Wooden Snow Goggles with Visor

Commissioned - Juneau, Alaska

This living art piece found its home at the Alaska State Museum as part of their new Children’s Exploration Center exhibit, located in Juneau, Alaska.

Yupik Eskimo Wooden Snow Goggles with Visor, Wood, Natural Earth Pigments, Animal Sinew.

When asked to create this traditional functional implement, my inspiration came from goggles experienced during my Alaska Native Artist Residency at the Sheldon Jackson Museum (Sitka, Alaska) during the fall of 2023.


Designed to ward off snow blindness, and provide relief from the sun while looking out over great distances. These goggles also include a visor, helping to protect the wearer from snow and rain while traveling.

From time immemorial, each set of goggles are custom fit to the contours of their owners face, providing a skin tight seal blocking out light and weather. The slit eye acts as an aperture allowing the wearer’s eyes to better adjust to light conditions when looking out over the landscape. Often referred to as Inuit or Eskimo Sunglasses, I believe they are more closely related to ski goggles; considering the close fit around the eye’s orbit.

As a child growing up in the 80’s, I always saw ‘punk’ glasses as an inspired extension of our heritage. When Star Trek The Next Generation aired on television I had a sense of pride seeing Geordi La Forge’s visor, and rooted for Cyclops while reading the adventures of the X-men.

I’m not certain that many would have thought ‘look…snow goggles’ while enjoying pop culture entertainment at the time, but this little boy did…and my hope is, when children visit the exhibit for the first time, they too will be inspired by the ingenuity of the northern Inuit peoples!

“As a child growing up in the 80’s, I always saw ‘punk’ glasses as an inspired extension of our heritage. When Star Trek The Next Generation aired on television I had a sense of pride seeing Geordi La Forge’s visor, and rooted for Cyclops while reading the adventures of the X-men. …”

— David Angaiak

Wooden Snow Goggles with Visor

Materials:

Spruce wood, Animal Sinew, Natural Clay

Created in 2024

This living art piece found its home at the Alaska State Museum as part of their new Children’s Exploration Center exhibit, located in Juneau, Alaska.