Northwest Coast Collection

From 2020 through 2024, Avenir Conservation Center conservators and Anthropology staff worked on an Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) grant entitled Northwest Coast Collection: Building Bridges and Detailed Conservation Survey. The project involved collaborating with originating and descendant Indigenous communities from five Northwest Coast groups – Makah, Nuu-chah-nulth, Kwakwaka’wakw, Haida, and Tlingit – to determine culturally appropriate care and conservation for over 500 items from the Museum’s Northwest Coast Collection. These Indigenous communities are traditional inhabitants of present-day Washington State north through coastal British Columbia and Southern Alaska. Collaboration was key to better understanding the collection items and planning for long-term care of these items. Collaboration primarily took place through nine week-long visits with a total of over 20 community representatives. 

This grant (MA-245839-OMS-20 was funded by the by the Institute of Museum and Library Services with additional support from the Avenir Conservation Center.