Reindeer Traditions of Beringia: The 1905 Frank Churchill Photographic Collections

The summary for the Reindeer Traditions of Beringia: The 1905 Frank Churchill Photographic Collections grant is detailed below. This summary states who is eligible for the grant, how much grant money will be awarded, current and past deadlines, Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) numbers, and a sampling of similar government grants. Verify the accuracy of the data FederalGrants.com provides by visiting the webpage noted in the Link to Full Announcement section or by contacting the appropriate person listed as the Grant Announcement Contact. If any section is incomplete, please visit the website for the National Park Service, which is the U.S. government agency offering this grant.

Reindeer Traditions of Beringia: The 1905 Frank Churchill Photographic Collections: This Funding Announcement is not a request for applications. This announcement is to provide public notice of the National Park Service (NPS), intention to fund the following project activities without competition.

ABSTRACT
Funding Announcement P16AS00071
Project Title Reindeer Traditions of Beringia: The 1905 Frank Churchill Photographic Collections
Recipient University of Alaska Fairbanks
Total Anticipated Award Amount 80000
Cost Share 0.00
Anticipated Length of Agreement 3 years
Anticipated Period of Performance June 1, 2016 â¿¿ September 30, 2019
Award Instrument CESU Task Agreement
Statutory Authority 54 USC §100703
CFDA # and Title 15.945, Cooperative Research and Training Programs
Single Source Justification Criteria Cited CESU Task Agreement â¿¿ Already competed
Point of Contact Erica Cordeiro


OVERVIEW

This project will use a historic photo archival collection that is housed at the Smithsonianâ¿¿s National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) in Washington, DC to investigate the shared reindeer herding history of Beringia. Using a dual methodology of archival research and photo elicitation interviews with Bering Strait residents, this project will document photographs taken during Indian Agent Frank Churchillâ¿¿s 1905 journey through Alaska (between the Alaska Peninsula and Barrow) and East Cape aboard the U.S. Revenue Cutter Bear. The oral history interviews and archival research will elucidate specific information pertaining to the content of the photographs, thereby providing the first complete review and documentation of this collection. Information drawn from archival research and interviews with Alaskan herders and herder descendants will also be used more generally to illuminate early 20th century reindeer herding patterns. Such inquiries will include highlighting the daily practices of reindeer herding in Alaska and exploring the extent to which Alaska herding traditions were adopted from Chukchi herding practices. Knowledge generated from this research will be presented in a traveling exhibition to Alaska and Chukotka communities displaying significant photos from the Churchill 1905 collection alongside descriptive audio clips from the photo-elicitation interviews.

The methodology of this project â¿¿ which follows models set by previous knowledge sharing and visual repatriation projects (Fienup-Riordan 1996; Krupnik et al. 2002) â¿¿ will also promote sharing this knowledge widely with National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), Alaska Native and Chukotka communities. By combining the knowledge, stories, and experiences of Alaska Native herders and herder descendants with archival photographs and documents from NMAI, we will elucidate the histories and legacies of reindeer herding across the Bering Strait.

There are three stages to this research project, including: 1) archival research, 2) photo elicitation/oral history interviews, and 3) sharing information between communities and public outreach. Because community recommendations will be incorporated within the design of the research and because knowledge learned from interviews and archival research will continuously inform the overall project, the Principal Investigator (PI) will execute the project stages in parallel rather than serially. Each stage of the project will act as feedback loops to inform other stages. The geographic range of the Frank Churchill photographic collection at NMAI mostly corresponds with reindeer stations that were administered under the U.S. Reindeer Service program by 1904. This geographic region extends from the Kuskokwim River, up to Norton Sound, Saint Lawrence Island, the Seward Peninsula, Kotzebue Sound, and north to Point Hope and Barrow. Churchill traveled to many of these places aboard the U.S. Revenue Cutter Bear, which also stopped in East
Cape, Chukotka. The specific content and geographic focus of the photograph collection will in part guide which Alaska communities participate in this project.



