National Museum of Ethnology JSPS KAKENHI (A) “A Comparative Study of Emergence, Current Status and Future of Indigenous Cultures in the Alaska and Northwest Coast Regions of North America” (2019-2023)

Outline of the Research Project

Aims

This project aims at elucidating commonalities and differences of historical changes, current status, and futures of indigenous cultures in the Alaska and Northwest Coast regions of North America by comparative research. Especially we like to understand how the cultures have been come into being through complicated historical processes of interactions among economic factors (spread of global economy and neoliberalism), political factors (colonization and political integration into nation states), environmental factors (climate changes), social factors (social reorganization caused by decrease in population due to pandemics), ideological factors (Christianization), other factors and indigenous societies. Then we hope to discuss about futures of the societies.

Plan

We plan to carry out this project based on field and collaborative research from April, 2019 to March, 2024. (1) We will conduct field research in several communities in the Alaska and Northwest Coast regions. (2) We will present our research results through the Info-Forum Museum Database “The Cultural Resources of Indigenous Peoples in Northern North America”, International Symposium, Thematic Exhibition, and publication.

Activity Report (by each year)

2023 (Fiscal Year) Activity Report

We conducted on-site research in Alaska and Canada, and compiled research results based on the analysis of existing data and literature surveys. Additionally, we published a portion of the research findings in several papers or book chapters, and presented them through the thematic exhibition, international symposiums, and research meetings organized by academic associations.

  1. Kishigami conducted interview surveys on Indigenous art and artists in the Comox and Campbell River areas of Vancouver Island, BC, Canada, from April 26 to May 4, in 2023. Tachikawa carried out conducted on-site research for approximately two weeks in Campbell River, BC, Canada, starting in September 2023. This investigation involved gathering data on seaweed harvesting by the Kwakwaka'wakw people, and explored the reality of land and spatial utilization by Campbell River residents, including Indigenous communities. Additionally, a survey on residents' awareness of the impacts of climate change was conducted concurrently. Tezuka conducted a collection survey on material culture related to North America's complex hunter-gatherers, focusing on the Northwest Coast, Southwest Alaska, and North Channel Islands regions. This research took place in February 2024 at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. It specifically delved into the production and transmission of material culture, including prestige items, imported goods, maritime transportation tools, and weaponry. The study aimed to investigate how museums are involved in the making and transmission of maritime transportation tools and traditions.
  2. Based on our previous research findings, Kishigami and Tachikawa organized and carried out the National Museum of Ethnology's thematic exhibition, "Screen Prints of Canada’s Northwest Coast Peoples of Screen Prints" (September 7 to December 12, 2023) in collaboration with Indigenous artists from Canada. Through this exhibition, we shared some of their research results with the public.
  3. In November, 2023 Ikuta and Kishigami invited Dr. Alexander D. King, Dr. Ben Fitzhugh, and Dr. Thomas Thornton from the United States for collaborative research on the comparison of Indigenous cultures in the North Pacific region. The joint research took place at Kyushu University and the National Museum of Ethnology. Furthermore, Kishigami, Ikuta, Tachikawa, and Tezuka organized the international symposium "Prehistory, Language, and Culture of Indigenous Societies in the North Pacific" (November 3-5) with the aim of disseminating the results of their research. The symposium focused on comparing Indigenous cultures in Alaska and the Northwest Coast region with those of Indigenous cultures on the Old World. Additionally, Kishigami and others presented their research findings through oral presentations at various conferences, including the 57th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Cultural Anthropology, the 48th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Association of Canadian Studies, and the 170th Research Meeting of the Society for Art and Anthropology.
  4. As a result of this research project, we published a collection of papers titled "Indigenous Cultures of the North Pacific — History, Language, Society" in 2024, through Rinsen Book Co. Furthermore, utilizing the research outcomes from this project, we updated information in the National Museum of Ethnology's Info-forum museum, "North American Northern Indigenous Peoples Related Cultural Resources Database" (https://ifm.minpaku.ac.jp/canada/).

2022 (Fiscal Year) Activity Report

Due to the significant easing of travel and activity restrictions caused by the global spread of the COVID-19 virus in the 2022 fiscal year, we were able to conduct on-site investigations in Alaska and Canada. Additionally, we carried out the analysis of existing data, literature surveys, and compilation of research results. Some of the previous research findings were presented at symposiums and conferences such as the Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Cultural Anthropology.

