WINTER PNWAS,
Thursday, December 11th, 2025
Aftermath of Typhoon Halong—Community Rescuing Eroded Wood and Fiber Artifacts from an
Ancient Yup’ik Village, AK:
UPDATE
By Dr. Rick Knecht, University of Aberdeen, UK
Thursday, December 11th, 2025
Aftermath of Typhoon Halong—Community Rescuing Eroded Wood and Fiber Artifacts from an
Ancient Yup’ik Village, AK:
UPDATE
By Dr. Rick Knecht, University of Aberdeen, UK
PNWAS ZOOM Meeting
Thursday December 11th 2025
starting at 6:30 PM
To join the ZOOM Meeting and see the presentation
please become a member today!
Thursday December 11th 2025
starting at 6:30 PM
To join the ZOOM Meeting and see the presentation
please become a member today!
GOOD NEWS, Dr. Rick Knecht and Yup'ik Community are doing well in their Heroic Effort to Rescue Wood and Fiber Artifacts washed out by Typhoon Halong. Some of our PNWAS Members asked me to set up a GoFundMe so we can help this Nunalleq Community rescue and preserve the hundreds of artifacts being found along 4 miles of beach in front of the site.
Here is our Society's GoFundMe link so you can Help: https://gofund.me/7fbf15cb6 .
Also Dr. Knecht will give us a first-hand update on the effort we are supporting. Dr. Ben Fitzhugh, UW Archaeology Professor, and PNWAS contributor, saw his October talk and went up to help Rick following the talk--we hope Ben can give us an Update on his experience too.
Please see this current, Nov. 4th, NY Times article about the amazing effort: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/climate/typhoon-alaska-archaeology.html?unlocked_article_code=1.yk8.YnkC.oM6fu6_ffRQt&smid=fb-share&fbclid=IwY2xjawN3HfhleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHjDT_31Up3o2pnpJXxEK4iTmhyTYLDpfNWzJ9MilKzP-1O4_gs0pQDozbf0G_aem_YY5_G3PWxHGMHA9sowopdg
Amazing preservation of wood and fiber at this frozen site in northern Alaska preserves thousands of artifacts, such as these wooden masks (above) in an abandoned Yup’ik eskimo village. Serious damage by Typhoon Halong has required the Native Community to recover hundreds of wood and fiber artifacts from along 4 miles of beach (lower photos).
Dr. Rick Knecht gave the last PNWAS talk on the day he arrived at the site after the typhoon damaged 60 perpendicular feet of site (see above). He will give us a thorough update of what’s been done to rescue what they can in his follow-up talk. Also PNWAS has set up a GoFundMe site for donations to help him with the progress: https://gofund.me/7fbf15cb6 .
Here's some artifacts recovered and being preserved by the Yup’ik Community effort since he arrived the day of our October talk.
Here is our Society's GoFundMe link so you can Help: https://gofund.me/7fbf15cb6 .
Also Dr. Knecht will give us a first-hand update on the effort we are supporting. Dr. Ben Fitzhugh, UW Archaeology Professor, and PNWAS contributor, saw his October talk and went up to help Rick following the talk--we hope Ben can give us an Update on his experience too.
Please see this current, Nov. 4th, NY Times article about the amazing effort: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/climate/typhoon-alaska-archaeology.html?unlocked_article_code=1.yk8.YnkC.oM6fu6_ffRQt&smid=fb-share&fbclid=IwY2xjawN3HfhleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHjDT_31Up3o2pnpJXxEK4iTmhyTYLDpfNWzJ9MilKzP-1O4_gs0pQDozbf0G_aem_YY5_G3PWxHGMHA9sowopdg
Amazing preservation of wood and fiber at this frozen site in northern Alaska preserves thousands of artifacts, such as these wooden masks (above) in an abandoned Yup’ik eskimo village. Serious damage by Typhoon Halong has required the Native Community to recover hundreds of wood and fiber artifacts from along 4 miles of beach (lower photos).
Dr. Rick Knecht gave the last PNWAS talk on the day he arrived at the site after the typhoon damaged 60 perpendicular feet of site (see above). He will give us a thorough update of what’s been done to rescue what they can in his follow-up talk. Also PNWAS has set up a GoFundMe site for donations to help him with the progress: https://gofund.me/7fbf15cb6 .
Here's some artifacts recovered and being preserved by the Yup’ik Community effort since he arrived the day of our October talk.
Rick has been conducting archaeological research in Alaska since 1983. Following his presentation in October, immediately after the damage to his site caused by Typhoon Halong, he has generously offered to give us an update by ZOOM to their heroic community effort to rescue the wood and fiber artifacts washed out from their Nunalleq Archaeological site in Quinhagak, Alaska.
