Jensen Arctic Museum
Encyclopedia
The Paul H. Jensen Arctic Museum is a museum
focused on the culture and environment of the Arctic
in Monmouth
in the U.S. state of Oregon
. Located on the campus of Western Oregon University
, the museum opened in 1985 with 3,000 artifacts collected by its late founder and namesake. The free museum now houses 5,000 artifacts
and has exhibits on the wildlife of the Arctic along with displays that demonstrate the culture of the Inuit
and Eskimo
peoples of Alaska
. The museum is one of only two museums focused on life in the Arctic located in the lower 48 states, and the only one on the West Coast
.
and director of the museum until his death in 1994. By 1993 the collection had grown to 3,000 artifacts and the museum had 7,000 visitors annually.
The museum received a donation of 1,200 sea shells in late 1993 from a local collector. Later the new museum curator discovered these were of tropical origin and donated them to the Children's Television Workshop for use in an educational computer program. To celebrate the ten-year anniversary in 1995, the museum held a party featuring traditional Eskimo dancers. The museum received $5,000 in a federal grant in 1997 to allow the museum to improve its preservation of artifacts.
In January 2005, the museum sponsored the Whale in Science and Culture Symposium which featured speakers from the Oregon Coast Aquarium
and Oregon State University
's former president John V. Byrne among others. Jensen Arctic Museum began a capital campaign in 2008 to raise funds for a new building. Each year the museum hosts a traditional salmon bake as a fundraiser, with 300 pounds of salmon cooked each year.
in Monmouth
. The city is located on the 45th parallel of latitude, the halfway point between the North Pole
and the equator
. The building housing the museum is a Bungalow
style home built in 1930.
Included among the artifacts are items that demonstrate the natural environment of these native Alaskans. To showcase the environment, the museum has room dedicated to Arctic wildlife. This life-sized diorama
is called the Circumpolar Room and has an automated system that provides a narrative on the animals of the Arctic while lights illuminate busts of these animals. Animals on display include musk ox
, wolves, Arctic fox, a polar bear, brown bears, a snowy owl, and caribou.
A main feature of the museum is a 27 feet (8.2 m) long umiak
, an Inuit boat constructed of driftwood and walrus skins. This boat was given to Jensen by those inhabiting St. Lawrence Island
in the Bering Sea
, and he used the boat to circle the island during a native hunt. Other large items include a traditional Inuit home constructed of stones, hides, whalebone, and driftwood as well as a 11 feet (3.4 m) long sled and a sod
house. There is also a table designed for children to touch items such as teeth, bones, and fur.
The museum includes displays that demonstrate the daily lives of the Inuit and Eskimos, primarily the Inupiaq and Yupik Eskimos. These includes exhibits on the clothing and art work. Artifacts include ivory carvings, parkas, jackets made of seal, wolf, and bear skins, a yo-yo type children’s toy, and an anchor made from a whalebone. Other items include ropes, ivory from mammoth and mastodon tusks, animal bones, ceremonial masks carved from wood or bone, wooden dolls, mukluks, combs carved from ivory, knives, and harpoon
heads among others. There is also a dog sled
, kayak, snowshoe
s, baskets, and toys along with artwork
. The artwork consists of drawings on sealskins using ink, with some pieces dating to the 1930s. In addition to the permanent collections, Jensen Arctic Museum also exhibits contemporary artwork from native Alaskans.
, who as a child in Denmark he had several classmates who were Inuit. Jensen was born on August 17, 1907, in Teestrup, Denmark
, and immigrated to Canada
in 1925, only to return in 1927. He then served seven months in the army as required by law before immigrating to the United States in 1928. Jensen landed at Ellis Island
in 1928 and then moved to Montana
before starting college first at Spokane College
in Washington State. In 1935, he graduated from Midland College
in Nebraska with a bachelor’s degree, followed by a doctorate in 1938 from the University of North Dakota
. He married Arlene Munkres and they had two sons and three daughters.
After some graduate work at the University of Washington
and Oregon State University
, Jensen began field work in the Arctic. Beginning in 1962, he worked to improve the cultural resources of the Eskimo, bringing over 3,000 people to Oregon as well establishing seven libraries in Alaskan villages. In all he spent over 30 years teaching Eskimo children in Alaska. In 1966, he was hired at Western Oregon State College (now Western Oregon University) as a researcher, and in 1968 became a professor at the school. Jensen retired from teaching in 1979. For his work with native Alaskans, he was named as an honorary member of the Alaska Council of Elders in 1984. To the Eskimos he was known as Angyalik, which translates as captain of the ship. The next year he founded the museum with his artifacts and served as curator and director until he died on September 26, 1994.
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
focused on the culture and environment of the Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
in Monmouth
Monmouth, Oregon
- History :Monmouth was settled in 1853 by a group of pioneers who made a point of allocating to build both a city and a "college under the auspices of the Christian Church" and proceeds from the sale of these lands were used to found Monmouth University. By the early 1880s the college fell on...
in the U.S. state of Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
. Located on the campus of Western Oregon University
Western Oregon University
Western Oregon University is a public liberal arts college located in Monmouth, Oregon, United States. It was originally established in 1856 by Oregon pioneers as Monmouth University. Subsequent names include Oregon Normal School, Oregon College of Education, and Western Oregon State College...
