Harvard And Smithsonian Researcher Visits Tutuila December 7-11
Dr. Ingrid Ahlgren
Photo: Supplied
The Governor’s Office in American Samoa is coordinating the Tutuila visit from Dr. Ingrid Ahlgren, Curator of Oceanic Collections at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University.
Dr. Ahlgren confirmed in an email sent to EyeSpy Radio that her visit to Amerika Samoa is scheduled for Wednesday, 7 December through Sunday, 11 December.
She told EyeSpy that Tauapa’i Laupola, the Chief of Staff for the Governor is her official liaison.
The current program for Amerika Samoa is “tentative” Dr. Ahlgren noted.
Jim Himphill and Tapaau Dr. Daniel Aga from the National Archives, the American Samoa Historic Preservation Office and the Jean P. Haydon Museum are assisting with her schedule.
“My time in Tutuila is from Wed Dec 7th through Sunday morning. My official liaison is Tauapa’i Laupola, the Chief of Staff for the Governor,” Dr. Ahlgren wrote.
“Jim Himphill and Dan Aga from archives, the museum, and the historic preservation office have done a lot of the work arranging my schedule.”
Mr. Laupola told EyeSpy via email that Tapaau and Mr. Himphill are currently finalising the schedule.
Information from the Governor’s Office is forthcoming, said Mr. Laupola.
The Centre for Samoan Studies (C.S.S.) at the National of University of Samoa (N.U.S.) will host Dr. Ahlgren on Tuesday, 6 December, 2022 for a measina seminar.
N.U.S. and the C.S.S. say they are “honoured” to host the seminar.
Dr. Ahlgren arrives in Samoa on 3 December and meets with Government of Samoa officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (M.F.A.T.) and the Ministry of Education Sports and Culture (M.E.S.C.) on Monday, 5 December.
A meeting with United Nations Resident Coordinator Simona Marinescu is scheduled for 5 December.
Dr. Ahlgren is scheduled for a Tuesday meeting with Dr. Fatilua Fatilua, a lecturer at Malua Theological College.
After the Tutuila visit, she returns to Samoa and meets with Pacific Area Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Elder Sapele Faalogo.
The collection of measina kept at Harvard’s Peabody Museum is one of the biggest historic collections in the U.S.
It is Dr. Ahlgren’s “great responsibility to reconnect them to Samoan communities,” she said in an N.U.S. statement.
“The collection of Samoan measina cared for by the Peabody Museum at Harvard represents one of the largest historic collections in the United States. As the curator, it’s my great responsibility to reconnect them to Samoan communities,” said Dr. Ahlgren.
“I’m honored to begin that process here in person. I hope this seminar and ongoing discussions provide a way for the Museum to understand how the collections can serve the Samoan people today.”
At the seminar, she will share information on the Samoan historic collections held at the Peabody Museum.
The collections includes items connected specifically to two significant Samoan historical figures, Matā’afa Iosefo (during his exile in Jaluit from 1893- 1898) and Tuimanu’a Elisala.
Dr. Ahlgren, the Curator for Oceanic Collections at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology is also a Research Associate at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History, according to the Peabody website.
The Smithsonian Institution is the world's largest museum, education, and research complex.
Born and raised in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (R.M.I.), Dr. Ahlgren has worked in the Pacific Islands for over 10 years as an anthropologist, collaborating with the R.M.I.’s Ministry of Culture and Internal Affairs, various government agencies and non-governmental organisations (N.G.O.s).
Her research investigates the intersections of Oceanic identity, environment, cultural resources, and increasing access to museum collections.
Dr. Ahlgren’s seminar in Samoa will be held at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 6 December, 2022 at the C.S.S. Seminar Room, at the Niule’a Building on the N.U.S. campus.
The public is invited.
Dr. Ahlgren departs Samoa on Tuesday, 13 December.