6 September 2014 What's Your Inner Spirit? A momentary pause from the research to explore native traditions.

Exploring Traditional culture in Alaska at UAF's Museum of the North!

While attending the PolarTREC Orientation for educators and researchers this past February, we spent several hours exploring traditional culture in Alaska while visiting the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Museum of the North.

Lisa Seff wearing a mask by artist Dora Mae Buchea "Umara Nupuwhotuk" at the Museum of the North at the University of Alaska Faribanks. February 2014.

Inspired by the beauty and variety of masks created by various traditional and modern native american Eskimo populations across the North, I brought home pictures to our students and teachers at Springs School. Our art teacher Colleen McGowan and several students were inspired to make their own traditional masks based on those they saw from the Museum. This past May and June, while focusing on their own inner spirits, they first created plaster casts of their faces (no caribou skins available!). The students then drew tattoo images on the masks to represent important moments from their own lives. The final step was to add some of their favorite finds from their homes, art room or outdoors, including faux fur (no polar bears here either!), feathers, shells and stones. Looking for your own inner spirit? Check out our video below and then design your own spirit mask!

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*Artist Idea! If you don't have the time, space or materials available to create plaster or skin masks, there are a large variety of inexpensive ($5 or less) plain white plastic masks available on several common shopping websites on the internet.