Anchorage Museum
  • Visit
    • The Museum From Home
    • Calendar
    • Hours & Tickets
    • Tours
    • Accessibility
    • Parking
    • Discovery Center
    • Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center
    • Planetarium
    • Museum Store
    • Museum Rentals
    • Tour Operators
    • MUSE
    • Tell Us About Your Visit
  • Exhibitions
    • Upcoming Exhibitions
    • Current Exhibitions
    • Permanent Exhibitions
    • Archived Exhibitions
    • Traveling Exhibitions
  • Programs
    • Talks & Tours
    • Classes & Workshops
    • For Educators
    • Film & Planetarium
    • Performing & Literary Art + Creative Practice
    • Family, Youth & Homeschool
    • Special Events
  • Membership & Donations
    • Become a Member
    • Volunteer
    • Make a Donation
    • Giving Opportunities
  • Collections
    • The Collection Online
    • Library & Archives
    • Access & Research
    • Acquisitions Committee
    • Rights & Reproductions
  • About Us
    • Governance
    • Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Anti-Racism
    • Major Projects
    • SEED Lab
    • About Our Programs and Exhibitions
    • Creative Opportunities
    • Museum Journal
    • Community Support
    • Social Media Guidelines
    • E-Newsletter Sign-up
    • Requests for Proposals / Qualifications
    • Employment
    • Contact Us
  • Shop

Today's Hours: OPEN 10am ‑ 6pm

ENG more
ESP DEU FRN 漢語 日本の 한국의
  • ×
    • Home
    • Exhibitions
    • Current Exhibitions
    2010_sasc_gallery(1)-1.jpg (1)

    Living Our Cultures, Sharing Our Heritage: The First Peoples of Alaska

    Exhibit and Website Educator Guide

    Exhibit and Website Lesson Plans

    Exhibit and Programs Videos

    Subscribe

    * indicates required

    In the first arrangement of its kind, the Smithsonian Institution has loaned hundreds of indigenous Alaska artifacts to their place of origin allowing access for hands-on study by Alaska Native elders, artists and scholars. These cultural and historical treasures are exhibited in the new Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center in the Anchorage Museum.

    The center’s main exhibition is titled Living Our Cultures, Sharing Our Heritage: The First Peoples of Alaska. The exhibition features more than 600 objects from the Smithsonian's collections that were selected and interpreted with help from Alaska Native advisers. Examples include an 1893 Tlingit war helmet from the southeast Alaska village of Taku and a 1935 Inupiaq feast bowl from Wales, near Nome on Alaska’s northwest coast.

    Visitors learn about objects through touch screens: They can zoom in on a photo of an object and scroll through more information, such as related oral histories and archival images. This information and more is available on the exhibition website Sharing Knowledge, where you can also find resources for educators.

    The exhibition also includes two multimedia installations. A video installation about contemporary Alaska Native life plays on seven large, flat-screen TVs. A 3-D sound installation along the west wall immerses visitors in the Arctic through recordings of Alaska Native storytellers and sounds from the natural environment.

    In addition to its gallery space, the 10,000-square-foot center encourages research about Alaska Native cultures through an archaeology laboratory and a community room where Alaska Native elders, artists and scholars can study heritage objects up close.

    The Arctic Studies Center, established in 1988, is a federal research and education program focusing on peoples, history, archaeology and cultures across the circumpolar North. The center is part of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History. In 1994, the center partnered with the Anchorage Museum to open an Anchorage office.

    Learn more about Alaska Native cultures.

    View the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center Exhibition video:

    Anchorage Museum

    625 C Street
    Anchorage, AK 99501
    907-929-9200 | General
    907-929-9228 | Membership

    Contact Info

    Privacy Policy

    Hours

    10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday - Saturday
    Noon to 6 p.m. Sunday

    THE DISCOVERY CENTER WILL REOPEN WITH HOURLY TICKETED ENTRY THURSDAY, MARCH 4.



    THIS IS DENA’INA EŁNENA.
    ANCHORAGE IS DENA’INA HOMELAND.

    Admission

    • $20 Adult (18-64)
    • $17 Alaska resident (18-64)
    • $15 Senior (65+), student, military with ID
    • $10 Ages 6-12
    • Free 5 and younger
    • Free Museum members (best deal!)
    • Discounts AAA, LifeBalance and Reciprocal Museum

    Buy Tickets

    Press Room

    Membership

    Share this page
    • Share on Facebook
    • Share on Twitter
    • Share on Google+
    • Share on LinkedIn
    am-black