Sitka
For several days we have been transfixed by the natural world. The magnificent mountains, skies, and waterways of the southeast Alaska have surrounded us and dominated our thinking. Today we were brought back to human dimensions as we contemplated the human history of this region. After a passage through Peril Reach, the channel between Baranof and Chichagof Islands, we arrived at Sitka. This old city, once the capital of Russian Alaska, has been the home of various peoples for thousands of years. The rich history here provides rich material for thinking about how cultures survive and pass down their elements from generation to generation.
Our first land stop was the excellent Sitka National Historical Park, where we viewed ancient and contemporary Tlingit art, in the examples of totem poles and modern basketry. A walk in the deep woods nearby nurtured the feeling of timelessness that this environment possesses.
The next stop was the renowned Sheldon Jackson Museum, with its remarkable collection of artifacts representing several coastal and interior civilizations. This material was assembled at a time when it was widely available, but not widely valued, so that it is in many ways unmatched elsewhere.
A change of perspective took place with our visit to the Alaska Raptor Center, a facility dedicated to the rehabilitation and release into the wild of injured raptors from all over the continent. Native peoples venerated these birds, and their spiritual and totemic roles in native cultures are easy to understand in the presence of such magnificent creatures.
Next stop was at St. Basil’s Cathedral, a Russian Orthodox church which still serves the people of Sitka, having been established when the Russian-American Fur Company was still in business.
Our final cultural experience was at the Sheet’ka Kwaan Naa Kakidi Community House, where we enjoyed ( and some joined in with) the wonderful Tlingit dancers. When the day was done, we had shared a diverse and moving set of experiences celebrating the unity and continuity of human experience in this part of the world.
