams as well. Good-quality hides of female walrus are stretched, split, cured and stitched to cover the <em>angyapik</em> (hunting boat). Walrus stomachs become heads for drums, and their intestines, ivory and whiskers are transformed into adornment and art. Our predecessors used the skins to make tough rope and covers for the <em>nenglu</em> (traditional house) and interior <em>aargha</em> (sleeping room). They spun walrus sinew into thread and carved the tusks into tools and sled runners.</p> <p>I am a whaling captain like my grandfather, granduncles and father before me, and I serve on the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission. Traditionally, the captain prepared for whaling in a religious way, using charms, special songs and rituals that showed the great respect we feel for this animal. While these rituals are no longer practiced, strict hunting protocols and the responsibility of the captain remain unchanged. A bowhead whale is so immense and powerful that hunters, even though armed with modern weapons, are really at its mercy. We use skin-covered boats and sails rather than motors during the approach, keeping absolute silence, because whales have a very sharp sense of hearing. But they know we are there even if there is no sound. That is why we say that a whale decides to let itself be taken, not the other way around. One whale provides an abundance of food that is shared with families on the island and across Alaska.</p> <p>Our hunting lifestyle has never been harmful to the animal species. Nature has her own way of opening up the ice and sea for us or withholding access. During storms we have to stay at home and wait for a change. When the weather is nice, the conditions may still not be right for going out, even if walrus are floating by on top of the ice floes. Sometimes we will be punished this way if we’ve failed in our respect. But as long as the creatures make themselves available to us, we will gather them for food and traditional needs.</p> <p><strong><br></strong></p> <p><strong>Community and Family</strong><br></p> <p>The people of the island have close ties to the Yupik communities of Ungaziq and Sireniki on the Siberian coast, and we speak dialects of the same language. Before the cold war began in the late 1940s, our families traveled back and forth to visit, trade and seek marriage partners. The forty-mile trip took a full day in a skin boat using sail and paddles. Visits resumed in the 1980s after glasnost took hold in Russia, and now with a fast powerboat and calm seas, the crossing takes only two or three hours.</p> <p>Some of my best memories from childhood are of traveling with my dad. He had a wonderful dog team, and in the wintertime we would go on the sled to trap white fox. Even in the summer we’d take it across the gravel and tundra. When I started raising a family I did the same thing. We would hitch up a team of twelve dogs to pull our heavy sled, which was nine feet long with steel runners. As a child you really look forward to going out with your parents and elders for food gathering and hunting, because you want to learn.</p> <p>I sometimes think of early days when everyone was living in <em>nenglut</em> (traditional houses). They would go seal hunting on the ice, pulling whale baleen toboggans behind them to bring back the meat. You had a backpack and a rifle slung over your shoulders and an ice tester to see where it was safe to walk. You had to observe the ice and the direction it was moving, making sure not to get caught on an outgoing current. Boys were doing all that by the age of ten or twelve, and by fifteen you had to know everything. Your parents and elders made sure you were ready, or you weren’t allowed to go alone.</p> <p>Our culture is changing rapidly in some ways, more slowly in others. Fluency in the Yupik language is declining in the younger generations, although among the older people our daily conversation continues to be in Yupik. There is less respect among some young people now for their parents and elders, too much television and video gaming, problems with drugs and alcohol. We need to find a balance between traditional and modern ways, and I believe the best way to do that is through education. If you can be successful in your formal education, you will be in a strong position to help preserve your Yupik heritage. I’m glad to see so many young people still going out with their families to the places where we have always hunted and fished, even if now they travel on machines instead of on foot or by dog sled. They are still eating the same foods that we have always gathered and staying connected to our land and way of life.