The Alutiiq Museum or Alutiiq Museum and Archaeological Repository is a
non-profit
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...
and cultural center dedicated to preserving and sharing the cultural traditions of the Koniag Alutiiq branch of
Sugpiaq ~ Alutiiq of the
Alaska Native people.
Museum and cultural center
The museum is located on the first floor of the ''Alutiiq Center'' of
Kodiak,
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...
. Alutiiq Museum is one of four museums in Kodiak. The museum is the seventh
museum in Alaska and the second ''tribal museum'' in the United States to be accredited. The museum provides tours of its exhibits, laboratory and collections storage facilities to educational groups. The museum will accept materials relevant to the prehistoric, historic, and contemporary cultural history of the Native peoples who settled the Koniag Alutiiq Nation. Such materials include, but are not limited to, archaeological, ethnological, photographic, film, audio, archival, and natural history specimens.
This cultural center features a gallery, storage for more than 190,000 local artifacts, including faunal materials, ethnobotanical samples, sediment samples, field notes, photographs, and maps and a research laboratory. The Alutiiq Museum is a small repository, but we care for a very large collection with nearly 250,000 items. As a newly founded institution, the Alutiiq Museum sought to develop its policies and practices in professional ways. The Alutiiq Museum also uses its collections for community-building among the Alutiiq.
The Alutiiq Museum is supported and governed by the Alutiiq Heritage Foundation and is dedicated to preserving and sharing Alutiiq heritage.
The Sugpiaq ~ Alutiiq Nation encompasses the islands and mainland shores of the central
Gulf of Alaska
The Gulf of Alaska (Tlingit: ''Yéil T'ooch’'') is an arm of the Pacific Ocean defined by the curve of the southern coast of Alaska, stretching from the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island in the west to the Alexander Archipelago in the east ...
, including
Prince William Sound
Prince William Sound ( Sugpiaq: ''Suungaaciq'') is a sound of the Gulf of Alaska on the south coast of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is located on the east side of the Kenai Peninsula. Its largest port is Valdez, at the southern terminus of the T ...
, the outer
Kenai Peninsula
The Kenai Peninsula ( Dena'ina: ''Yaghenen'') is a large peninsula jutting from the coast of Southcentral Alaska. The name Kenai (, ) is derived from the word "Kenaitze" or "Kenaitze Indian Tribe", the name of the Native Athabascan Alaskan trib ...
,
Kachemak Bay
Kachemak Bay ( Dena'ina: ''Tika Kaq’'') is a 40-mi-long (64 km) arm of Cook Inlet in the U.S. state of Alaska, located on the southwest side of the Kenai Peninsula. The communities of Homer, Halibut Cove, Seldovia, Nanwalek, Port Graha ...
of the
Chugach Sugpiaq, and the
Kodiak Archipelago
The Kodiak Archipelago (russian: Кадьякский архипелаг , translit = Kad'yakskiy arkhipelag) is an archipelago (group of islands) south of the main land-mass of the state of Alaska (United States), about by air south-west of A ...
and the
Alaska Peninsula of the Koniag Alutiiq.
History
The Alutiiq Museum is an outgrowth of the Kodiak Area Native Association's (KANA) culture and heritage division.
[Moyer, Teresa S. (2006),]
Technical Brief 19: Archeological Collections and the Public: Using Resources for the Public Benefit
. U.S. National Park Service Publications and Papers. Paper 119. Founded in 1987, the division was designed to foster island-wide archaeological research, develop educational programs on
Sugpiaq ~ Alutiiq culture, and promote workshops on
Sugpiaq ~ Alutiiq language and arts.
In 1990, the division became the ''Alutiiq Culture Center'' and moved to its own building. Large archaeological assemblages from local excavations were returned to Kodiak for curation at the center and public exhibits assembled from these materials.
In 1993, KANA received a grant from the
Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council to develop a
state-of-the-art archaeological repository and regional research facility. The museum opened in April 1995 and opened to the public in May 1995. All archaeological, ethnographic, archival, photographic, and natural history collections from the Alutiiq Culture Center were transferred to the Alutiiq Museum at this time.
The KANA is an
ANCSA
The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) was signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 18, 1971, constituting at the time the largest land claims settlement in United States history. ANCSA was intended to resolve long-standing i ...
native association. It was formed in 1966 as a
501 (c)(3)
A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...
non-profit corporation providing health and social services for the Alaska Natives of the Koniag region. The KANA service area includes the
City of Kodiak (''Sun'aq'') and six Alutiiq villages:
Akhiok (''Kasukuak''),
Karluk (''Kal'uq''),
Old Harbor (''Nuniaq''),
Ouzinkie (''Uusenkaaq''),
Port Lions (''Masiqsirraq''), and
Larsen Bay (''Uyaqsaq''). KANA is governed by a ten-member Board of Directors.
See also
*
Yupiit Piciryarait Cultural Center
*
List of museums in Alaska
This list of museums in Alaska is a list of museums, defined for this context as institutions (including nonprofit organizations, government entities, and private businesses) that collect and care for objects of cultural, artistic, scientific, or ...
*
Sven Haakanson Jr. (former executive director of the Alutiiq Museum)
*
Awa'uq Massacre
*
Koniag, Incorporated
References
External links
*
Alutiiq Language Archives at the Alutiiq Museum
{{Authority control
1995 establishments in Alaska
Alutiiq
History museums in Alaska
Kodiak, Alaska
Language museums
Museums in Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska
Native American museums in Alaska
Museums established in 1995