The Anchorage Museum is reported to be one of the best in Alaska and when the Smithsonian added a section on ArcticStudies with more than 600 Alaska Native artifacts, it only added to its lustre. But, first breakfast in one of the premier breakfast joints in Anchorage, in the heart of the tourist district. As we were driving in we noticed people walking in the same direction. When we got there, we saw people gathered and while Gary fed the meter, I rushed over to put our name on the list. 45 mintues she said. But, there was coffee there for us and we waited patiently - along with all those we had seen walking over.
The place is called the Snow City Cafe and is consistently rated one of the best in the area. Even tourists had heard of it judging by the crowds in the waiting area with their maps, their tour guides and their souvenirs. Breakfast was good. If we lived here, we’d be back weekly. But next week on to Hope and - well, we’ll fill you in later.
The Anchorage Museum is part history, part science, part art and my sister- and brother-in-law say it has a fine restaurant. We started with the art, cruised through the Imaginarium Discovery Center for science and geared towards kids and headed to the Alaska History Gallery. I was especially interested in the history section and the life-sized dioramas portraying different eras and events in Alaskan history.
The flagship exhibit here is the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center with more than 600 artifacts that used to be housed in Washington DC. Here we found:
baskets - note the tight weave here
clothing - I was especially intrigued to learn that this outside parka is made out of dried intestines. The intestines are slit so that they are flat, dried and then sewn together to make this waterproof, wind-blocking garment. Very cool. Of course, the decorations really add to it. It looks like it would rip the first time it was put over ones head to wear but the plaque by it said it was terribly strong.
or this parka made out of a variety of furs. The work on this is exquisite.
dark glasses to protect the eyes against the glare of harsh sun on the snow.
and among lots of other items, was this small set of carved ducks. Very old and irreplaceable. There was a film about these where a historian was interviewing an older woman about them. She said they were for gambling and to illustrate how they were used, she picked them, squeezed them in her hand and tossed them on the table. The historian gasped as she tossed these priceless antiquities around and she giggled. You win if your duck lands upright and lose if it does not. But it was the gasp and the giggle that made the story.
Here are some of the dioramas in the history section showing a successful whale hunt.
And, pictures of building the Alcan highway through Canada to Alaska during WWII to move supplies and men to a valuable outpost. This picture is almost like one I’ve seen of roads in Iowa before pavement.
Here’s a model of how telegraph poles had to be propped up because of the frozen gound which thawed and froze and then thawed again and moved anything stuck in them.
Telegraph wires were extremely important since they were the quickest way to get information around. Here is how they were guarded from 1903 - 1920. Each 40 - 50 miles along the lines, was stationed a soldier in guard with a dog team in a log cabin.
There was a whole section on how the Alaskan Natives were treated - just like the Natives in the lower 48 were treated. Whole communities moved to new lands, kids taken from their families to special schools, native languages prohibited, native clothing, customs, styles all prohibited and then the discriminitation in housing, jobs, public places, etc.
Because we had been to Deadhorse and had seen the oil pipeline up close, we were especially intrigued by this cross-section showing the concentric rings of lining, insulation and outer material. We must have spent 5 minutes looking at it and discussing it. Did either of us take a picture? Nope. So I am indebted to best friends Shirley and Jerry who did think to take a picture when they were here last year.
The insulation is about 3” thick and is there to prevent the heat of the pumped oil from warming up the permafrost through which it travels when it is underground. 3”? We wouldn’t think that this was enough but then, we don’t know its compostion and anything about it. So, who am I to talk?
I think time is uo and we’d better be on our way. The guards are coming to lock the doors.
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