Living Heritage Workshop

The main aim of the proposed project is to bring together researchers, local community representatives and decision makers, regional professionals in the heritage sector and representatives from regional Native Alaskan organisations in order to build a support network to ensure the success and long term-sustainability of the newly established cultural centre and archaeological repository in the Native village of Quinhagak, Alaska. The goal is to provide a platform for collaboration across academic/non-academic boundaries, and to engage - on equal terms - different stakeholders in a dialogue to identify new and creative ways of participation and engagement in archaeological material and traditional culture.

Since the Nunalleq archaeological project began in 2009, seven field seasons have produced one of the largest archaeological collections recovered from Alaska, containing more than 60,000 artefacts. The quantity and quality of Yup'ik pre-contact material in the collection are unprecedented, and represent an invaluable cultural and scientific resource. With the conclusion of the AHRC founded ELLA project, the Nunalleq project is entering a new phase, with the collection being returned to the indigenous descendant community of Quinhagak where it will be housed in a purpose built cultural centre and archaeological repository; the Nunalleq Culture and Archaeology Center. The collection will be curated by the village community, with technical advice and training from the University of Aberdeen. The Nunalleq project is a fully integrated community-based effort with full and heartfelt participation and engagement. The return of the archaeological material will allow for this engagement to continue beyond the summer field season. Returning an archaeological collection of this importance to an indigenous community is nearly unique with no set protocols, so these must be established in a collaborative dynamic. The archaeological collection is a significant cultural asset for the local community, and taking full control over it provides fantastic opportunities. However, it also comes with considerable challenges. The success and sustainability of the Nunalleq Center is hinging on continued collaboration between researchers and professionals on one hand, and the Native community and local representatives on the other. This demands engagement from both sides, and after the formal funding of the project comes to an end this engagement is dependent on personal commitment.

This networking event will take the form of a short series of highly focused workshops directly connected to the return of the Nunalleq archaeological collection to the Indigenous Yup'ik community of Quinhagak, Alaska. The proposed series of workshops is a crucial step in strengthening existing ties within the project, and creating new ones including regional professionals from the cultural sector as well as regional Native Alaskan organisations.

The overarching goal of the project is the preservation and long-term protection of the archaeological collection, and the development of a concrete plan for its continued engagement with, and support for, Yup'ik cultural and educational life in the village and region, as well as ensuring it continues to be an accessible recourse for research. The aim is that the archaeological collection should be an accessible and multifaceted resource for cultural engagement on many different levels.

The outcome of the workshops will be strengthened collaboration, and a set of ideas on how to create sustainable ways of communication, dissemination and engagement for the future. This is in the interest of the preservation and long-term protection of the archaeological collection, but also to promote the archaeological material as a resource for engagements with traditional Yup'ik culture, and for education purposes, as well as a resource for researchers.

This project aims to engage researchers, local stakeholders, regional Native organisations and regional professionals within the heritage sector in a creative dialogue concerning community-based stewardship, long term sustainability, and culturally appropriate communication and dissemination relating to the Nunalleq archaeological collection. The collection is a major cultural resource for multiple stakeholders. The proposed workshop series directly target collaboration across professional/non-professional and academic/non-academic borders, and address impact with a focus on collaborative practices and wide dissemination.

Four main stakeholder groups, who all stand to benefit from this research, can be identified; the local indigenous community, the research community, regional Native organisations, and regional professionals in the museum and heritage sector.

Local Native community - Since the initiation of the Nunalleq Archaeological project the local engagement with the project has been constant. The Nunalleq Center will serve as a hub for similar projects, and the workshops aim to explore the different ways in which this can be ensured. The local Native community will benefit from an extended network with researchers and regional professionals in capacity building and developing and strengthening skills within the community in relation to heritage work. In the long term the local community will also see economic benefits from a successful outcome of the proposed networking activities, through visiting researchers and potential tourism. In a community of only 600 individuals, even small increases in visitor traffic can make a significant difference. Establishing collaboration with regional native organisations will also contribute to the local economy in the form of increased access to grant opportunities.

Research community and professionals - The novel enterprise, at least on this scale, of locally curating of an archaeological collection in a Native village context has the potential to advance both theory and methodology in the field of Indigenous archaeology and heritage studies, and thus impacts this area of research. The report and action plan ensure that these aims can be both successful and a subject for study in a long-term perspective. As a method, village-based curation will create a model for collaboration between academics and indigenous communities that others will follow.

Regional Native Organisations - The inclusion of regional Native Organisations in the workshops will help promote archaeological sites and collections as important assets for the strengthening and what amounts to an emancipation of Native cultural heritage. Archaeology is an underestimated resource among many indigenous communities, and a raised awareness of the new dimension it adds to heritage is also changing attitudes in Native Alaska. In turn the professional community is also rediscovering the potential value of true collaboration and power sharing with indigenous people. In a long-term perspective this would be one of the most important impacts of the workshops.

Regional Professionals in the heritage and museum sector - Professionals in the field stands to directly benefit from the protocols and guidelines developed within this project. The report will be available to them as a reference document.

In addition the general public also stands to benefit from this research. Public engagement and accessibility is a central theme for the workshops, and the discussions will be seeking ways in which to entice public interest whilst promoting Yup'ik culture, thus raising awareness among the wider public of both Yup'ik heritage and archaeology. An indirect impact of the workshops will also be the engagement with the artistic community, who has the potential to disperse the knowledge of the archaeological material in different channels.