Our last day in Alaska

We got to the Anchorage Airport a little after 11 am. Our flight out was not until 11:45 pm so we thought we were going to spend a boring day at the Airport. It was an absolutely beautiful day and we could see Mt. Denali as clear as a bell even though it was over 150 miles away!

I found it interesting that for most of the trip all the people who were our leaders and guides were from someplace other than Alaska.  Believe it or not the state of origin that was most common was Florida.  But they all love it up here, even, especially winter and may visit their home state from time to time, but will always consider Alaska their home.   Our bus driver, a delightful gal, was the first person I encountered who answered the question, "Where are you from?" with the answer "Here, and my father, and his father, and his fathers before him. She was a member of one of the local aboriginal people who have made Alaska their home for thousands of years (earliest traces have been found 10,000 to 15,000 years ago!). In the last hours of our time in Alaska I was seeing something very important that I nearly had missed.   We found when we got to the Airport that we could leave our bags in a secured place and take a bus into  Anchorage to spend some time at a museum that is connected with the Smithsonian museum in Washington. There we began to hear the story of Alaska's first people and how they lived, and live.

Their lives remain unchanged for thousands of years, until the Russians and then the Americans began to exploit them for the animals, trees, and minerals. They brought diseases which decimated the local people and took the resources they needed to live. The solution we came up with for these people was for them to become like us. That just about did them in.    But I am very happy to hear that among the descendants of these people there is a revival of the old ways. The language and stories and resources are being reclaimed and this appears to be producing young vibrant cultures. We went from the museum to a living museum the Alaska Native Heritage Center where we saw the dwellings, and art work and heard the stories and songs that have been told and sung for centuries.  Here is a link with some information. http://www.alaskanative.net/en/main-nav/plan-your-visit/the-experience/. Make sure you watch the video. It catches the spirit. The wonderful thing was that it was young people doing this, sharing what was obviously so special and powerful to them.  Here is a map that shown where the major native groups live in this vast land.

 Most of these peoples were hunter gatherers with a deep spiritual connection to the land and it's inhabitants. They used the resources that were available to them.   This picture shows a boat built by people in the northwest where there were no trees. It is made of walrus skin, and the wood slats are made from driftwood.  The red and black boat in the background was made from one huge tree. They live in a southern coastal rain forest where trees are giants. Both vessels require great skill to make, and are whale boats.

 Many of there homes are partially underground. 

The word for house in their language is igloo and we all know what those look like. The young lady told us that they will build them out of ice if they are hunting away from home, but they prefer the style in this picture. This is much dryer.   Some of their beautiful artwork. Even with no Walmart or Sam's Club, and no two day prime deliveries and no internet, these people live and eat, and tell stories and sing songs, and have time to do beautiful work with what the land gives them.