Native Heritage Center Prospered As An Alaskan Museum Closes


At the turn of the century, Edward Anton Rasmuson, a Swedish-born missionary, came to the Alaskan border to teach Tlingit children at a time when many small villages lacked public schools.

Before he died in 1949, Rasmuson would rise to lead the Alaska National Bank, the largest bank in the region, but he would never lose interest in Alaska Native culture.

He and his family collected nearly 6,000 artifacts, textiles, and tools, most of which ended up in a bank-created museum in downtown Anchorage in 1968.

But this museum, which was taken over by Wells Fargo when it bought the National Bank of Alaska in 2000, closed its doors in 2020 as a victim of a coronavirus pandemic.

Now, most of this historical treasure dates back to BC. Alaska Native Heritage CenterA museum focused on Native culture and run by Alaska Natives. More than 1,700 objects donated by Wells Fargo nearly doubled the center’s collection and allowed the museum to overhaul its programming, which opened in 1999 as the only statewide center dedicated to celebrating all Alaska Native cultures.

Emily Edenshaw, president and CEO of the heritage centre, said in an interview, “These elements will help us share our cultures with people around the world, but they will also help us work directly with our community.” she said.

Edenshaw joined the heritage center in 2019 motivated by her experience growing thousands of miles away from the Yup’ik and Iñupiaq heritage. His mother was part of 1956. forced adoption program and grew up in Texas, but Edenshaw returned to Alaska for college and eventually took the name Keneggnarkayaaggaq, Yup’ik, meaning a person with a beautiful personality, soul, aura, and friends.

“For a long time I was ashamed of not knowing my own culture,” she said. “Most of my journey is based on reconnecting with who I am.”

The theme of reconnection was central to the programming of the heritage center with workshops on Indigenous food, dance and singing; There are also community initiatives aimed at helping Alaska Natives struggling with homelessness.

Now the museum will also be able to use many new objects, unchanged for two decades, to transform its exhibits. Much of that work will now fall to Angie Demma, a curator from the Wells Fargo museum who has come to work for the heritage center. He had been working at the bank’s museum for several months when Wells Fargo decided to close not only the Anchorage museum but also the bank’s museum.t 10 other museums nationwide, leaving the San Francisco location to focus solely on the company’s operations. gold rush origin story.

Demma, who joined the institution with a plan to revive Wells Fargo’s programming, has now found herself as director of the institution’s liquidation.

“Logistics was a nightmare,” Demma said.

In her new role, Demma said the Haida artist is keen to showcase masterpieces of Indigenous craftsmanship, such as the argilite chest from the 1900s. Charles Edenshaw (A distant relative of Emily Edenshaw through her husband’s family) includes a carved statue of a bear and sea lion locked in battle. There is also a chef’s coat from the Athabascan people, with floral beaded designs from the 1950s, rawhide tassel and red felt ties.

However, the hundreds of other donations that Demma says have come in the past year because private collectors and public institutions take the budget into account were unexpected. ethics of holding on to works possibly stolen or unfairly traded by Indigenous groups.

“We’ve always been a place for people to leave their stuff at the front door, but there’s definitely an uptick,” Demma said. “We’re having a hard time keeping up”

The stream of artifacts has fed the heritage center’s ambition to upgrade its building, and the board is launching a $10 million capital campaign. This is the kind of long-term planning that seemed impossible only a few years ago when the organization was on the verge of closure.

However, the Ford Foundation named the center one of these: America’s cultural treasuresalongside institutions like the Apollo Theater and the Japanese American National Museum in a program designed to help organizations recover from the pandemic. came with the title four-year, $3 million unlimited grant and another $100,000 for strategic planning and technical assistance.

Museum officials said the grant was a boon for a small nonprofit that doesn’t receive regular government funding and relies on a mix of federal grants and private donations to keep its doors open.

Art funds became a battleground of sorts in Alaska, using the veto power of Alaska governor Mike Dunleavy in 2019. to defend Alaska State Arts Council. The State Legislature eventually voted to overturn the resolution, restoring the agency.

Today, the state provides about $700,000 to the council—about 20 percent of the council’s total $3.88 million budget. The rest comes from federal donations and charities like the US. Rasmuson FoundationOne of the largest art funders in Alaska.

“We had a near-death experience when we nearly vetoed our existence, but those dark days are now over,” said Benjamin Brown, chair of the arts council since 2007. He noted that several Alaska heritage centers received funding. domestic companiesas Sealaska Heritage Institute in Juneau and CIRI Foundation in Anchorage.

Brown described the Alaska Native Heritage Center as an “important part of the artistic and cultural infrastructure” of the state. Museum experts also said the nonprofit stands out as one of the few non-tribal arts organizations run by Indigenous people. And by serving all, the center has become a meeting place for different tribes and people outside of these Indigenous communities.

Monica Shah, deputy director of conservation and collectors at the Anchorage Museum, who also bought some of the Wells Fargo collection, described the heritage center as vital.

“I don’t think we can fulfill our mission without their partnership,” Shah said. He thanked the Center for helping to bring Native culture to the forefront of Alaskan identity.

Edenshaw, who is also on the state’s tourism board, is one of the states of Alaska, which has one of the states. highest percentages The percentage of Native Americans in the United States should do more to support the cultural significance of Native groups.

Governor Dunleavy’s administration said it has directed substantial funding, including a new $10.5 million federal grant to Alaska Travel Industry Associations, which includes Indigenous tourism in its promotion. Another tourism promotion grant of about $1 million was awarded to Kawerak Inc., a regional nonprofit in the predominantly Alaskan Native Bering Strait region, the governor’s office said.

But Edenshaw said the state’s marketing focuses too much on “grizzly bears, Denali and fishing.”

“Where are the native people?” asked Edenshaw. “If our stories are being told, they are not even being told by us.”




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