News
Call for sessions and papers for the upcoming conference
Date Posted: November 11, 2021 Category: Uncategorized
The Alaska Anthropological Association will be holding its 49th Annual Meeting from February 28 – March 4, 2022 as a free virtual conference via Zoom (#AkAA virtual 2022) for Association members or $20 for non-members.
The theme of this year’s conference is The Effects of Climate Change. Alaska is at the forefront of climate change and this change has and will continue to have profound impacts on Alaska communities.
Similar to last year, the virtual conference will increase accessibility and inclusion for all conference participants while continuing to allow us to connect and share research. We welcome ideas for sessions and presentations in a variety of media, including but not limited to, papers, posters, storytelling, film, panel discussions, and multi-media performances.
We are delighted to let our colleagues and members know that submission for sessions and abstracts is open!
Feel free to contact us if you have any questions:
alaskaanthroexternalaffairs@gmail.com
Celebrating the life of William Bates Workman
Date Posted: November 11, 2021 Category: Uncategorized
One of the pillars of northern anthropology, William B. Workman, passed away on Thursday, November 4, 2021. He was 81.
Bill first came to Alaska as a student in 1962, one of an interdisciplinary team of University of Wisconsin-based researchers that included William Laughlin, Richard Nelson, and Allen McCartney. He went to Kodiak Island, where he worked with Donald Clark. In subsequent years, Bill worked not only on Kodiak, but also in the Alaskan and Canadian interiors and the Kachemak Bay area. After his marriage to Karen in 1967, they collaborated on much of their research.
Always a true gentleman with a characteristic dry humor, Bill served as Professor of Anthropology for nearly 40 years, from 1969 to 1976 at Alaska Methodist University (where he became only the third archaeologist in Alaska) and from 1977 until his 2005 retirement as Emeritus Professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage. After retirement, Bill continued his research and work with students.
Bill leaves an impressive legacy. His published contributions to northern anthropology; his service as co-founder, president, and board member to the Alaska Anthropological Association; the generations of students he mentored in the classroom and the field; and, most of all, his fair, kind, and collegial way of dealing with everyone. He will be sorely missed.
For those interested in more details about Bill and his contributions, a 2008 volume of the Alaska Journal of Anthropology (Vol. 6, Nos. 1&2) was published in his honor.
Karen Workman, Bill’s wife of 53 years, can be reached upon request. An obituary should be published in the Anchorage Daily News in the coming week. Because of the pandemic, a memorial gathering will be held at a later date.
“From Caribou Corrals to Seaplane Hangars: A Cultural Resources Overview of Alaska’s National Wildlife Refuges”
Date Posted: October 6, 2021 Category: Uncategorized
Please join us online or by phone Tuesday, October 19, 2021, 5-6pm (AK), for our Friends monthly meeting with guest speaker, Fish & Wildlife Service Archeologist Jeremy Karchut.
“Join us to discover the rich cultural and historic legacy of Alaska’s Refuges. Jeremy Karchut will provide an overview of the refuges’ vast array of cultural resources representing 14,000 years of human history. Sites range from those associated with the earliest humans to set foot in North America to mid-20th century aircraft hangars. Prehistoric archaeological sites in the Arctic, rock art on the Kodiak coast, historic cabins on the Kenai Peninsula, WWII battlefield sites in the Aleutians, and historic Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) facilities critical to the agency’s Alaska mission are some of the cultural resources to be highlighted in this talk.
The FWS recognizes cultural resources as fragile, irreplaceable assets with potential public and scientific uses, representing an important and integral part of the heritage of our Nation and descendant communities. It is FWS policy to identify, protect, and manage cultural resources located on refuge lands. Jeremy will consider some of the challenges and rewards of managing these nonrenewable resources in an era of rapid environmental change and include highlights of key federal historic preservation legislation.
Jeremy is the FWS Regional Archaeologist in Anchorage. He is interested in high altitude and high latitude archaeology and for more than 20 years he’s been involved with projects focusing on the effects of climate change on archaeological resources and what archaeology can teach us about how humans adapted to environmental change in the past. Jeremy is a native of Colorado, having earned a BA in Anthropology from Fort Lewis College, Durango in 1998, and a MA in Archaeology and Ancient History from University of Leicester, UK in 2003. He has served as a federal archaeologist since 1995, including with the US Forest Service and the National Park Service in the US Southwest, Central and Southern Rocky Mountains, Great Plains, and 12 years in Alaska. “
Link: https://alaskarefugefriends.org/tuesday-october-19-2021-5pm-akdt/?fbclid=IwAR26qNorJmroSzoQQNs5BD_oGxTyjPPf6PIZG2Esl8Zxel_lOuj6I7RTSug
Museums Alaska
Date Posted: July 15, 2021 Category: Uncategorized
Dear Museum Friends and Colleagues,
Online registration is now open for the 2021 Museums Alaska Annual Meeting #MA2021. The theme of this year’s conference is Sustainability: Adaptation and Resilience of Alaska Museums. The conference will take place via Whova on September 13-4 & 20-21. Registration is free thanks to a generous sponsorship by the Rasmuson Foundation. NEW! this year, you can also help sponsor the conference and receive cool Museums Alaska gift items only available during #MA2021! To register and join us as a sponsor, please use the Whova link below.
