Alaska Native Cultural Center

On my mom's final day in Alaska we chose to visit the Alaska Native Heritage Center.  Now, my mom and I are both history buffs, but even if you don't have a huge interest in history, this place is a lovely way to spend a few hours.

The center offers many presentations throughout the day.  When we arrived they were just beginning their show on native dance.  It was fascinating.  The dancers told stories through their movements.  The native tribes had no written language or alphabet, everything was communicated through the spoken word and dancing.  Because of the small quarters in the meeting houses the dancing was focused on hand movements, as there was just not enough room to move around.

The center had replicas of the dwellings of six native tribes on their grounds.  Each area was completely hands on and furnished in the manner of the tribes.  

Grandma Laurie, Jack, and Nolan

We learned that one whale could provide sustenance to an entire tribe for an entire year.  These whales would be hunted in a boat that was like a large canoe made out of animal skin and just 12-15 feet long.  Once the whale was harvested, many boats would come out the 80 miles to drag the whale to shore.  Preparing the whale could take four complete days and not one part was wasted.  This is still done in some areas of the far north west, in the same manner.