Museum exhibit, video series to explain Aleutian Island storm history

A 2022 science cruise to the Aleutian Islands to learn about ancient storms and tsunamis has generated a traveling museum exhibit and video series that highlight the research and how scientists and Indigenous Alaskans worked together.

Main components of the traveling museum include 10 information panels and three videos. Nine of the panels explain specific aspects of Aleutian storms and the research. The 10th panel is a timeline of key human and environmental events in the region.

The month-long voyage aboard the research vessel Sikuliaq was led by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, with involvement of scientists from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and University of North Carolina Wilmington. The National Science Foundation funded the research, which includes the exhibit and videos effort.

UAF’s College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences operates the Sikuliaq. The National Science Foundation owns the vessel, which is the only ice-capable vessel in the U.S. academic research fleet.

The Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska assisted with fieldwork planning and outreach. Kala McDonald and Elder Piama Oleyer, both from the tribe, joined the cruise. McDonald, who is from Dutch Harbor, recently graduated from the University of Hawaii.

Associate professor Chris Maio, who led the UAF team, said the presence of two tribal members was essential. Maio heads the UAF Geophysical Institute’s Arctic Coastal Geoscience Lab and teaches in the College of Natural Science and Mathematics.

“It opened up the opportunity to hear and learn from Indigenous knowledge-holders regarding the history of storms and tsunamis in the region and how the people there have adapted and thrived in this harsh environment,” he said.

“Piama was a wealth of knowledge about the geography, Indigenous place names and traditional uses of plants and animals we came across,” Maio said. “Kala and Piama also provided context of living and working in the region on basic things like how to read the weather and where to go to get out of a storm.”

Sarah Asper-Smith of Exhibit Alaska in Juneau created the museum exhibit panels. The exhibit will be at the Museum of the Aleutians in Unalaska until mid-September. The project organizers are seeking interest from other museums. 

Sarah Betcher, owner of Alaska-based Farthest North Films, produced the three six-minute videos that educate viewers about the Aleutian environment, Indigenous culture, the research activities and the science behind those activities.

“This region proved to be a unique landscape and a treasure to explore and capture on camera,” Betcher said. “Editing the footage into three short films allowed me to relive the experience and to provide the world a visual story of our journey and process.

“I hope the museum exhibit and films provide people a better understanding of how storms impact the coastline of the Alaska Aleutian Islands chain,” she said.

The videos, released publicly today, are available on YouTube.

ADDITIONAL CONTACT: Chris Maio, 907- 474-5651, cvmaio@alaska.edu

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