Skip to main content
 

About

The Alutiiq Museum is a non-profit educational organization governed by the Kodiak Alutiiq community.

Our Mission

The Alutiiq Museum preserves and shares the heritage and living culture of the Alutiiq people.

Our Vision

Celebrating heritage through living culture.

Online Exhibits

Staff member Djuna Davidson sharing museum news at KOVK.


News

PRESS RELEASES & NEWSLETTERS

Find the latest news about our programs with these short media releases and copies of Alutiit Kasitat—The Alutiiq People’s News, our quarterly newsletter.

Online Exhibits

Summer intern Sarah Simeonoff participating in archaeological field work.


Opportunity

WORK WITH THE MUSEUM

Find information about job opportunities, internships, calls for artist support and artwork submissions, and special opportunities to work with us on this page.

Alutiiq Museum Exhibit

Staff members pack a historic Alutiiq kayak.

Contact Us

FIND A STAFF MEMBER

Our staff includes administrators, archaeologists, museum professionals, culture bearers, designers, and linguists. Meet our staff members and find contact information. 

Not sure who to ask?  Send us a note through our Cultural Questions Portal and we will find the right person to help.

Alutiiq Museum Exhibit

Members of the Alutiiq Heritage Foundation Board break ground for the Alutiiq Museum renovation.

Governance

OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The Alutiiq Museum is governed by the Alutiiq Heritage Foundation Board of Directors, with representatives from Kodiak’s ANCSA Corporations and the Kodiak Area Native Association.  Learn about our governance and find a list of our directors.

Museum History

Breaking ground for the Alutiiq Center Building. With shovels, from left: Carl Rosier (Commissioner of Fish and Game), Hank Eaton, Nancy Anderson, Governor Walter Hickel, and Peter Olsen. On the platform, Father John Zabinko, Tony Drabek, Gordon Pullar Sr., Jerome Selby, Rita Stevens, and First Lady Ermalee Hickel.

The Alutiiq Museum grew from the Kodiak Area Native Association’s Culture and Heritage Division (KANA). In 1987, the KANA board of directors resolved that the exploration and celebration of Native culture were essential to the well-being of Alutiiq/Sugpiaq communities. To support and share cultural learning, KANA established island-wide programs to teach Alutiiq arts, study the Alutiiq language, and investigate Alutiiq history, with the vision of one day developing a museum for the Alutiiq people.

Following the tragic 1989 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, an opportunity to fund museum construction arose. KANA secured $1.5 million from the oil spill trustee council to build a state-of-the-art repository, a place to care for artifacts from the spill area. Construction for the facility began in the spring of 1994, in collaboration with Natives of Kodiak, Inc. The Alutiiq Museum opened to the public on May 13, 1995, under the governance of the Alutiiq Heritage Foundation. A representative from KANA and each of Kodiak’s ANCSA corporations formed the board of directors. Collections from KANA’s cultural center were moved to the new building and became the foundation for the museum’s exhibits, programs, events, and publications.