Living Culture Gallery Reveals New Exhibit: From Kodiak to Carlisle, Tracing Our Lost Students
By Dehrich Chya Alutiiq Museum on Comments Off on Living Culture Gallery Reveals New Exhibit: From Kodiak to Carlisle, Tracing Our Lost Students
Eleven Alaskan Students with Charles E. Bunnell, 1901. Photograph courtesy of the National Anthropological Archives
KODIAK, AK—The Alutiiq Museum is honored to present a new exhibit in its Living Culture Gallery. This exhibit shares the story of eleven students taken from Woody Island and Long Island to the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in 1901, and the ongoing efforts to bring the remains of two girls home. “From Kodiak to Carlisle, Tracing our Lost Students” features a collection of photographs accompanied by historical context about the students’ experience. The Alutiiq Museum is grateful to have support from the Tangirnaq Native Village and the Bureau of Indian Affairs for the development of this exhibit.
In the early 20th century, the United States government sought to assimilate Native children into American society through a system of boarding schools designed to suppress Indigenous languages and cultures. Eleven Alaska Native children were taken from Woody Island and Long Island to the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in 1901. Two of these students, Anastasia Ashouwak and Parascovia Apaiukak, died while attending the school and were buried on its grounds. Their stories are part of a broader history of loss experienced by Native communities whose children were sent far from home. In 2021, the Alutiiq Museum worked in partnership with local Tribes, Native corporations, community members, and descendants to begin efforts to bring these two girls home. The exhibit highlights this collaborative work and honors the lives of the students and their families.
Director of Language and Living Culture Dehrich Chya said, “I hope people find this exhibit moving. The story of Anastasia’s return is especially monumental, and I think it is important to share information about all eleven of these students.”
The exhibit opening will be on April 3 from 5:00 to 7:00 PM at the Alutiiq Museum, and is supported by the City of Kodiak. This event is open to the public and admission to the Living Culture Gallery is always free.
The Alutiiq Museum is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and sharing the history and culture of the Alutiiq/Sugpiaq, an Alaska Native tribal people. Representatives of Kodiak Alutiiq organizations govern the museum with funding from charitable contributions, memberships, grants, contracts, and sales.
