Wow! I had a tremendous time with Nancy and Bob. Today we began our day taking in culture (Alaska Native Cultural Center) and exercise (hiking Flat Top Mountain). Flattop Mountain is a 3,510 foot mountain in the Chugach State Park about 25 minutes from my house. It is the most climbed mountain in the state of AK. The trail head is a well maintained 1.5 mile hike with an elevation gain of 1280 feet from the parking lot to the summit. Flattop is known for its panoramic views of Anchorage and the surrounding areas. We could see Denali, Mount Foraker and Mount Spurr from the top view. The trees are very unique with very twisty trunks. Wouldn't these trees make a great "tree fort"? We discovered blue pine cones. Yes, I did say blue pine cones. Then of course the mountain was full of people picking wild blueberries. Our conclusion about the blue pine cones was because there are so many wild blueberries that the coloring soaked into the ground and eventually into the cones. Beth and I look like real hikers. It was an interesting climb. Warm in the parking lot, cool as we climbed and then it got warm again and cooler at the top. The view is spectacular. The Alaskan Native Culture Center was having many demonstrations when we arrived. We were entertained by the gentleman showing up how the "AK Native Olympic" games are played. I take as much information in as possible since I will be Co-coaching our Airport Heights Youth Native Olympic team. Doesn't that sound cool? So the first event is wrist wrestling. The two boys hold a very round stick between their hands and their legs are straight. The winner is the one who pulls with their arms and pulls the other opponent off the ground. The Seal Kick is my favorite event. The boys and girls sit holding opposite hand/foot and butt off the ground. They have to push off with one foot and support themselves on one arm and kick the sealskin ball. The women's records is 5 foot 7 inches high and the men's record is 7 foot 3 inches high!!! That is amazing. The Tlingit (pronounced Klink et) dancers were next. They were demonstrating their beautiful blanket covers with buttons. Their "Tribal" colors are red and black with the raven and wolf as their ancestry. Since the Southeastern part of Alaska is a tropical rain forest it is very hot and humid and they use to no wear clothing. They told us that the missionaries gave them blankets to cover their naked bodies and since they didn't know what to do with seashell buttons, they used them to decorate their "blankets" not used to close the blanket for modesty. The southeastern part of Alaska is noted by the green area of the map on wall. Oh, in case you forgot, Alaska is TWICE as big as Texas so the wall map is huge to make sure you can visually see all the parts of Alaska. Anchorage is where the light purple meets the red area. The Cultural Center is like visiting Williamsburg, VA. It is a living and interactive museum where you visit the traditional housing and TOUCH furs and tools. This past summer there were wood carvers at the Cultural Center preparing house totems to represent each of the Southeastern Tribes - Haida, Tlingit, Tsimshian, and Eyak. The first week in September each tribe was in Anchorage to celebrate the "posting" of the house totem in the Southeastern Long House. The next pictures are the new totems and they were all carved from ONE tree trunk. The inside of the house smells so wonderful with the freshly carved art. The shavings are kept in the center of the long house to represent the fire pit. The shavings smell so wonderful!! Each animal represents something special to the cultures. They are about 12 feet tall and about 40 inches wide. Amazing!! The next picture is the gentleman showing us how to throw an ATLATL. It is a flat wooden piece of wood and you butt an arrow end up to one end and then throw the arrow towards the target or Caribou or wolf. It was one of the first inventions that helped hunting become easier for the hunters. The same gentleman showed off his work of art with his wooden visor. This piece of art,
saleeg^uu, a bent wood fishing visor, which is used by the Aleutian to keep the sun and water spray out of there eyes. If a hunter was right-handed they would put their seal whiskers on the left side of the visor. Why you ask, because their throwing arm would not hit the whiskers. The more whiskers and ornaments the greater the hunter. This is how many families decide whom their daughters are going to marry. Once selected the man has to live with the girl's family for 2 years to prove himself worthy. Talk about an "indentured servant"! Bob was once again our "Bob Vanna White" as he posed by the whale jaw bone. Jason, his English name, was one of our tour guides. Many of the local students, high school and college, complete an internship at the Cultural Center which counts as school credits. They have to speak their native language and be able to talk to large groups of people. The next contraption is a fishing wheel. This is usually used by women and young children. If you don't have a fishing pole in your hand you may be asked to "work" the fishing wheel .It is placed in the river and the was turns the baskets and scoops up the fish. The worker takes the fish out of the basket very quickly. Quite an ingenious invention. The photo of the "spring" shoes were worn by the lady in front of me throughout the village. Can you see the springs? I wanted to ask about them but I just couldn't interrupt the tour. Then there is Nancy sitting in the entrance of the long house. This demonstrates how big the opening is to the house. I will close now. I will keep you up dated with the most recent "Warmboldism" from this past week - on the next blog. Stay tuned. Enjoy and have a wonderful week. Hugs from Sheryl the Nanuq of the North.
