Spanning the 

 Bering Strait

2 0 y e a r s o f c o l l a b o r a t i v e r e s e a r c h

Shared Beringian Heritage Program

National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior
S U BSISTE N CE H U N TER i n CH U K OT K A , R U SSIA
SATELLITE i m a g e o f t h e b e r i n g s t r a i t

The Shared Beringian Heritage Program has been fortunate enough to have had a sustained source of funds to support 

community based projects and research since its creation in 1991. Presidents George H.W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev 

expanded their cooperation in the field of environmental protection and the study of global change to create the Shared 

Beringian Heritage Program. The Bering Strait area shares many significant natural and cultural resources. The purpose 

of our program is to recognize and celebrate these resources that Russia and the United States have in common and to 

sustain the cultural heritage of Native peoples throughout the region. In support of these goals, annual funding for the 

Beringia Program is currently committed to a variety of projects that involve scientists, government officials, teachers and 

youth from the United States and Russia, especially local communities and Native people across the Bering Strait region. 

Since 1991, the Shared Beringian Heritage Program has funded over 130 projects, with 12-20 active projects each year. 

They range from 1-3 years in duration. The program is dedicated to contributing in all areas of research, whether it’s 

bio-sampling of Grey & Bowhead Whales in Chukotka or facilitating an exchange of Shishmaref and Uelen ivory carving 

traditions. Recent projects have included work on marine mammals, sea ice patterns, reindeer herding, archaeology, and 

documentation of local traditions, language, and culture. 

All project information is easily accessible at http://www.nps.gov/akso/beringia 

under Projects & Research. The website provides information on individual 

projects dating back to 1991 and also how to apply for project funding 

through the Beringia Program. 

I N TRO D U CTIO N

PHOTO: © KOnstantin savva

3

S I B E R I A

USA

USA

NORT HE AS T RUS S I A

C A N A D A

A L A S K A

Pacific Ocean

Gulf of Alaska

Arctic Ocean

Chukotka Peninsula

Seward Peninsula

Alaska Peninsula

Yukon River

Len a River

Kolyma River

Kamchatka

Peninsula

0 250

miles

500

N

S

W E

Mac kenzie River

Bering Sea

Bering Strait

Chukchi Sea

CHUKOTKA HUNTER PHOTO: © KOnstantin savva SATELLITE PHOTO: © NOAA
Beringia: What’s Climate Change to You?

Partner: GoNorth! Adventure Learning 

Contact: Mille Porsild

Collaborators: n Beringia Nature-Ethnic Park, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Natalia Kalyuzhina

n Ethnography Laboratory in Anadyr, scientists Viktoriya Golbtseva and Vladislav Nuvano

n Beringia Tour Services

n Chukotka Science Group

n University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Department of Anthropology, Dr. Sveta Yamin-Pasternak

n University of Colorado, Physics Education Research Group, Dr. Stephanie Viola Chasteen

n Collaboration with scientists from Woods Hole Research Center, NASA, and United Nations Environment Programme

Location: Provideniya, Sireniki, Yanrakynnot, Lorino, Lavrentia, and Uelen

Duration: 3 years

Funding: $37,000 in 2011, $48,400 in 2012, $49,610 in 2013. 

This project was selected for funding in 2010, but was delayed in order to change partners from the University of 

Minnesota to the University of Alaska and the University of Colorado.

This project will establish a local and sustainable framework to deliver Beringia: What’s Climate Change to You?

(WCCY) in Chukotka, Russia. This is part of a Pan-Arctic-American network where students and teachers partner 

with scientists to do science and explore climate change around the circumpolar arctic. The vehicle for WCCY is the 

“GoNorth” adventure learning series. The youth-generated content is used by more than 3 million learners and is 

broadcasted to teachers in more than 4,500 schools across the 50 U.S. states and on 5 continents. 

Bowhead Coastal Observation Project - Chukotka 

Partner: North Slope Borough

Contacts: Craig George, Cyd Hanns

Collaborators: n Russian Academy of Sciences, Dr. Vladimir Melnikov

n Association of Marine Mammal Hunters of Chukotka, Eduard Zdor 

n Chukotka Science Support Group, Gennady Zelensky

n ChukotTINRO, Denis Litovka

Location: Uelen and Sereniki, Russia (may change based on logistics and recommendations of colleagues in Chukotka)

Duration: 3 years

Funding: $34,022 in 2010, $39,230 in 2011, $47,216 in 2012 

This project will study the distribution and abundance of the Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort Seas bowhead whale 

population and document mammal sightings off the coast of Chukotka, from 2010-2012. Continuing coastal 

observations fill a critical need in continuing the nearly 20-year program, especially now when the effects of climate 

changes are causing rapid changes in the ecosystem. This research parallels research in Alaska, both of which provide 

information on regional bowhead populations. 

Following is the list of continuing projects receiving funding 

through the Shared Beringian Heritage Program. No new projects 

were solicited for 2011. Since project proposals can be of 1-3 

years in duration, there are usually continuing projects receiving 

funding in addition to projects selected that year. For more 

detailed information on the continuing projects visit our website, 

www.nps.gov/akso/beringia, go to “Find a Project” and click on 

the year in which the project was selected for funding.

Continuing Projects Funded in FY 2010

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PHOTOS: © KOnstantin savva

4
b i r d r o o k e ry o n t h e s h o r e o f t h e c h uk c h i s e a
Climate Change: a View Through the Prism of Steller’s Sea Cow Extinction 

Partner: University of Alaska, Fairbanks

Contact: Dr. Alexander Burdin

Collaborators: n Florida Atlantic University, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, Dr. O’Corry-Crowe 

n Mote Marine Laboratory, Florida; Dr. John Reynolds, III 

n Kamchatka branch of the Pacific Institute of Geography

n Russian Academy of Science in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky 

n Commander Island State Preserve, Dr. S. V. Zagrebelny

n Nikolskoe High School and village members.

