Smithsonian highlights Alaska native art and film: Alaska native culture and traditions at Washington, D.C., museum.

• Author: Pilkington, Steve
• Position: Alaska This Month

Alaska Native culture and traditions are focal points of a festival at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History this month in Washington, D.C., with art, performances, storytelling, crafts and film screenings by influential filmmakers.

The Alaska Native Art & Culture Festival begins Nov. 4 at the museum at 10th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW. The performances, craft demonstrations, storytelling and other exhibits will occur between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily until the festival ends on Nov. 6.

Randall Kremer, director of public affairs at the Smithsonian, said coordinators plan a full spectrum of events, exhibits and special discussions to showcase the cultural and artistic heritage of Alaska Natives.

Smithsonian scientists will be on hand daily to answer questions and give hands-on demonstrations of Alaska's natural resources at carts throughout the building. Live performances of drum dancing, traditional theatre, story-telling and performances by the Alaska Native Heritage Center artists also are scheduled. For those interested in crafts, there will be Inupiaq ivory carving, Tlingit ravens tail weaving, Alutiiq head-dress displays, as well as Inupiaq baleen baskets, Athabascan bead work, medicine bags and Yup'ik skin-sewing.

There also will be special exhibits of Alaska Native art, including photography by Carrie Anvil-Kiana, Ryan Olson and Holly Nordlum, featuring life in rural Alaska and ethnographic material from Smithsonian collections.

Saturday, Nov. 5, will be a special day in the festival, with screenings of select films in the museum's Baird Auditorium. The films, dating from 1984 through 2005, will cover music, dance, languages and spiritual topics of Alaska Native culture.

The first film, at 11 a.m., is Through the Eyes of the Spirit, a 30-minute piece by director Alexie...