Our first stop was in Ketchikan, the first Alaskan city. It is a city built on the fishing industry and is now a very popular cruise ship stop. Up to 6 cruise ships stop there, but only two were in port today. We were lucky and had a gorgeous day.
Our primary activity was a boat ride to Annette Island for a visit to an Tsimshian village. It is in the only Indian preserve in Alaska. The village originated in Canada and in the late 1800s they were having issues with the Canadian government over land ownership and other things. A missionary (Father William Duncan) helped them obtain permission from the US government to settle in Alaska on Annette Island. 823 natives made the journey in 50 canoes going 70 miles over 10 days. It is one of the largest exoduses in Canadian history. The village is called Metlakatla and currently has about 2,00 inhabitants.
They are justifiable very proud of their culture and language. They teach their culture and language in the schools and have a museum with many artifacts from their migration.They have a great respect for William Duncan who was a huge help to them in leaving Canada and building their village. The little village still has 8 churches and is heavily influenced by Duncan. We visited his original house which is now a museum.
One of the artifacts in the museum, is one of 7 remaining Thomas Edison second edition phonographs which was given to Duncan by Edison.
In their clinic we saw a collection of local art which was excellent. It was an interesting place to house the collection.
Our last stop was the longhouse which acts as a cultural center, meeting place, wedding venue, and dance hall. We were treated to some native dancers and songs from their culture. We were asked to join them in one of their dances. Fascinating to watch. Here are some pictures.
The leader of the dance group. He is wearing a hat Dancer with her baby.
made from cedar bark.
The video make take some time to load.
We saw some seals and sea lions from the boat.
Sea Lion Seals .
The show was a “Prairie Home Companion” without a News from Lake Woebegone. There are people saying he has said he is finished telling stories and that he won’t do that segment any more. I, for one, don’t believe it. But, we shall see. The show was mostly music with Garrison singing duets with several of his favorite singers (Sarah Jarosz, Heather Masse, and Christine from the DG’s trio.). Plus a “Bob, a Young Artist” skit and the three tenors singing some GK lyrics to well know tunes. All it all, it was funny show.
Garrison
GK and Christine GK and Heather
Rich Dwarsky “The Three Tenors