Location: Commander Islands, Chukotka

Duration: 2 years

Funding: $39,762 in 2010, $38,200 in 2011

When discovered in 1741, Steller’s sea cow had already been reduced from a wide North Pacific range to a relict 

population around the Commander Islands. By 1768, the last sea cow was killed on Bering Island. While hunting 

seems to have been the ultimate cause of the species extinction, by collecting and analyzing Steller’s sea cow 

remains, this project will test the hypothesis as to whether factors related to climate change influenced the 

eventual extinction of this last giant Beringian mammal.

SHARE D B e r i n g i a N HERITAGE P ROGRAM — CO N TI N U I N G P RO J ECTS FY 2 0 1 0

n at i v e m e n d e pa r t o n a N EA r ly m o r n i n g s u b s i s t e n c e h un t

6
Creating a Modern Map of Submerged Beringia - The Bridge that Endures Time

Partner: Alaska-Siberia Research Center

Contact: Alexander Dolitsky, Executive Director

Collaborators: n Oceanus Alaska, Michelle Ridgway, principal investigator.

n TJ Howland, Chief of Hydrographic Surveys, Terrasond Limited

n Dr. David Scholl, U.S. Geological Survey and Stanford University

n Candace Stepetin, Pribilovian Native and liaison to Russian and U.S. Native communities.

Location: Submerged Beringian region, Russian and U.S. waters

Duration: 1 year

Funding: $35,050

The principal investigators will develop a geospatial database of the best available data from the U.S., Russia, 

and other sources to create a modern seafloor map of submerged Beringia. Both the visual map of modern 

underwater Beringia and the database generated will serve as a resource for archaeologists examining 

migration routes between the continents, as well as significantly updated geospatial reference for geologists 

and other scientists eager to examine undersea life during and subsequent to climate regimes.

Indigenous Knowledge and Use of Bering Strait Region Ocean Currents

Partner: Kawerak, Inc. 

Contact: Julie Raymond-Yakoubian

Collaborator: ChukotTINRO, Pacific Scientific Research Fisheries Center, Dr. Yury Khokhlov

Location: Alaska: Diomede, Wales, Shishmaref. Chukotka: Lorino, Lavrentiya, Inchoun

Duration: 3 years

Funding: $20,000 in 2010, $33,251 in 2011, $45,000 in 2012 

This project will document the traditional and contemporary use of and knowledge about ocean currents 

by three Alaskan and three Russian communities in the Bering Strait region. This knowledge, which includes 

a record of changes through time, has value for ocean travel and tracking climate change effects, which is 

quickly being lost with the passing of older generations. The project involves collaboration between an Alaska 

Native non-profit, Russian researchers, and local communities, and will assist with the on-going process of reestablishing ties broken in the Cold War. 

Indigenous Language Learning and Documentation in the Bering Strait

Partner: Arctic Studies Center, Smithsonian Institution

Contact: Aron L. Crowell

Collaborators: n Regional cultural organizations and language programs 

n Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska, Fairbanks

n Alaska Native Language Archive, University of Alaska, Fairbanks

Location: Anchorage and Fairbanks, Alaska 

Duration: 3 years

Funding: $35,999 in 2010, $45,000 in 2011, $46,000 in 2012 

The future of indigenous languages around the Bering Strait is severely threatened. The Arctic Studies Center 

(ASC) will work with elder fluent speakers of the Inupiaq and St. Lawrence Island/Siberian Yupik languages 

to produce extensive linguistic recordings and documentation of heritage objects (made 1850s-1950s) that 

are included in the Smithsonian exhibition Living Our Cultures, Sharing Our Heritage: The First Peoples of 

Alaska at the Anchorage Museum. The ASC will work with Beringian region language educators to edit these 

recordings (video and audio) into language teaching tools and community source books with English alphabet 

transcriptions and English translations, Cyrillic transcriptions and Russian translations.

PHOTO: © KOnstantin savva?

7
Telling Our Stories, Vodcasts of the Sugpiaq Collections of the Kunstkamera 

and the Cape Alitak Petroglyph Survey

Partner: Alutiiq Museum

Contact: Sven D. Haakanson, Jr., Executive Director

Collaborators: n WonderVisions, Elizabeth O’Connell

n Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography

n Various Sugpiaq leaders, artists, and anthropologists

Location: St. Petersburg, Russia and Cape Alitak, Alaska

Duration: 2 years

Funding: $18,580 in 2010, $12,000 in 2011

This funding adds the creation of 12 video podcasts and vodcasts to the production of an annotated 

catalog of the Sugpiaq Collections of the Kunstkamera, a current project that is reuniting Alaska’s Sugpiaq 

community with ancestral objects stored in the Peter the Great Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. Through 

vodcasts produced in Russian and English, Sugpiaq leaders, artists, and anthropologists can speak directly to 

multiple audiences. 

 

SHARE D B e r i n g i a N HERITAGE P ROGRAM — CO N TI N U I N G P RO J ECTS FY 2 0 0 9 - 2 0 1 0

8

Continuing Projects Funded in FY 2009

Encounters Radio Broadcast 

Partner: The Island Institute

Contact: Lisa Busch 

Collaborators: to be determined

Location: Central Beringia subject matter, broadcast nationally

Duration: 2 years

Funding: $11,000 in 2009, $15,000 in 2010 

The Island Institute expanded Encounters: Radio Experiences in the North to cover more of the circumpolar 

north by producing two 29-minute segments in the Central Beringia region. Encounters is a regular weekly, 

nationally distributed public radio program about the human traditions of the northern polar region. The 

program presents scientific information and indigenous knowledge about the natural environment in a 

widely distributed and easily accessible audio format.

Health Evaluation of Walrus

Partner: Eskimo Walrus Commission, Kawerak, Inc.

