A new color poster was recently printed of an artifact that was collected by a Russian named Lazarev between 1823- 1824, in Prince William Sound, Alaska.

This artifact is currently stored at the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera), in St. Petersburg, Russia. The museum was kind enough to share the image for educational purposes. In the 1930’s, Makari Chimivitsky shared the cultural beliefs of the sea otter to Dr. Frederica de Laguna, he noted that the sea otter was originally a man who was surprised by the tide once he was out looking for chitons and then he cried: “I wish I would turn into a sea otter.” The internal organs are exactly like those of a human. This is why the skull and bones of the sea otter need to be buried in the ground if it was killed on shore.

Copies are available upon request. Please contact Angelina “Zippy” Sawden or Jared Selanoff by phone in Anchorage 563-8866; outside of Anchorage 1-800-858-2768.