</p> <p>  </p> <p><strong>Ceremony and Celebration</strong> </p> <p>The remoteness of the island has helped to sustain some of the ways of our forebears. The practices of <em>atuq</em> and <em>aghula</em> (Yupik drumming, singing and dancing) were never interrupted, despite the introduction of Christianity, and people continue to compose new songs and motions. Both communities on the island hold dance celebrations where we welcome visitors and performers from mainland Alaska, Russia and beyond. Other ceremonies are more family-oriented, marking life events such as marriage and the birth and naming of a child. When a young person catches his first seal, a special small celebration is held to share the catch with relatives, making sure that everyone gets a taste. The same thing happens with your first bird.</p> <p>Many of the former ceremonial practices pertained to hunting, especially whaling. To prepare for the season, a captain would use certain songs that were specific to each clan. The purpose was to please the whale spirits. When the hunters captured a whale, the boats would come back in a line with the successful captain and crew in front. Everyone was deeply thankful, and they celebrated by feasting, singing and dancing. That feeling of appreciation and gratitude for the food that has been provided is just as strong today, even though our beliefs and customs have been modified.</p> <p>The Yupik culture has a very long, rich history, and at the Smithsonian you will see artifacts that our ancestors created hundreds or even thousands of years ago. Today many of the island’s residents are world-renowned Native artists whose work is shown in national and international museums and art galleries. Some of the ivory they use comes from archaeological sites, and this material, crucial to sustaining life generations ago, is equally important today because of the income generated by art sales. But much more than that, their work is a celebration of our culture, heritage and continuing way of life.</p> <p> Note: This is shortened version of a longer essay from the Smithsonian book <em>Living Our Cultures, Sharing Our Heritage: The First Peoples of Alaska</em>.</p> <hr> <p>Tags: St. Lawrence Island Yupik, Yupik, Alaska Native, Indigenous, Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center in Alaska (#arcticstudies)</p>

<p>By Beverly Faye Hugo (Iñupiaq), 2009<br></p> <p><strong>Sea, Land, Rivers</strong><br></p> <p>There’s ice and snow, the ocean and darkness – darkness in the winter and twenty-four hours of daylight in the summer. Barrow was originally called Utqiaġvik (meaning, “the place where <em>ukpik</em>, the snowy owl, nests”). That’s where my people, the Iñupiat, have survived and lived, and I am doing as they have done. On the Arctic coast you can see vast distances in all directions, out over the ocean and across the land. The country is very flat, with thousands of ponds and lakes, stretching all the way to the Brooks Range in the south. It is often windy, and there are no natural windbreaks, no trees, only shrubs. Beautiful flowers grow during the brief summer season. The ocean is our garden, where we hunt the sea mammals that sustain us. Throughout the year some seasonal activity is going on. We are whaling in the spring and fall, when the bowheads migrate past Barrow, going out for seals and walrus, fishing, or hunting on the land for caribou, geese, and ducks.</p> <p>Whaling crews are made up of family members and relatives, and everyone takes part. The spring is an exciting time when the whole community is focused on the whales, hoping to catch one. The number we are permitted to take each year is set by the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission and the International Whaling Commission. Whaling is not for the faint of heart. It can be dangerous and takes an incredible amount of effort – getting ready, waiting for the whales, striking and pulling and towing them. But the men go out and do it because they want to feed the community. Everyone has to work hard throughout the whaling season. People who aren’t able to go out on the ice help in other ways, such as buying supplies and gas or preparing food. You have to make clothing for them; they need warm parkas, boots, and snow pants.</p> <p>We believe that a whale gives itself to a captain and crew who are worthy people, who have integrity – that is the gift of the whale. Caring for whales, even after you’ve caught them, is important. After a whale is caught and divided up, everyone can glean meat from the bones. Each gets his share, even those who don’t belong to a crew. No one is left out.