Contact: Vera Metcalf

Collaborators: n Arctic Research Commission, Cheryl Rosa

n Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Gay Sheffield

n ChukotTINRO, Denis Litovka

n Association of Traditional Marine Mammal Hunters (ATMMHC), Eduard Zdor

n Chukotka Science Support Group (CSSG), Gennady Zelensky 

Location: Chukotka, Russia

Duration: 3 years (extended)

Funding: No funding in 2009, $21,069 in 2010, $3,500 in 2011 to cover travel cancellation cost in 2011; $21,236 in 2012 

This community based project will proactively monitor walrus as the arctic environment is altered. 

A multi-disciplinary assessment will be conducted of body conditions and health-related parameters for 

an important arctic subsistence species. The data collected will advance the knowledge of arctic pinniped 

biology and will include comprehensive data management plans that will serve as templates for future 

health assessment and monitoring of the species. This project moved from the North Slope Borough to 

Kawerak, Inc., due to a change in staffing. In 2010, weather prevented travel to Chukotka to complete field 

work planned for September.
wa l r u s e s r e s t i n g o n s e a i c e
Kivetoruk Moses, Inupiaq Artist

Partner: University of Alaska – Fairbanks

Contact: David Mollett 

Location: Nome, Alaska and Providenya, Russia

Duration: 1 year

Funding: $15,000 in 2009

Beringia funding supported field work to gather first-hand accounts from people who knew or had a connection 

to Moses and his work. The final product was a book that contained a biography, artistic analysis, and collection of 

high quality reproductions of Moses’ work (still in progress).

Preserving Our Knowledge

Partner: Smithsonian Institution

Contact: Igor Krupnik

Collaborators: n Institute for Russian Cultural and Natural Heritage, Lyudmila Bogoslovskaya

n Chukotka Local Language/Knowledge Experts

n Shaktoolik Local Language/Knowledge Experts

Location: New Chaplino and Sireniki, Chukotka; Wales, Gambell, and Shaktoolik, Alaska

Duration: 2 years

Funding: $20,000 in 2009, $20,000 in 2010

This was a joint Beringian-focused heritage program to document endangered environmental and subsistence 

terminologies in five communities in Alaska and Russia: New Chaplino, Sireniki, Wales, Gambell, and Shaktoolik. 

Cultural and language specialists collected indigenous terms and produced illustrated thematic lexicons in 

St. Lawrence Island/Siberian Yupik and in Inupiaq.

10

SHARE D B e r i n g i a N HERITAGE P ROGRAM — CO N TI N U I N G P RO J ECTS FY 2 0 0 9

GE N TIA N A FLO W ER J a c o b ’ s L a dd e r

P o l e m o n i u m

NPS PHOTO PHOTO: © KOnstantin savva
Sugpiaq Kunstkamera Catalog 

Partner: Alutiiq Museum 

Contact: Sven Haakanson, Jr., Executive Director

Collaborators: n Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography

n Various Sugpiaq leaders, artists, and anthropologists

Location: St. Petersburg, Russia and Kodiak, Alaska

Duration: 2 years

Funding: $17,812 in 2009, $15,265 in 2010

For two centuries, European museums have cared for ethnographic collections from Alaska. These collections 

hold some of the last traditionally made Alaska Native objects and are an unparalleled store of ancestral 

knowledge. The Alutiiq and Kunstkamera museums collaborated on the development of an annotated catalog 

of Sugpiaq holdings.

Understanding the Evolutionary Relationship of Beringian Plants 

Partner: University of Alaska Museum

Contact: Stefanie Ickert-Bond, Curator, UAF Museum Herbarium

Collaborators: n Komarov Botanical Institute (St. Petersburg), Russian Academy of Sciences Vladimir Yu. Razzhivin, Professor, Co-PI

n Beringia Nature Ethnic Park, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Natalia Kalyuzhina, Superintendent

Location: 10 localities in the Beringia Nature Ethnic Park, Chukotka

Duration: 1 year (extended 1 year)

Funding: $25,000 in 2009, $2,350 in 2010

This field project integrated biogeographic and phylogenetic data to unravel the evolutionary relationships among 

Beringian plants as well as further document, with specimens, the rich flora of this region. This work springs from 

their long interest in the origin and evolution of the flora of Alaska. Field work was delayed from 2009, and was 

successfully completed during the summer of 2010. Samples were held at the Komarov Botanical Institute until transfer 

to Alaska could be arranged and the subsequent analysis conducted. The final report is still expected by fall 2012.

PHOTO: © KOnstantin savva

11

D OU G L A S I A
Continuing Projects Funded in FY 2008 

Alaska/Chukotka Climate Change Examination

Partner: West Anchorage High School 

Contact: Michele Whaley

Collaborators: Chukotka Multi-Discipline College, Anadyr’

Location: Anchorage, Alaska and Anadyr’, Chukotka

Duration: 3 years 

Funding: $30,000 in 2008, $32,000 in 2009, $32,000 in 2010

Students from West High School in Anchorage, Alaska, will collaborate in a three-year project with high school 

students from the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug to research the effects of climate change in their regions and discuss 

the efforts teenagers are making to protect and conserve their environment. Students will interview Native elders, 

scientists, and local and regional leaders to gather their data. Summer exchange planned for 2010 was delayed to 

2011. West High students are researching, planning, and meeting with officials in advance of the summer exchange.

Finding the Lost Dances 

Partner: Native Village of Kotzebue

Contact: D’Anne Hamilton

Collaborators: n Tribal government of the Qikiktagrukmiut peoples, Kotzebue, Alaska

n Russian Native youth dancers, New Chaplino and Provideniya, Russia 

n Throat Singers in New Chaplino, Russia

n Inuit Circumpolar Conference, Barrow, Alaska 

Location: Kotzebue, Alaska; and New Chaplino and Provideniya, Chukotka

Duration: 1 year (extended until January, 2011)

Funding: $43,320

This is a cross-cultural exchange program between Alaska Native youth of Kotzebue and Russian Native youth 

of the Chukotka region. It builds off the 2005, 3-year project “Arctic Teens Speak Out.” Kotzebue students met 

with traditional young dancers in New Chaplino and Provideniya and shared impressions about life in their own 

communities. The visit was documented on video. The youth are learning post-production skills as they create a 

documentary. The final DVD is expected January 2011. The production exceeds the original proposal both in quality 

and scope. Added benefits include community economic development for local video and film production. They are 

also producing a trailer for Russian communities and partners. 

