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TwitterAlaska CruiseTour . 2012 . Sep 24
On board the Discovery II, we were shown a demonstration of how salmon are sliced, dried and smoked at the Chena Indian Village.
Chena Indian Village Tour
We were pleasantly surprised when the boat made a stop at the Chena Village for a guided walking tour of an Athabascan Indian village.
Bench pads are distributed upon disembarkation. At first, we had no idea what this was all about.
Not until we followed the crowd to this place where a talk/presentation will take place. The bench pad is actually for us to place on the bench to protect our butts from the cold wood of the bench!
Our native guide explaining to us their culture and way of living, including how natural materials are used in their daily lives.
This looks pretty vulgar to an animal lover, but for the Alaska natives, being able to hunt and skin an animal probably is critical to their survival in the bitter cold of winter.
Domesticated reindeer / caribou, kept as a source of food.
Athabascan Indian costume.
After the presentations, it was time for us to roam freely around the village!
A taxidermized Moose. This is supposedly the biggest moose they had caught. Finally, I get to stand beside a moose and see how I compare to it in terms of height after seeing only the backside of a moose previously! One thing for sure, if it is alive and comes charging at me, I won’t even stand a chance!
Arctic Lupine, one of Alaska's beautiful wild flowers. Check out this site for more of Alaska's other wild flowers! :)
The Chena Village Alaska Post Office. Remember our previous post on the late Susan Butcher's Kennels. Her husband was selling autographed copies of this book about Granite, who was her greatest lead dog who was a shy, scraggly puppy that the others pushed around. Fortunately, Susan saw his potential and together they worked until he became leader of the team!
Fires are lighted in a pit enclosed by animal skins to keep out the wind.
Drying and smoking of Salmon. Smoked salmon is big business in Alaska, for salmons are in abundance in summer.
A Smoke house.
A paddle wheel churns the water, and scope up and trap salmon in the process. Ingenious.
One of the sleeping cabins in the village, it is built on stilts to avoid bear attacks.
This is an early device for wood sawing.
Back to Discovery II to continue with the river cruise.
A cabin using shed moose antlers as a decorative piece. A moose typically drops its antlers before winter to conserve energy and grow new ones in the coming spring.
Free sampling of smoked salmon on board. The cruise operators are actually trying to market their product, but that effort was wasted on us, for we never liked smoked products.
The earliest version of the sternwheeler and is not in use now.
Taking a last look at one of the houses by the river as we approach the end of our cruise..
And saying our goodbyes to Discovery II.
Overall, We find this tour a little too touristy, and while it was generally enjoyable and good to understand the culture and lifestyle of the natives, we would recommend to skip this if your itinerary is packed.
Join us in our next post as we bring you to our last stop in the Alaska Cruise series - the Fairbanks Princess Riverside Lodge.
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