Nunalleq Culture & Archaeology Center
An archaeological dig has unearthed over 70,000 artifacts preserved by permafrost for centuries near a remote community on the Bering Sea. Incredibly well preserved ulus, masks, baskets, rope and utensils have been collected and sent to the University of Aberdeen for conservation and cataloguing, where lead archaeologist Rick Knecht is a professor. The artifacts will return to Quinhagak, Alaska, in 2018 for installation in the soon-to-be opened Nunalleq Culture & Archaeology Center, named “The Old Village” in Yup’ik. The dig has involved many community members who have consulted and participated in the excavation. Here artist Drew Michael, born in nearby Bethel, Alaska, speaks about his experience at the excavation site: I recently spent ten days in Quinhagak participating in the dig. I was invited because I am a well-known mask maker in Alaska. I am Yu’pik and Iñupiaq, and my people come from that area. Being there connected me to my homeland in a way that I have never experienced before, and it affected me profoundly. As I was digging, I felt like I was getting to know the different generations of people who have lived on this land. I found a small wooden mask that is probably around 500 years old. As a mask maker, it was surreal. I kept pinching myself because I couldn’t believe what I found. The experience has been influencing my work; there is a deeper, spiritual connection in the stories that I am telling. I have been inspired to make a body of work about transformations, animal spirits and the spirits of ancestors as a way to honour them.