Inupiaq Landscapes and Architecture

Partner: University of Washington 

Contact: Carol Jolles

Collaborators: n Diomede Traditional Native Knowledge Experts

n Wales Traditional Native Knowledge Experts

n Anadyr Museum, Galena Diatchkova

n Center for Advanced Research Technologies, Department of Arts and Humanities, University of Washington

n Eskimo Heritage Center, Kawerak, Inc.

Location: Diomede and Wales, Alaska

Duration: 3 years (extended)

Funding: $10,000 in 2008, $14,600 in 2009, $8,000 in 2010, and 20,000 in 2011

This social science research and educational project will document the cultural, social, and economic changes 

in the Native villages of Diomede and Wales during the last 40 to 50 years. Topics to be studied will include 

Inupiaq place names, subsistence sites, community architecture, and family histories. Project funding and 

schedule was revised to accommodate change in funding availability in 2009; and the suspension of air 

transportation to Little Diomede and the passing away of a team member in 2010.

SHARE D B e r i n g i a N HERITAGE P ROGRAM — CO N TI N U I N G P RO J ECTS FY 2 0 0 8

NPS Photo by Katerina Wessels

12
n at i v e f e s t i va l e r g av i n a n a d y r , r u s s i a , 2 0 0 9
Continuing Projects Funded in FY 2007 

Bilateral Walrus Monitoring

Partner: Eskimo Walrus Commission, Kawerak, Inc. 

Contact: Vera Metcalf

Collaborators: n Association of Marine Mammal Hunters of Chukotka (ATMMHC)

n Naukan Native Cooperative

n Yupik Society of Eskimos of Chukotka 

n Chukotka Scientific Support Group (CSSG)

n Chukotka TINRO

n U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

n University of Alaska Fairbanks

Location: Eight villages of the Chukotskiy and Providenskiy districts of Chukotka: Lorino, Uelen, Inchoun, Enurmino, New 

Chaplino, Sireniki, Enmelen, Yanrakynnot. 

Duration: 3 years

Funding: $32,363 in 2007; $35,000 in 2008; $37,500 in 2009

The Pacific walrus is represented by a single stock of animals that inhabits the continental shelf waters of the 

Bering and Chukchi seas. The population ranges across international boundaries of the United States and 

Russia. This project continued to develop bilateral relations with Chukotka in a manner that fostered mutual 

understanding and cooperation, focused on the continued subsistence use of walrus, and helped reestablish 

cultural connections between Chukotka and Alaska. The final deliverable is a revised map of the range of Pacific 

Walrus including walrus harvesting communities, known haul-outs, and migration corridors. It will also be 

translated and produced in Russian, and shared with Chukotkan communities. Expected in 2011.

N e w c h a p l i n o y o u t h s e t o u t i n a w h a l i n g b o at

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Cultural and Environmental Youth Exchange

Partner: Nome Community Center 

Contact: Lance Johnson

Collaborators: not reported

Location: Nome, Alaska; and Anadyr’ and 

Provideniya, Chukotka

Duration: 3 years (extended to a fourth year)

Funding: $49,999 in 2007, $22,051 in 2008, 

$35,000 in 2009 (extended into 2010)

The Nome Community Center, Inc., 

a non-profit agency in Alaska, in 

partnership with a local Russian youth 

organization, established a three-year 

cultural and environmental studies 

exchange program for youth in 

Chukotka and Alaska. Youth traveled 

between the communities of Nome, 

Anadyr and Provideniya during a three-year period. They stayed in each other’s homes and took part in outdoor 

activities, learned computer skills and videography. 

 The project was extended for a fourth year to allow Alaska students to travel to Russia in the summer of 2009. 

Travel complications in 2009 forced organizers to delay this travel for a year. The trip was successfully taken in 

the summer of 2010. This completes the Cultural and Environmental Youth Exchange project with the Nome 

Community Center, begun in 2007.

Old Whaling Culture in Chukotka

Partner: University of Alaska Fairbanks, Alaska Museum 

Contact: Daniel Odess 

Collaborators: n The University of Alaska Museum

n Institute of Heritage in Moscow

n The Kunstkamera Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (St. Petersburg)

n Richard Stockton College

n Yup’ik high school student 

Location: Provideniya and Nunligran, Russia 

Duration: 2 years

Funding: $35,000 in 2007; $35,063 in 2008, $37,500 in 2009

This project aimed to conduct and report on explanatory archaeological research on the Old Whaling culture in 

Chukotka, Russia. Alaskan and Russian archaeologists worked together to investigate the Un’an’an culture. This 

culture dates back to three thousand years ago and was recently discovered in southwestern Chukotka. Presence 

of this culture was discovered in Alaska, at Cape Krusenstern, in the early 1960s. However, this is the first evidence 

of the culture found in Russia. Old Whaling is important to Eskimo culture because its members are thought to be 

the first people to hunt baleen whales in the Bering Strait area. The research was designed to answer: What is the 

nature of the Old Whaling occupation at Un’an’an, and how is it related to the Old Whaling occupation at cape 

Krusenstern? What evidence is there for cultural ties across the Bering Strait around 3,000 years ago? How did 

people at Un’an’an make a living, how thoroughly were they adapted to cold-maritime living, and did the people 

who lived there hunt whales?

