Travelling Exhibit | Fragile Treasures Link Generation to Generation: National Historic Landmarks in Northwestern Alaska (2002) - Amber Ridington

Produced by the National Park Service, this traveling exhibit was designed for an Inupiat audience. It has toured northern Inupiat village communities to raise awareness about their communities’ archaeological heritage and their role in archaeological site stewardship and preservation.

My research for this exhibit involved collaborative oral history documentation with Jonas Raymouth. Together we recorded the stories of Inupiat elders who had helped pioneering archaeologist Louis Giddings find and excavate a number of important archaeological sites beginning in the 1940s. These archaeological sites are now designated National Historic Landmarks – recognized for their importance in informing the publics’ knowledge of how North America was populated.

Acknowledging Inupiat connections to the archaelogical heritage of these Landmarks, Inupiat place names were identified and used with the English place names in parentheses.

Role: Exhibit Researcher, Ethnographer and Co-Curator (as an intern with Becky Saleeby and Jonas Raymoth of the NPS). Internship funded by the National Council for Preservation Education and the National Park Service.

Exhibit images courtesy National Park Service, Alaska Office

more info: Cultural Ties article, 2002

Amber Ridington | Folklorist & Consultant

Projects

Travelling Exhibit | Fragile Treasures Link Generation to Generation: National Historic Landmarks in Northwestern Alaska (2002)