There have been several traveling exhibits to Alaska that have
effected native groups.  The first real documentation I've seen is casual
comments by various Native artists about how Crossroads of Continents
brought wonderful old items to Alaska and that they have therefore taken
on making (fill in the blank -- Alutiiq headdresses, Yupik masks, etc.)
There are probably such comments among the Yupik about the Inua exhibit
that traveled from the Smithsonian, but I didn't catch those.  There has
been a resurgance of Alutiiq dance and traditional clothing that has
been "blamed" on both Crossroads and the Etholen Collection, from
Helsinki, that traveled the US and finally hit Alaska in 91.  The
architect for the new state courthouse liked the things he saw in Etholen
and incorporated some decorative design in the exterior of the building.
     Now traveling to NMAI, but opened in Toksook Bay, and later Bethel,
was Agayuliyararput = Our Way of Making Prayer (great catalog,
UWashington Press, 1996) organized for the Anchorage Museum by Ann Fienup
Riordan.  A Yupik steering committee was deeply involved from the start
of that project, and spoke widely of visual repatriation.  They were
particularly glad to have back, at least for a while, the materials held
in Berlin.  From that work, Ann will now take a group of elders to Berlin
to see the entire collection, have original documentation translated from
the German/Norwegian to both English and Yupik, and take photos in a
larger visual repatriation issue. This is timely, as elders with
experience with these traditional materials are dying -- in another 10
years we won't have them to study these collection.  But there'd have
never been interest in these collections had some of them not traveled to
Alaska and prompted the interest by both elders, anthropologists and
funding agencies.
     Hope this helps.
     Diane Brenner, Anchorage Msueum Archivist
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