STATEMENT OF JOINT OBJECTIVES/PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN

RECIPIENT INVOLVEMENT

University of Alaska Fairbanks agrees to the following:
a. Amber Lincoln and Patrick Plattet will serve as co-Primary Investigators throughout the duration of this project.
b. The co-PIs will research photographs, associated and related archives at the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) and at the Dartmouth Collegeâ¿¿s Hood Museum of Art.
c. The researchers will match these archived records against Sheldon Jacksonâ¿¿s reports, the U.S. National Archives Reindeer records located in Seattle, the Alaska State Libraryâ¿¿s Historical Collection, and the United States Revenue Cutter Service photographic collection in an attempt to identify dates, places and names of individuals in the historic photographs.
d. Identify communities and experts in northwest Alaska interested in participating in the project
e. Conduct fieldwork which will include photo elicitation and/or oral history interviews.
f. Pay informants $30 an hour for their time.
g. Conduct a linguistic analysis of vocabulary lists to identify words that were shared or adopted by Alaskan reindeer herders from the Chukchi herders to better examine interaction and relationships between these two groups and the role of the United States government in administering these actions.
h. Develop a traveling photo/audio listening exhibition drawn from the knowledge and stories documented from this research that will be on display for 2-3 days in at least three participating communities in northwest Alaska.
i. A pamphlet will also be written to accompany the exhibition, highlighting the projects main findings.
j. All of these products will be translated into Russian and available to display in Chukotka during a future Beringia Days, or as traveling exhibition there.
k. As part of the exhibitions the PIs will use these showings as an opportunity to collect additional information from the visitors which will be included in the projectâ¿¿s final report.
l. The PIs agree to publish at least two peer reviewed articles documenting the projectâ¿¿s findings and methodological structure.


NATIONAL PARK SERVICE INVOLVEMENT

a. Act as liaison with the partner and possible individuals or groups in the Beringia region that may be interested in or knowledgeable about reindeer herding in Beringia.

b. To the extent possible, assist making agreements on using government housing, and other logistical support.

c. Provide technical assistance and safety briefings related to project and geographic location.

d. Utilize the Beringia Programâ¿¿s contacts in Alaska and Russia (especially in Native communities) to inform communities and organizations about the project. Assist with the dissemination of information working with local park units to post information and share project activities and outcome on the NPS Shared Beringian Heritage Program website and Alaska National Parks Facebook page.

e. Use the network of contacts, the Shared Beringia Heritage program website, and the Alaska National Parks Facebook page to share information from the final and interim reports with the public, as well as with targeted audiences through the development of a project-specific distribution plan. First and foremost it will be targeted toward the communities in the Bering Strait region.

SINGLE-SOURCE JUSTIFICATION

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
SINGLE SOURCE POLICY REQUIREMENTS

Department of the Interior Policy (505 DM 2) requires a written justification which explains why competition is not practicable for each single-source award. The justification must address one or more of the following criteria as well as discussion of the program legislative history, unique capabilities of the proposed recipient, and cost-sharing contribution offered by the proposed recipient, as applicable.


In order for an assistance award to be made without competition, the award must satisfy one or more of the following criteria:

(1) Unsolicited Proposal â¿¿ The proposed award is the result of an unsolicited assistance application which represents a unique or innovative idea, method, or approach which is not the subject of a current or planned contract or assistance award, but which is deemed advantageous to the program objectives;

(2) Continuation â¿¿ The activity to be funded is necessary to the satisfactory completion of, or is a continuation of an activity presently being funded, and for which competition would have a significant adverse effect on the continuity or completion of the activity;

(3) Legislative intent â¿¿ The language in the applicable authorizing legislation or legislative history clearly indicates Congressâ¿¿ intent to restrict the award to a particular recipient of purpose;

(4) Unique Qualifications â¿¿ The applicant is uniquely qualified to perform the activity based upon a variety of demonstrable factors such as location, property ownership, voluntary support capacity, cost-sharing ability if applicable, technical expertise, or other such unique qualifications;

(5) Emergencies â¿¿ Program/award where there is insufficient time available (due to a compelling and unusual urgency, or substantial danger to health or safety) for adequate competitive procedures to be followed.


NPS did not solicit full and open competition for this award based the following criteria:

This agreement is under a CESU task agreement and as such, was competed in 2013 under master agreement P13AC01025.