TOUR OVERVIEW - ALASKA: Spirit of the Tundra   

DID YOU KNOW? Even if you saw a million acres a day, it would still take you more than a year to see all of Alaska?

Peruse this Once In A Lifetime itinerary, created for those who want to experience both Alaska Native culture and the treasure trove of unique activities which every traveler to this ravishing land should experience.

From The Arctic Circle, to the Eskimo Olympics, the bright city of Anchorage to the gold mining town of Talkeetna, and of course Alaska’s jewel in the crown, Mount Denali… and along the way the Midnight Sun Powwow, dog-sledding, an igloo, the Northern Lights… we have it all.

 

 

    

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

 

 

 

Alaska is known as the final frontier of the American West, a majestic land of stunning glaciers, rugged landscapes, and sweeping colorful valleys. Alaska is home to eleven distinct Alaska Native cultures with many tribes within each of those cultures; many of whom still live the old subsistence lifeway and speak one of twenty indigenous languages.  

One of the few places on earth where as yet Mother Nature has been left largely undisturbed so that wildlife is abundant and living in their natural state, Alaska is certainly on most people’s ‘Life List’. 

 

Indigenous peoples of Alaska traditionally lived in an expansive region beginning south of the Brooks Mountain Range down to the Kenai Peninsula and their separation by land formations created eleven distinct linguistic groups. The tribes were based along five major river-ways and migrated seasonally, traveling in small groups to fish, hunt and trap. Yet as with all Peoples of the world, similarities are greater than differences, evolving mainly around adaptation to each tribe's environment. So naturally, food, tools, homes and clothing of the cultures reflect the geography and climate of the area each group lived in.

 

And what a place to live! Studded between Alaska’s great mountain ranges are canyons, waterfalls, salmon-filled rivers, blue glaciers (100000 of them, totaling 5% of the Alaskan land base and even bluer when it’s cloudy) temperate rain forest, tundra and spectacular endless tidal coastline. At the heart of traditional tribal life is respect for all living things. It goes without saying that the family unit is very important to survival and continuity in such a challenging environment. Indeed, in the Athabaskan subsistence lifeway sharing is imperative. In some communities, even today a brother still takes responsibility for training and socializing his sister's children so that the children grow up knowing their clan history and customs.