</p> <p>We are really noticing the effects of global warming. The shorefast ice is much thinner in spring than it used to be, and in a strong wind it will sometimes break away. If you are out on the ice, you have to be extremely conscious of changes in the wind and current so that you will not be carried off on a broken floe. We are concerned as well about the effects of offshore drilling and seismic testing by the oil companies. They try to work with the community to avoid problems, but those activities could frighten the whales and be detrimental to hunting.  </p> <p><strong>Community and Family</strong> </p> <p>Iñupiaq residents of Barrow, Wales, Point Hope, Wainwright, and other coastal communities, are the Taġiuqmiut, “people of the salt.” People who live in the interior are the Nunamiut, “people of the land.” The Nunamiut used to be nomadic, moving from camp to camp with their dog teams, hunting and fishing to take care of their families. They packed light and lived in skin tents, tracking the caribou and mountain sheep. My husband, Patrick Hugo, was one of them. For the first six years of his life his family traveled like that, but when the government built a school at Anaktuvuk Pass in 1959 they settled there.</p> <p>My parents, Charlie and Mary Edwardson, were my foremost educators. They taught me my life skills and language. When I came to awareness as a young child, all the people who took care of me spoke Iñupiaq, so that was my first language. Our father would trap and hunt. We never went hungry and had the best furs for our parkas. Our mother was a fine seamstress, and we learned to sew by helping her. My mother and grandmother taught us to how to care for a family and to do things in a spirit of cooperation and harmony.</p> <p>I was a child during the Bureau of Indian Affairs era, when we were punished for speaking Iñupiaq in school. My first day in class was the saddest one of my young life. I<em> had</em> to learn English, and that was important, but my own language is something that I value dearly and have always guarded. It is a gift from my parents and ancestors, and I want to pass it on to my children and grandchildren and anyone who wants to learn.  </p> <p><strong>Ceremony and Celebration</strong> </p> <p><em>Nalukataq </em>(blanket toss) is a time of celebration when spring whaling has been successful. It is a kind of all-day picnic. People visit with friends and family at the windbreaks that the crews set up by tipping the whale boats onto their sides. At noon they serve <em>niġliq</em> (goose) soup, dinner rolls, and tea. At around 3:00 P.M. we have <em>mikigaq</em>, made of fermented whale meat, tongue, and skin. At 5:00 they serve frozen <em>maktak</em> (whale skin and blubber) and <em>quaq</em> (raw frozen fish). It’s wonderful to enjoy these foods, to talk, and catch up with everyone at the end of the busy whaling season.</p> <p><em>Kivgik</em>, the Messenger Feast, was held in the <em>qargi</em> (ceremonial house). The <em>umialgich</em> (whaling captains) in one community sent messengers to the leaders of another, inviting them and their families to come for days of feasting, dances, and gift giving. They exchanged great quantities of valuable things – piles of furs, sealskins filled with oil, weapons, boats, and sleds. That took place until the early years of the twentieth century, when Presbyterian missionaries suppressed our traditional ceremonies, and many of the communal <em>qargich</em> in the villages were closed down.</p> <p>In 1988, Mayor George Ahmaogak Sr. thought it was important to revitalize some of the traditions from before the Christian era, and <em>Kivgik</em> was started again. Today it is held in the high school gymnasium. People come to Barrow from many different communities to take part in the dancing and<em> maġgalak</em>, the exchange of gifts. You give presents to people who may have helped you or to those whom you want to honor.  <em>Kivgiq</em> brings us together as one people, just as it did in the time of our ancestors.</p> <p>Note: This is shortened version of a longer essay from the Smithsonian book <em>Living Our Cultures, Sharing Our Heritage: The First Peoples of Alaska</em>.</p> <hr> <p>Tags: Iñupiaq, Inupiaq, Alaska Native, Indigenous, Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center in Alaska, whale, whaling, human geography (#arcticstudies)</p>

