Dig Afognak: Revealing the Past, Strengthening the Future

Play in the dirt with Dig Afognak Laura Nielsen for FrontierScientists If uncovering archaeological treasures and exploring local culture appeal to you more than simple sightseeing, you’ll want to check out the Kodiak Archipelago the next time you can make it to Alaska. The Afognak Native Corporation’s program Dig Afognak has visitors, archaeologists, and Native […]

Alutiiq basket weavers share insight with Russian curators

Fairbanks, Alaska, April 24, 2012 – “The Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (MAE) and the Russian Ethnographic Museum in St. Petersburg Russia have the earliest collections of Kodiak baskets, grass and spruce root, in the world,” said Sven Haakanson, executive director of the Alutiiq Museum and Archaeological Repository. In 2010, Haakanson traveled with six Native […]

Find Seal Intestine filed in Coral’s Cabinet.

Liz O’Connell for Frontier Scientists – When Coral Chernoff begins to work on a project she goes to her metal file cabinet and finds what shes needs: seal parts, whale bone, bear’s bread, grass. Filed away where an office worker normally puts manila file folders and bits of paper is where Coral stores parts of […]

Weaving In Time – Alutiiq Baskets

Laura Nielsen for Frontier Scientists A row of knotted grass can hold so many stories you’d be amazed. Long grass or spruce root, yarn, sinew, even paint, all go into the baskets lovingly crafted in Alaska. Native Alutiiq weavers have carried on the traditions, but some techniques had been lost. -Had been. In this vodcast by Frontier […]

Weaving in time – Alutiiq baskets

A row of knotted grass can hold so many stories you’d be amazed. Long grass or spruce root, yarn, sinew, even paint, all go into the baskets lovingly crafted in Alaska. Native Alutiiq weavers have carried on the traditions, but some techniques had been lost. -Had been. In this vodcast by Frontier Scientists, learn how […]

Shaman Whalers of Ancient Kodiak Island

Merry Ann Moore for Frontier Scientists – Until the jet age, human survival in the unforgiving climate of the Gulf of Alaska’s islands was a matter of what sustenance could be drawn from the sea.  Ongoing research into petroglyphs found on Kodiak Island’s rocky shores is adding to understanding of a fascinating whaling culture that […]