The Alaska Native Heritage Center is in Anchorage. It is an extensive collection of Alaskan, native American culture with indoor and outdoor exhibits. We have to pace ourselves with museums, and since it had been a couple of weeks since the last one, we were ready.
First stop, native dancing. More melodic with warmer outfits than Red Earth dancing but definitely from the same close family.
Next we moved outside to the models of different tribes' dwellings built around a lake. Many of them had particularly small entryways.
Great totem poles with a distinctly Alaskan flavor.
This is a seal's skin turned into a bag, claws and flippers intact. Why? you ask. For a canteen of course!
An Athabaskan dwelling. This tribe lived in the Anchorage area.
Leaving the center, we headed north.....
To Eklutna Village Historical Park. This church, St. Nicholas Church, still in use, is the oldest standing building in the greater Anchorage area. Dating back to 1650, the park is the area's oldest continously inhabited Athabaskan Indian settlement. Russian Orthodox missionaries came here in the early 1800's. Looks like an old church or schoolhouse you'd see in Oklahoma except for the onion domes on top!
Another church also on the property. This looks a lot like the Athabaskan dwelling from the cultural center, hmmm. And so the cultures mix....
With Russian Orthodox icons...
And little houses built over the graves in the Athabaskan tradition. 
In all different styles.Leaving Eklutna, we headed to a trailhead.
Off we go to see Thunderbird Falls...
It's a long ways down from here!
But beautiful! and I love that sound.
And now back to the car....... But first, let me interrupt this message to tell you that never, not even once when I was responsible for dressing this child did he ever, ever, ever wear black socks with his shorts and tennis shoes! Not one time....nor did he even own an outfit like this. 
He really is adorable don't you think?? And he's definitely making his own statement.
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