A salmon coat, an art coat, a coat employing actual dried salmon skins, Alaska food art, yada yada. Remarkable.
Via Jon Van Zyle
Two people are safe after a massive landslide destroyed the cabin they were camping in Sunday morning (5-12-13) near Sitka.
An air taxi pilot rescued the pair from a debris field estimated to be 20 feet deep. All their belongings were buried in the slide. Their dog remains missing.
In 1942, at the beginning of the great war in the Pacific, portions of the Alaska Territory was threatened and eventually invaded by the military of Imperial Japan. In order to protect the Alaskans that lived in the Aleutian and Pribilof Islands, our government gathered up as many Alaskan Natives as they could with the intent of moving them to safety. Forty-two villagers in Attu were captured by the Japanese before they could be evacuated and were held in Prisoner of War camps in Japan until after the end of WWII. 881 Aleuts were transferred to “duration camps” in southeast Alaska at four locations on the Tongass National Forest. Good intentions aside, these people were essentially herded to decaying building that lacked power, water, or basic sanitation and then promptly forgotten about. To be clear, the internment of Alaska Natives was conducted by the defense department, NOT the Forest Service. However, this shameful chapter of history is a part of Forest Service history (there were many Japanese internment camps on national forest lands in the lower 48) that should never be forgotten.
Wow. A cake, with Tlingit-style salmon on top. Did you evah? The baker created this for his/her Dad, a fan of Tlingit art.
My favorite part of Admiralty Island is the Pack Creek brown bear observation area. The Tlingit name for Admiralty Island is Kootznoowoo, which in translation means “Fortress of the Bear.” Pack Creek has the highest density of brown bears in the world and is a short flight from Juneau; however, access is limited, so if you decide you want to visit you’ll have to plan ahead.
