Ariana was able to join us in Alaska to experience this beautiful state of our union. We enjoyed a paddleboat ride where we witnessed a few of the standard fare of the area. Alongside the paddleboat a seaplane landed and took off showing off the maneuverability needed to use this type of transportation on the small lakes and rivers of Alaska.
We were able to enjoy seeing different wildlife along the way. We had a dog sledding exhibition, witnessed a native wooden salmon catching machine, eyed reindeer and saw a re-creation of two mooses’ with locked racks that died that way because they couldn’t unhook from each other.
We exited the paddlewheel to get educated on what life is like for a community of a First Nation (Native).
Interesting note here: There are no reservations in Alaska – the natives formed twelve Corporations for the different clans, each owning massive amounts of land. Only 3% of Alaska is owned by individuals, the rest is owned by the state or these corporations. The United States purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867 for $7.2 Million dollars. Remember that gold was discovered about 20 years later. In 1971, President Nixon signed the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) which effectively “paid” these corporations almost $1B and passed roughly 44 million acres to them. This settled all claims and allowed the pipeline and oil riches to flow.
Back now from history class…the buildings, clothing and lifestyle of this community was interesting:
Once again I was reminded how nice it is to have the Busse Bus.
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