7 November 2024
Art / Museums

Museums in Anchorage, Alaska

Jenniferby Jennifer

We visited two museums in Anchorage that seemed suspiciously similar to each other (and then later to museums we visited in Fairbanks), the Alaska Native Heritage Center (ANHC) and the Anchorage Museum. Both focused on Alaska, with the ANHC more focused on Alaska’s cultural groups, and the Anchorage Museum covering the people, along with the Alaskan environments.

The Anchorage Museum is very large – 170,000 square feet with 25,000 objects! – whereas the ANHC seemed to be in transition, with lots of empty space. I think if we had been there “in season” there also would have been performances and demonstrations to enhance the experience.

The cover photo is Pack Train Near Mt. McKinley, by Eustace Ziegler, c. 1930. We saw quite a few Ziegler and Sydney Laurence paintings that we enjoyed, both artists previously unknown to us.

Niijaangw/Mask. “A copper-clad mask depicting a sparrow hawk; the beak opens and shuts with a pull-string.”
Awirnaq/Hunting Hat. “A woven spruce-root hunting hat decorate with dentalium shells, beads, and sea lion whiskers. The face of an animal spirit is painted on the crown.
Puberty Collar. “Girls underwent training and ritual seclusion when they reached puberty, a time when they worse special clothing and beadwork.”
Bird figurines made of walrus ivory.
Snow Goggles, 1920. “These snow goggles show both traditional Alaska Native design and material innovation with the incorporation of colored glass to create the dark lenses.”
Beaded Cape. “Dene art is primarily expressed in clothing design and decoration. Festive clothing traditionally was made with dyed porcupine quillwork and plant seeds. After European contact, glass beads were incorporated into the clothing. Skin clothing provided the Dene peoples with protection from the extreme weather conditions.”
The ANHC had six life-sized Native dwellings surrounding a lake. This is a clan house/long house. That oval in the column is the front door.
Yup’ik Parka, c. 1940, made of Marmot, wolf, beaver, fox, cowhide, wool and beads.
We watched I Am Yup’ik at the ANHC, a short film about a small Alaskan community where basketball is life. I felt cold just watching it.

Yup’ik Womens Fancy Parka, made of ground squirrel, calf skin, beaver and wolverine fur.
Tt’oot’aii/Baby Belt. “A very young child rides on her mother’s or sister’s back, supported by a beaded belt.”
Feast Dish, c. 1850. Yellow cedar, spruce root, opercula shells, metal.
From inside the picture Clan/Long House, the Eyak House Post: Respect for Culture.
Octopus Bag, “named for their eight dangling arms.”
Beached in Cook’s Inlet, 1911, Sydney Laurence.

Jennifer

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