  1. Kishigami conducted an investigation on the social and cultural changes as well as art of the Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Coast of Canada at the Canadian Museum of History, National Gallery of Canada, Royal Ontario Museum, and the Center for Canadian Studies of York University from July 3 to July 10, 2022. Additionally, from August 3 to August 22, 2022, research was carried out on the changes in Haida society and the art of the Northwest Coast Indigenous peoples in Haida Gwaii and Vancouver. In September 2022, Ikuta conducted interviews and collected materials on the food security of Alaska’s Native communities in Anchorage, Alaska. Tachikawa conducted on-site research in Campbell River, British Columbia, Canada, for approximately four weeks starting in September 2022. The investigation included studying the fishing and gathering activities of the local Kwakwaka’wakw people. Furthermore, Tachikawa explored the impact of the legalization of recreational cannabis in 2018 on Indigenous communities, as well as investigated new Indigenous-led businesses, such as eco-tourism, transportation, and processing industries. Tezuka conducted a collection research on maritime transportation tools at the Alaska State Museum, Sheldon Jackson Museum, and the Thomas Burke Museum in the United States in September 2022. In recent years, in Indigenous societies of the Alaska and Northwest Coast regions of North America, attempts have been made to restore and navigate traditional watercraft based on museum materials, incorporating traditional production techniques (such as the Angyaaq Tribal Canoe Project). These efforts have been identified as a driving force behind regional community revitalization and reconstruction, involving younger generations.
  2. Kishigami, Ikuta, and Tachikawa organized the symposium "Prehistory, Language, and Culture of Indigenous Societies in the Circumpolar North Pacific Region" at the National Museum of Ethnology on October 29th and 30th, 2022. The symposium aimed to grasp the research trends in the Circumpolar North Pacific region and to consider how the previous research findings could be situated within the broader context of research in this region.
  3. With the aim of disseminating research outcomes, preparations for the 2023 National Museum of Ethnology thematic exhibition, "Screen Prints of Canada’s Northwest Coast Peoples" were carried out in collaboration with Indigenous communities in Vancouver Island and Haida Gwaii, BC, Canada.
  4. As a part of the research outcomes of this project, a collection of papers titled "Research Trends on Indigenous Cultures along the North Pacific Rim Regions" (Senri Ethnological Reports 156) was published from the National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka, Japan.
  5. Utilizing the research findings from this project, updates were made to the information in the National Museum of Ethnology's Info－forum museum, the "Database of Cultural Resources Related to North American Northern Indigenous Peoples" (https://ifm.minpaku.ac.jp/canada/).

2021 (Fiscal Year) Activity Report

In fiscal year (FY) 2021, scheduled field surveys in Alaska and Canada were not performed because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. However, we did perform online surveys via Zoom and email, and we also analyzed existing data, carried out literature reviews, held research meetings, summarized and published research results, and presented at academic meetings.

  1. Our researchers were very active. Nobuhiro Kishigami conducted exchanges via Zoom and email with researchers of the Haida Gwaii Museum in Canada. He also performed research based on literature and surveys on changes in, and the current status of, world views, religions, and ceremonies of the Haida people. Hiroko Ikuta used email, telephone, Zoom, etc. to pursue survey activities on resource development and culture among the Yupik people of Alaska. Her collaborators included researchers of the U.S. federal government and the Alaskan state government, indigenous governments, and fellow collaborative researchers. Shiaki Kondo continued online surveys of multispecies phenomena in Indigenous society of Inner-Alaska and also carried out literature reviews and paper writing on prophetic discourse. Akihito Tachikawa used Facebook, Messenger, etc. to conduct interview surveys with indigenous people of Campbell River in Vancouver Island, Canada, regarding their salmon fishing and farming activities as well as about environmental issues. He also collected multispecies-related information and performed surveys based on existing literature. Kaoru Tezuka carried out field surveys of small communities on the islands of Okushiri, Reibun, and Rishiri in Hokkaido Japan, regarding their responses to natural disasters and recovery activities. He also analyzed literature related to archaeological surveys of “complex hunter-gatherer peoples” in Europe and North America, with a special focus on the analysis of artifacts excavated from ruins in swampy lowlands, etc.
  2. As fruits of our project, two books have been published: Nobuhiro Kishigami, Food Sharing in Human Societies (2021, Singapore: Springer); and Hiroko Ikuta, The Sociality of Dance: Happiness, Tradition, and Environment among Yupik on St. Lawrence Island and Iñupiat in Utqiaġvik, Alaska (2022, London: Routledge). We have also updated and published new information about research results on https://www.r.minpaku.ac.jp/inuit/en/index.html, the research project’s web-site.
  3. Our researchers made various oral presentations at the 55th Annual Meeting of The Japanese Society of Cultural Anthropology (JASCA), at the 35th International Abashiri Symposium “Taryo Obayashi: His Scholarship and Northern Culture Studies: Symposium Commemorating the 20th Anniversary of Dr. Taryo Obayashi’s Death” and at others.
  4. Using research results from this project, information was updated on “The Cultural Resources Database of Indigenous Peoples in Northern North America” for the Info-Forum Museum of the National Museum of Ethnology, Japan (https://ifm.minpaku.ac.jp/canada/).