, the museum opened in 1985 with 3,000 artifacts collected by its late founder and namesake. The free museum now houses 5,000 artifacts
Artifact (archaeology)
An artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"...
and has exhibits on the wildlife of the Arctic along with displays that demonstrate the culture of the Inuit
Inuit
The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...
and Eskimo
Eskimo
Eskimos or Inuit–Yupik peoples are indigenous peoples who have traditionally inhabited the circumpolar region from eastern Siberia , across Alaska , Canada, and Greenland....
peoples of Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
. The museum is one of only two museums focused on life in the Arctic located in the lower 48 states, and the only one on the West Coast
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
.
History
Jensen Arctic Museum was founded in June 1985 by Paul Jensen with artifacts he collected from Alaska. The artifacts were collected while he was a researcher and teacher over 25 years, with most items in the collection coming from gifts from native Alaskans. Jensen, a then retired professor at Western Oregon, served as the curatorCurator
A curator is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material...
and director of the museum until his death in 1994. By 1993 the collection had grown to 3,000 artifacts and the museum had 7,000 visitors annually.
The museum received a donation of 1,200 sea shells in late 1993 from a local collector. Later the new museum curator discovered these were of tropical origin and donated them to the Children's Television Workshop for use in an educational computer program. To celebrate the ten-year anniversary in 1995, the museum held a party featuring traditional Eskimo dancers. The museum received $5,000 in a federal grant in 1997 to allow the museum to improve its preservation of artifacts.
In January 2005, the museum sponsored the Whale in Science and Culture Symposium which featured speakers from the Oregon Coast Aquarium
Oregon Coast Aquarium
The Oregon Coast Aquarium is an aquarium in Newport in the U.S. state of Oregon. Opened in 1992, the facility sits on along Yaquina Bay near the Pacific Ocean. From January 1996 until September 9, 1998 when he was shipped to Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland this aquarium was home to Keiko, the orca who...
and Oregon State University
Oregon State University
Oregon State University is a coeducational, public research university located in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. The university offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees and a multitude of research opportunities. There are more than 200 academic degree programs offered through the...
's former president John V. Byrne among others. Jensen Arctic Museum began a capital campaign in 2008 to raise funds for a new building. Each year the museum hosts a traditional salmon bake as a fundraiser, with 300 pounds of salmon cooked each year.
Collections
Focused on the culture of the Inuit and Eskimos of Alaska, the museum houses over 5,000 artifacts in a former home on the campus of Western Oregon UniversityWestern Oregon University
Western Oregon University is a public liberal arts college located in Monmouth, Oregon, United States. It was originally established in 1856 by Oregon pioneers as Monmouth University. Subsequent names include Oregon Normal School, Oregon College of Education, and Western Oregon State College...
in Monmouth
Monmouth, Oregon
- History :Monmouth was settled in 1853 by a group of pioneers who made a point of allocating to build both a city and a "college under the auspices of the Christian Church" and proceeds from the sale of these lands were used to found Monmouth University. By the early 1880s the college fell on...
. The city is located on the 45th parallel of latitude, the halfway point between the North Pole
North Pole
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface...
and the equator
Equator
An equator is the intersection of a sphere's surface with the plane perpendicular to the sphere's axis of rotation and containing the sphere's center of mass....
. The building housing the museum is a Bungalow
Bungalow
A bungalow is a type of house, with varying meanings across the world. Common features to many of these definitions include being detached, low-rise , and the use of verandahs...
style home built in 1930.
Included among the artifacts are items that demonstrate the natural environment of these native Alaskans. To showcase the environment, the museum has room dedicated to Arctic wildlife. This life-sized diorama
Diorama
The word diorama can either refer to a nineteenth century mobile theatre device, or, in modern usage, a three-dimensional full-size or miniature model, sometimes enclosed in a glass showcase for a museum...
is called the Circumpolar Room and has an automated system that provides a narrative on the animals of the Arctic while lights illuminate busts of these animals. Animals on display include musk ox
Musk Ox
The muskox is an Arctic mammal of the family Bovidae, noted for its thick coat and for the strong odor emitted by males, from which its name derives. This musky odor is used to attract females during mating season...
, wolves, Arctic fox, a polar bear, brown bears, a snowy owl, and caribou.
A main feature of the museum is a 27 feet (8.2 m) long umiak
Umiak
The umiak, umialak, umiaq, umiac, oomiac or oomiak is a type of boat used by Eskimo people, both Yupik and Inuit, and was originally found in all coastal areas from Siberia to Greenland. First arising in Thule times, it has traditionally been used in summer to move people and possessions to...
