Anchorage, AK - Kickin' High?

Real treat today, we visited the Native American Heritage Center in Anchorage.

Here one can experience Native Alaskan first hand with Native guides. Here one can learn how Native Alaskans survived and thrived before cars and microwaves and central heating. In the center is a large building in which there are exhibits and also performances. Here we were intrigued and impressed with 3 young native Alaskans from different groups showing us some of the contests in the Eskimo Games. These games originated as entertainment during winter months but they also enable the participants to hone their skills, and strengths to make them better hunters. Balance, hand-eye coordination figure heavily here along with strength. Not only were there people down here but people ringing the balcony where we were.

To sneak up on a seal, hunters cloak themselves in seal skin and maneuver up to the unsuspecting seal like this. In the actual games, a 3rd grade female holds the record - beating out the High School senior male.

Here’s a contest to develop balance and strength. Sit on the floor, grab one foot with the opposite hand and and kick high to knock a stuffed fish. Then land on the foot with which you kicked.

Two of the young men altered as the fish was moved higher and higher to see who could do this the best.

Then there’s this one. Sit on the floor, put your hand between your legs for balance, raise your legs off the floor, use the other hand to hit the fish. Then put your hand down before you lower your legs.

In this one, kick high to hit the fish and land on the kicking leg. The young man in the red is older than these two, has mastered all of these and now is the announcer. At one point, in answer to a question, he said that to do this, one had to learn how to fall properly.

We watched these contests until they were over, then we went out to view the housing structures. Several of the homes had winter entrances off to one side which went under ground and were heavily covered for warmth.

Here’s a house with a cache in back to hold meat and other food. Up high and unreachable by bears. Note the wood piled to the right for winter.

One home had a skylight - made out of seal and walrus intestines. They cut them down the middle, flatten them out, let them dry and then sew them together. Waterproof, weatherproof, windproof and they let light in. Pretty clever. We’ve also seen parkas made our of these.

This arrow has feathers which are twirled on the shaft. Makes the arrow go faster and truer - like a rifled bullet.

The young people we met and just about everyone we met here was under the age of 25, were very modern and hip, texting on their iPhone, and dressed in modern style. However, they were all immersed in their native culture also. I asked one young woman if she made all the jewelry she was selling. No, she said, her mother did but she was out today getting subsistence: gathering berries for the winter. Another young woman said her father had gotten 65 fish already and that would feed their 4-person family for the winter. (The number of fish you can catch is related to how much native blood you have. He was full-blooded Athabascan and thus could get the highest limit.)

This young man had made his helmet and part of his clothing and was giving a speech at the center.

We learned so much and enjoyed talking with all the demonstrators and exhibit hosts.
We stopped at Costco on the way home and found this little item. A dip net. Not something that we find in the Des Moines Costco.

Oh,look, the Milepost. Do you think we’re in Alaska?