Sípnuuk is a community-centered repository and archive. We provide access to born-digital, digitized, and to-be-digitized materials containing Karuk knowledge, culture, language, tradition, land management, and science.
The Sípnuuk Archive is managed by the Sipnuuk Division, and is currently held under the Pikyav Field Institute within the Karuk Tribe Department of Natural Resources. Sipnuuk works to uphold Karuk Knowledge and Data Sovereignty through Karuk-centered Data Stewardship. We assert intellectual ownership and sovereignty over cultural, geneaological, and other Karuk materials regardless of original copyright holdings, and aspire to create relationships with other institutions to return Karuk materials according to NAGPRA, Local Contexts, individual institutional protocols, and other emerging data return efforts.
We prioritize materials and content at risk of loss due to environmental, historical, and other causes such as climate change, natural disasters, and housing insecurity. Materials stewarded by our People and not otherwise recorded hold most priority for our collections; we also repatriate materials already collected and held in other institutions and private collections. We caretake and curate materials that hold knowledge, endure Karuk cultural memory, and emphasize our contemporary lived experiences as a People.
