Harvard Peabody Museum Transfers Ownership of Ancestral Kayak to Alutiiq Museum as Part of Ongoing Repatriation Efforts

Via The Harvard Crimson

Harvard’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology recently transferred ownership of an ancestral Alutiiq, or Sugpiaq, kayak to the Alutiiq Museum, a cultural museum and tribal repository in Kodiak, Alaska, according to a Jan. 24 press release from the Alaskan museum.

The relocation of the kayak — which spans 14.5 feet in length — is part of the Peabody’s ongoing efforts to repatriate cultural artifacts of Native American origin. The announcement comes nearly two years after Harvard was accused of being in violation of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act by the Association on American Indian Affairs.

The Alutiiq Museum requested the ownership transfer in the fall of 2022, citing spiritual reasons. Due to its seams embellished by human hair, the kayak was likely used for “talismanic purposes.” Complete with a wooden frame covered in oiled seal skin, the boat is a “rare example of a complete ancestral kayak,” according to the press release.

More here.

AAA/CASCA’s 2023 Annual Meeting: General Call for Participation Now Open

The General Call for Participation is now open for AAA/CASCA’s 2023 Annual Meeting taking place in Toronto, November 15-19. Utilizing the theme Transitions, this year’s meeting will once again be hybrid with options for both in-person and virtual attendance. We invite research presentations in a variety of formats, including in-person and online – use our interactive tool to select your presentation type. The deadline for proposals to be started in the Portal is Wednesday, March 22. The deadline for the proposals to be completed is Wednesday, March 29 – 11:59 PM ET.

Session Organizer Responsibilities

We’re committed to creating an Annual Meeting and anthropological community that are supportive, inclusive, and conducive to anthropological research. This year, we are asking session organizers to help us fulfill this commitment. You as an organizer have these responsibilities, which will begin the day you start to organize, and end with your session at the Annual Meeting.  Learn more.

NOTE: Our submission site no longer requires speakers/participants on group sessions to complete their portion of proposals. Organizers of group proposals complete the entire submission on the group’s behalf, which involves collecting all pertinent information from your speakers ahead of time.

Timeline

  • General Call for Participation Open
    • Thursday, February 2, 2023 – 3:00 PM Eastern Time
  • Deadline for Proposals to be started in the Portal
    • Wednesday, March 22, 2023 – 11:59 PM Eastern Time
  • Deadline for Participation Proposals to be submitted in the Portal
    • Wednesday, March 29, 2023 – 11:59 PM Eastern Time
  • General Call Proposals Undergo Peer Review
    • Wednesday, April 12, 2023 – Wednesday, June 7, 2023
  • Accept / Decline Notices Sent to General Call Submitters
    • Week of July 5, 2023
  • Speaker Resource Center Launches for Accepted General Call Submitters
    • Week of July 5, 2023
  • Deadline for Speaker Resource Center Tasks
    • Wednesday, September 6, 2023 – 11:59 PM Eastern Time

Please view the official Timeline for a full list of important dates to remember.
We also invite you to routinely check the Annual Meeting website and your email regularly for pertinent updates.

Position Announcement: Assistant Professor of Museum Practice and Indigenous Archaeology, Department of Archaeology at Simon Fraser University

The Department of Archaeology at Simon Fraser University seeks to fill one Assistant Professor (tenure track) position in Museum Practice and Indigenous Archaeology or Indigenous Material Heritage Conservation and Outreach that will directly advance Simon Fraser University’s Truth and Reconciliation Plan. Priority will be to fill the Museum Practice and Indigenous Archaeology position.  For the Museum Practice and Indigenous Archaeology candidate we seek a colleague with a research focus on conveying narratives of North American Indigenous history using ancestral belongings (with or without oral history). For the Indigenous Material Heritage Conservation and Outreach candidate we seek a candidate with a research focus on improving conservation methods and data sharing practices and technologies related to North American artifact types and archaeological sites, including laser scanning, 3D-printed replication, virtual realities, and other emergent methods.  Preferred start date of May 1, 2023.