<p>Join Moderator Nadia Jackinsky-Sethi and speakers Miqqusaaq Bernadette Dean, Keneggnarkayaaggaq Emily Edenshaw, Kunaq Marjorie Tahbone and Krista Ulujuk Zawadski for a conversation about intergenerational learning within Canadian and Alaska Inuit communities and programs. Heather Campbell from the Inuit Art Foundation introduces the event.</p> <p>The video series "Conversations" brings you into discussions with Indigenous peoples, providing information and insights on important subjects and issues, along with ideas and examples that can help prepare you for making choices about how to act with regard to Indigenous peoples and their heritage.</p> <p>Our Inuit advisors for the project are:</p> <ul><li>Kacey Purruq Qunmiġu Hopson, Indigenous Knowledge Advocate, First Alaskans Institute</li><li>Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Artist</li><li>Taqralik Partridge, Director, Nordic Lab at SAW</li><li>Krista Ulujuk Zawadski, PhD Candidate, Carleton University</li></ul> <p>This event was made possible through generous support of the Inuit Art Foundation and supporters of the Arctic Studies Center in Alaska. (#arcticstudies)<br></p> <p>Contributor: <a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/profile/78098">Dawn Biddison</a></p> <p>Source: <a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/search?f%5B%5D%5Btypes%5D=resource&st=Smithsonian%20Arctic%20Studies%20Center%20Alaska">Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center in Alaska</a></p>

<p>Join Moderator Alice Qannik Glenn and speakers Jenny Irene Miller and Ossie Michelin for a conversation on the subject of Queer Inuit Art, providing perspectives from Inuit artists working in a variety of media. Alyson Hardwick from the Inuit Art Foundation introduces the event. <br></p> <p>The video series "Conversations" brings you into discussions with Indigenous peoples, providing information and insights on important subjects and issues, along with ideas and examples that can help prepare you for making choices about how to act with regard to Indigenous peoples and their heritage.</p> <p>Our Inuit advisors for the project are:</p> <ul><li>Kacey Purruq Qunmiġu Hopson, Indigenous Knowledge Advocate, First Alaskans Institute</li><li>Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Artist</li><li>Taqralik Partridge, Director, Nordic Lab at SAW</li><li>Krista Ulujuk Zawadski, PhD Candidate, Carleton University</li></ul> <p>This event was made possible through generous support of the Inuit Art Foundation and supporters of the Arctic Studies Center in Alaska. (#arcticstudies)</p> <p>Contributor: <a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/profile/78098">Dawn Biddison</a></p> <p>Source: <a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/search?f%5B%5D%5Btypes%5D=resource&st=Smithsonian%20Arctic%20Studies%20Center%20Alaska">Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center in Alaska</a></p>

<p>Join featured speaker Melissa Shaginoff (Ahtna Athabascan and Paiute) to learn about a public action called land acknowledgement, which helps you recognize the Indigenous peoples whose traditional lands we stand upon. Speaking the words of a land acknowledgement creates a space of honoring, respecting and making visible the generations of Indigenous peoples that came before you. It is an expression of respect appropriate for gatherings at schools, organizations, institutions, businesses, conferences and communities, both where you live and where you travel to.<br></p> <p>The video series "Conversations" brings you into discussions with Indigenous peoples, providing information and insights on important subjects and issues, along with ideas and examples that can help prepare you for making choices about how to act with regard to Indigenous peoples and their heritage. (#arcticstudies)<br></p> <p>Contributor: <a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/profile/78098">Dawn Biddison</a></p> <p>Source: <a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/search?f%5B%5D%5Btypes%5D=resource&st=Smithsonian%20Arctic%20Studies%20Center%20Alaska">Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center in Alaska</a></p>

<p>Join moderator Melissa Shaginoff (Ahtna Athabascan, Paiute) and speakers Dimi Macheras (Dena’ina Athabascan), Vera Starbard (Tlingit, Dena’ina Athabascan) and Ilgavak (Peter) Williams (Yup’ik) for a conversation on the subject of cultural appreciation vs. cultural appropriation, as it relates to Alaska Natives and other Indigenous peoples. Dawn Biddison from the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center Alaska introduces the event. </p> <p>The video series "Conversations" brings you into discussions with Indigenous peoples, providing information and insights on important subjects and issues, along with ideas and examples that can help prepare you for making choices about how to act with regard to Indigenous peoples and their heritage.</p> <p>This event was made possible through generous support by the Open Society University Network, Recovering Voices at Home program of Department of Anthropology at the National Museum of Natural History, and supporters of the Arctic Studies Center in Alaska. (#arcticstudies)</p> <p>Contributor: <a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/profile/78098">Dawn Biddison</a></p> <p>Source: <a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/search?f%5B%5D%5Btypes%5D=resource&st=Smithsonian%20Arctic%20Studies%20Center%20Alaska">Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center in Alaska</a></p>

