Unalaska, AK – The Museum of the Aleutians is opening a new exhibit this Friday. Entitled Difficult Journeys: Education in the Aleutian Islands, museum director Zoya Johnson says it will take a sweeping look at education from traditional Unangan ways up to the present day. One of the central features is a complete replica of a 1920s classroom built inside the museum.

"We thought it would be very interesting for people to come and see how did the classrooms look back then," she said.

The exhibit also examines some of the darker parts of history when Unangan children were forbidden to speak their own language.

"With the arrival of the American missionaries after the purchase of Alaska by the United States basically the whole attitude changed and the Natives were not allowed to speak (their own language)," she said. "Both Russian and Unanangan language were lost during that time."

Johnson says the exhibit has been in the works for about three years. It wouldn't have been possible without the involvement of the community, she added.

"We think of this as a collaborative exhibit between the museum and the community," she said, "because basically everybody that heard that we were getting ready for this exhibit leant us some of their treasures to be used during in this exhibit."

The opening reception will be at 7 p.m. Friday, June 3rd at the Museum of the Aleutians. The exhibit will remain in place through the end of the year.