U.S. CODE

U.S. Code

§ 7265a. Findings and purposes

(a) Findings

Congress finds the following:

(1) Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians have been linked for over 200 years to the coastal towns of Salem, Massachusetts, and New Bedford, Massachusetts, through the China trade from Salem and whaling voyages from New Bedford.

(2) Nineteenth-century trading ships sailed from Salem, Massachusetts, around Cape Horn of South America, and up the Northwest coast of the United States to Alaska, where their crews traded with Alaska Native people for furs, and then went on to Hawaii to trade for sandalwood with Native Hawaiians before going on to China.

(3) During the 19th century, over 2,000 whaling voyages sailed out of New Bedford, Massachusetts to the Arctic region of Alaska, and joined Alaska Natives from Barrow, Alaska and other areas in the Arctic region in subsistence whaling activities.

(4) Many New Bedford whaling voyages continued on to Hawaii, where they joined Native Hawaiians from the neighboring islands.

(5) From those commercial and whaling voyages, a rich cultural exchange and strong trading relationships developed among the three peoples involved.

(6) In the past decades, awareness of the historical trading, cultural, and whaling links has faded among Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and the people of the continental United States.

(7) In 2000, the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Alaska, the Bishop Museum in Hawaii, and the Peabody-Essex Museum in Massachusetts initiated the New Trade Winds project to use 21st-century technology, including the Internet, to educate students and their parents about historic and contemporary cultural and trading ties that continue to link the diverse cultures of the peoples involved.

(8) The New Bedford Whaling Museum, in partnership with the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, has developed a cultural exchange and educational program with the Inupiat Heritage Center in Barrow, Alaska to bring together the children, parents, and elders from the Arctic region of Alaska with children and families of Massachusetts to learn about their historical ties and about each other’s contemporary cultures.

(9) Within the fast-growing cultural sector, meaningful educational and career opportunities based on traditional relationships exist for Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and low-income youth in Massachusetts.

(10) Cultural institutions can provide practical, culturally relevant, education-related internship and apprentice programs, such as the Museum Action Corps at the Peabody-Essex Museum and similar programs at the New Bedford Oceanarium and other institutions, to prepare youths and their families for careers in the cultural sector.

(11) The resources of the institutions described in paragraphs (7) and (8) provide unique opportunities for illustrating and interpreting the contributions of Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, the whaling industry, and the China trade to the economic, social, and environmental history of the United States, for educating students and their parents, and for providing opportunities for internships and apprenticeships leading to careers with cultural institutions.

(b) Purposes

The purposes of this subpart are the following:

(1) To authorize and develop innovative culturally-based educational programs and cultural exchanges to assist Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and children and families of Massachusetts linked by history and tradition to Alaska and Hawaii to learn about shared culture and traditions.

(2) To authorize and develop internship and apprentice programs to assist Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and children and families of Massachusetts linked by history and tradition with Alaska and Hawaii to prepare for careers with cultural institutions.

(3) To supplement programs and authorities in the area of education to further the objectives of this subpart.

(4) To authorize and develop cultural and educational programs relating to any Federally recognized Indian tribe in Mississippi.

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