<p>The art of sewing sea mammal intestine – also called gut – is an ancient and practical one used to create water-repellant clothing and bags, as well as ceremonial garments. During a week-long residency organized by the Arctic Studies Center at the Anchorage Museum in 2014, Alaska Native artists Mary Tunuchuk (Yup’ik), Elaine Kingeekuk (St. Lawrence Island Yupik) and Sonya Kelliher-Combs (Iñupiaq-Athabascan) studied historic gutskin objects and demonstrated how to process and sew gut to students, museum conservators and visitors. A two-day community workshop in Bethel followed, taught by Mary Tunuchuk and hosted by the Yupiit Piciryarait Cultural Center with assistance from Director Eva Malvich.</p> <p>The video set presented here introduces the artists, examine historic objects made with gut from the Smithsonian collections, and offers detailed explanations and demonstrations. Learn how to process and sew sea mammal intestine (and hog gut as an alternative material for non-Alaska Natives); prepare grass and tapered thread for sewing; and complete a gut basket or gut window project. Links to a selection of Iñupiaq, St. Lawrence Island Yupik and Yup’ik objects from the Smithsonian collections made from gut are included below.</p> <p>This project was made possible through the generous support of The CIRI Foundation, Surdna Foundation, Anchorage Museum, Alaska State Council on the Arts & National Endowment for the Arts, and the generous supporters of the Arctic Studies Center in Alaska.<br></p> <p>NOTE: The knowledge that Alaska Natives (Indigenous peoples of Alaska) have shared on this site is their cultural heritage, and they have cultural property rights for this knowledge. Please utilize what you learn from Alaska Natives with respect to their rights, which includes not using what you learn for personal gain such as selling artwork derived from this knowledge. To learn more about how to appreciate Alaska Native cultures respectfully, please go to the collection <a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/q/ll-c/Ha7AjCcnSBrgNbJt#r/44789">https://learninglab.si.edu/q/ll-c/Ha7AjCcnSBrgNbJt#r/44789</a><br>on this site where you will find a video and additional resources to learn more.</p> <p>Contributor: <a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/profile/78098">Dawn Biddison</a></p> <p><strong>Tags: </strong>Alaska, Native art, museum, education, Indigenous, sew, gut, intestine, sea mammal, walrus, seal, St. Lawrence Island Yupik, Inupiaq, Iñupiaq, Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center in Alaska (#arcticstudies)</p>

<p>Walrus ivory is a precious sculptural material that for millennia has been carved into a nearly endless variety of forms essential to Arctic life, from harpoon heads to needle cases, handles, ornaments, buckles and many more. Naturalistic and stylized figures of animals and humans were made as charms, amulets and ancestral representations. Carvers today bring this conceptual heritage to new types of work.</p> <p>During a week-long residency organized by the Arctic Studies Center at the Anchorage Museum in 2015, Alaska Native carvers Jerome Saclamana (Iñupiaq), Clifford Apatiki (St. Lawrence Island Yupik) and Levi Tetpon (Iñupiaq) studied historic walrus ivory pieces from the Smithsonian’s Living Our Cultures exhibition -- some are included in this collection -- and demonstrated how to process, design and shape walrus ivory into artwork. Art students, museum conservators, school groups, local artists and museum visitors participated throughout the week. Also, a two-day community workshop in Nome was taught by Jerome Saclamana and hosted by the Nome-Beltz High School. The video set presented here introduces the artists and document the materials, tools and techniques they use to make walrus-ivory artwork. </p> <p>This project was made possible through the generous support of The CIRI Foundation, Surdna Foundation, Anchorage Museum, Alaska State Council on the Arts & National Endowment for the Arts, and the generous supporters of the Arctic Studies Center in Alaska.