Giinaquq: Like A Face
Suqpiaq Masks of the Kodiak Archipelago
"[This] gorgeously illustrated 400-page book from University of Alaska Press is stunning in several respects, a contender for the title of the most beautiful volume of Alaska ethnography ever published."
—Anchorage Daily News
"Offers readers a microhistory of a nationally recognized ethnographic museum, insights into historic Russian actions in Sugpiaq country, and striking visual documentation of Sugpiaq material culture. Aesthetically speaking, this catalog ranks among the most beautiful Alaska Native art history catalogs ever published."
—Alaska Journal of Anthropology
This beautifully photographed book catalogs the collection of nearly five hundred Alutiiq cultural items held by the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography, or the Kunstkamera, in St. Petersburg, Russia. Gathered between 1780 and 1867, many of the artifacts are composed of fur, feathers, gut, hair, and other delicate materials, which prevent their transport for display or study. To document these artifacts for the public, the Kunstkamera collaborated with the Alutiiq Museum in Kodiak, Alaska. Together, anthropologists and members of the Alutiiq community combined the collection records with cultural knowledge and high-resolution digital imagery and worked to name objects, describe their uses, and detail the materials used in their construction. As a result, this book will provide the Alutiit, Alaskans, Russians, and the global community with lasting access to one of the oldest, most extensive ethnographic collections from the central Gulf of Alaska.
