Arctic Ground Squirrel Material Traditions

Between September 2023 and June 2024, a collective of five artists including Merna Wharton, Golga Oscar, Kunaq Tahbone, Amy Topkok and Michelle Ravenmoon participated in an Arctic Ground Squirrel Material Traditions cohort. Artists completed self-directed projects to create new squirrel skin parkas during the course of the year. They also had the chance to visit with historic squirrel skin materials at the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage, Alaska and at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Museum of the North. This short film captures some of the artists' work in this process. This project was supported through partnerships with The CIRI Foundation, Bunnell Street Art Center, the Curating Indigenous Circumpolar Cultural Sovereignty program, the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and Museums Alaska.