This site is being preserved as it was on 17 September 2001 as a memorial to the life and work of Eberhard Wenzel.
Website by Eberhard Wenzel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
VL.GIF WWW VL Circumpolar Peoples: Culture


  • Aboriginal Language Services Corporation - translation and interpreting services for Aboriginal languages of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut
  • Alaska Native Heritage Center - "an educational and cultural institution for all Alaskans, the Alaska Native Heritage Center will provide programs in both academic and informal settings, including workshops, demonstrations and guided tours of indoor exhibits and outdoor village sites"
  • Alaska Native Language Center - "established in 1972 by state legislation as a center for documentation and cultivation of the state's 20 Native languages"
  • Anchorage Museum of History and Art - "collects, preserves, exhibits and interprets cultural materials which illustrate the art and history of Alaska and the circumpolar North"
  • Archaeology in Arctic North America - "Archaeological research in the Arctic presents a number of unique challenges, including short field seasons, immense logistical problems, and excavation into permafrost (permanently frozen ground). It's also an incredibly vast region. Therefore, most research until the mid-1980s simply focused on filling gaps in the culture history. More recently, due both to the extreme nature of the environment and the unmatched ethnographic database from this region, archaeological and ethnoarchaeological research here has resulted in important theoretical and methodological contributions to archaeology generally"
  • Arctic Odyssey - a comprehensive web-site by the Canadian Museum of Nature with an exquisite collection of links
  • Arctic Perspectives - offers detailed cultural and environmental resources on the Canadian North
  • Arctic Studies Center - "Congress provided funding for the Arctic Studies Center in 1988 as a permanent program for northern research and education within the National Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian Institution. In keeping with the Smithsonian's mandate for the "increase and diffusion of knowledge," the Center is dedicated to the study of northern peoples, their history and environment"
  • Avataq Institute - "created in 1980 with a mandate to protect and promote Inuit language and culture in Nunavik"
  • Canadian Aboriginal Festival - the largest festival of its kind in Canada
  • Canadian Museum of Civilization - First Peoples Hall - "Exhibits will depict the many indigenous groups from parts of Canada other than the Pacific Coast, and will represent the First Peoples' traditional and contemporary cultures, their way of life and its relationship to particular environments" - visit also the Virtual Museum's First Peoples Hall at: http://www.civilization.ca/membrs/level01.html
  • Crossroads of Continents - "combines modern research in North Pacific anthropology and archeology with the presentation of many important objects from early collections. This exhibition attempts to capture the wide diversity of North Pacific cultures as well as their historical development from the end of the last Ice Age to the modern day" - organized by the Smithsonian Institute
  • Dene Cultural Institute - "created at the first Dene Cultural Conference, July 26-30, 1986. Two Hundred people from twenty-six communities, representing more than fourteen thousand members of the Dene Nation, came together in Lutsel K'e (formerly Snowdrift), a small community on the shores of Great Slave Lake. They had one concern: to stop the steady erosion and the potential loss of their culture"
  • Greenland Guide - the official guide to Greenland, a very comprehensive web-site
  • Institute for the Preservation of the Original Languages of the Americas (IPOLA) - "collaborates with indigenous communities to revitalize and perpetuate the languages and culture of the original inhabitants of the Americas"
  • Inuit Culture - offers information on three different areas and the culture of the respective people
  • Inuit Cultural Perspectives - "Selected cultural information texts contain links to artwork depicting related subjects. This information is based on interviews conducted with Inuit elders"
  • Ipiutak Project - a project about the history of Point Hope (Alaska) and beyond
  • 'Ksan Historical Village and Museum - "Found within Gitxsan territory, 'Ksan Historical Village and Museum stands where the village of Gitanmaax has existed for centuries. It is the desire of 'Ksan to preserve and truthfully portray the lifestyles of the people who have always lived here"
  • MSARP (McDougall Sound Archaeological Research Project) Archeology in Arctic Canada Slide Show - a slide show (takes time to download!!) on archeological field work on Little Cornwallis Island in the central Canadian High Arctic
  • Native American Cultures - an exhibition of the EMuseum of Minnesota State University

  • North: Landscape of the Imagination - a web-site by the National Library of Canada providing rich resources
  • Poundmaker Big Bear and the 1885 Rebellion- "an entertaining factual account of the Native half of the 1885 Northwest Rebellion which took place in what is now Western Canada"
  • Prehistory of Alaska - this is a web-site provided by the National Park Service, a US-governmental agency
  • Qaanaaq (Thule), Greenland - a web-site offered by Carl Obling
  • Resource Guide to Inuit Harvesters' Skills - "The guide lists Inuit harvesters' experience and knowledge in everything from archaeology and fishing, to traditional knowledge of the land and animals. Access the unique skills and knowledge of Inuit harvesters in Arctic Canada in our Inuit skills database"
  • Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Center - "For the past 25 years the Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Centre seeks to help maintain the cultural identity of the five cultures of the province:
    • Saulteaux,
    • Dakota,
    • Assiniboine,
    • Dene and
    • Cree (Plains,Woodland, and Swampy).
    The fundamental aim of the Centre is to encourage people to maintain a proud and positive self-image. The Centre can do this by developing Indian education, which teaches us about ourselves, spiritually, emotionally, psychologically, and intellectually"



If you find a broken link or wish to suggest a new resource, please use this form.
Thanks for your kind support - LDB.



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