Native Cultures of Western Alaska and the Pacific Northwest Coast

FAIN: EH-50189-09

Community College Humanities Association (Baltimore, MD 21237-3899)
George L. Scheper (Project Director: March 2009 to June 2012)

A four-week college and university teacher institute for twenty-four participants on the native cultures of the Pacific Northwest, to be held in Alaska and British Columbia.

CCHA requests funding for a NEH Summer Institute for 24 faculty from community and four-year colleges and universities on the topic, "Native Cultures of Western Alaska and the Pacific Northwest Coast," on-site in Alaska and British Columbia June 13- July 12, 2010. The indigenous peoples of this region developed complex societies with rich histories that were recorded in oral traditions, and they are noted for producing a great world artistic tradition. These cultures were intensively studied in the 19th and 20th centuries, yet in many ways only now are beginning to be understood. Our Institute will present the latest perspectives on the most recent scholarship on Northwest Coast history and culture, as presented by eleven visiting scholars and local artists. Northwest Coast peoples have been in the vanguard of a cultural renaissance. The study of the Northwest Coast cultures, from prehistoric to contemporary times, is an opportunity to expand the reach of America Studies.