MY NEW ALASKAN KNIFE
I met Jane for breakfast at the New Segovia Market-wow, what a place! All sorts of fresh fish-some even have their heads and eyes still on!! Fruit and veggies of all kind-even jalapenos and other things that are common in Texas but rare here....bakery with all manner of fresh baked breads and other goodies...deli with to die for cheeses...on and on and on!!! I could spend a day there and across the street at The Natural Pantry-the wholefood, organic market!
From there Jane headed off for some very boring errands (laundry, etc) that I opted to avoid (I'm lucky to have a washer and dryer in my apartment). Instead I struck out for a BIG adventure-the Alaska Federation of Natives Convention arts and crafts sale!!!
What an experience!!! Native Alaskans-Eskimos and Aluets-from all the villages brought their arts and crafts to sale. I will try to give you a taste of the adventure!
First, walking to the convention center there are people, people everywhere. In front of the building there is a man singing with his guitar case open for money-he is singing protest type songs and his is a political mission. I didn't stop long enough to understand what his cause (it's 23 outside). Along the side of the building were women selling "Alaska donuts" and, my favorite, fry bread (it seems fry bread is as popular here as in the Taos Pueblo where I first ate it).
There were young people and young adults dressed in typical western clothing...and the occsional woman in her traditional parka. The parkas are long and straight until right above the knee where they are gathered sort of like a skirt. The gathered material portion extends to right below the knee. The material varies but it is apparentlly fur lined because there is fur of some type showing below the bottom of the parka, around the hands and around the hood. I did see one parka that was all fur with strip of fur (perhaps tails of animals ?) hanging off.
Mostly you hear English spoken all around you but there is the occasional Yupik or other native language (I apologize, I don't know the languages). The sound is rather guttral to me and seems like it would be very hard to learn!
In the Arts and Crafts area there were many elders sitting behind tables with their names displayed on the front of the table and their crafts in front....there were younger people too but mostly elders. Beautiful people with brown, round faces and broad cheek bones. The quality of the arts and crafts was unbelievable! Carvings, beadwork, furs! Bone, belen, wood...seal...it was almost more than I could take in!
In the lower 48 I am sure there would have been protests going on outside the convention center because I have never seen so much fur and so many pelts. Some was made into gloves, hats, or mukluks...but there were also furs and pelts hanging in displays to be purchased.
It was all wildly outside of my price range! The booties and mukluks for babies and children, for example, were $50-$80. I saw a charming stuffed doll...about 10 inches long...$100. Of course, it was hand sewn, stuffed, the face was emboidery and she was dressed in a seal skin parka. But, you get the ideal.
I was hoping to get one thing -an Alaska knife! I used one at a friend's house and it was a dream for chopping veggies, and she removed the skin on the salmon like it was nothing! I hadn't been able to find one of the knives at a store so I thought maybe..... Sure enough, I found several booths with the Alaska knife! One booth had tons of them of every size you can imagine...the handles were carved bone or antler. They were works of art! There were several women standing around trying them out...they would pick one up and slash this was and then turn their wrists and slash that way back and forth several times....put that knife down, pick up another, slash some more. I stood back, way back, and observed. When the crowd of slashing women thinned out some I moved in and picked up a small one....slash, slash, slash (I am sure it was my imagination that the crowd seemed to thin out considerably more). But, sigh, they were way out of my price range, starting at $100 for the bitty ones and going up, way up, from there! Luck was with me as later I found a booth with an assortment of things including three knives. Two had bone handles with the opening for your fingers-and relatively inexpensive at $95 and $70....and then there was my knife! It was roughly done in comparison to the others-and the handle was wood which was directly attached to the blade without the opening for your fingers....but it was $35. In my imagination this is some young Eskimo craftsman's beginning attempts at learning to craft the knife and I helped him or her out by buying it :-) So, admire the picture of my Alaska knife!!!
From there I walked down the street looking for something to eat-preferably something HOT! Instead I found food for my soul! The Cook Inlet Book Company! How had I missed this place??? A bookstore specializing in books books on Alaska (also out of print books and used books). What a find! And it is only about 10 blocks from the apartment-an easy walk! I spent a good hour in the store-long enough to win over the gruff old bookstore owner!
My final stop before heading home was a bakery for a cup of chili, hot tea and a Halloween cookie-a most unusual tea shop in downtown Alaska. It is rather Victorian with cute little this- and-thats in the shop-very Fredricksburgy, very unAlaskan!!!
Here I am at home in the midafternoon on a Saturday-no more adventures planned for the weekend! I am going to knit and curl up with some hot tea and a good book (The Reader's Companion to Alaska edited by Alan Ryan-"a pretty good place to start learning about Alaska" per my bookstore friend).
Oh.....I was interupted by "Mike, the postman" who rang up to tell me he had a package for me...and a Halloween card from Mike, my sweetie! What a treat on this cold Alaskan winter day! Have a cup of tea and think of me!