Anchorage Antics

On Saturday, June 18, 2016, the four of us - Kathy, David, Tom and Eileen - moved the truck and trailer to Anchorage to set up our base camp for a three day side trip to the Kenai Peninsula.  We took one of our unscheduled days to poke around Anchorage - and then were pleasantly surprised to see some good friends in our campground.

Downtown Anchorage is not large, pretty touristy, and something that can easily be visited in a single day.  We began with a tour bus trip around town.  We learned about the 1964 Earthquake, which was centered north of Prince William Sound near Valdez.  Also known as the Good Friday earthquake, it occurred at 5:36 P.M. AST on Good Friday, March 27, 1964. Across south-central Alaska, ground fissures, collapsing structures, and tsunamis resulting from the earthquake caused about 139 deaths. Lasting four minutes and thirty-eight seconds, the magnitude 9.2 megathrust earthquake was the most powerful recorded in North American history, and the second most powerful recorded in world history. Soil liquefaction, fissures, landslides, and other ground failures caused major structural damage in several communities and much damage to property. Anchorage sustained great destruction or damage to many inadequately earthquake engineered houses, buildings, and infrastructure (paved streets, sidewalks, water and sewer mains, electrical systems, and other man-made equipment), particularly in the several landslide zones along Knik Arm. Two hundred miles southwest, some areas near Kodiak were permanently raised by 30 feet. Southeast of Anchorage, areas around the head of Turnagain Arm near Girdwood and Portage dropped as much as 8 feet, requiring reconstruction and fill to raise the Seward Highway above the new high tide mark.

Here is a photo of a sign in Earthquake Park that illustrates what happened to the land presently comprising the park during the quake:

Essentially, the top layers of soil and rock that had been along the original shore line slid into the water, along with the trees and vegetation, lowering half of the area, and instantaneously filling in and raising the other half.  To see how extreme the change was, follow the images of the trees in each illustration of the sequence above, to see how they slid into the newly filled portion of Knik Arm.

Fully sobered by the history of the '64 Quake, we finished the bus tour and wandered around downtown so that Tom could shop for deals on souvenirs.  We did find some diverting civic art to admire, doing what tourists do:

But the best part of the day was saved until last.  We came back to the campground to see our good friends, Nan and George, who had arrived while we were out and about.  We proceeded immediately to Happy Hour and told each other stories of our adventures since last seeing each other.  Tom added spice to the evening by bringing out part of his tourist shopping haul:  some pairs of argyle socks with Alaskan wildlife embroidered on them.  We all got pairs as gifts.  Naturally George and Kathy couldn't wait to try theirs on.  None are better than Kathy and George at stylin' and argylin':

The next day, we ventured out to visit the Alaska Native Heritage Center, which is an excellently curated exhibit explaining the history and lifestyles of various First Nations groups who live in the area around Anchorage.  The Center shares the rich heritage of Alaska's 11 major cultural groups. Visitors experience Alaska native culture first-hand through engaging storytelling, authentic native song and dance, artist demonstrations, native games demonstrations and more.

It was fitting that the center was framed in two large whale rib bones, which were used by traditional native peoples as gates or welcome arches in their communities:

The front of the center is graced with a dramatic sculpture of Raven the Creator.  The sculpture incorporates elements of many different legends of the raven which are extant among the various groups of local peoples.

Inside, before our tour, we happened to catch a demonstration of Native American games of skill, common among local groups.  In the one pictured below, someone has to kneel, supported only by hands and feet, and then kick up, leaving herself supported by only one hand, and try to hit a target (here, a stuffed model of a fish) with at least one foot.  Those who succeed then compete again with the target hung at a yet higher level, until only one person succeeds in reaching the target with her foot:

The tour itself was very informative.  Guests stroll through six authentic life-sized Native dwellings situated in a wooded area around a central lake and are introduced to the traditional life ways of the Athabascan, Inupiaq/St. Lawrence Island Yupik, Yup’ik/Cup’ik, Aleut, Alutiiq, and the Eyak, Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian peoples.  Each village site has a traditional structure along with artifacts that each group used in their daily lives. Guests have an opportunity to visit with a representative of the particular culture in each village site.

Here is an example of one of the villages, which consisted of subterranean homes:

Canoes, made by hand currently in the style and manner of traditional canoe-making, grace the shore of the central lake:

The interiors of the structures are generally functional, but one of the village sites contained pillars carved and painted by a well-known local artist in the traditional fashion:

By the time we had finished our touring in Anchorage, we felt we had gotten to know the city both from a contemporary and historic standpoint, and we felt ready to move on and tackle the Kenai Peninsula.  See our next blog entries for those adventures.