2020 (Fiscal Year) Activity Report

  1. In FY2020, we were unable to conduct field surveys in Japan and overseas due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The principal investigator reviewed the entire research plan while staying in touch with the research subcommittee and local people of the study area.
  2. Nobuhiro Kishigami conducted research on social change among the Haida, the indigenous people of Canada's Northwest Coast, in relation to infectious disease (especially smallpox) epidemics, and documented the characteristics and production process of the totem pole erected at the National Museum of Ethnology in June 2020. Additionally, we supervised the section on Canada (Northwest Coast Indians) at the special exhibition "Treasures of Indigenous Peoples" held at the National Museum of Ethnology from October 1 to December 15, 2020, and made our research results public at the exhibition. Furthermore, the information in the Forum-type Information Museum "Database of Cultural Resources Related to Indigenous Peoples of Northern North America" was upgraded and updated as a new plate version on December 4, 2020. The results of our research have also been translated into English and are being prepared for publication.
  3. Shiaki Kondo used Zoom, Facebook, and other services to conduct interviews in the village of Nikolai, Alaska, which she had previously studied, about community health conditions and life during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through this survey, we were able to obtain preliminary knowledge about the inland Alaskan indigenous communities’ views about infectious diseases and their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We also rewrote our previously published manuscripts and published them in English as original papers in Polar Science and as contributed chapters in the Routledge Handbook of Indigenous Environmental Knowledge.
  4. Kaoru Tezuka examined the research trend of complex hunter-gatherers in North America based on literature and archaeological excavation reports, and researched the recovery process of small-scale communities facing natural disasters. In addition, for times when field research becomes possible, we developed a "memory map" method that quantifies and visualizes the memories that people have by linking them with location-related information using GIS (Geographic Information Systems), and implemented the method during fieldwork in Japan.
  5. Akihito Tachikawa conducted an online survey using SNS to collect field data on fishing and other businesses run by indigenous peoples. Furthermore, he summarized the results of the survey conducted in 2019 and presented a paper on the current status and future prospects of the new businesses started by indigenous people. The results of the research conducted in FY2019 were summarized and presented as a paper on the current status and future prospects of newly initiated projects by indigenous people.
  6. Hiroko Ikuta prepared a study on the development of underground resources, such as oil, among Alaskan indigenous communities and its impact on the environment, the communities themselves, their cultures, and coexistence with development.
  7. Nobuhiro Kishigami and Shiaki Kondo presented their research results at the 54th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for Cultural Anthropology.

2019 (Fiscal Year) Activity Report

  1. In June 2019, a study meeting (Osaka) was held to examine the overall research plan. In February 2020, another study meeting (Sapporo) was held to discuss the results and outcome of 2019 research and research plan for the next fiscal year.
  2. The principle researcher and co-researchers collected basic information on the history, environment, and language of indigenous communities in Alaska and the Northwest Coast regions of North America and conducted literature reviews as to our research topics.
  3. The principle researcher and co-researchers conducted a preliminary study on several indigenous communities. In August 2019, for approximately two weeks, Nobuhiro Kishigami conducted research on the lifeways and art work of two indigenous communities, and the social changes they experienced, in Haida Gwaii, Canada. For approximately three weeks from September to October 2019, Akihito Tachikawa researched the economic activities of and the impact of global warming on fisheries at Campbell River and surrounding sites on Vancouver Island, Canada. Between August 19 and September 24, 2019, Hiroko Ikuta visited five towns in the U.S. state of Alaska to exchange opinions and conduct field research with experts from the U.S. federal government, the Alaskan state government, indigenous governments, and arctic anthropologist and other scholars concerning the development of oil and other resources and environmental and social sustainability. In the summer of 2019, Shiaki Kondo conducted a preliminary study along the lower Kuskokwim River region in Alaska to understand the relationship between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Alaskan indigenous people. In February 2020, Kaoru Tezuka visited the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Quebec, to investigate the characteristics of the displayed symbols and research trends related to the various impacts caused by the changes in the natural environment, alongside his research on materials related to indigenous peoples in North America. Furthermore, using a geographic information system along with the social context, Tezuka developed a method for visualizing and processing how complex hunter-gatherer communities experienced natural disasters. Tezuka verified this methodology in a disaster-afflicted area in Japan (i.e., Okushiri Island).
  4. The researchers presented their plans and research results at the Japanese Society for Cultural Anthropology (Sendai) in June 2019, the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences (Poznań, Poland) in August 2019, the Annual Conference of the Japanese Association for Canadian Studies (Kagoshima, Japan) in September 2019, and the 34th International Abashiri Symposium (Abashiri, Japan) in October 2019.