Uploaded November 2022 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
This video is a part of our Alaska Native Art series, produced in partnership with the Alaska Native Heritage Center. For more, go to famsf.org/stories/close-look/alaska-native-art
Watch the full playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5eMm5mgGrVDg_GUEi7NipzNB9x05Xrth
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"Learning about art is . . . learning a new way, new language, almost. A new way of seeing the world . . . cultural education." —Abel Ryan
Alaska is the largest geographic state in the United States and encompasses over 660,000 square miles of diverse landscapes: oceans, mountains, forests, and tundra. It is the homeland of many Native peoples, whose ancestors have lived on and moved across the land since time immemorial.
The artworks in this Close Look are united by cross-cultural themes: Family, Sustenance, Transportation, and Celebration. Each theme is introduced by a short film featuring cultural practitioners from different regions of Alaska. Their voices enliven the collection and connect historical objects to contemporary communities.
The themes are grounded in the Shared Values of Alaska Native Cultures and explore the importance of language, ecology, resiliency, and survivance across these topics. This is not a comprehensive survey of Alaska Native arts; it is an offering of an alternate interpretative framework.
Project team
Partners
Alaska Native Heritage Center
Advisors
Lauren Ayagakuchax̂ Peters (Unangax̂), PhD scholar, University of California, Davis
Stephen Qacung Blanchett (Yup’ik), cultural heritage manager, Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska
Collaborators
Paul Asicksik (Iñupiaq), community engagement manager, Alaska Native Heritage Center
Tara Bourdukofsky (Unangax̂), director of cultural and education services, Alaska Native Heritage Center
Yaari Walker (Saint Lawrence Island Yupik), community engagement manager, Alaska Native Heritage Center
FAMSF team
Hillary C. Olcott, associate curator, arts of the Americas
Emily Jennings, director of school and family programs
Magnolia Molcan, web managing editor
Patricia Buffa, director of digital strategy
Sheila Pressley, director of education
Christina Hellmich, curator in charge, arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas
Khamisi Norwood, digital media producer
Megan Bates, digital media producer
Film interviewees
Alvin Amason (Sugpiaq Alutiiq)
Stephen Qacung Blanchett (Yup’ik)
Louise Brady (Tlingit)
Perry Eaton (Sugpiaq Alutiiq)
Emily Edenshaw (Yup’ik / Iñupiaq)
Nicholas Galanin (Tlingit / Unangax̂)
Lily Hope (Tlingit)
Aaron Leggett (Dena’ina Athabascan)
Marie Arnaq Meade (Yup’ik)
Margaret Nakak (Iñupiaq / Yup’ik)
Abel Ryan (Tsimshian)
Haliehana Alaĝum Ayagaa Stepetin (Unangax̂)
Christopher Sumdum Jr. (Tlingit)
Yaari Walker (Saint Lawrence Island Yupik)
Andrew Weaver (Yup’ik)
Special thanks
Michele Trefon
Emily Edenshaw
Jaimeann Bell
Presley West
Alaska Native Heritage Center Native Games Team
Herring Rock Water Protectors
Katelyn Stiles
Jennifer Younger
Thomas Gamble
Courtney Fallow
Renee Villasenor
Randy Dodson
Robert Carswell
This video is a part of our Alaska Native Art series, produced in partnership with the Alaska Native Heritage Center. For more, go to famsf.org/stories/close-look/alaska-native-art
Watch the full playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5eMm5mgGrVDg_GUEi7NipzNB9x05Xrth
______________________________
"Learning about art is . . . learning a new way, new language, almost. A new way of seeing the world . . . cultural education." —Abel Ryan
Alaska is the largest geographic state in the United States and encompasses over 660,000 square miles of diverse landscapes: oceans, mountains, forests, and tundra. It is the homeland of many Native peoples, whose ancestors have lived on and moved across the land since time immemorial.
The artworks in this Close Look are united by cross-cultural themes: Family, Sustenance, Transportation, and Celebration. Each theme is introduced by a short film featuring cultural practitioners from different regions of Alaska. Their voices enliven the collection and connect historical objects to contemporary communities.
The themes are grounded in the Shared Values of Alaska Native Cultures and explore the importance of language, ecology, resiliency, and survivance across these topics. This is not a comprehensive survey of Alaska Native arts; it is an offering of an alternate interpretative framework.
Project team
Partners
Alaska Native Heritage Center
Advisors
Lauren Ayagakuchax̂ Peters (Unangax̂), PhD scholar, University of California, Davis
Stephen Qacung Blanchett (Yup’ik), cultural heritage manager, Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska
Collaborators
Paul Asicksik (Iñupiaq), community engagement manager, Alaska Native Heritage Center
Tara Bourdukofsky (Unangax̂), director of cultural and education services, Alaska Native Heritage Center
Yaari Walker (Saint Lawrence Island Yupik), community engagement manager, Alaska Native Heritage Center
FAMSF team
Hillary C. Olcott, associate curator, arts of the Americas
Emily Jennings, director of school and family programs
Magnolia Molcan, web managing editor
Patricia Buffa, director of digital strategy
Sheila Pressley, director of education
Christina Hellmich, curator in charge, arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas
Khamisi Norwood, digital media producer
Megan Bates, digital media producer
Film interviewees
Alvin Amason (Sugpiaq Alutiiq)
Stephen Qacung Blanchett (Yup’ik)
Louise Brady (Tlingit)
Perry Eaton (Sugpiaq Alutiiq)
Emily Edenshaw (Yup’ik / Iñupiaq)
Nicholas Galanin (Tlingit / Unangax̂)
Lily Hope (Tlingit)
Aaron Leggett (Dena’ina Athabascan)
Marie Arnaq Meade (Yup’ik)
Margaret Nakak (Iñupiaq / Yup’ik)
Abel Ryan (Tsimshian)
Haliehana Alaĝum Ayagaa Stepetin (Unangax̂)
Christopher Sumdum Jr. (Tlingit)
Yaari Walker (Saint Lawrence Island Yupik)
Andrew Weaver (Yup’ik)
Special thanks
Michele Trefon
Emily Edenshaw
Jaimeann Bell
Presley West
Alaska Native Heritage Center Native Games Team
Herring Rock Water Protectors
Katelyn Stiles
Jennifer Younger
Thomas Gamble
Courtney Fallow
Renee Villasenor
Randy Dodson
Robert Carswell