, an Inuit boat constructed of driftwood and walrus skins. This boat was given to Jensen by those inhabiting St. Lawrence Island
St. Lawrence Island
St. Lawrence Island is located west of mainland Alaska in the Bering Sea, just south of the Bering Strait, at about 63°30' North 173°20' West. The village of Gambell is located on the northwest cape, from the Chukchi Peninsula in the Russian Far East. The island is part of Alaska, but closer to...
in the Bering Sea
Bering Sea
The Bering Sea is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It comprises a deep water basin, which then rises through a narrow slope into the shallower water above the continental shelves....
, and he used the boat to circle the island during a native hunt. Other large items include a traditional Inuit home constructed of stones, hides, whalebone, and driftwood as well as a 11 feet (3.4 m) long sled and a sod
Sod
Sod or turf is grass and the part of the soil beneath it held together by the roots, or a piece of thin material.The term sod may be used to mean turf grown and cut specifically for the establishment of lawns...
house. There is also a table designed for children to touch items such as teeth, bones, and fur.
The museum includes displays that demonstrate the daily lives of the Inuit and Eskimos, primarily the Inupiaq and Yupik Eskimos. These includes exhibits on the clothing and art work. Artifacts include ivory carvings, parkas, jackets made of seal, wolf, and bear skins, a yo-yo type children’s toy, and an anchor made from a whalebone. Other items include ropes, ivory from mammoth and mastodon tusks, animal bones, ceremonial masks carved from wood or bone, wooden dolls, mukluks, combs carved from ivory, knives, and harpoon
Harpoon
A harpoon is a long spear-like instrument used in fishing to catch fish or large marine mammals such as whales. It accomplishes this task by impaling the target animal, allowing the fishermen to use a rope or chain attached to the butt of the projectile to catch the animal...
heads among others. There is also a dog sled
Dog sled
A dog sled is a sled pulled by one or more sled dogs used to travel over ice and through snow. Numerous types of sleds are used, depending on their function. They can be used for dog sled racing.-History:...
, kayak, snowshoe
Snowshoe
A snowshoe is footwear for walking over the snow. Snowshoes work by distributing the weight of the person over a larger area so that the person's foot does not sink completely into the snow, a quality called "flotation"....
s, baskets, and toys along with artwork
Native American art
Visual arts by indigenous peoples of the Americas encompasses the visual artistic traditions of the indigenous peoples of the Americas from ancient times to the present...
. The artwork consists of drawings on sealskins using ink, with some pieces dating to the 1930s. In addition to the permanent collections, Jensen Arctic Museum also exhibits contemporary artwork from native Alaskans.
Namesake
The museum is named after the founder, Paul Henry Jensen, an immigrant from DenmarkDenmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, who as a child in Denmark he had several classmates who were Inuit. Jensen was born on August 17, 1907, in Teestrup, Denmark
Faxe municipality
Faxe municipality is a municipality Faxe municipality is a municipality Faxe municipality is a municipality (Danish, kommune in Denmark in Region Sjælland on the island of Zealand. The municipality covers an area of 406 km² and has a population of 35,418 (2008)...
, and immigrated to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in 1925, only to return in 1927. He then served seven months in the army as required by law before immigrating to the United States in 1928. Jensen landed at Ellis Island
Ellis Island
Ellis Island in New York Harbor was the gateway for millions of immigrants to the United States. It was the nation's busiest immigrant inspection station from 1892 until 1954. The island was greatly expanded with landfill between 1892 and 1934. Before that, the much smaller original island was the...
in 1928 and then moved to Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
before starting college first at Spokane College
Spokane University
Spokane University was a four-year liberal arts college that operated from 1913 to 1933. In 1935 Spokane University was reorganized as Spokane Junior College and moved into the city of Spokane from its original location in the Spokane Valley...
in Washington State. In 1935, he graduated from Midland College
Midland College
Midland College was established as an independent junior college in 1972 and held its first classes on campus in 1975. Since that time, the campus has expanded to a main campus on in Midland, Texas, United States - a county seat of over 100,000 people in the Permian Basin region of west Texas...
in Nebraska with a bachelor’s degree, followed by a doctorate in 1938 from the University of North Dakota
University of North Dakota
The University of North Dakota is a public university in Grand Forks, North Dakota, USA. Established by the Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishment of the state of North Dakota, UND is the oldest and largest university in the state and enrolls over 14,000 students. ...
. He married Arlene Munkres and they had two sons and three daughters.
After some graduate work at the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
and Oregon State University
Oregon State University
Oregon State University is a coeducational, public research university located in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. The university offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees and a multitude of research opportunities. There are more than 200 academic degree programs offered through the...
, Jensen began field work in the Arctic. Beginning in 1962, he worked to improve the cultural resources of the Eskimo, bringing over 3,000 people to Oregon as well establishing seven libraries in Alaskan villages. In all he spent over 30 years teaching Eskimo children in Alaska. In 1966, he was hired at Western Oregon State College (now Western Oregon University) as a researcher, and in 1968 became a professor at the school. Jensen retired from teaching in 1979. For his work with native Alaskans, he was named as an honorary member of the Alaska Council of Elders in 1984. To the Eskimos he was known as Angyalik, which translates as captain of the ship. The next year he founded the museum with his artifacts and served as curator and director until he died on September 26, 1994.