Three new artifacts repatriated to the Alutiiq Museum

Kodiak, Alaska (KTUU) – Three new artifacts reflecting local history made the trek from Santa Fe, New Mexico back to the land they originated from.

The decision to return the artifacts was made by the Ralph T. Coe Center for the Arts in New Mexico because they have been focusing less on keeping artifacts behind glass — moving more into lessons.

“The Coe Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico is known for its Indigenous arts programs, and they’re going through a restructuring where they’re focusing more on programming and less on collecting and they decided to rehome about 2,500 pieces of indigenous artwork,” Chief Curator for the Alutiiq Museum Amy Steffian explained.

As they moved away from collections the Coe Center put out an invitation to organizations across the country to see if any of the artifacts in their collection were tied to indigenous homelands.

“We saw it and noticed three pieces that were tied to Kodiak and put in an application for those,” she said.

The three items are all artistic in nature, one being a mid-19th century bowl that has a unique shape, resembling a boat.

“It’s the kind of thing that people would have served fish or stew, or perhaps even grease in. People for many years had the tradition of dipping dried food like dried halibut or dried meat into rendered seal oil,” she explained.

The other two objects are more contemporary — both made by Alaska Native Lalla Williams. The first object is a purse made of sea bass skin

“It’s made out of fish skin, which is a long-held tradition in coastal communities, but it’s an art that’s sort of faded from living practice, and Lalla, other artists have brought it back,” she explained. “It’s trimmed in pretty calico fabric and has a little ivory clasp, a little knob or a piece of fabric that goes over it to clasp.”

The second object is a small pouch made of seal gut.

“It has beautiful decorations in red, white, and green of yarn and fabric, it’s lovely,” she said explaining the two new contemporary art pieces.

For Amy Steffian the new items are a great opportunity to promote cultural learning.

“I think the important thing to understand is that we’re in a day and age where many native communities have active programs and a real interest in using these objects,” she explained.

The move to return the objects is part of a growing movement called “ethical repatriation.”

“Putting these objects back in Kodiak allows them to be really accessible to the tribal communities, is wonderful, and there are other museums that I think will follow suit and we are actively working with museums to identify the Alutiiq object in their care,” she said.

To expand the wealth of knowledge the museum will be putting the artifacts into its database for everyone to have access to.

“Visually, we’re beginning that knowledge repatriation process and we hope that the return, the ethical return of collections will follow,” she said.

The Alutiiq Museum has been closed for renovations since 2023 but they will have all of the returned objects on display when they plan to reopen on May 22, 2025.

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