Native American Carvings

Carving was a very popular form of art among the 

Native Americans of Alaska.

It was how the people expressed themselves and showed their close ties with nature.

These native tribes had many carving mediums available to them.  They used wood, whale bone, rocks, fossils, ivory, and soapstone.

Their carvings were almost always images of animals, spirits or places.

The Tlingit tribes were known for their totem poles,  but the Inupiag were known for their smaller carvings, usually of animals or birds.

In the picture above, Madie and I were standing outside of a store that sold hand carved knives,  Fossil Whale bone carvings and masks, and many other traditional trinkets with carved fronts like boxes, utensils, bowls, ceremonial staffs, rattles and screens that divided the living areas of a tribal house.

My favorite carvings were of the bears.  There are many talented artists still in Alaska today that honor the traditions of those who came before.

This is an example of an Alaskan Eskimo Walrus Tusk Ivory Carved Owl

Photo courtesy of Manor Auctions Gallery

This is an example of a bone carving done by Alaskan artist, Doug Albricht

Totem Poles of Ketchikan

Totem Poles of Alaska!

The pictures on this page of my blog were all taken on my trip by me or
(if I am in the picture) by someone in my family.  Enjoy!

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Ketchikan, Alaska is known for its Native American Totem Poles.
They are so plentiful in this town that you can't walk more than a couple of blocks at a time without seeing one.
There are many guided and self-guided tours, as well as museums that showcase this beautiful art.
Totem Poles were made by many different Native American tribes.   The most notable tribes were the Tsimshian, the Haida, and the Tlingit.  

Most were done in the 1800's with the last of them completed in the very early 1900's.

Totem Poles were made for different reasons by different tribes.  Some made them as tributes or memorials to those who had died.  Some tell stories of how they believe things in nature happened, like how the earth was created or the sun was put into the sky.  Others show the heirarchy that existed within the tribe.  While still others show the prosperity of certain villages.

Most of the totem poles in town are the original poles found abandoned in nearby villages.  These originals are also housed in the Totem Heritage Center

Other totems on the various walking tours, The Saxman Native Village and also the Totem Bight State Historic Park are replicas that have been painstakingly reproduced from the originals.

Alaska trip

I had been waiting for almost a year for this trip.  For my 17th birthday,
my grandma took me and my twin sister Madie on an Alaskan cruise.
We spent three days driving to Seattle, cruised into Alaska and Canada for
7 days and then spent 4 more days driving home.

This was in Skagway.  We actually saw a grizzly
bear, but this one was easier to get a
picture with.  We also saw some cute otters.

This was our ship, docked in Victoria, Canada.
We did a lot of eating on the ship!  We also went to shows, went on the two crazy waterslides on the top of the ship, and spent lots of time looking at the ocean!  So fun.

The most incredible part of the trip was how blue everything was.
The water, the sky, the glaciers.
I had no idea how big glaciers were, or that they could vary
so much in size and color.
We were lucky to have all clear days.  One of the tour guides joked
that while most states have snow days where school and work
are cancelled, Alaska has sun days.  It's so rare that they think
they should be able to sluff work and school to enjoy it.

This wall of rocks was painted with each cruise ships name
and captain.  There are a lot of cruise ships going in and out of
Skagway.

The whales were so cool to watch but hard to catch on my phone.
Most of my pictures are the tail end of the whale going back
into the water!  If you look close at these pics, you can see the little splash
where the whale just disappeared.

When we docked back in Seattle, we made sure to visit
the Space Needle and Pikes Place.
We followed Highway 1 to San Francisco,
stopping to see the Giant Redwoods and some
beautiful beaches on the way.
Then it was home to Utah.
It was a trip to remember!

Alaska Cruise

This was in one of KetchiKan

This is the cruise ship lit up in Canada 

This was one of the islands in Alaska 

This was formal night on the cruise