Of Kayaks and Caribou Parkas: Recovering Traditional Knowledge and Exhibition Outreach

2010年4月在史密森国家自然历史博物馆举办的展览《Yuungnaqpiallerput（我们的生活方式）：Yup'ik科学和生存的杰作》的开幕式为公众教育、博物馆收藏文献和社区参与科学、人类学、语言复兴和文化遗产提供了前所未有的机会。展览展示了19世纪和20世纪初的工具、容器、武器、船只和服装，其设计揭示了对科学原理和过程的深入理解，这些原理和过程帮助Yup'ik人在阿拉斯加白令海沿岸生存了数千年，这是地球上最严酷的环境之一。华盛顿的展览场地将来自世界各地博物馆的数百件Yup'ik物品带到史密森尼博物馆。纳尔逊通过1877-81年的阿拉斯加实地考察和他的经典出版物《关于白令海峡的爱斯基摩人》（纳尔逊1899年）开创了雅普伊克研究。该项目利用研讨会将从雅普伊克长老那里获得的信息、来自纳尔逊最近发现的阿拉斯加日记的数据以及史密森尼博物馆的策展和保护专业知识结合起来。与会者将利用参考资料和分析设施，阐明Yup'ik科学的各个方面，例如选择原材料以实现强度、弹性、硬度、绝缘性、透气性或透水性、轻盈性和机械性能，以及美学和精神兼容性。Yup'ik顾问将与文物保护人员、策展人和科学家合作，为文物记录和长期保存和护理制定协议，这些协议在科学上是合理的，在文化上也适合博物馆藏品的储存和教育用途。除了开发新的研究方法和标准外，该项目还通过展示画廊演示、电影节目和儿童活动，教育游客了解博物馆藏品和土著知识的重要性。

The opening of the exhibition, Yuungnaqpiallerput (The Way We Genuinely Live): Masterworks of Yup'ik Science and Survival at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in April, 2010, offers unprecedented opportunity for public education, museum collection documentation, and community engagement in science, anthropology, language revitalization, and cultural heritage. The exhibit presents remarkable 19th and early 20th century tools, containers, weapons, watercraft and clothing whose design reveals intimate understanding of the scientific principles and processes that helped Yup'ik people survive for thousands of years along Alaska's Bering Sea coast, one of the most rigorous environments on earth. The Washington venue brings hundreds of Yup'ik objects from museums around the world to the Smithsonian, where Edward W. Nelson pioneered Yup'ik studies through his 1877-81 Alaskan fieldwork and his classic publication, The Eskimos About Bering Strait (Nelson 1899).The project utilizes workshop sessions to combine information obtained from Yup'ik elders, data from Nelson's recently discovered Alaskan diaries, and Smithsonian curatorial and conservation expertise. Participants will utilize reference collections and analytical facilities to shed light on aspects of Yup'ik science such as the selection of raw materials for strength, resilience, hardness, insulation, wind or water permeability, lightness and mechanical properties, as well as aesthetics and spiritual compatibility. In collaboration with conservators, curators and scientists, Yup'ik consultants will develop protocols for object documentation and long-term preservation and care that are both scientifically sound and culturally appropriate for the storage and educational use of museum collections. In addition to developing new research methods and standards, the project educates visitors about the importance of museum collections and Native knowledge by presenting gallery demonstrations, film programs, and children's activities.