Alutiiq Museum and Archeological Repository, Kodiak

On May 21, the NACF board and staff traveled to Kodiak Island where they were hosted by NACF board member and Alutiiq Museum Executive Director Sven Haakanson (Old Harbor Alutiiq Tribe). The Alutiiq Museum and Archeological Repository is an organization with an impeccable reputation as a model cultural center in Native Alaska. The museum was the recipient of a $19,230 grant, which is being used to support an education based weaving project where elder weavers are teaching weeklong basket weaving workshops to 30 students in five rural Alutiiq schools. While the NACF group was visiting the museum, videotaped interviews were conducted with two premier area artists who are involved with the project: Coral Chernoff (Alutiiq) and her mother Arleen Skinner (Northern Cheyenne). The group also viewed a dance performance by Alutiiq dancers, toured the museum, and visited the collection storage and conservation laboratory. A visit and tour of the offices of Koniag Inc., one of 13 regional Native corporations established by Congress under the terms of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to settle the aboriginal land claims of Alaska Native people, and Kodiak Area Native Association (KANA) was led by hosts Will Anderson, President and CEO of Koniag, Inc. and Andy Teuber, KANA President. Later in the day, the group was hosted at Sven and his family at their home in Kodiak, where traditional foods were included in the afternoon feast.