The Alutiiq Museum says it is fortunate to have many friends who contribute their time and talents to their work. To highlight the importance of their volunteers, they honored one outstanding contribution with the museum’s Volunteer of the Year award. For 2022, Chris Wooley was picked for his help with researching the lives of two Alutiiq teenagers who died while attending the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania.
 
Chris is a retired anthropologist and the former owner of Chumis Cultural Resource Services. He worked around Alaska completing cultural and historic studies for over 40 years. In the 1990s, he assisted Leisnoi, Inc. in documenting the Alutiiq history of Woody Island, research that helped the corporation protect its certification as a Native Village under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. He was an early advocate for the Alutiiq Museum and assisted tribal leaders with retreats on Woody Island.
 
Now, Chris’ knowledge of Woody Island and his research skills are helping the Alutiiq community again. When the Alutiiq Museum learned that the remains of Anastasia Ashouwak and Pariscovia Achacee Friendoff could be repatriated from the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, the museum formed a Carlisle School Repatriation Working Group for the Kodiak region and invited Chris to join. Requesting the return of the girls’ remains required identifying their closest living relatives. Anastasia’s family was quickly identified, but Pariscovia’s family has been harder to find. Chris has been a regular participant in working group meetings and has given many hours of his time to explore historic records as the search for Pariscovia’s relatives continues. His research has been invaluable.
 
“In the early 2000s I had the privilege of working with the late Gordon Pullar and Margaret Roberts doing research and conducting Tribal retreats on Woody Island which instilled in me a love for the families who can trace their roots to that special place,” said Chris. “Pariscovia was connected to Woody Island and when the Alutiiq Museum called, I was glad to help.”
 
“Pariscovia died of TB in 1906 after spending four years essentially indentured to Pennsylvania families through the ‘outing’ program of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. All of us who have worked to discover and tell her story will be thankful when she returns home.”
 
To learn more about volunteering with the museum, please contact Djuna Davidson (844-425-8844). We welcome all volunteers, and no experience is necessary.

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