Unalaska, AK – The Museum of the Aleutians will open its first international exhibit at 7 p.m. on Friday. The exhibit, called "Creation of the World, Its Structure and Its Inhabitants," will display artifacts and artwork from the Koryak, the native people of Kamchatka.

Museum Director Zoya Johnson says that the exhibit is a fitting one for Unalaska, because of the history that has been shared by people on both sides of the Bering Sea.

Like the Koryaks, archaeologists believe the Unangans of the Aleutian Islands have roots in ancient Northeast Asia. Both peoples were also colonized by the Russians at about the same time, in the 18th Century. The text that accompanies the museum's exhibit comes from the work of Vladimir Jochelson, an early 20th Century ethnographer who also collected many of the Unangan folk stories that are on record today.

The museum exhibit includes 87 pieces from the State Museum of Kamchatka, including paintings and artifacts from religious ceremonies, such as drums and garments. It's the result of a $30,000 grant from the National Park Service's Shared Beringian Heritage Program, and took nine months to prepare.