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2006 Alaska Archeology Month

Join the Tongass National Forest in April for Alaska Archaeology Month - a statewide celebration of Alaska’s archeological heritage. Alaska’s 22,000 recorded archeological and historic sites (a small percentage of the actual number of sites that exist) provide tangible links to the past. Archeologists want to draw attention to the fact that knowledge gained from these sites is important and that it reinforces the shared experiences of Alaska’s diverse cultures.

Alaska Archaeology Month began as a week-long celebration in 1990 and with increasing interest has grown to a month-long event. The 2006 schedule, with events from Ketchikan to Wasilla, includes lectures, hands-on activities for school-age children and site tours. Because archeological sites are fragile and non-renewable resources Alaska archeologists rely on the public to help protect these sites for the future. Archaeology Month gives something back to the communities since tax dollars fund much of Alaska’s archeological work and the public deserves to know about these discoveries.

This year’s Archaeology Month poster highlights the centennial of the 1906 Antiquities Act and importance of Alaska’s National Historic Landmarks. President Theodore Roosevelt signed the Antiquities Act on June 8, 1906, as concerns mounted about damage done to the nation’s irreplaceable archaeological treasures. The Act provided the first general protection of cultural and natural resources on federal lands as public interest in and support for the care of sites and associated artifact collections was growing.

National Historic Landmarks (NHL) are our nation’s most important sites and Alaska’s 49 NHLs span the state from Kake, in Southeast Alaska, to Barrow on the Arctic Coast, and from Eagle on the Canadian border, to Attu at the end of the Aleutian chain. Alaska has 15 landmarks that date back to ancient times and 34 historic landmarks that together tell the story of roughly 11,000 years of Alaska history. Southeast Alaska landmarks include Sitka’s Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall, the Kake Cannery and the infamous Chilkoot Trail.

Alaska Archaeology Month is coordinated by the Public Education Group of the Alaska Anthropological Association and its sponsoring agencies: USDA Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Alaska Office of History and Archaeology, Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Army.