All candidates must have a PhD with an archaeology-related research specialization, museum experience, and an active research program. Applicants should also have expertise or strong interests in:

  • stewardship, curation, effective public presentation of culturally sensitive materials and/or sharing data linked to museum collections;
  • the ability to develop and lead the new Museum Studies Certificate;
  • collections-based research collaborations with the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology Director and other colleagues;
  • supervising and mentoring graduate and undergraduate students; and
  • developing and delivering courses in archaeological conservation, management of archaeological collections, cultural property law and ethics, repatriation, museum data management, and related fields.

The deadline for receiving all application materials, including a maximum 2-page cover letter, a 1-page teaching statement, a 1-page research statement, curriculum vitae, and museum experience portfolio, is February 28, 2023. Please submit your application to archasst@sfu.ca Attn: Hugo Cardoso, Chair. Please indicate which position you are applying for in your cover letter. Candidates who are selected for an interview will be required to submit a teaching portfolio and three reference letters.

We especially encourage individuals with strong Indigenous cultural knowledge, experience working with First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities, and a background in establishing and maintaining trusting relationships with Indigenous communities and organizations to apply.

Position Announcement: Assistant Director, City of Albuquerque Museums

Plan, direct, manage and oversee activities and operations within the Museum Division including finance and accounting management; coordinate assigned activities with other divisions and outside agencies and provide highly responsible and complex administrative support to the Associate Director, Museum.

Preferred Skills & Abilities
  • Oversee and participate in the management of the City museum’s operations, services and activities
  • Oversee, direct and coordinate the work of lower level staff
  • Select, supervise, train and evaluate staff
  • Ensure proper maintenance of museum facilities
  • Participate in the development and administration of division goals, objectives and procedures
  • Maintain computerized records of museum information
  • Prepare and administer large and complex budgets
  • Prepare administrative and financial reports
  • Analyze problems, identify alternative solutions, project consequences of proposed actions and implement recommendations in support of goals
  • Research, analyze, and evaluate new service delivery methods and techniques
  • Respond to inquiries from the media and general public regarding museum programs
  • Interpret and apply Federal, State and local policies, laws and regulations
  • Communicate clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing
  • Establish and maintain effective working relationships with those contacted in the course of work
  • Perform the essential functions of the job with or without reasonable accommodation
  • Maintain physical condition appropriate to the performance of assigned duties and responsibilities
  • Maintain effective audio-visual discrimination and perception to the degree necessary for the successful performance of assigned duties

Call for Papers: Eighth Annual Conference on the History of Recent Social Science, Uppsala University

This two-day conference of the Society for the History of Recent Social Science (HISRESS), at Uppsala University in Sweden, will bring together researchers working on the history of post-World War II social science. It will provide a forum for the latest research on the cross-disciplinary history of the post-war social sciences, including but not limited to anthropology, economics, psychology, political science, and sociology as well as related fields like area studies, communication studies, history, international relations, law, and linguistics. The conference aims to build upon the recent emergence of work and conversation on cross-disciplinary themes in the postwar history of the social sciences.

More here.

Call for Participants: Care & Conservation of Indigenous Collections Workshop, UCLA/Getty

UCLA/Getty Interdepartmental Program in the Conservation of Cultural Heritage, University of California, Los Angeles

Seneca-Iroquois National Museum, Salamanca, NY/USA, April 17-19, 2023

Santa Rosa, CA/USA, April 2024

Announcing National Endowment for the Humanities Preservation of Indigenous Collections: Regional Workshops

Two regional workshops will be offered in-person April 2023 and 2024, cost-free to all participants! The first will take place in Salamanca, New York and the second in Santa Rosa, California. These workshops are available to those seeking opportunities for professional development outside of a graduate program. Ideal participants are currently, or plan to become caretakers of American Indian cultural materials, either in cultural centers or museums. Transportation, accommodation, and per diem will be included with the workshop, and materials will be available on-site.  These workshops are intended to teach practical skills, impart confidence in decision-making, and help build professional and community networks. Our two instructors will demonstrate collections care and conservation skills such as:

  • condition reporting
  • building custom storage boxes
  • removing/adding accession numbers
  • pest management
  • mold remediation
  • cleaning collections items
  • …and more!

The specific topics of the workshop will be tailored to the selected participants, focusing on addressing the needs and interests of the participants’ own collections.

Note: An additional background check will be conducted by the host institution for those accepted.

