Today is Labor Day, the traditional end of summer. The Pioneer Village that we visited several days ago is having a Labor Day picnic and special events.
We went to the first event – a special showing of the northern lights in a domed tent. A recent PhD graduate of the University of Alaska - Fairbanks who wrote her dissertation on the northern lights ran a slide show and a presentation of movies of the aurora. We climbed into the tent and were seated on the ground around the outside rim of the dome (feet facing inward). In the center a professor from the university ran a projector showing a number of time-lapse films of the aurora, mostly taken in the deep of winter. We learned that although the aurora isn’t visible in summer, it actually occurs throughout the year. The show was fantastic but unfortunately we couldn’t hear most of the professor’s explanations because people had brought infants and small children into the dome. The small children cried throughout the presentation making it impossible to hear the professor.
We decided that we wanted more aurora experience so we went up to the university to the Museum of the North. We parked in a Visitor’s parking lot. I convinced Robert to pose next to the electric posts provided for people to plug-in their cars while visiting the museum. I guess when the temperature is often 50 degrees below zero, even museum visitors get to plug in.
I had previously read that the museum has many very interesting exhibits. The report was absolutely correct. The first floor is their natural and history museum. There were many interesting exhibits of animal and native life in Alaska. See the greeter – this 8 ft. 6 inch grizzly bear stands over the entry to the natural and history section.
While we traveled in southeast Alaska, I had asked about any museums that would have an exhibit on Alaska during WWII. In the small towns of the southeast, people in Visitor’s Centers suggested that I might find something in Juneau. In Juneau they told me to try a musuem in Anchorage. In Anchorage, I was told that there might be something at the airplane museum. Basically, I’ve been looking and looking for something on Alaska during WWII and could not find any historical memories. At the Museum of the North I finally happened upon the most interesting exhibit on the treatment of the Aleuts during WWII.
The Aleuts lived as substance fishermen on the islands of the Aleutian chain. In 1941-1942 the US military “moved” the Aleuts “for their own protection”. The people were herded onto military ships, the US Navy burned one of their villages, and the people were relocated on small islands in various places along the southeast coast (Ketchikan to Haines). Each person could take with themself one suitcase. They were deposited in an abandoned cannery and abandoned hunting camps. Families were allotted a 8x10 ft. cubical, not separated from the next family. In one instance there was one outhouse for over 100 people. The outhouse stood on a pier over the water in which the children played. Many died from malnutrition. Over 20% of the people who were relocated died during their internment. US troops were quartered in the Aleut’s homes during the war. Eventually in 1944-45 the surviving people were relocated but for administrative convenience, all were returned to their ancestral villages. When they returned they found that their homes and churches had been vandalized by troops and civilians. Some communities were forbidden to return to their home village but rather were forced into larger villages. This policy concentrated the fishermen more than the area fishing resources could support, resulting in the destruction of the native communities. The plight of the Aleuts has not received the same attention as the internment of the Japanese-Americans. In the late 1980s the US government officially apologized and some compensation was paid to the survivors. The exhibit was very moving.
After several hours in the museum, we did watch another movie on the aurora and a second one on winter in Fairbanks. Since it was quite late when we left the museum, we decided to have dinner out. We returned to the restaurant near our Rv park and enjoyed a good dinner. Robert ordered duck, which was wonderful I again tried crab cake. I have now decided that it is impossible to find good crab cakes in Alaska. Every time I’ve tried crab cakes, the crab has been pulverized. I like good Maryland crab cakes with lumps of crab meat.
Late tonight we went outside to look for the northern lights. It was around 12:30 am when we saw a green swirl across the sky. It was really neat to watch the green come and go across the sky. We watched for nearly an hour as the green danced above us. It was quite cold so I returned to the rig once to get an additional jacket and hat. Tomorrow is supposed to be the best night to see the lights and I’m very excited of the possibilities. This has been one of my goals in Alaska (I’d really rather not have to return to Fairbanks in winter to see the aurora. :-) ) We’ll try to get pictures tomorrow night.
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