Northwest Coast Arts has been identified by the Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI), the Congressionally-chartered Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA), the University of Alaska Southeast (UAS), and the former Governor of Alaska, as an area that requires augmentation to assure that the economic development
related to the cultural arts is carried into the future both in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest, more broadly.
Accordingly, SHI, IAIA, and UAS entered into a Memorandum of Agreement to support each other¿s efforts to stabilize and renew the art traditions of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska.
Support for the NW Coast and Alaska cultural arts is the primary goal of this grant, by following up on program areas initiated under Grant P18AP00112 between the NPS and the SHI/IAIA/UAS consortium and carried through under Grant P19AP0003 7. The principal objective of the consortium has remained the same:
¿to provide enhanced Northwest Coast (NWC) art programs, instructional opportunities, collaborative academic offerings, and overall enrichment of NWC art for Alaska students, and¿to extend these programs to other students in the¿nation.¿ (SHI/IAIA/UAS MOA, 2016).
The Fiscal Year 2020 (FY20) National Recreation and Preservation (NR&P) cultural preservation program authorization called for the NPS to consider supporting the Northwest Coast arts by supporting the joint efforts of SHI, the Institute for American Indian Arts (IAIA), and the University of Alaska (UAS) pursuant to 20 USC 4451(b).
Management of the National Park Service has reviewed the relevant sections of Title 20 and found that a grant to SHI, representing the consortium of SHI, IAIA, and UAS, meets the requirements for program support by the federal government, the objectives of the grant being consistent with the relevant sections of Title 20 and with the Memorandum of Agreement signed among SHI, UAS, and IAIA.
Additionally, the preservation of historic and living art traditions is consistent with 54 U.S.C.
300101 et seq.
(commonly known as the National Historic Preservation Act or NHPA).