Arctic Peoples

A photographic exhibit on contemporary Arctic cultures
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Across the far north, indigenous peoples continue to practice traditional ways of living. This photographic exhibit illustrate moments from their daily lives, with images from Nenets, Saami, Inupiaq, and Alutiiq communities. The Alutiiq Museum’s staff selected these 20 images from hundreds taken by Haakanson to represent the persistence of tradition and the reliance of Arctic peoples on the resources of the north.

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Sven lands a Halibut

Celebrating the Polar Environment
2007 marks the beginning of the International Polar Year, a world wide scientific program focused on the earth’s polar regions. From March 2007 to March 2009 scientists from over 60 nations will examine a diverse set of physical, biological, and social research topics through more than 200 projects. Arctic Peoples is the Alutiiq Museum’s contribution to this event.

Dr. Sven Haakanson, Jr.
An anthropologist, a museum professional, an artist, and a member of the Old Harbor Alutiiq Tribe, Haakanson has traveled extensively in the north - meeting, working with, and photographing Native peoples. Seldom without a camera, Haakanson’s images capture the subtle details of daily life among societies maintaining their unique life ways in the modern world. His work has been published widely in National Geographic magazine, Smithsonian Institution exhibits, books, and journals.

Alutiiq

Mike Tunahun on the Fourth of July, Old Harbor, Alaska, 2001	John & Julia Pestrikoff, Old Village of Afognak, Alaska, Summer 1999
Following a whale - “Don’t get to close” - Near Sitkalidik Island, Alaska, 1996	Roy Rastopsoff teaches students to butcher a seal, Akhiok, Alaska, 2001
Salmon fishermen hauling in their catch, near Old Harbor, Alaska, 2001	Donene Eluska watching a wedding, Akhiok, Alaska, 2005

Nenets

Maksim Salendar and Alex and Kastya Serotetta setting out a gill net, Yamal Peninsula, Russia, August 1997	Yulia Serotetta hauling wood, Yamal Peninsula, Russia, 1995
Young Nenet girls, Yamal Peninsula, Russia, 1995	Two Nenets girls, Yamal Peninsula, Russia, 1997
A Russian MI8 Helicopter landing in a Nenets camp, Yamal, Peninsula, Russia, 1997	Yulia & Nina Serotetta preparing their sleds to move camp, Yamal Peninsula, Russia, 1997
Yulia Serotetta holding a white fish caught in a nearby lake, Yamal, Peninsula, Russia, 1997	Nenets herder, Brigade 18, Yamal, Peninsula, Russia 1997
Anna Serotetta scraping and softening reindeer skin for clothing, Yamal, Peninsula, Russia, 1997	Yana & Luba Serotetta eating a freshly harvested reindeer, Yamal Peninsula, Russia, 1996