KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
Petroglyphs engraved into a rock at Cape Alitak. Photo courtesy Alutiiq Museum
Kodiak’s south end holds a wealth of petroglyphs. Whales, fish, faces and other figures carved into rocks by the Alutiiq ancestors-stories in stone.
While you may not easily get to the island’s south end to see the petroglyphs in person you can still get the touch-it-yourself experience of the petroglyphs. A new exhibit at the Alutiiq museum brings the petroglyphs at Cape Alitak to town in the form of full scale models that invite you to experience them first hand.
-((Petroglyph Exhibit 1 :05 "Come down…how beautiful they are."))
That’s the Alutiiq Museum’s Executive Director Sven Haakanson. Haakanson and a number of others from the museum worked with the community of Ahkiok last summer to document the petroglyphs.
More recently, museum staff has developed a way to bring the petroglyph experience to the people of Kodiak.
-((Petroglyph Exhibit 2 :47 "We’ve been documenting…based on the originals."))
Haakanson says not only will visitors be able to touch the museum petroglyphs-they will also have paper and crayons so that people can make their own rubbings of the petroglyphs to keep.
-((Petroglyph Exhibit 3 :16 "Yea, it’s gonna be fun…or share it with your friends."))
The touch-it-yourself petroglyph exhibit is in its final stages and, while open to the public, the official opening will be held next week as part of the Crab Festival.
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