Sven Haakanson, Jr. was born in Old Harbor, Alaska, a small, remote-island village, into the Alutiiq people. His father, Sven Haakanson, Sr., was a community leader serving as the Mayor of Old Harbor and president of the Old Harbor Tribal Council. As a child, Haakanson never heard about the history of the Alutiiq in school. When he tried to ask the tribal elders about how their ancestors lived in the past, only one told him about the traditions. That single elder taught Haakanson the Alutiiq language and the culture of the Alutiiq people. He attended the University of Alaska Fairbanks and graduated with a bachelor's in English in 1992. While in college, Haakanson was invited to attend the Inuit Studies Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. At the conference, he attended a lecture on Alutiiq culture. Looking back on the experience, he remarked, "I wondered why I had traveled to the other side of the world to learn about Alutiiq history and culture when I could be doing the same thing at home." Haakanson spent a year in Russia while a UAF undergraduate in 1991. He taught English in the port town of Magadan on Russia’s northeast coast. While in Magadan he became interested in the Nenet people of the Yamal Peninsula. Parts of their history are the content of his 2000 doctoral dissertation at Harvard University. Haakanson continued his studies as a graduate student in anthropology at Harvard University in 1992, receiving his MA in 1996 and PhD in 2000. The title of his doctoral dissertation was Ethnoarchaeology of the Yamal Nenets: utilizing emic and etic evidence in the interpretation of archaeological residues.
Research
Haakanson's research centers around documenting and preserving the language and culture of the Alutiit. In the early 21st century, there are only 24 fluent speakers of the Alutiiq language. Because of this, there is a focus on recording everyday speech. Haakanson was the executive director of the Alutiiq Museum and adjunct professor at Kodiak College from 2000 to 2013. Since 2009, he has served as a board member of the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation. In 2013 he became associate professor at the University of Washington Department of Anthropology in Seattle. He also served as curator of Native American collections at the University's Burke Museum. Haakanson gained tenure in early 2016. In 2015 he led the Angyaaq project, to restore and practice skills for making native, traditional transport vessels. Russian explorers destroyed these native transport vessels for their practical and cultural value. Until Haakanson began this project, Angyaaqs had not been built on Kodiak Island for more than 150 years.
Awards
2007
In 2007 People Magazine staff named Sven “sexiest anthropologist”, he was touted as low maintenance and high energy. When interviewed he said “The thing I can’t live without is my family. Everything else I can do without”
