Alaskan Native Bone Pendant/Animal Spirit

[alaskandreamer]

Hello,

 

I hear that Ketchican has a few wonderful Native craft shops etc.

Can anyone tell me where I am be able to find a nice handmade bone pendant or carved animal spirit effigy? I am very into Native culture and would like to have one as a souvenir of my trip.

 

We will be in Ketchican, Juneau, and Skagway. We will also be in the Copper River area, Denali and Anchorage.

 

Thanks for your help!

[Gardyloo]

Hello,

 

I hear that Ketchican has a few wonderful Native craft shops etc.

Can anyone tell me where I am be able to find a nice handmade bone pendant or carved animal spirit effigy? I am very into Native culture and would like to have one as a souvenir of my trip.

 

We will be in Ketchican, Juneau, and Skagway. We will also be in the Copper River area, Denali and Anchorage.

 

Thanks for your help!

No idea about Ketchikan, but in Anchorage you should visit the gift shop at the Alaska Native Hospital, which has the best (by far) selection of authentic native arts and crafts in the city/state. http://www.anmc.org/

[bearbait]

I like the Alaska Fur Exchange.

 

http://www.alaskafurexchange.com/

[Glaciers]

I second both of these places. Alaska Natives from all over the state bring items in to be sold at the Alaska Native Medical Center as they come in from the villages for medical care. The Alaska Fur Exchange also carries a great selection of authentic Alaska Native items.

 

When purchasing items you may find out a little about the artist and what village they are from. Very interesting to explore who these people are. Some still use honey buckets and live a subsistence way of life. It really starts giving your Native Alaska art more depth.

[Adri204]

I second both of these places. Alaska Natives from all over the state bring items in to be sold at the Alaska Native Medical Center as they come in from the villages for medical care. The Alaska Fur Exchange also carries a great selection of authentic Alaska Native items.

 

When purchasing items you may find out a little about the artist and what village they are from. Very interesting to explore who these people are. Some still use honey buckets and live a subsistence way of life. It really starts giving your Native Alaska art more depth.

 

 

Ive sadly had my time of using a Honey Bucket lolol. I agree that the Alaska Native Medical Center has some great gifts. As far as specific places in Ketchikan, I dont know of any off hand. But check also make sure it says "Made in Alaska".

 

Adri :)

[Glaciers]

Ive sadly had my time of using a Honey Bucket lolol. I agree that the Alaska Native Medical Center has some great gifts. As far as specific places in Ketchikan, I dont know of any off hand. But check also make sure it says "Made in Alaska".

 

Adri :)

 

Fortunately I've never had the opportunity. My wife was born in Bethel and her family had one of the first residential flush toilets to be installed in the 60's. My wife's friends would come over to her house just to watch the toilet flush. Water was very expensive so it was a staged event that didn't happen often.

[Adri204]

Fortunately I've never had the opportunity. My wife was born in Bethel and her family had one of the first residential flush toilets to be installed in the 60's. My wife's friends would come over to her house just to watch the toilet flush. Water was very expensive so it was a staged event that didn't happen often.

 

 

Its not somthing I recommend as a general rule lol. However also having been to Bethel, I can well imagine that watching the toilet flush was a big deal. Its better then some of the other activities one can get in to in Bethel thats for sure lolol. My sister is Inupiat and was born in Nome, my other sister was born in Fairbanks and I joke I got the boring city of Anchorage lolol,

 

Adri :)

[Gardyloo]

Fortunately I've never had the opportunity. My wife was born in Bethel and her family had one of the first residential flush toilets to be installed in the 60's. My wife's friends would come over to her house just to watch the toilet flush. Water was very expensive so it was a staged event that didn't happen often.

Did they live in Bethel Heights? I was part of the "fact finding" team sent by the feds/AK State Housing Authority (ASHA) to Bethel in I think 1969 to get to the bottom of the non-functioning sewer system the PHS had installed to serve Bethel Heights. Pre-pipeline boondoggle city; the Governor's office sent Eben Hopsen, a very famous and respected Native guy, with us to "get the local people's views on the project." Only problem was Eben was from Barrow and didn't speak Yu'pik. The Governor didn't know the difference. Oy.

[bearbait]

Did they live in Bethel Heights? I was part of the "fact finding" team sent by the feds/AK State Housing Authority (ASHA) to Bethel in I think 1969 to get to the bottom of the non-functioning sewer system the PHS had installed to serve Bethel Heights. Pre-pipeline boondoggle city; the Governor's office sent Eben Hopsen, a very famous and respected Native guy, with us to "get the local people's views on the project." Only problem was Eben was from Barrow and didn't speak Yu'pik. The Governor didn't know the difference. Oy.

 

And in 1969 Barrow didn't have flush toliets either. I met Eben Hopson, very nice guy and great native advocate. Spent my share of time with a honey bucket usually having the contents thrown at me and partner when we went to arrest someone!!!

[Glaciers]

Did they live in Bethel Heights? Only problem was Eben was from Barrow and didn't speak Yu'pik. The Governor didn't know the difference. Oy.

 

Even this Anchoragite knows the Hopson name from Barrow. My wife lived near Chief Eddy Hoffman Hwy and Standard Oil Rd so not in Bethel Heights. Have to imagine there were several issues with the Bethel sewage system since it was so new at the time. That might have been federal housing? I heard they had some of the very first flush toilets in Bethel. Must have been quite a treat to visit Bethel in the 60’s.

[Gardyloo]

Even this Anchoragite knows the Hopson name from Barrow. My wife lived near Chief Eddy Hoffman Hwy and Standard Oil Rd so not in Bethel Heights. Have to imagine there were several issues with the Bethel sewage system since it was so new at the time. That might have been federal housing? I heard they had some of the very first flush toilets in Bethel. Must have been quite a treat to visit Bethel in the 60’s.

Yes it was federally-assisted housing; I worked for HUD at the time.

 

The kerfuffle this week about the impacts of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill on walruses made me think of Bethel Heights. The ASHA houses at Bethel Heights were designed by Bureau of Indian Affairs architects who based their designs on housing built for Navajo folk in New Mexico. The houses had built-in beds in sleeping porches (all immediately ripped out and thrown out onto the snow) and a combination space heater and cook stove in the middle of the one main room (like an igloo, see? How smart we are.) Trouble was, in the winter the stove had to be set so hot (since the houses immediately started leaking air big time) that anything you cooked immediately burned; and in the summer (and it can get downright hot and awful in Bethel some days) in order to cook you had to turn on the heater. Einsteins, one and all.

[Glaciers]

Gardyloo, Thank you for sharing this. It's the kind of historical information that isn't normally printed in the history books and will soon be forgotten.

[Putterdude]

Hello,

 

I hear that Ketchican has a few wonderful Native craft shops etc.

Can anyone tell me where I am be able to find a nice handmade bone pendant or carved animal spirit effigy? I am very into Native culture and would like to have one as a souvenir of my trip.

 

 

You may care to try Crazy Wolf in Ketchikan on Mission St. I know that Yukon has the name of another shop and maybe he will see you post and provide the name. www.crazywolfstudio.com

[Glaciers]

Yes it was federally-assisted housing; I worked for HUD at the time.

 

Gardyloo, If you check back in here....I have some more information on the housing that you may find interesting from my Bro-in-law who is familiar with the project. If interested, please put "Bethel" in the subject line.

 

chilkoot at hotmail.com