1. United States

A 3D rendering of a rare ceremonial garment is helping Alaska Natives preserve a traditional art form. Chilkat robes, made by the Tlingit and other Pacific Northwest Indigenous peoples, can take 3,000 hours to spin and weave. Skills are passed from one generation to the next, and now there are only about a dozen artisans who have made a Chilkat robe, an article that is taken to important tribal meetings and used in dances by those with permission.

But the new images of one fragile, 120-year-old robe provide a template of its complexity for people to examine and learn from. The robe, recently donated to the Alaska Native Heritage Center, is especially useful, as multiple techniques were used – something that would be less apparent if viewed only in the museum display required for its preservation.

Digital 3D imagery of other Native American artifacts, such as a library of baskets at the University of Nevada, Reno and sacred caves in California, is also enhancing the study of Indigenous cultures.

“We want our students to understand that tradition and culture aren’t separate from modern science and technology. … The two are intertwined,” said Herb Schroeder, founder of the Alaska Native Science & Engineering Program, which helped organize the robe scan.
Sources: Yes!, Alaska Business

2. Argentina

Argentina’s new national park promises additional protection for hundreds of thousands of shorebirds and South America’s largest salt lake. The 1.6 million-acre park, comprising the Mar Chiquita salt lake and its wetlands, provides habitats for a half-million Wilson’s phalaropes, three species of flamingos, other birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and fish.
Advocates say the national designation was important because many of the threats to the area originate upstream from the Ansenuza National Park and National Reserve, in Córdoba province. Work to get local communities on board includes helping schoolchildren learn about new species identified in the area with camera traps.