PHOTOS: © LANCE JOHNSON

15
Reindeer Bridge of Beringia

Partner: Center for Environmental Economic Development

Contact: Ruthanne Cecil, Faith Fjeld, and Nathan Muus

Collaborators: n Kawerak Reindeer Herders Association

n University of Alaska at Fairbanks

n Polar Research Archives of the Rasmussen Library

n Arctic Studies Center, Smithsonian Institution

n Alaska Native regional organizations

Location: n Chukotka Peninsula: Anadyr’, Lavrentia, and Provideniya; 

n Seward Peninsula: Nome, Brevig Mission, Shishmaref, Teller, and Wales; 

n Western Arctic: Kotzebue, Buckland, Candle, Deering, and Selawik; 

n St. Lawrence Island: Gambell and Savoonga

Duration: 3 years

Funding: $38,000 in 2007; $35,000 in 2008; $35,000 in 2009

Reindeer are not native to Alaska. In the late 1800s, the coming of reindeer and reindeer herding to Alaska created 

a cultural bridge that forever connected four Indigenous Arctic peoples: the Chukchi, the Inupiaq, the Saami, 

and the Yup’ik. This project focused on the introduction of reindeer herding in Alaska. The principle investigator 

interviewed descendents of the Saami herders who came to train local herders and traveled to Chukotka to study 

their contribution to Alaska herding. They will produce a book on the reindeer legacy of Beringia, edited by the 

Saami Báiki staff and published by the National Park Service with contributions from various researchers and 

tradition bearers. Expected in 2011.

Shared Heritage Beringia Program — 1991-2010 Funding Snapshot

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Cultural 28.68%

Archeology 18.60%

Wildlife 12.40% 

Other Natural Sciences 11.63%

Education 10.85%

Art 5.42%

Climate 3.88%

Mapping 3.88%

Linguistics 2.33%

Economic Development 2.33%

PHOTO: © KOnstantin savva
a c c o r d i n g t o f o l k l o r e , a c o m p l e t e ly w h i t e r e i nd e e r i s g o o d l u c k
nu t r i t i o u s l un c h f o r a c h uk c h i d e e r h e r d e r
Beringia: What’s Climate Change to 

You? 

Bowhead Coastal Observation Project 

- Chukotka 

Climate Change: a View Through the 

Prism of Steller’s Sea Cow Extinction

Creating a Modern Map of 

Submerged Beringia - The Bridge that 

Endures Time

Indigenous Knowledge and Use of 

Bering Strait Region Ocean Currents

Indigenous Language Learning 

and Documentation in the Bering 

Strait Region

Telling Our Stories- Vodcasts of 

the Sugpiaq Collections of the 

Kunstkamera and the Cape Alitak 

Petroglyph Survey

Brown Bear Working Group

Early Humans in Bering Land Bridge 

National Preserve

Encounters Radio Broadcast

Health Evaluation of Walrus 

(change in partner from NSB to EWC 

in 2010 due to change in staff)

Kivetoruk Moses, Inupiaq Artist

Preserving Our Knowledge

Understanding the Evolutionary 

Relationship of Beringian Plants

Sugpiaq Kunstkamera Catalog 

Alaska/Chukotka Climate Change 

Examination

Finding the Lost Dances (follow up to 

2005-7 Arctic Teens Speak Out)

Inupiaq Landscapes and Architecture

Archaeological Testing at North Fork 

of the Koyukuk River

Bilateral Walrus Monitoring

Cultural & Environmental Youth 

Exchange

Cultural Exchange with Uelkal

Old Whaling Culture in Chukotka

Go North! Adventure 

Learning

North Slope Borough

University of Alaska, 

Fairbanks

Alaska-Siberia Research 

Center

Kawerak, Inc

Arctic Studies Center, 

Smithsonian Institution

Alutiiq Museum

The Northern Forum

Texas A&M University

The Island Institute

Eskimo Walrus 

Commission, 

Kawerak, Inc.

University of Alaska, 

Fairbanks

Smithsonian Institution

University of Alaska 

Museum

Alutiiq Museum

West Anchorage 

High School

Native Village of 

Kotzebue

University of 

Washington

Gates of the Arctic 

National Park

Kawerak, Inc., Eskimo 

Walrus Commission

Nome Community 

Center

Native Village of 

Savoonga

University of Alaska, 

Fairbanks, Alaska 

Museum

Mille Porsild

Craig George, 

Cyd Hanns

Alexander Burdin

Alexander Dolitsky

Julie RaymondYakoubian

Aron L. Crowell

Sven D. Haakanson, Jr.

Natalie Novik

Ted Goebel

Lisa Busch

Vera Metcalf and 

Cheryl Rosa

David Mollett

Igor Krupnik

Stefanie Ickert-Bond

Sven Haakanson, Jr.

Michele Whaley

D’Anne Hamilton

Carol Jolles

 Jeff Rasic

Vera Metcalf

Lance Johnson

 John Waghiyi

Daniel Odess

2010

2010

2010

2010

2010

2010

2010

2009

2009

2009

2009

2009

2009

2009

2009

2008

2008

2008

2007

2007

2007

2007

2007

$135,010

$120,468

$77,962

$35,050

$98,251

$126,999

$30,580

$20,000

$33,127

$29,000

$49,601

$15,000

$40,000

$27,350

$33,077

$94,000

$45,320

$48,310

$4,000

$104,863

$107,050

$132,642

$70,000

Climate Change 

(Education, Youth)

Biology (Whales)

Climate Change 

(Research)

Mapping, GIS

Traditional Ecological 

Knowledge

Cultural Heritage

Education (Historical, 

Cultural)

Wildlife (Brown Bear)

Archaeology 

Education (Media)

Wildlife (Walrus)

Art, Cultural Heritage

Cultural Heritage, 

Linguistics

Botany

Art, Cultural Heritage

Climate Change, Youth 

(Exchange)

Art, Cultural Exchange

Art, Cultural Exchange

Archaeology 

Wildlife (Walrus)

