Alaska Villagers Race to Save 500-Year-Old Artifacts

The day after Typhoon Halong tore through Quinhagak, Alaska, Jenny Matthew spotted something unusual among the storm debris. A smooth wooden bowl lay on the beach, carved by her ancestors between 400 and 600 years ago.

The storm had ripped up the tundra like old carpet, scattering thousands of cultural objects from the Nunalleq archaeological site. The wind and floodwaters exposed hand-carved animals, ornate masks, grass rope, sewing needles, and pieces of ancient kayaks that had been frozen in permafrost for centuries.

Lead archaeologist Rick Knecht knew they had to act fast. The storm had pushed the Bering Sea even closer to their dig site, where remnants of 500-year-old sod houses hold irreplaceable pieces of Yup'ik history.

This past summer, a team of mostly volunteer archaeologists returned for an emergency dig. They worked in a hole about the size of a backyard pool, racing against time as seawater now reaches into the pit at high tide.

Charlotta Hillerdal has spent over 15 years at this site. When she heard about the storm damage from her home in Scotland, she cried. She and Knecht have watched the sea creep closer year after year, fueled by decreasing sea ice and thawing permafrost.

The frozen ground has preserved these organic artifacts in ways that would be impossible in warmer climates. Each object represents a direct connection to how Quinhagak residents lived centuries ago.

The team operates on a shoestring budget, funded by the Pacific Northwest Archaeological Society and the Daughters of the American Revolution. They're raising money through GoFundMe and Quinhagak Heritage Inc. to return next summer.

Why This Inspires

Elizabeth Church, director of Quinhagak Heritage Inc., says the artifacts strengthen her community's identity. The Nunalleq Culture and Archaeology Center displays these treasures for descendants and the public alike.

"When you know that you come from a people that were so resilient, you get a boost," the center demonstrates to visitors. Each wooden doll and leather fragment tells a story of survival and creativity in one of Earth's harshest environments.

The village deliberated carefully before starting excavations in 2009, after thawing permafrost first revealed these objects in the early 2000s. They chose to save these pieces of their culture rather than leave them to erosion.

Knecht refuses to give up, even as climate change accelerates the threat. "I'll be damned if I'm going to leave this for the waves," he said.

The team plans to keep digging, keep preserving, and keep connecting Quinhagak's present to its remarkable past.