Best of Both Worlds

Best of Both Worlds: Collaborations Between Indigenous Groups and MuseumsCaring for Artifacts of Uncertain

Ownership by Marnie Leist

Alutiiq Museum and Archaeological Repository, Kodiak, Alaska

The “Donation”

Clyda Christiansen, Larsen Bay

Selection of Clyda’s artifact collection

“Please take good care of these. I picked them up when I was a kid and saved them for my family, but they should be in the museum. I want them to be around for future generations.”

Pastime

Mary Shepherd with octopus,

Afognak Is., 1978

Mary Shepherd and family collecting artifacts on the beach, 1965

The Kodiak Archipelago in the central Gulf of Alaska

Whose Property? Archaeological resources belong to the

surface estate landowner

Federal and State law

Old loan, undocumented property, and abandoned property laws

Mark Withrow, Chirikof Is., land managed by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Whose Property?

One page of landownership map

Preserving Alutiiq heritage wherever it is found -in museums, in people, in the ground.

Site Stewardship, Uganik

Community Archaeology

The Agreement

Landowner

Recognizes museum as an appropriate entity to care for unprovenienced artifacts

Understands museum may unknowingly accept materials inappropriately acquired from their land

Ivory hunting hat figurine and bear effigy

Museums agrees to Add unprovenienced artifact s to teaching collection onlyShare unprovenienced artifacts through programs Return (or obtain agreement) any artifacts to their rightful owner Continue efforts to promote archaeological site preservation and discourage amateur collecting

The Agreement

Federal agencies U.S. Bureau of Indian AffairsU.S. Bureau of Land ManagementU.S. Coast GuardU.S. Forest ServiceU.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

State agencies Alaska Dept. of Natural Resources, Office of History & Archaeology

Municipalities Cities of Kodiak and Larsen BayKodiak Island Borough

Kodiak Alutiiq CorporationsKoniag, Inc.Afognak Native CorporationAkhiok-Kaguyak, Inc.Leisnoi, Inc.Natives of Kodiak, Inc.Old Harbor Native CorporationOuzinkie Native Corporation

The Agreement

Ouzinkie, 1940s

Uniting Alutiiq beliefs and museum practices

Starring in Three Saints Bay Orthodox Church, Old Harbor

Larry Matfay lighting oil lamp at exhibit opening

Uniting Alutiiq beliefs and museum practicesProfessional care to preserve for future generationsPublic accessEducational resource

Prehistoric objects from the unprovenienced artifact collection. From left: a traveling stone oil lamp, a slate lance with maker’s marks, and a barbed harpoon of sea mammal bone.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:Marnie Leist, RegistrarAlutiiq Museum and Archaeological [email protected](907) 486-7004215 Mission Rd. Suite 101Kodiak, AK 99615