Cultural Exchange, 

Youth

Cultural Exchange

Archaeology 

Title Partner Contact Yrs FY Funding Category

3

3

2

1

3

3

2

1

1

2

3

1

2

1

2

3

1

3

1

3

3

3

2

SHARE D B e r i n g i a N HERITAGE P ROGRAM — 2 0 YEARS OF F U N D I N G

PHOTO: © KOnstantin savva

19
Reindeer Bridge of Beringia

Sea Ice Knowledge and Use

Sharing Perspectives About Climate, 

Sea Ice & Subsistence Walrus Hunting

Inupiaq Artifacts and Bering 

Strait History

Koryak Exhibit

Microblade Mysteries

Native Participation in Planning and 

Mgmt or Chukotka National Park

Record of Beringian Trade

Alaska Submerged Cultural Heritage 

- the Underwater Archeology of the 

Kad’yak (publication)

Arctic Teens Speak Out

Brown Bear Management Workshop

Heritage Preservation Plan

Mapping a Hunting Landscape

Prehistoric Maritime Adaptations 

Remember the Past, 

Ensure the Future

Teller Cultural Festival

Ties that Bind (finished in 2009)

Archeological Mentorship

The Biting Flies of Beringia: Their 

Biodiversity & Pest Status

Community Based Monitoring of the 

Bering Sea

Taxonomic List of Beringian Fauna

Important Bird Areas of the Bering Sea 

– Russian Version

Indigenous Interpretation of 

Beringian Collections

Kingikmiut Dance Festival

Center for 

Environmental Economic 

Development

The Smithsonian 

Institution

University of Alaska, 

Fairbanks

Native Village of 

Kotzebue

Museum of the 

Aleutians

Gates of the Arctic 

National Park

Bering Straits 

Foundation

University of Alaska, 

Anchorage

Alaska Office of History 

& Archaeology

Native Village of 

Kotzebue

The Northern Forum

Native Village of 

Deering

University of Alaska, 

Anchorage

Washington State 

University

Nome Community 

Center

Native Village of Teller

Kawerak, Inc.

National Park Service

Clemson University

Pribilof School District

National Audubon 

Society

National Audubon 

Society

Smithsonian Institution, 

Arctic Studies Center

Native Village of Wales

Ruthanne Cecil, 

Faith Fjeld, and 

Nathan Muus

Igor Krupnik

Martin Robards

Amber Lincoln

Zoya Johnson

Jeff Rasic

Matt Ganley

Andrew Crow

Dave McMahan

D’Anne Hamilton

Natalie Novik

Roberta Moto

Aaron Wilson

Robert Ackerman

Bruce Klein

Charlene Isabell

Katie Bourdon

Becky Saleeby

Peter Adler

Karin Holser

Olga Romanenko

Olga Romanenko

Aron Crowell

Winton Weyapuk Jr.

2007

2007

2006

2006

2006

2006

2006

2006

2005

2005

2005

2005

2005

2005

2005

2005

2005

2004

2004

2004

2004

2004

2004

2004

$108,000

$54,882

$56,397

$26,531

$29,010

$7,450

$59,412

$75,785

$12,155

$105,834

$3,000

$24,996

$10,075

$18,750

$85,231

$20,206

$116,830

$92,000

$20,050

$80,000

$29,000

$20,000

$132,815

$43,010

Cultural Heritage

Environmental 

Education

Climate Change 

(Traditional 

Ecological Knowledge), 

Subsistence

Archaeology, History

Art, History

Archaeology

Natural Resource, 

Education

Archaeology, History

Archaeology, History

Art, Cultural Exchange

Cultural Resource, 

Education

Cultural Heritage

Mapping, Archaeology

Archaeology

Subsistence, Education

Cultural Heritage

Ethnography

Archaeology, Youth

Biology

Environmental 

Education

Wildlife, Biology

Wildlife (Birds)

Cultural Heritage

Cultural Exchange, Art

Title Partner Contact Yrs FY Funding Category

3

2

2

1

1

1

2

3

1

3

1

1

1

1

2

1

3

3

3

3

1

1

3

1

20

NPS PHOTO

SHARE D B e r i n g i a N HERITAGE P ROGRAM — 2 0 YEARS OF F U N D I N G
A r t i f a c t f r o m M i c r o b l a d e M y s t e r i e s P r o j e c t, 2 0 0 6 
22

Synthesis of Ten Years of 

Beringia Research 

Biosampling of Grey & Bowhead 

Whales 

Cultural Values of Polar Bear 

in Chukotka 

Russian Elder Consultations on 

Exhibit Design

King Island Song & Dance Preservation

Online Database for Chukotka Flora

Remember the Past, Ensure the Future

Rural Development Exchange

Russian Participation in Mammoth 

Conference

Arctic Observations (part of 2001 

project, new CA)

Artifact Reproductions

Brown Bear Management Workshop

Chukotka Tourism Training & 

Development (Continued from 2001)

Global Change in the Marine Food 

Webs of Beringia

Important Bird Areas of the Bering Sea 

– English Version

Teacher Workshop on Beringia 

Landscapes

Trunks Across the Sea

Barrow Arctic Science 

Consortium

North Slope Borough

Alaska Nanuuq 

Commission

Western Arctic Parklands

King Island IRA

University of Alaska 

Museum

Nome Community 

Center

University of Alaska, 

Fairbanks

Yukon-Charley, Gates of 

the Arctic NP

Seward SeaLife Center

University of Alaska 

Museum

The Northern Forum

University of Alaska 

Anchorage 

University of Alaska, 

Fairbanks

National Audubon 

Society

Alaska Pacific 

University and 

Institute of the North

World Wildlife Fund

John Tichotsky

 Todd O’Hara

Charles Johnson

Willie Goodwin

Ted Mayac

Carolyn Parker

Jean Tombaugh

Gordon Pullar 

Jeff Rasic

Mike Davis

Dan Odess

Priscilla Wohl

Tandy Wallack

Hector Douglas, 

Alan Springer

Stan Senner

Roger Pearson & 

Tandy Wallack

Evie Witten

2004

2003

2003

2003

2003

2003

2003

2003

2003

2002

2002

2002

2002

2002

2002

2002

2002

$84,110

$103,530

$137,150

$29,018

$40,000

$34,922

$74,937

$118,485

$33,760

$16,200

$122,915

$28,200

$76,000

$40,115

$30,000

$41,916

$48,074

Subsistence

Wildlife (Whales)

