(SitNews) - With the grand opening for new Walter Soboleff Building scheduled for May 15, Sealaska Heritage Institute has partnered with Sitka National Historical Park to move its collection of objects into the new building in Juneau.

A little-known clause in the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) authorizes the National Park Service as part of the Department of Interior to offer advice, support and technical expertise to ANCSA corporations and Native groups in the preservation, management, display and interpretation of cultural resources.

Through the service, known as the Statewide Cultural Assistance Program, a curator with the Sitka National Historical Park will travel to Juneau for a week to help professional staff at Sealaska Heritage move ethnographic, art and archeological objects from Sealaska to the Walter Soboleff Building downtown Juneau.

A curator with the Sitka National Historical Park traveled to Juneauto help professional staff at Sealaska Heritage move ethnographic, art and archeological objects from Sealaska to the Walter Soboleff Building.
Photo courtesy Sealaska

About a half dozen groups have tapped the service in the past twenty years, said Sitka National Historical Park Superintendent Mary A. Miller, noting the program is a natural fit for SHI as it moves collections to its new facility.

"We are pleased to be able to offer up professional assistance to Sealaska Heritage and to help play a small role in the opening of the Soboleff building," Miller said.

It's the first time the institute has moved its collections on such a large scale, and the curatorial assistance will contribute to the efforts being taken to carry out the move according to museum-quality preservation standards.

"We just recently learned of this provision in ANILCA and it will be of great help to us as we begin moving our collections," said SHI President Rosita Worl. "This is a wonderful opportunity and a very significant partnership."

The curator will work with the institute's archivist to ensure there are controls for tracking collections during the move and that the new storage locations are documented in SHI's electronic catalog database, among other things. The curator, Kelsey Lutz, was in Juneau on Monday, Feb. 23, and stayed through the end of week.

The pieces will be moved to new compact storage units customized for the environmentally-controlled storage area in the new building. Purchase of the storage equipment was funded through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, which also is funding the construction of preservation-quality storage boxes and mounts for the collections.

The formal opening of the new Walter Soboleff Building will be followed by a traditional grand opening ceremony. The Traditional Grand Opening Ceremony for the Walter Soboleff Building will be held on May 15, 2015 beginning at 1:30 PM. The traditional ceremony will be led by Ken Grant, T’akdeintaan, and David Katzeek, Shangukeidí, and followed by brief comments from clan leaders. The Council of Traditional Scholars has been meeting and planning the agenda for the Traditional Grand Opening Ceremony.

Edited by Mary Kauffman, SitNews

Source of News: 

Sealaska Heritage Institute
http://www.sealaskaheritage.org

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