Material Traditions - Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center

Ivory Carving

For millennia, walrus ivory tusks have been carved into forms essential to Arctic life, from harpoon heads and needles, to hunting charms and figures that evoke spiritual connections and ancestry.

Three carvers who carry on this tradition — Jerome Saclamana of Nome, Levi Tetpon of Shaktoolik, and Clifford Apatiki of Gambell — came to the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center for a weeklong residency in April 2016. Hosted in the Living Our Cultures gallery, these accomplished artists demonstrated their work in this important cultural form and material, combining traditional with innovative and experimental techniques that were shared with students, visitors, curators and conservators.

Material Traditions is sponsored by the Surdna Foundation, CIRI Foundation, Smithsonian Council for Arctic Studies, and Alaska State Council on the Arts.

Gallery

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Photo by Ash Adams, courtesy of the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center

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Photo by Ash Adams, courtesy of the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center

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Photo by Ash Adams, courtesy of the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center

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Photo by Ash Adams, courtesy of the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center

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Photo by Ash Adams, courtesy of the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center

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Photo by Ash Adams, courtesy of the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center

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Photo by Ash Adams, courtesy of the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center

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Photo by Ash Adams, courtesy of the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center

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Photo by Ash Adams, courtesy of the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center

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Voices from Cedar

Whistles, rattles, and clappers summon spirits and echo their voices during the dances and ceremonies of the Indigenous peoples of Southeast Alaska. Carved from red or yellow cedar, these traditional instruments blend distinctive musical sounds with complex forms. Master carvers John Hudson (Tsimshian), Norman Jackson (Tlingit), and Donald Varnell (Haida) demonstrated how these instruments are made and share knowledge of their cultural meanings during the Voices from Cedar artists’ residency at the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center in October, 2016. The artists taught students and compared their own work to historical examples in the Living Our Cultures, Sharing Our Heritage exhibition on the second floor of the museum’s west wing.

Voices from Cedar

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Photo by Wayde Carroll, courtesy of the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center

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Artist John Hudson (Tsimshian) uses a curved knife to carve a rattle.

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Photo by Wayde Carroll, courtesy of the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center

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Mountain View Elementary students work on a balsa wood art project after visiting the carvers at the residency.

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Photo by Wayde Carroll, courtesy of the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center

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Artist John Hudson (Tsimshian) shows UAA Native art student Brian Walker II (Deg Hit'an Athabascan/King Island Iñupiaq) how to use an adze.

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Photo by Wayde Carroll, courtesy of the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center

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UAA Native art student Bryce Ehmann carves sound hole for the air channel on his whistle.

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Photo by Wayde Carroll, courtesy of the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center

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Artist Norman Jackson (Tlingit) carves a rattle with a chisel and mallet.

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Photo by Wayde Carroll, courtesy of the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center

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Tools used by carvers at the residency, including chisels, curved knives and an adze.

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Photo by Wayde Carroll, courtesy of the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center

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UAA Native art student Brian Walker II (Deg Hit'an Athabascan/King Island Iñupiaq) tests the sound on the whistle he carved.

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Photo by Wayde Carroll, courtesy of the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center

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Roughed-out halves of a rattle carved by artist Norman Jackson (Tlingit).

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Photo by Wayde Carroll, courtesy of the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center

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Artist Donald Varnell (Haida) sharpens a carving knife.

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Photo by Wayde Carroll, courtesy of the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center

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Artist John Hudson (Tsimshian) demonstrates the sound of his whistle to a museum visitor.

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Photo by Wayde Carroll, courtesy of the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center

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Artist John Hudson (Tsimshian) shows a nearly-finished rattle and the start of another.

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Photo by Wayde Carroll, courtesy of the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center

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Artist Norman Jackson (Tlingit) shows one of his masks to Denali Montessori Elementary students.