Alaska Native Heritage Center

Connie ....

On Wednesday we visited the Alaska Native Heritage Center.  We learned about the cultures of various native people; what area of Alaska they live in and how they live.  The museum itself is called "Our Welcome House". It reflects the connection between Alaska Natives' past, present and future.  The exhibits are beautiful.  The center  includes  demonstrations of arts and crafts  by the natives.

The sculpture at the entrance is entitled "Raven the Creator".  Very impressive!

 

As you wander through, there are many displays under glass.  The above mask display is from the Inupiaq & St. Lawrence Island Yupik.  They are located along the Northern Region of Alaska.  Their gatherings begin with singing. The Sauyaq or Drum is used at the gatherings and ceremonies. 

The above display represents the Southeast region culture and was made of copper.  Copper was a valued trading item among the Eyak, Tlingit, Haida & Tsimshan people. The picture below is a display of this particular native culture.

There were many demonstrations of speaking the native languages.  We certainly all agreed that the language would be difficult for us to try and learn.  

                                                                                                                                     

 

After we did the inside tour, we made our way outside to visit the Native Villages that stood around Lake Tiulana. There were five different villages representing the cultures of Alaska.  Below is the Eyak,Tlingit,Haida,Tsimshian Village Site.

                                                                                                   

The carvers you see below are working on four house posts that when finished will be placed at each  inside corner of the clan house.  They began carving mid June and will finish on or before August 8th (which is the deadline).  The four totems represent the four different cultures of the Southeast Village Site.

As we continued our walk around the villages we came upon the skeleton of a gray whale.  It was very impressive.  The gray whale has the longest migration of any whale or mammal, traveling 10,000 miles from Baja, CA to the Bering, Sea.  

In the background of the picture below is the Inupik Village Site.

                                                                                        

It was a very enjoyable and educational day.