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Showing posts with the label log cabin

Living in the Arctic Circle

  Welcome to Wiseman, a small community 63 miles north of the Arctic Circle in Alaska. Gold was discovered in Nolan Creek near the village in the early  1900s and miners turned this town into a bustling settlement until the boom ended. Today, there are fewer than twelve people living in Wiseman. It’s the perfect getaway if you crave peace and quiet or love hiking and mountain climbing. Wiseman is sandwiched by the Brooks Mountain Range and the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. We passed by a portion of the Alaska Pipeline on the Dalton Highway on our way to Wiseman from Coldfoot where our plane landed. This stretch of highway continues on to Prudhoe Bay in the Arctic Ocean. Residents of Wiseman are allowed to hunt just one moose annually for food consumption. Not surprisingly, there are antlers everywhere. Many of the cabins display antlers above their doors.  Our guide, Jack Reakoff, showed us his house and explained to us the mechanics of heating, cooking, planting vege

Athabascan Indian Village Life

  The Athabascan Indians traditionally lived in Interior Alaska from the Brooks Mountain Range in the north to the Kenai Peninsula in the south. They settled along the Yukon, Tanana, Susitna, Kuskokwim and Copper rivers. They were nomadic, traveling to fish, hunt and trap. This Athabascan village we visited is on the confluence of the Chena and Tanana rivers. The image above is of a typical log cabin with sod roof and an adjoining cache cabin for storing food. The sod roof weighs down the overlapping bark covering the cabin to keep it in place. It also adds a layer of insulation. This one room log cabin is made from spruce logs which are abundant in the area. A barrel stove warms up the cabin. Fur pelts hang outside the cache cabin where food is stored high above the ground  to be out of reach of animals. These pelts are used for clothing, blankets, bed cushions, tent covers and other purposes. Costumes worn by Athabascan men and women are made of animal skin and decorated with beads.