BLYN — In looking to the future, the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe has harnessed digital technology to exhibit its past.
The tribe has launched an online virtual museum that allows the tribe and non-Indian communities to learn more about its history and culture.
The tribe announced Friday the launch of the site, Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe House of Seven Generations, which can be found at www.tribalmuseum.jamestowntribe.org.
“We have always planned for the next seven generations; by storing information digitally we can preserve our thoughts and products, tangible or not, for the next seven generations,” Khia Ginnell of the Prince family says on the website.
“The exhibits from these collections give present and future generations a sense of pride, stories to learn from and a chance to bring knowledge from the past into the future.”
The museum site preserves the history of the S’Klallam people, converting written, pictorial and audio recordings of tribal history into digital format.
Photos, artifacts
Family photo and artifact collections are displayed for easy click-and-see navigation.
Tribal leaders hope the site will reconnect the current generations with the tribe’s cultural roots and allow a glimpse into the Jamestown S’Klallam people’s past.
“Access to searchable images and information from anywhere in the world is a valuable tool for keeping tribal people connected to their history and culture,” said Leanne Jenkins, the tribe’s planning director and project coordinator.
Prior to the October start of the tribe’s archiving project, surveys of the tribal community revealed that many tribal citizens were concerned about preserving the tribe’s history and ensuring that it be passed on to future generations.
With the advent of affordable technology and greater access to the Internet, the tribe decided that the best way to preserve precious images, documents, artifacts and stories was to digitize them and make the resulting archive accessible to all.
Clallam, Jefferson counties
Of the 598 enrolled tribal citizens and their families, 40 percent live in Clallam and Jefferson counties, with others scattered across the region and nation.
The first and current exhibit tells the story of the tribe’s official federal re-recognition by the United States government in 1981.
The tribe will continue to develop new exhibits, as well as educational resources related to the collections, in order to bring meaning to the content, tribal officials said.
Visitors are encouraged to delve into the archives and to visit frequently to find newly uploaded materials.
Grant funding
With funding of $145,733 from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the tribe converted more than 2,200 objects of historic and governmental significance to the archive.
The tribe teamed with experts from its Economic Development Authority for project implementation and web development; and with consultants at the University of Washington Libraries and Larry Burtness of the Olympic Peninsula Community Museum Project for technical advice.
Long term, the website and collections will be managed by the tribal library staff.
The project was modeled after the Olympic Peninsula Community Museum at www.communitymuseum.org, which was funded in 2003 in part by an Institute of Museum and Library Services grant.
Although the grant period extends from October 2009-2011, tribal leaders said the project will continue indefinitely as collections continue to be added, exhibits are created and educational tools are developed.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
