Archaeology and the Sugpiaq renaissance on Kodiak Island: Three stories from Alaska
The Sugpiat people have lived in the Kodiak Archipelago for at least 7,500 years, but suffered extraordinary pressure on their cultural identity beginning with violent Russian conquest in 1784 and followed by Russian and American colonisation. Recognising that drastic actions were needed to preserve...
| Published in: | Études/Inuit/Studies |
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| Main Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
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Association Inuksiutiit Katimajiit Inc.
2013
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1025255ar https://doi.org/10.7202/1025255ar |
| Summary: | The Sugpiat people have lived in the Kodiak Archipelago for at least 7,500 years, but suffered extraordinary pressure on their cultural identity beginning with violent Russian conquest in 1784 and followed by Russian and American colonisation. Recognising that drastic actions were needed to preserve Sugpiaq heritage, the Kodiak Area Native Association began a cultural revitalisation movement. The centrepiece was a Native-owned state-of-the-art museum that opened in 1995. This essay recounts the stories of three participants in the beginning of a process that has transformed the cultural landscape of Kodiak. La présence sugpiaq dans l’archipel Kodiak remonte à au moins 7500 ans. Les Sugpiat ont cependant subi d’intenses pressions sur leur identité et leur culture avec la violente conquête russe de 1784 suivie par la colonisation russe et américaine. Consciente qu’il fallait recourir à des moyens radicaux pour préserver le patrimoine sugpiaq de l’île Kodiak, la Kodiak Area Native Association a entrepris un mouvement de revitalisation culturelle, dont la pièce maîtresse fut l’ouverture, en 1995, d’un musée autochtone d’avant-garde. Cet essai relate l’expérience de trois participants au début d’un processus qui a transformé le paysage culturel de l’île Kodiak. |
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