Alaska Native Heritage Center, Inc.

The Native Heritage Center focuses on carrying out the following goals:

• Providing opportunities for intergenerational and cross-cultural sharing;
• Providing opportunities for Native and non-Native children to learn about Native culture, art, and history;
• Supporting Native youth to use their many skills and talents for other cultural and educational agencies.

Specific programs that are being implemented to support the goals include:

• Master Artists Program;
• Rural/Urban Youth Program;
• Anchorage High School Credit Program;
• University Internship;
• New Trade Winds project in partnership with the Bishop Museum, Peabody Essex Museum, North Slope Borough, New Bedford Whaling Museum, and the Fine Arts Commission.

Bishop Museum

The Bishop Museum partners with the North Slope Borough, Alaska Native Heritage Center, Peabody Essex Museum, the New Bedford Whaling Museum and other Hawaiian organizations.

Specific projects include:

• Whaling Traditions in Hawaii and Alaska;
• Educational Outreach for Native Hawaiian and Alaska Natives;
• Youth Exchange Program: Culture Sharing through Caring for the Land;
• Staff Exchange;
• Training with Alaska Native and Native American Cultural and Historical Organizations.

Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians

The first year of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians' Cultural Education Program is designed to establish the fundamental capabilities needed to deliver research based historical and cultural education opportunities to students, educators, parents and the public at the tribal, state, and national levels.

The program will:

• Develop plans and specifications for a Cultural Education Center to be constructed with tribal funds.
• Design Choctaw historical and cultural awareness exhibits.
• Develop and publish materials that increase awareness and understanding of Choctaw culture, history, traditions and government.
• Establish organizational standards and protocols for the collection, identification, cataloguing, preservation and sharing of historically and culturally significant information and artifacts.
• Catalogue and digitize tribal archival information and records to be used for the basis of future educational research and material development projects.

North Slope Borough

The North Slope Borough ECHO Grant strives to provide original quality programs that:

• Empower the Iñupiaq People of the North Slope to educate the global community.
• Create Education programs that promote and preserve the history and culture of the ECHO partner regions.
• Honor and celebrate the diverse and unique cultures of the world.
• Optimize opportunities to expand horizons through cultural exchanges and collaborative projects.

Specific activities to be implemented include the following:

• Exhibit exchanges to North Slope Borough communities, schools, and State museums.
• Internship/Apprenticeship programs for Alaska Natives interested in careers with cultural institutions.
• Collaborating with the North Slope Borough entities such as the North Slope Borough School District, Barrow Arctic Science Consortium and Ukpeagvik.
• Inupiat Corporation to create education programs and hands on experience in anthropology and archeology projects.
• Coordinating with the New Bedford ECHO Project, Bishop Museum, Peabody Essex Museum, the Alaska Native Heritage Center and the Mississippi Band of the Choctaw in the development of collaborative performance programs, curriculum development and cultural exchanges.

New Bedford Whaling Museum

The New Bedford Whaling Museum partners with the New Bedford Oceanarium to deliver services. Specific activities include:

• Development and implementation of educational programs to increase understanding of cultural diversity and multicultural communication;
• Development and implementation of programs using modern technology;
• Cultural exchanges of elders, students, parents and teachers;
• Sharing of collections among cultural institutions designed to increase awareness of diverse cultures and links among them;
• Development and implementation of internship and apprenticeship programs in cultural institutions.

The New Bedford Oceanarium will design global ocean exhibits to be used in educational/cultural programming. Oceanarium exhibits are the foundation for mentoring, internships, and education/outreach programming that will increase understanding of cultural diversity and multicultural communication among Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and the people of Massachusetts. Also, the museum, in partnership with the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, will develop a cultural and exchange program with the Inupiat Heritage Center and the Bishop Museum.

Peabody Essex Museum

The Peabody Essex Museum will provide culturally based educational programs that are shared regionally, nationally, and globally in collaboration with the ECHO partners. The goals of these programs are to

• Disseminate knowledge and increase public appreciation of Alaska, Hawaii, and Massachusetts heritage;
• Establish outreach and communication techniques between the cultural, educational institutions and educators involved in the research and teaching the history, art, and cultures of Alaska, Hawaii, and Massachusetts;
• Increase national and international awareness of the benefits of the partnerships; and
• Provide low-income and disadvantaged young people with leadership skills and career training in the cultural sector.