The site has a large museum building which houses artifacts and historic exhibits from 11 native cultural groups across Alaska. There were live demonstrations of dancing, crafts and native games. The building itself is beautiful and there are views of the Chugach mountains from all around. The Center is situated on 26 acres of land around Lake Tiulana. Clustered around the lake are five village sites which have life size dwellings built in the tradition of the native peoples of each area. The buildings in the Aleut village looked a lot like those we saw last summer in North Dakota which were built by the Mandan Indians.
There were native people in each village who talked about the houses and how the people lived. One cedar building - Tlingit home - had vertical planks for walls which could be slid apart to let the smoke out of cool the house in the summer. In the cold weather the planks swell and close up tight. Very ingenious.
I really enjoy experiencing the culture through the music, dance, food, walking into a full size replica of buildings and talking with the people. It gives me much more of an idea of what life was and still is for the many native cultures. A very educational and enjoyable morning.
When we returned to our very nice campground the signs warning about moose in the campground proved to be true. There were several large moose wandering down the road. I was out of battery by then and did not get pictures. Boo hoo. However, we have seen more than our share of wildlife on this trip. Ah well, tomorrow we head towards home.
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