ANCHORAGE, Alaska – This summer, the Alaska Native Heritage Center (ANHC) will unveil three new powerful exhibitions honoring the resilience, artistry, and living histories of Alaska’s First Peoples. Among the extraordinary highlights is the arrival of the world’s only known Dena'ina ground squirrel parka, on special loan from the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York.
The parka, hand-stitched from dozens of ground squirrel pelts, was collected during the historic Jesup Expedition on April 18, 1899, and catalogued by renowned anthropologist Franz Boas. The artifact originates from the Upper Susitna River region—modern-day Talkeetna (K’dalkitnu)—homelands of the Dena'ina Athabascan people. This priceless cultural belonging will be part of two exhibitions at ANHC:
- Nats'itsatna (Our Ancestors – the Ancient Dena’ina People, in Dena’ina) — a new exhibition focused on cultural belongings being ethically returned to Alaska Native communities, in this case for a year-long visit.
- Dena'ina Quht'ana (Our Local People of a Place, in Dena'ina) — ANHC’s first permanent exhibition honoring the Dena'ina Athabascan people, whose Ancestral lands ANHC resides upon.
The squirrel parka was formally welcomed home with a small private ceremony before going on display. ANHC expresses gratitude to the Anchorage Museum for lending casework to house the parka during its stay.
About the Nats’itsatna Exhibition
The Nats’itsatna exhibition will feature cultural belongings that were removed without consent from Alaska Native communities or are part of the movement to ethically return Ancestral belongings to their homelands. The exhibition will examine the historical and social context that resulted in cultural belongings being removed, including assimilative boarding schools, western exploration and related mass collecting in the name of science, theft for monetary and social gain, and other systematic colonial structures that led to the removal of cultural belongings from Indigenous communities.
The exhibition explores themes highlighting the rich artistic traditions of Indigenous peoples from across the state of Alaska. The cultural belongings will range from those created hundreds of years ago to contemporary works, showcasing many endangered art forms and traditions that are rarely accessible to the public—or, more importantly, to Alaska Native people themselves.
A dedicated worktable will be part of the exhibition, where Master Artists and students can hold workshops in the company of the Ancestors, creating powerful opportunities for education, reconnection, and healing.
More Homecomings: 260+ Cultural Belongings Returning to Alaska
In another historic milestone, ANHC will also welcome home 260+ cultural belongings from the Ralph T. Coe Center for the Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico. As part of their ethical closure, the Coe Center has prioritized returning these Ancestral items to Alaska Native communities.
The returned objects—ranging from ancient tools to ceremonial pieces—were carefully met with a private ceremony upon their arrival. ANHC’s cultural advisory committees, representing Alaska’s diverse Indigenous regions, provided ceremonial guidance, including selecting medicinal plants and offering prayers to accompany the Ancestors on their long journey home. Many of these Ancestral belongings will be featured in the Nats’itsatna exhibition, opening May 11, 2025.
Historic Boarding School Exhibit: Education in Alaska
In addition to these groundbreaking exhibitions, ANHC will debut its historic new exhibition titled "Education in Alaska," focused on Alaska Native experiences in the boarding school era. "Education in Alaska" will trace the history and impact of federally and religiously run boarding schools across Alaska, examining the policies and practices that sought to assimilate Indigenous children and disrupt Indigenous ways of life. Through firsthand accounts, rare photographs, archival material, and survivor testimonies, the exhibition will illuminate the resilience of Alaska Native peoples in the face of historical trauma—and the ongoing efforts to reclaim language, culture, and identity. This boarding school exhibit will be the first of its kind and will include:
- An interactive GIS map that highlights the 120 boarding schools and 20 assimilative day schools in Alaska featuring the findings of ANHC’s research department.
- The most in-depth timeline of this era to exist which tells the progression of forced assimilation effecting the wider United States.
- Cultural items from the era which show the more specific elements of forced assimilation that occurred during this era by both Church and State.
This exhibit will also highlight the rolls of eugenics, ethnology, and the relationship between the various Protestant and Roman Catholic denominations/religious orders with the United States Federal Government.
Together, Nats’itsatna and Education in Alaska mark an important chapter in ANHC’s ongoing mission: to create spaces where history is remembered, healing is honored, and Alaska Native futures are strengthened through truth-telling, culture, and education.
"These exhibitions are about restoration, reconnection, and resilience," said Emily Edenshaw (Yup’ik/Iñupiaq/Adopted Raven Thunderbird Clan), President and CEO of the Alaska Native Heritage Center. "Each belonging returned, each Ancestor welcomed home, and each story bravely told strengthens the spirit of our communities and honors the unbroken relationship between our peoples and these lands. On behalf of the ANHC Board and Staff, we thank AMNH for the loan and the Coe Center for this incredible gift."
Benjamin Jacuk (Dena’ina/Sugpiaq), Director of Indigenous Research states, “These exhibits are by and for our peoples who deserve to know our history, because when we know what has brought us to where we are, we know our strength, we know who we are, and we know what healing looks like for the next generation.”
Campus Expansion: Building for Future Generations
The unveiling of these historic exhibitions coincides with the announcement of another exciting and transformative effort currently underway at ANHC, our campus expansion. The $26 million-dollar campus expansion includes a community subsistence kitchen, a large community hall, a healing garden, and a renovated Indigenous theater space. The expanded campus will create space for year-round cultural programming, workforce development, and intergenerational healing. Our team is actively engaging architects, funders, and community voices to ensure this vision is led by and for Alaska Native peoples.
“The expansion will include dedicated areas for healing, Elder-youth engagement, and cultural tourism, as well as new infrastructure that reflects Indigenous design and sustainability principles. This expansion is not just about buildings; it is about creating a legacy of belonging, healing, and innovation to carry us across the next 100 years,” Emily Keneggnarkayaaggaq Edenshaw (Yup’ik/Iñupiaq/Adopted Raven/Thunderbird Clan), President and CEO of the Alaska Native Heritage Center.
Together, these exhibitions and the campus expansion initiative ensure that ANHC remains on the path of building a legacy that inspires and serves future generations.
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About the Alaska Native Heritage Center
The Alaska Native Heritage Center is a nonprofit organization that preserves and strengthens the traditions, languages and art of Alaska’s Native Peoples through statewide collaboration, celebration and education. To learn more, visit www.alaskanative.net.
Media Contact
Rachel Ruston
Communications & Development Manager
[email protected] | 561-373-3738
