Accomplishments:
The staffs of Inupiat Heritage Center (IHC) and the University of
Alaska Museum of the North (UA Museum) have been responsible for planning
and implementing the exhibit design and production. The staff selected
objects from the IHC/Iñupiat History, Language and Culture
Commission collections in Barrow, UA Museum in Fairbanks, and the Smithsonian
Institution in Washington, DC, that could best tell the story as specified
by the exhibit team. The IHC facility has environmental control issues
at this time that limit loans of UA Museum and Smithsonian objects.
The IHC staff coordinated workshops to make traditional objects that
were not available. Local elder experts taught classes on how to make
a sealskin float and on how to sew caribou-skin pants and a hunting
parka.
Oral knowledge about objects was recorded to better interpret what
they are and how they were used, and to obtain the correct Iñupiaq
word for the object. University of Alaska, Fairbanks Iñupiaq
students Brad Weyiouanna and Michelle Kignak Weyiouanna earned course
credit for conducting interviews with Barrow elders who live in Fairbanks.
The IHC and UA Museum staffs prepared the exhibit text, photo, and object
labels, and the text is written in first person to reflect the Iñupiaq
perspective. All objects are described with their Iñupiaq and
English names.
Next: Training
