Alutiiq Museum & Archeological Repository
Location:
Kodiak, AK
Award:
$19,230
Project:
“Weaving Tradition”
The Alutiiq Museum is one of the premier cultural centers in Native Alaska and their Executive Director, Sven Haakanson, is a MacArthur Foundation fellow. Funding for the Weaving Traditions supported an education based weaving project featuring elder weavers teaching week-long basket weaving workshops to 30 students in five rural Alutiiq schools.
In January, 2010, five Alutiiq weavers traveled to Russia to explore the weaving work of their ancestors. During the spring of 2011, these weavers worked with 43 youth in hands-on instruction. In each village, students learned about harvesting and processing grass, started a small basket, built its sides, and finished its top edge. The project guided students through all phases of basketmaking, ensuring they have the knowledge to continue weaving independently. One teacher, Coral Chernoff, described the experience, "... based on their ancestors knowledge, you see it grab students , touching their soul as they wove. You feel like it was introducing something that impacts their lives in ways we can't see right there, but later." Impressively, the estimated number of community members impacted by the project is 3000. As teacher Jane Purdue commented, "What I really liked was the students would get around the table and sew skins, the folks on the sidelines getting involved. It impacted the community as well as the students." As anticipated, the proejct fostered intergenerational ties, helped to preserve heritage practices, and created a basketmaking workbook for each of the schools.
