Trip to Alaska – Part 2 of 3
Trip to Alaska – Part 2 of 3
After WW2 a Renaissance occurred in the Native culture. As an example, the Youpik have villages of about 250 people with a main occupation: fishing salmon and other fish. They live in log cabins with, next to their door, a small “house”, called "food cache" high on sticks, where they keep their food.
A
ladder kept on its side allow humans to go up… but not bears. Hunting is also a
necessity to survive during so many cold months of the year.
The Eskimos live in the North, grouped in villages along the
coast. Whaling has been very important with every part of the animal being used.
Logging, fishing, and tourism are the main sources of income in Alaska, but oil
has been discovered in Prudhoe Bay in the modern time. We learn an interesting
fact about the people of the North…In many of the tribes, you cannot refuse
food if you are invited. It is a grave insult to the host…
In Anchorage, we were invited to a lively performance of natives’
dancers, dressed in colorful costumes. Afterwards, we talked to the dancers and
had a positive and very pleasant time.
Another day we were offered a treat: Few hours on a ship
“The Klondite Express” on Prince William Sound. We took a train from Anchorage
to Whittier-Valdez. We boarded the ship and enjoyed he large Sound, surrounded
by glaciers which ended on this body of water and broke slowly. Many people from
our group sat in the dining room for coffee or drinks… I had other plans…
I went up to the captain’s cabin, after I heard the “secret”
from some young people… and we were there, half a dozen of us in front of the
computers and navigation instruments. The captain explained that he had to
watch for the broken ice from the glaciers. They are small “icebergs”, but
their sizes are not the same. The large one could make a hole in the ship. You
could see them on the screen. The captain moved as close as possible to one of
the glaciers and we heard the ice brake and fall in the water. Many seals and
sea otters played around us, looking at our ship. It was great.
The glacier is impressive. It is interesting to see the pieces of ice floating in the water.
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