Although we saw loads of natural wonders during our trip, we did not learn very much about the local culture or history. This was not necessarily the fault of the cruise line. It’s possible they offered chances to learn more, but we didn’t notice any. There were a lot of things about the cruise line we didn’t notice right away.
I did learn that Tlingit, an indigenous people group in Southeast Alaska, is pronounced “Klink-it”. The Tlingit people (and other Pacific Northwest people) engage in making totem poles and formline art in a distinctive style.
Formline art on a building wall.
I think this is Eagle.
Probably Raven.
Artist studio/defunct sawmill
As part of our tourist experience at the Alaska Rainforest Sanctuary, we visited an abandoned sawmill converted into an artist’s studio for carving totem poles. The poles are made of one single tree, usually red cedar. It takes about a year to make one. The artist was making this one in honor of his uncle who passed away recently. The uncle was also a totem pole maker.
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| Totem pole under construction |
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| Chief pole, welcoming us |
The explanatory plaque told us the above is a “Chief Pole” of the Tsimshian indigenous people, with arms extended in welcome to all the guests at the Sanctuary.
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| Three totem poles |
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| Haida Eagle, with Common Household Husband, in Juneau |
This one, at the port in Juneau, for all tourists’ pleasure, is titled Haida Eagle. The eagle is second down from the top, below the clan member wearing the top hat. Eagle is one of the clans of the Haida people.
The buildings at Icy Strait Point included a small museum. Since 1977 oil has been an integral part of the Alaskan economy.
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| Alaskan pipeline info at little museum |
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| Shipping containers and (on the left) cruise ship at Juneau. |
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| A small boat from a bygone era Icy Strait Point |
Then there’s the Alaskan seafood industry, which we were happy to partake of frequently, in this seafood feast and also on the cruise boat. The crabs at this feast were HUGE (not sure if they were King Crab or not). Alas, no Old Bay seasoning for this Maryland girl, but they were quite tasty anyway, and less work than the smaller Maryland crabs. 
Mussels and shrimp and crabs, oh my!
Part of our excursion in Icy Strait Point included a theater presentation on this small stage. High school students acted out the Raven creation story using impressive artistic masks and capes. (No photos allowed). The Raven is a sort of Greek god-like character, and the creation story involves some trickery.
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| stage with bear skin |
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| flag of the state of Alaska |
The history of white settlers in Alaska, in my dim understanding, was, early on, a battle between Russia and the United States, with the U.S. acquiring Alaska by paying Russia (for land that actually did not really belong to Russia anyway -- remember "Seward's Folly"?) in 1867. Then the gold rush, commercial fishing and mining, followed by finding oil. Alaska was a colony of the US until it became a state in 1959.
Dawes Glacier
Endicott Arm
Mendenhall Glacier
Gastineau Channel
Juneau
Some place names derive from local indigenous culture:
Alaska
Ketchikan
Hoonah
As a Pennsylvanian,I find it important that, according to AI, the city of Juneau was first named Harrisburg (also the name of PA’s capital city), after a gold prospector named Richard Harris, who named the place after himself. Joe Juneau was also a gold prospector from Quebec. Joe complained that not enough stuff was named after him (remind you of anyone?), and convinced the other miners in the new town to rename it after him.
Juneau can only be reached from the Lower 48 by air or water. There are no roads or rails connecting to Juneau from elsewhere in Alaska or the continental US.
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| Orca |
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Posts in this series:
Alaska: rocks, fjords, and water
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