Sivertson Gallery began offering Alaskan native artwork, primarily Siberian Yupik, Yupik and Inupiaq, in 1994.  Jan Sivertson, owner of Sivertson Gallery and other gallery staff travel to the Alaskan communities of Gambell and Savoonga on St. Lawrence Island and Shishmaref located on the north shore of Seward Peninsula.  About 500-600 people populate each community.  Siberian Yupik live on St. Lawrence Island, which is only 40 miles across the Bering Sea from Siberia, and Inupiaq live in Shishmaref.  These are subsistence communities depending on seal and walrus hunting and whaling, a highly regulated acivity with only 1 or 2 whales hunted annually per community.  The hunts yield food, clothing, fuel, boat coverings (the uniaq is a skin boat which needs recovering every 3-5 years with walrus skins) and tools, as well as ivory for carving.

Because these communities have existed for centuries, artifacts made of ivory and bones are often found on the beaches.  the commuinities of Gambell and Savoonga are lttered with whalebone and baleen.  Shishmaref, not a whaling community, is littered with caribou antlers and musk ox horns; whalebone for carving is purchased by Shishmaref carvers from relatives in Gambell or Savoonga.

Fresh whalebone is never used for carving, as it needs to be dried for many years.  Whalebone suitable for carving is often picked from beaches where it has been sun bleached, or dug from beaches where it has become mineralized with colors after many years of exposure.  Fresh ivory needs to be dried for a shorter period of time before carving.  Mineralized ivory dug from beaches is often used for carving and is characterized by wonderfully rich colors.

Only native peoples are allowed to carve whalebone and ivory to be sold outside of the state of Alaska.  Non-natives do carve whalebone, but these pieces are only sold within Alaska.  There is a definite difference in style, with a certain sleekness and excessive detail often found in non-native work.

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