Sharing Voices: Making the Tachiqalax Collection Accessible Through Unangam and Academic Collaboration

FAIN: PW-296746-24

Museum of the Aleutians (Unalaska, AK 99685-0648)
Caroline Funk (Project Director: July 2023 to present)
Karen Macke (Co Project Director: May 2024 to present)

A project to expand access to archaeological collections and histories of Tachiqalax, a Unangam village on Unalaska Island, Alaska.

The history of the Unangam village Tachiqalax on Unalaska Island, Alaska, is the story of a maritime, complex society’s catastrophic intersection with Russian colonialism. Our proposed NEH project builds on the Unalaska Archaeology and History Project (1986-1990), which excavated a significant portion of Tachiqalax. The proposed project has two specific aims: 1) to expand the number of perspectives telling the history of Tachiqalax; and 2) to expand access to the site’s histories and archaeological materials so that researchers, educators, and Unangax^ may freely participate in learning, research, and cultural stewardship. The project will catalog, curate, and make accessible online approximately 100 cubic feet of archaeological materials. Through this process, the project broadens access to and decolonizes a dynamic period of U.S. colonial era history, develops a multivocal history with researchers and Unangax^, and builds capacity in Alaska Native collections stewardship.