Ethnography

Ethnography

Art, Cultural Exchange

Botany

Subsistence (Education)

Exchange, 

Environmental 

Education

Archaeology, Exchange

Environmental 

Education

Archaeology, Art

Cultural Resource, 

Education

Community/Economic 

Development

Ecology

Wildlife (Birds)

Community/Economic 

Development

Environmental 

Education

Title Partner Contact Yrs FY Funding Category

2

3

4

1

1

3

2

3

1

1

3

1

2

1

1

2

2

SHARE D B e r i n g i a N HERITAGE P ROGRAM — 2 0 YEARS OF F U N D I N G

NPS PHOTO BY VIC KNOX PHOTO: © KONSTANTIN SAVVA
Arctic Observations: Student Journals 

(continued in 2002, new CA)

Beringia Core & Blade Technology

Chukotka Tourism Training 

(continued in 2002, new CA)

Elder/Youth Native Arts & Exchange

Exchange between Shishmaref and 

Uelen Ivory Carving Traditions

Paleo-Indian Archaeology & 

Paleoecology in the Noatak Basin

Watching Ice & Weather Our Way

Chukotka Walrus Harvest Monitoring 

Project

Cultural Exchanges Between Alaskan 

& Russian Native Groups

Cultural History of Beringia

Documenting the Economic & Cultural 

Necessity of Subsistence in Chukotka

Ethnographic Documentation of 

Kotzebue Trade Fair

GIS Coverage in Eastern Chukotka

Organize St. Lawerence Island 

Language & Cultural Activities 

(Chukotka Yupik children summer 

camp)

Resource Management & Biodiversity 

Education in Chukotka

Wrangel Island Biodiversity 

Conservation

NW Arctic Borough 

School District

National Park Service

Alaska Pacific University

Native Village of 

Deering

Native Village of 

Shishmaref

Washington State 

University (Pullman) 

Researchers

Smithsonian Institution

Kawerak, Eskimo Walrus 

Commission

Inuit Circumpolar 

Conference

University of Colorado

Alaska Pacific University

Native Village of 

Kotzebue

Nanuuq Commission 

& Russian Academy of 

Sciences

Native Village of 

Savoonga

Environmental Alliance

Kodiak Brown Bear Trust

Mike Davis

Tandy Wallack

Ruth Ann Moto

George Olanna Sr.

Jeff Rasic

Carl Kava

Caleb Pungowiyi

Jim Dixon

John Tichotsky

Pete Schaeffer

John Waghiyi

Marc Brody

David R. Cline

2001

2001

2001

2001

2001

2001

2001

2000

2000

2000

2000

2000

2000

2000

2000

2000

$41,395

$0

$34,545

$24,800

$33,800

$10,900

$0

$113,624

$45,000

$172,691

$184,480

$37,100

$41,400

$192,642

$68,000

$20,000

Environmental 

Education

Archaeology 

Community/Economic 

Development

Art, Cultural Exchange

Art, Cultural Exchange

Archaeology

Traditional Ecological 

Knowledge

Wildlife (Walrus)

Cultural Exchange

Cultural Heritage, 

History

Subsistence

Ethnography, Art

Mapping, GIS

Cultural Exchange, 

Youth

Natural Resource, 

Education

Wildlife (Brown Bears)

Title Partner Contact Yrs FY Funding Category

1

1

1

1

2

2

3

3

4

3

2

3

1

23

PHOTO: © KONSTANTIN SAVVA PHOTO: © KONSTANTIN SAVVA
Chert Artifact Fingerprinting

Eskimo Heritage Project: renewal of 

1996 Cooperative Agreement

Paleoindian Adaptations in 

Arctic Alaska

Portrait of a Divided Maritime Family

Radiocarbon Dating of Critical 

Archaeological Sites

Conduct Traditional Knowledge 

Habitat Surveys and Conservation 

Education of Polar Bears in 

Chukotka, Russia

Conduct Archaeological Training, 

Education Exhibits: Deering, 

Point Hope & Provideniya

Fungi of the Beringia Region

Golovin Field School

Naukan Dictionary Project

Ten Years After – Documenting the 

Human Landscape

Archeological Reconnaissance of 

Early Human Sites in Gates of the 

Arctic National Park

The King Island Wolf Dance

The Cultural and Natural Heritage 

of Northwest Alaska, Volume VI, 

The Organization of National Life – 

The inupiaq Nations

Eskimo Heritage Project

Landscape History and Environmental 

Change in the Kobuk Sand Dunes

[Late] Cenezoic History in Beringia

Preservation of the Subsistence 

Lifestyle (renewed in 1999)

Republication of Kuuvangmiut 

Subsistence

Traditional Knowledge of Sea Bird 

Colonies

Bering Land Bridge National Preserve 

GIS Ground Cover

Princeton University 

and the National Park 

Service

Kawerak, Inc.

NPS & Washington State 

University

Native Village of 

Savoonga

National Park Service 

and Northeastern 

Institute (NEISRI) in 

Magadan

Alaska Nanuuq 

Commission

Ukpeagvik Inupiat 

Corporation Foundation 

(Barrow)

University of Alaska, 

Fairbanks

Golovin Native 

Corporation

University of Alaska, 

Fairbanks

City of Nome

University of Alaska, 

Fairbanks

King Island Native 

Community

Sole source

Kawerak, Inc.

