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Alaska Native Heritage Center
8800 Heritage Center Dr
Anchorage, AK 99504
(907) 330-8000
Anchorage, AK 99504
(907) 330-8000
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
2 reviews for Alaska Native Heritage Center
Very interactive and engaging.
You learn about the different native tribes that are found in and around Alaska. Emphasis on the differences between them.
What's cool? Outside, they have several different huts/tents/houses (don't know correct term) set up around a pretty pond with artifacts inside. Really makes it easier for you to see the difference in culture instead of thinking "they're all the same."
Of course your guide tells you neat stuff too.
Inside you can see live performances, watch crafts people make things (and you can buy them), and view/read/listen to other informational exhibits.
Definitely worth a few hours.
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"Experience Alaska's Indigenous People" is their motto. This is an indoor/outdoor center/museum about 7 miles from downtown Anchorage. There is shuttle service from the downtown related Heritage Gifts shop at 333 West 4th Ave. Here you can learn about Alaskan Native traditions, lifestyle, crafts, and culture. The close knit families and communities that rely on each other, the land, and nature to survive since the Bering Straights were a land bridge 20,000 years ago. You also can learn about the different native groups from each area of Alaska, different in language, lifestyles, clothing, and living due to the diverse nature of Alaska.
1. The Aleut/Alutiiq surviving the harsh winds on the islands and the reliance on the sea in the Archipalego of the Aleutian Islands
2. The Evak/Tlingit/Haida/Tsimshian's wood based cultures living in the rain forests on Alaska's panhandle where Juneau is located
3. The Inupiaq/St Lawrence Island Yup'ik in the area north of the "nose" of Alaska where Nome is located
4. The Yup'ik/Cup'ik located in an area south of Nome
5. The Athabascan in the largest area in the middle of Alaska including Anchorage in the south and Fairbanks in the Yukon middle.
There is the museum center where native dancers and storytellers perform, a gift shop, and exhibits. Outside around a small lake are 5 camps corresponding to the above groups, showing recreated lifesize native dwellings, structures, boats, and other related archaelogical recreations. Each area also has markers explaining the wildflowers and other flora of the areas.
I was at a special event after hours, where we were entertained by the stories and dancing by the King Island Dancers of Anchorage. King Island is a small 1 mile by 2 mile island in the Inupiaq/Nome area. The stories, dancing and singing were simple and seemingly similar, but they were very powerful and moving and gave a great insight to the cultural and family bonds that tied this living extended family together like so many generations before them.
If you have ever been to Hawaii's Cultural Center on north Oahu, this is similar in concept but smaller in scale.
People thought this was:
- Useful (1)