Register for #MA2021:
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
The schedule and program will soon be available on the Museums Alaska website: https://
We hope you will join us for an exciting event of presentations and conversations!
Introducing the AK Anthropological Association YouTube Channel
Date Posted: June 28, 2021 Category: Uncategorized
Dear members,
It is with great pleasure that we introduce to you the Alaska Anthropological Association YouTube channel!
You will find all the sessions from our recent virtual conference, and we hope to keep you entertained with many more videos to come.
Please subscribe and hit the notification button, so you will be informed when new content is available!
To all those involved with organizing the conference and creating this channel, thank you. Please enjoy! 
The purpose of the Alaska Anthropological Association is to serve as a vehicle for maintaining communication among people interested in all branches of anthropology; to promote public awareness and support for anthropological activities and goals; to foster knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of Alaska Native and circumpolar cultural heritage; to work in collaboration with indigenous communities on all aspects of research and education, and to facilitate the dissemination of anthropological works in both technical and non-technical formats.
#MA2021: Museums Alaska Annual Meeting
Date Posted: April 19, 2021 Category: Uncategorized
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
Museums Alaska is excited to announce that it will be holding its 2021 Annual Meeting from September 13-14 & 20-21 as a virtual conference via Zoom (#MA2021). The theme of this year’s conference is Sustainability: Adaptation and Resilience of Alaska Museums. The conference team is hard at work planning an exciting program of hands-on workshops and panel discussions.
Museums Alaska’s annual awards will be announced during #MA2021. Please consider nominating one of your esteemed colleagues for the 2021: Award for Excellence in the Museum Field, Volunteer of the Year Award, President’s Award in Honor of Lifetime Achievement, or Museums Champion. Please use this online awards form to submit your nomination by August 1, 2021.
For more information, please visit: www.
Job Posting: Forest Service Arch Tech Temp summer 2021 position
Date Posted: April 11, 2021 Category: Uncategorized
The Chugach National Forest has announcement notification under the ANILCA hiring authority for the following Temporary 1039 opportunity for the 2021 summer season live on USAJOBS.gov (04/08/21 – 04/16/21). See the position below for more information and the USAJOBS hyperlinks. Please share.
TEMPORARY SEASONAL (1039), INTERMITTENT:
Archaeology Technician (GS-0102-06) in Girdwood, AK
Or search announcement # 21-111004-11081855-AT-EMH
Newsletter
Date Posted: April 11, 2021 Category: Uncategorized
Contributions to the Upcoming Newsletter Hello Alaska Anthropological Association Members!
For the upcoming AkAA Newsletter, we are looking for research material, news, video links, job postings, interesting new content to publish.
Please email Angela Gore at angkgore@gmail.com with any current research or upcoming project. Feel free to attach any photos, maps, etc.
Email Angela all completed content before April 26th. And, as always, please feel free to send any information to include in our future Newsletters.
2021 Alaska Archaeology Month
Date Posted: April 5, 2021 Category: Uncategorized Tags: Alaska, Poster, SAA
The final poster for the 2021 Alaska Archaeology Month is “Stone”.
“Ace geologists since ancient times, for millennia Alaskans have been prospecting for the most special rocks to craft into essential tools.”
The poster highlights several Alaska Native language terms for special rocks, minerals, and tools made of stone (e.g., uyangaх̑, or tuff, used in the Aleutian Islands for carving oil lamps; ivisaaq, or red ochre, used to coat snowshoes and tool handles in northern Alaska; or cheh chii, the Gwich’in term for stone fishing net sinkers).
This is the third in a series of posters focused on essential raw materials across time and cultures in Alaska. It follows “wood” and “antler.”
The Alaska Anthropological Association and NPS are happy to invite those interested in the new poster to submit an application to acquire a copy for free. Please let us know or contact directly: Jeff Rasic, Jeff_Rasic@nps.gov
SAA 2021 State Archaeology Celebration Poster Award: submission from Alaska
Date Posted: April 5, 2021 Category: Uncategorized Tags: Alaska, Contest, Poster, SAA
SAA voting is happening this week through April 8 for State Archaeology Celebration Poster Contest.
If you are an SAA member or 2021 Annual Meeting registrant, please vote here: https://www.saa.org/education-outreach/public-outreach/state-archaeology-celebrations/poster-contesthttps://www.saa.org/…/state-archaeology…/poster-contest
If you support Alaska, vote for the 2020 “ANTLER” poster!
“Every culture in every corner of Alaska made at least some use of antler. And it 101 uses: combs, clubs, fish hooks, snow goggles, needles, awls, amulets, and arrowheads…”