***

Spring 2023 Workshop: Seneca-Iroquois National Museum, Salamanca, NY/USA, April 17-19, 2023

https://conservation.ucla.edu/inclusion/care-conservation-of-indigenous-collections-workshop/

We welcome applications for our Spring 2023 in-person workshop on Preservation of Indigenous Cultural Collections, generously funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. The workshop will be hosted at the Seneca-Iroquois National Museum, April 17-19 2023, with travel the day prior. Participation includes flights and/or mileage, four nights at Seneca Allegheny Resort & Casino or another locally owned hotel, plus a per diem for meals. Workshop materials will be available on-site.

How to Apply:

Applications are due by Feb 10, 2023 at the latest. Please send questions and the following application materials to preservation-courses@ioa.ucla.edu:

Deadline Extended: 2023-2024 Fellowship Opportunities in Native American and Indigenous Studies, Library & Museum of the American Philosophical Society 

The Library & Museum of the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia invites applications for sabbatical, postdoctoral, predoctoral, and short-term research fellowships to support research projects utilizing its collections.

The APS’s Library & Museum houses one of North America’s oldest and largest collections of archival, audio-visual, digital, and printed materials relating to the languages, cultures, and histories of Indigenous people of the continent and neighboring regions. The collections date from 1553 to 2022 and include materials relating to early colonial periods, extensive documentation of hundreds of Indigenous languages, anthropological and ethnographic fieldwork, and materials produced by past and present Indigenous individuals documenting a broad range of lived experience.

The APS’s Library & Museum is home to three research centers: the Center for Native American and Indigenous Research (CNAIR), which has worked with over 80 Native American and Indigenous communities since 2014; the Center for Digital Scholarship, which interprets and expands access to APS collections through digital projects and open source data; and the David Center for the American Revolution, a partnership with the David Library of the American Revolution that formed a new research center for the American Revolution at the APS.

The Indigenous Subject Guide provides extensive information to begin exploring the archival collections at the APS relating to Indigenous peoples and languages at https://indigenousguide.amphilsoc.org

Additional searchable guides and finding aids to our collections are available online at https://www.amphilsoc.org/library/search-collections and http://amphilsoc.pastperfectonline.com/.

See individual fellowship descriptions below for more information and instructions on how to apply. For a complete listing of all APS grant and fellowship opportunities, visit www.amphilsoc.org/grants/fellowships.

Call for Sessions: Native American Art Studies Association

The NAASA Program Committee (John Lukavic (chair), Miranda Belarde-Lewis, Christina Burke, Emily Moore, Jami Powell, and Yatika Fields) invites formal proposals for organized sessions at the 2023 conference.

Proposed sessions may focus on a particular body of material and present perspectives for further understanding of a topic. We are open to receiving proposals in the fields of contemporary and customary art, or interdisciplinary panels that encourage dialogue among artists, art historians, anthropologists, collectors, and museum professionals. Session proposal abstracts must be received by the end of the day on February 5, 2023.

Send session proposals by email to: JLukavic@denverartmuseum.orgClick here for information about the porposal requirements. Check out our December 2022 newsletter here for additional information on the call for sessions.

Internship Opportunity: Art Bridges Summer 2023, Crystal Bridges Museum

Art Bridges is the vision of philanthropist and arts patron Alice Walton. The mission of Art Bridges is to expand access to American art in all regions across the United States. Since 2017, Art Bridges has been creating and supporting programs that bring outstanding works of American art out of storage and into communities. Art Bridges partners with a growing network of over 215 museums of all sizes and locations to provide financial and strategic support for exhibition development, loans from the Art Bridges collection, and programs designed to educate, inspire, and deepen engagement with local audiences. The Art Bridges Collection represents an expanding vision of American art from the 19th century to present day and encompasses multiple media and voices.

Art Bridges summer interns will live and work in Bentonville for the eight-week session (June 5-July 28, 2023; 35 hours per week). Art Bridges will provide travel to and from Bentonville and housing for the duration of the internship. Applicants from all regions across the United States are encouraged to apply. Art Bridges is committed to a diverse workforce and to providing training for the next generation of museum professionals. Students from historically underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply. We do not require prior internship experience or an art-related major.

More here.