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Wow! I had a tremendous time with Nancy and Bob. Today we began our day taking in culture (Alaska Native Cultural Center) and exercise (hiking Flat Top Mountain). Flattop Mountain is a 3,510 foot mountain in the Chugach State Park about 25 minutes from my house. It is the most climbed mountain in the state of AK. The trail head is a well maintained 1.5 mile hike with an elevation gain of 1280 feet from the parking lot to the summit. Flattop is known for its panoramic views of Anchorage and the surrounding areas. We could see Denali, Mount Foraker and Mount Spurr from the top view. The trees are very unique with very twisty trunks. Wouldn't these trees make a great "tree fort"? We discovered blue pine cones. Yes, I did say blue pine cones. Then of course the mountain was full of people picking wild blueberries. Our conclusion about the blue pine cones was because there are so many wild blueberries that the coloring soaked into the ground and eventually into the cones. Beth and I look like real hikers. It was an interesting climb. Warm in the parking lot, cool as we climbed and then it got warm again and cooler at the top. The view is spectacular. The Alaskan Native Culture Center was having many demonstrations when we arrived. We were entertained by the gentleman showing up how the "AK Native Olympic" games are played. I take as much information in as possible since I will be Co-coaching our Airport Heights Youth Native Olympic team. Doesn't that sound cool? So the first event is wrist wrestling. The two boys hold a very round stick between their hands and their legs are straight. The winner is the one who pulls with their arms and pulls the other opponent off the ground. The Seal Kick is my favorite event. The boys and girls sit holding opposite hand/foot and butt off the ground. They have to push off with one foot and support themselves on one arm and kick the sealskin ball. The women's records is 5 foot 7 inches high and the men's record is 7 foot 3 inches high!!! That is amazing. The Tlingit (pronounced Klink et) dancers were next. They were demonstrating their beautiful blanket covers with buttons. Their "Tribal" colors are red and black with the raven and wolf as their ancestry. Since the Southeastern part of Alaska is a tropical rain forest it is very hot and humid and they use to no wear clothing. They told us that the missionaries gave them blankets to cover their naked bodies and since they didn't know what to do with seashell buttons, they used them to decorate their "blankets" not used to close the blanket for modesty. The southeastern part of Alaska is noted by the green area of the map on wall. Oh, in case you forgot, Alaska is TWICE as big as Texas so the wall map is huge to make sure you can visually see all the parts of Alaska. Anchorage is where the light purple meets the red area. The Cultural Center is like visiting Williamsburg, VA. It is a living and interactive museum where you visit the traditional housing and TOUCH furs and tools. This past summer there were wood carvers at the Cultural Center preparing house totems to represent each of the Southeastern Tribes - Haida, Tlingit, Tsimshian, and Eyak. The first week in September each tribe was in Anchorage to celebrate the "posting" of the house totem in the Southeastern Long House. The next pictures are the new totems and they were all carved from ONE tree trunk. The inside of the house smells so wonderful with the freshly carved art. The shavings are kept in the center of the long house to represent the fire pit. The shavings smell so wonderful!! Each animal represents something special to the cultures. They are about 12 feet tall and about 40 inches wide. Amazing!! The next picture is the gentleman showing us how to throw an ATLATL. It is a flat wooden piece of wood and you butt an arrow end up to one end and then throw the arrow towards the target or Caribou or wolf. It was one of the first inventions that helped hunting become easier for the hunters. The same gentleman showed off his work of art with his wooden visor. This piece of art, saleeg^uu, a bent wood fishing visor, which is used by the Aleutian to keep the sun and water spray out of there eyes. If a hunter was right-handed they would put their seal whiskers on the left side of the visor. Why you ask, because their throwing arm would not hit the whiskers. The more whiskers and ornaments the greater the hunter. This is how many families decide whom their daughters are going to marry. Once selected the man has to live with the girl's family for 2 years to prove himself worthy. Talk about an "indentured servant"! Bob was once again our "Bob Vanna White" as he posed by the whale jaw bone. Jason, his English name, was one of our tour guides. Many of the local students, high school and college, complete an internship at the Cultural Center which counts as school credits. They have to speak their native language and be able to talk to large groups of people. The next contraption is a fishing wheel. This is usually used by women and young children. If you don't have a fishing pole in your hand you may be asked to "work" the fishing wheel .It is placed in the river and the was turns the baskets and scoops up the fish. The worker takes the fish out of the basket very quickly. Quite an ingenious invention. The photo of the "spring" shoes were worn by the lady in front of me throughout the village. Can you see the springs? I wanted to ask about them but I just couldn't interrupt the tour. Then there is Nancy sitting in the entrance of the long house. This demonstrates how big the opening is to the house. I will close now. I will keep you up dated with the most recent "Warmboldism" from this past week - on the next blog. Stay tuned. Enjoy and have a wonderful week. Hugs from Sheryl the Nanuq of the North.
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