</p> <p>NOTE: The knowledge that Alaska Natives (Indigenous peoples of Alaska) have shared on this site is their cultural heritage, and they have cultural property rights for this knowledge. Please utilize what you learn from Alaska Natives with respect to their rights, which includes not using what you learn for personal gain such as selling artwork derived from this knowledge. To learn more about how to appreciate Alaska Native cultures respectfully, please go to the collection <a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/q/ll-c/Ha7AjCcnSBrgNbJt#r/44789">https://learninglab.si.edu/q/ll-c/Ha7AjCcnSBrgNbJt#r/44789</a><br>on this site where you will find a video and additional resources to learn more.</p> <p>Contributor: <a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/profile/78098">Dawn Biddison</a> </p> <p><strong>Tags: </strong>Iñupiaq, Inupiaq, Eskimo, ivory, walrus, carving, carver, carve, Native art, museum, education, St. Lawrence Island Yupik, Yupik, Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center in Alaska (#arcticstudies)</p>

<p>Unangax̂ men of the Aleutian Islands wore hunting hats and visors that were shaped from carved, boiled and bent planks of driftwood, intricately ornamented with paint, beads, walrus ivory and sea lion whiskers. The hats were practical headgear for kayak hunters and at the same time works of art expressing the spiritual connection between human beings and animals of the land, sea and air. In 2012, the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center in Alaska hosted a bentwood hat making residency at the Anchorage Museum where Unangax̂ hat makers Patricia Lekanoff-Gregory and Michael Livingston worked with advanced apprentices Delores Gregory and Tim Shangin. They examined bentwood hats and visors from museum collections, and they carved, bent, and decorated their own, sharing their expertise with visiting students and museum guests.</p> <p>The video set presented here provides step-by-step instructions on how to make a bentwood hat and information on the use and significance of these hats in the past and today, along with artist interviews that provide first-hand information about the Aleutian Islands region and this important art form. Links to a selection of Unangax̂ bentwood hats and visors from the Smithsonian collections are included below.</p> <p>NOTE: The knowledge that Alaska Natives (Indigenous peoples of Alaska) have shared on this site is their cultural heritage, and they have cultural property rights for this knowledge. Please utilize what you learn from Alaska Natives with respect to their rights, which includes not using what you learn for personal gain such as selling artwork derived from this knowledge. To learn more about how to appreciate Alaska Native cultures respectfully, please go to the collection <a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/q/ll-c/Ha7AjCcnSBrgNbJt#r/44789">https://learninglab.si.edu/q/ll-c/Ha7AjCcnSBrgNbJt#r/44789</a><br>on this site where you will find a video and additional resources to learn more.</p> <p>Contributor: <a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/profile/78098">Dawn Biddison</a></p> <p><strong>Tags: </strong>Aleutian Islands, Alaska, Alaska Native art, Indigenous, Unangax̂, Unangax, Unangan, Sugpiaq, Aleut, bentwood hat, bentwood visor, chief's hat, Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center in Alaska (#arcticstudies)</p>

<p>The Chickaloonies project provides engaging and creative educational resources to help empower Indigenous youth in Alaska and beyond. Our work focuses on the comic art form as a creative way to learn about, express and perpetuate Indigenous heritage and Indigenous ways of learning: honoring Elders and knowledge-keepers and seeking to learn from them; experiencing the impact of storytelling and traditional values; learning multi-faceted information from heritage pieces in museum collections; and creating contemporary arts inspired by historic arts. Resources include an edited webinar video about the artists and project, an instructional comic art workbook and video introduction, a classroom poster, and photos with information – including knowledge shared by Elders – about  Athabascan heritage in the Smithsonian collections. <br></p> <p><strong>Project team: Artist </strong>Dimi Macheras (Ahtna Athabascan), 80% Studios; artist Casey Silver (non-Native), 80% Studios; cultural heritage collaborator Melissa Shaginoff (Ahtna Athabascan, Paiute); and project manager Dawn Biddison (non-Native), Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center, Alaska office</p> <p>To contact the project manager, please send an email to Dawn at biddisond@si.edu. Contact 80% Studios at 80percentstudios@gmail.com and visit their website at <a