Anchorage, Day 1 - July 7

 Ha!  The rain which has plagued us for several days finally abated, and we saw some of the beautiful mountains which surround Anchorage.  A rather uninspiring city, still it boasts some worthwhile sites such as…

 The Anchorage Alaska Temple, temple #77 for us.  This may have been the tiniest and most hidden of all the temples we’ve visited.  It was a full session and the first time I have felt crowded in a temple.  Still, it was a beautiful and rewarding experience as one would expect.

                                              

                                              

                                              

                                               

                                               

                                               

The Alaska Native Heritage Center:  completely run by several of the tribes of Alaska, of which there are dozens, the center boasted a small indoor museum, a film portraying the traditional art of constructing canoes and Qayaks (the “kayak” of the ancient native Alaskan), a stage where cultural demonstrations were presented, and an outside exhibit where six tribes from throughout Alaska have reconstructed dwellings and artifacts from life prior to the first Russian influence in the late 1780’s.  Many of the dwelling structures were built below ground with earthen roofs complete with both summer and winter entrances.  These reconstructions were situated around a lovely wee lake, and we spent an enjoyable afternoon walking from one tribe to the next learning about how these indigenous folk eked a living from the sea, tundra, and woodlands.

Most fascinating were the kayaks built of steam-bent wood frames overstretched with seal hide.  Or the canoes built from birch bark.  How about the ingenious skill of killing a polar bear safely without any danger to self:  take some tasty morsel of meat, steam soften a long sharp whale tooth and roll it up into a compact circle with the meat inside, and set this tempting treat out where a polar bear is sure to find and consume it.  As the meat is digested, the sharp whale tooth unravels and pierces the polar bears stomach causing it to die.  Simply harvest the dead polar bear and voila; a winter’s worth of bear meat with little effort and no harmful hunt! Ingenious!