Volunteering - Alutiiq Museum and Archaeological Repository

Give Your Time and Talents

Volunteers are an essential part of the Alutiiq Museum and we appreciate the hundreds of hours community members donate each year. Volunteers help with everything from tours and events to serving on committees, caring for collections, and completing research. Volunteering is a great way to learn more about Alutiiq Heritage and make friends. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, please contact Djuna Davidson, 844-425-8844.

Quyanaa ikayurluta. — Thank you for helping us.

A team of volunteers from the United States Coast Guard assists the museum with assembling and moving furniture, 2022.

Committees

Community members are vital in planning and evaluating the museum’s work and we have both long-term and project-based committees. If you are interested in serving on a museum committee please contact the lead staff member.

Collections Committee

Reviews collections offered to the museum as gifts and loans and makes a recommendation to our board. Led by Amanda Lancaster, 844-425-8844.

Qik Committee

A group of Alutiiq speakers and learners that plan language documentation and education projects. Led by Dehrich Chya, 844-425-8844.

Exhibit Committee

Assists museum staff in developing gallery exhibit themes, content, and designs. Led by Alex Painter, 844-425-8844.

Volunteer of the Year

In honor of Valentine’s Day, the Alutiiq Museum likes to show a little love for its volunteers. We are fortunate to have many friends who contribute their time and talents to our work. To highlight the importance of our volunteers, we honor one outstanding contribution with our Volunteer of the Year award.

Bonnie & Jim Dillard

2023 — Jim & Bonnie Dillard

Long-time Kodiak educators and artists, Jim and Bonnie Dillard have supported cultural education and the Alutiiq Museum for decades. In 2023, the Dillards gave their time and expertise to build and paint two Alutiiq drums for use in education. Thanks to their kindness, the instruments now spend the school year in the Kodiak elementary school music department and return to the museum each summer for care.

Past Honorees

2022 — Chris Wooley

Chris Wooley helped the museum research the lives of two Alutiiq teenagers who died while attending the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania.

2021 — Shelly Lawson

An educator with the US Fish & Wildlife Service, Shelly has been reaching out to the museum for many years to partner on projects and volunteer her time to advance cultural education.

2020 — Lydia Olsen

Lydia spent hours assembling photographs to create an archive of over 3,000 images of her large Alutiiq family for the Alutiiq Museum’s collections.