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Lijit Search
Stewards of the Sacred: Sven Haakanson, Jr. |
Excerpted from "The Alutiiq Museum's Guidelines for the Spiritual Care of Objects," an article by Sven Haakanson, Jr. and Amy F. Steffian appearing in Stewards of the Sacred, edited by Lawrence E. Sullivan and Alison Edwards, published by the American Association of Museums and used by permission.
Contributed by Laura Schue and read by Sven Haakanson, Jr.: "Amy F. Steffian and I are on staff at the Alutiiq Museum, and this explains our care for ancestral objects." Sven grew up in Old Harbor, Alaska and went to the University of Alaska Fairbanks and Harvard for school. He works at the Alutiiq Museum and has a beautiful wife and two adorable girls. The photo, by Will Anderson, shows Sven studying Alutiiq drums in Russia.
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"According to Alutiiq tradition, everything in the universe - the wind and the animals, the rocks and the trees - has a sua, a human-like consciousness. To Alutiiq people, the world is alive. It is a place where all objects are sentient - aware of and sensitive to human action. Alutiiq people ... see themselves as ... one component of a complexly integrated, cyclical, life-giving system. In this system, the resources necessary for life give themselves to people, who must prove their worth through responsible acts. ... In this world, carelessness, waste, and poor repair are signs of disrespect."
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