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Special exhibition that is made into waterproof parkas, such as the Yup’ik one from Bristol Bay on show. Unfortunately, weather patterns and sea-ice conditions are becoming unpredictable as a result of climate change, making generations of such knowledge obsolete and putting travellers in danger. Knowing the extent to which weather is woven into Arctic lives is a crucial step towards understanding how rapid climate change is undermining an ancient relationship and knowledge that have developed over millennia. The first Arctic Peoples settled in Siberian high latitudes at least 30,000 years ago. Since that time, the Arctic has experienced several naturally occurring climate shifts, gradually changing over thousands of years. Arctic Peoples responded to these past shifts in climate with resilient strategies, through adaptations, innovations and collaboration. Needles dating back 28,000 years, from the north-east Siberia Yana Rhinoceros site, are some of the most important material innovations for living in the Arctic because threaded needles created tailored clothing that allowed mobility in extreme cold. An elk bone spoon comes from Ust Polui in north-west Russia, a 2000-year old settlement in which different cultural groups converged on the Ob River to trade and worship. In the process they exchanged ideas, which ultimately generated a new economy. The oldest evidence of reindeer herding comes from this site. Moving from the deep past into the more recent past of the last 300 years, we can trace these same resilient strategies as Arctic Peoples have responded to rapid social, economic and political change. Across the Circumpolar North, Indigenous People have mitigated the challenges associated with European exploration, colonial governments, statesponsored religions and new markets by adapting, innovating and collaborating. A watercolour painting on cotton linen from the late 18th century by Nikolai Shakhov (1770–1840) depicts this critical 32 British Museum Magazine Spring/Summer 2020

Nikolai Shakhov, Drawings on Tapestry, 1830–40. Watercolour on calico, 1315 x 780 mm. MAE RAS (Kunstkamera), St Petersburg. Special exhibition period for the peoples of Siberia’s Ob river valley during Russia’s annexation of Siberia. The artist, of Cossack heritage, lived in Siberia and was an administrator for the Russian state. He depicts Khanty and Nenets, Indigenous Siberians, procuring pelts to pay state taxes, and the Russian Orthodox church within a fortified area, aiming to convert locals. A second watercolour, Samoyed Chiefs, highlights how Nenets leaders were appointed as colonial representatives, securing stable trade relations and representation within the Empire. Today, Arctic Indigenous organisations are leading in global climate advocacy and initiatives, collaborating transnationally, resourcefully working with governments, scientists and organisations to confront the devastating effects of global climate change. Two Arctic organisations – the Shishmaref Erosion and Relocation Coalition and the Inuit Circumpolar Council, Alaska – have formally curated a section in this exhibition, highlighting the threats to their communities of coastal erosion and food security as a result of climate change and the ways they are mitigating these threats. As Twyla Thurmond, tribal coordinator for the small community of Shishmaref Alaska says, ‘Shishmaref, and other Alaska Native communities are demonstrating how people can stay strong and unified in their search for answers to climate change, the most challenging problem of the 21st century’. These are the resilient stories presented in this exhibition. In their own voices, Indigenous Arctic organisations are presenting both the challenges and achievements of living with weather and climate change. The Citi exhibition Arctic: culture and climate, lead supporter Citi, supported by Julie and Stephen Fitzgerald and AKO Foundation, is on view in the Sainsbury Exhibitions Gallery, Room 30, from 28 May until 23 August. For the book that accompanies the exhibition see page 60. British Museum Magazine Spring/Summer 2020 33

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Special exhibition that is made into waterproof parkas, such as the Yup’ik one from Bristol Bay on show. Unfortunately, weather patterns and sea-ice conditions are becoming unpredictable as a result of climate change, making generations of such knowledge obsolete and putting travellers in danger. Knowing the extent to which weather is woven into Arctic lives is a crucial step towards understanding how rapid climate change is undermining an ancient relationship and knowledge that have developed over millennia.

The first Arctic Peoples settled in Siberian high latitudes at least 30,000 years ago. Since that time, the Arctic has experienced several naturally occurring climate shifts, gradually changing over thousands of years. Arctic Peoples responded to these past shifts in climate with resilient strategies, through adaptations, innovations and collaboration. Needles dating back 28,000 years, from the north-east Siberia Yana Rhinoceros site, are some of the most important material innovations for living in the Arctic because threaded needles created tailored clothing that allowed mobility in extreme cold. An elk bone spoon comes from Ust Polui in north-west Russia, a 2000-year old settlement in which different cultural groups converged on the Ob River to trade and worship. In the process they exchanged ideas, which ultimately generated a new economy. The oldest evidence of reindeer herding comes from this site. Moving from the deep past into the more recent past of the last 300 years, we can trace these same resilient strategies as Arctic Peoples have responded to rapid social, economic and political change. Across the Circumpolar North, Indigenous People have mitigated the challenges associated with European exploration, colonial governments, statesponsored religions and new markets by adapting, innovating and collaborating.

A watercolour painting on cotton linen from the late 18th century by Nikolai Shakhov (1770–1840) depicts this critical

32 British Museum Magazine Spring/Summer 2020

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