href="https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/KesTCVOyNlT42N0iGt4bL">www.eightypercentstudios.com</a>. </p> <p>This project was made possible through generous support by The CIRI Foundation's Education Heritage Grant program, the Recovering Voices program of Department of Anthropology at the National Museum of Natural History, the Alaska State Council on the Arts, and supporters of the Arctic Studies Center in Alaska. (#arcticstudies)</p> <p>NOTE: The knowledge that Alaska Natives (Indigenous peoples of Alaska) have shared on this site is their cultural heritage, and they have cultural property rights for this knowledge. Please utilize what you learn from Alaska Natives with respect to their rights, which includes not using what you learn for personal gain such as selling artwork derived from this knowledge. To learn more about how to appreciate Alaska Native cultures respectfully, please go to the collection <a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/q/ll-c/Ha7AjCcnSBrgNbJt#r/44789">https://learninglab.si.edu/q/ll-c/Ha7AjCcnSBrgNbJt#r/44789</a><br>on this site where you will find a video and additional resources to learn more.</p> <p>Contributor: <a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/profile/78098">Dawn Biddison</a></p>

<p>The Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center hosted a language and culture seminar at the Anchorage Museum in 2011, bringing together seven fluent St. Lawrence Island Yupik speakers for five days to discuss cultural belongings (often called objects by museums) from their region in the Smithsonian exhibition <em>Living Our Cultures, Sharing Our Heritage: The First Peoples of Alaska </em>at the Anchorage Museum. This video set presents a range of information about life on St. Lawrence Island, Alaska for the Yupik people: hunting tools used for living from the land and sea to ceremonial items used at celebrations and gatherings to everyday clothing to cultural traditions and values. The videos are in St. Lawrence Island Yupik with subtitles in English and Yupik, for following along in both languages. An educational guide with twelve lessons is included below, along with entries for objects discussed from the Smithsonian collections. </p> <p>NOTE: The knowledge that Alaska Natives (Indigenous peoples of Alaska) have shared on this site is their cultural heritage, and they have cultural property rights for this knowledge. Please utilize what you learn from Alaska Natives with respect to their rights, which includes not using what you learn for personal gain such as selling artwork derived from this knowledge. To learn more about how to appreciate Alaska Native cultures respectfully, please go to the collection <a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/q/ll-c/Ha7AjCcnSBrgNbJt#r/44789">https://learninglab.si.edu/q/ll-c/Ha7AjCcnSBrgNbJt#r/44789</a><br>on this site where you will find a video and additional resources to learn more.</p> <p>Contributor: <a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/profile/78098">Dawn Biddison</a> </p> <p>Tags: Alaska, Native art, Native culture, Indigenous, museum, education, language, St. Lawrence Island, Yupik, Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center in Alaska (#arcticstudies)</p>

<p>The Alaska Office of the Smithsonian’s Arctic Studies Center hosted a St. Lawrence Island Yupik language and culture seminar in January 2012, bringing together seven fluent speakers: John Apassingok, Lydia Apatiki, Ralph Apatiki, Sr., Elaine Kingeekuk, Christopher Koonooka, Merlin Koonooka and Angela Larson. They met for five days to discuss Yupik cultural belongings (often called objects by museums) in the Smithsonian exhibition <em>Living Our Cultures, Sharing Our Heritage: The First Peoples of Alaska </em>at the Anchorage Museum. </p> <p>During the seminar, the St. Lawrence Island Yupik language was documented and language and culture teaching materials were written for use in schools and homes throughout Alaska and beyond. Twelve objects from the Smithsonian collections – with detailed entries below – are featured in the guide and lessons presented here. These resources pair with twelve video lessons that offer teachers, students, parents and lifelong learners access to the St. Lawrence Island Yupik language and lifeways.<strong><br></strong></p> <p>Contributor: <a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/profile/78098">Dawn Biddison</a></p> <hr> <p><strong>Tags: </strong>Alaska, Native art, museum, education, language, Indigenous, St. Lawrence Island, Yupik, Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center in Alaska, distance learning, culturally responsive, culturally-responsive (#arcticstudies)</p>