University of Alaska, 

Fairbanks

National Science 

Foundation

North Slope Borough

NW Arctic Borough 

School District

Inuit Circumpolar 

Conference

National Park Service

Natalia MalykSelivanova

Branson Tungiyan

Jeff Rasic

Saunders McNeill 

Bob Gal

Charlie Johnson

Glenn Sheehan

Gary Laursen

Jack Fagerstrom

Michael Krauss

Sue Steinacher

Richard Reanier

Deanna Kingston

Ernest Burch

Branson Tungiyan

Dan Mann

Julie Brigham-Grette

Tom Albert

Ruth Sampson

Caleb Pungowiyi

1999

1999

1999

1999

1999

1998

1998

1998

1998

1998

1998

1997

1997

1997

1996

1996

1996

1996

1996

1996

1995

$40,000

$72,820

$12,450

$71,750

$10,000

$150,000

$205,000

$145,000

$129,911

$47,400

$23,000

$40,000

$6,420

$76,200

$464,410

$222,200

$74,250

$208,689

$36,000

$72,250

$40,000

Archaeology

Cultural Heritage

Anthropology

Art

Archaeology

Wildlife (Polar Bear)

Archaeology

Biology, Ecology

Archaeology, 

Education

Linguistics

Cultural Heritage

Archaeology

Cultural Heritage

Cultural Heritage

Cultural Heritage

Climate Change 

(Research)

Geology

Subsistence 

Subsistence (Education)

Wildlife (Birds)

Mapping, GIS

Title Partner Contact Yrs FY Funding Category

1

2

3

2

1

3

3

3

3

4

1

1

1

2

3

3

3

3

2

3

1

SHARE D B e r i n g i a N HERITAGE P ROGRAM — 2 0 YEARS OF F U N D I N G

24

PHOTO: © COLLEEN ZAJAC
25

N at i v e w o m a n f l e s h e s a s e a l
Beringian Biota-Fungi

Biodiversity of Vertebrates

Cape Espenberg Birds

ICC Conference or Cultural Exchange

Mammoth Recovery

NWAK Native Trade Fair – 

Ethnographic Documentation

US Conservation/Russian Publication

Bridges of Science Conference

University of Alaska 

Fairbanks

Audubon & National 

Park Service

University of Alaska 

Fairbanks

Inuit Circumpolar 

Conference

National Park Service

Native Village of 

Kotzebue

Audubon & National 

Park Service

University of Alaska 

Fairbanks

Gary Laursen

Caleb Pungowiyi

Pete Schaeffer

1995

1995

1995

1995

1995

1995

1995

1994

$15,000

$8,000

$10,000

$25,000

$10,000

$77,200

$2,000

$5,000

Biology

Biology

Wildlife (Birds)

Cultural Exchange

Archaeology

Cultural Heritage

Education

Cultural Heritage

Title Partner Contact Yrs FY Funding Category

1

1

1

1

3

1

1

THREE D A N CI N G b e a r s c a r v e d b y C h uk c h i COLLEGE s t ud e n t

26

SHARE D B e r i n g i a N HERITAGE P ROGRAM — 2 0 YEARS OF F U N D I N G
English - Russian - Yupik - Inupiaq 

Names

English Russian Names

Beringia Biota-Flora

Bibliography-Quarternary 

Paleography 

Brown Bear Census

Gyrfalcon

Late Cenozoic History of Bering Strait

Reindeer Range

Reindeer Range Contaminants

Resources of Chukotka

NPS/Native Elders

NPS/Audubon

University of Alaska 

Fairbanks

University of Alaska 

Fairbanks

National Park Service

National Park Service

National Science 

Foundation

University of Alaska 

Fairbanks

University of Alaska 

Fairbanks (with USFWS 

& EPA)

University of Alaska 

Anchorage

Craig Gerlach

Linda Ellanna, Igor 

Krupnik, Ernest Burch, Jr, 

and George Sherrod

Peter Schweitzer

David Hopkins

Owen Mason

Julie Brigham-Grette

James Beget

Mary Edwards, 

Dan Mann

David Hopkins

Victoria Goetcheus

Dan Stevens

Jane Felix

Joe Brown

John Tichotsky

1994

1993

1992

1992

1992

1992

1991

1991

1991

1991

1991-

1997

$20,000

$8,000

$196,200

$3,300

$1,600

$122,400

$75,000

$107,500

$12,000

$3,000

$1,220,375

$101,340

$198,034

$139,800

$18,750

$116,843

$162,827

$106,026

$194,943

$139,599

$21,013

$21,200

Total Funding 1991 - 2010 $8,909,243

Linguistics, Cultural 

Heritage

Linguistics

Botany

Geology

Wildlife (Brown Bears)

Wildlife

Geology

Wildlife

Wildlife

Natural Resources

Archaeology

Ethnography, History

Cultural Exchange

Ecology

Mapping

Geology

Botany

Geology

Geology

Botany

Title Partner Contact Yrs FY Funding Category

1

1

3

1

1

3

3

3

2

1

One Man’s Heritage Project of the 7

Shared Beringian Heritage Program

 1991-1995 Unaccounted funding

Anthropology Components

 Reindeer Herding 

 Ethnoarchaeology

 Ethnohistory 

 Traveling Between Continents

Landscape Development 

Components

 1994 Landscape overhead

 Coastal Processes

 Surficial Mapping and paeloecology

 Tephrochronology 

 Paleovegetation

 Thaw Lake Dynamics: 

 Espenberg Wetlands

 Radiocarbon Dating (all sites)

 Buried Vegetation

NPS Photo by Marcia Blaszak

27
PHOTO: © KOnstantin savva

The Shared Beringian Heritage Program 

recognizes and celebrates the natural 

resources and cultural heritage shared 

by Russia and the United States on 

both sides of the Bering Strait. The 

program seeks local resident, national, 

and international participation in the 

preservation and understanding of 

natural resources and protected lands, as well as working to sustain 

the cultural vitality of Native peoples of the Beringia region. 

For more information about the Shared Beringian Heritage Program 

visit www.nps.gov/akso/beringia PHOTO: © KOnstantin savva