Anchorage Museum

Arctic Studies Center: In the first arrangement of its kind, the Smithsonian Institution has loaned hundreds of indigenous Alaska artifacts to their place of origin and 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... In addition to its gallery space, the 10,000-square-foot center encourages research about Alaska Native culture through an archaeology laboratory and a space where Alaska Native elders, artists and scholars can study heritage objects up close." Multimedia installations, related oral histories and archival images accompany artifacts in the exhibits. Library and archive "collections currently consist of over 20,000 pieces that span man's earliest activities in Alaska to the most recent art." Select materials available online, searchable by subject, culture, or search term. For access to physical collections not on display, see website for details.