Lost 19th-century Tlingit fort discovered in Alaska

[Judi Lynn]

14. Is 3D Technology the Key to Preserving Indigenous Cultures?

November 29th, 2017, 12:27PM / BY Eric Hollinger & Nick Partridge



Tlingit Killer Whale Clan Hat digitized and repatriated by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in 2005. (Nick Partridge, Smithsonian)

The Smithsonian regularly works with several indigenous clans and communities to apply 3D digitization and replication technologies to cultural preservation and restoration issues. This past fall, as Tribal Liaison with the Repatriation Office at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, I continued this effort with the Tlingit tribe of southeastern Alaska.

With equipment support from the Smithsonian’s Digitization Program Office and joined by University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill student and photogrammetry specialist Abigail Gancz, SIE Model Maker Chris Hollshwander, and Smithsonian Public Affairs Specialist Nick Partridge, I attended the 2017 Tlingit Sharing Our Knowledge Conference. Held at the Sitka Fine Arts Camp in October, the conference offered an ideal forum to further foster our relationship with the Tlingit people and present new opportunities for collaboration.

While at the conference, our team took over a room for four days and demonstrated 3D digitization and replication technology. Clan leaders brought in clan hats, helmets, headdresses and rattles to have them digitized using photogrammetry—a technique that merges data from hundreds of individual digital images--to construct 3D models. During the conference, the Tlingit received seven repatriated pieces, including several helmets and headdresses returned by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian.

At the request of the clans, we worked quickly to digitize these objects and archive the data as a form of insurance. Digital data from these scans can be used to restore or replace the hats if lost or damaged in the future, a key concern to clan elders as, in 1944, the Tlingit village of Hoonah burned and only two clan crests survived. After the fire, Tlingit carvers replaced several of the hats working from memory and perhaps a few old photos. Digital scans of such at.óow—clan crest objects—provide peace of mind that Tlingit artists could use the files or 3D technology to faithfully reproduce lost or damaged objects.

More:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/national-museum-of-natural-history/2017/11/29/3d-technology-key-preserving-indigenous-cultures/