Alaska Native Crafts from Quinhagak

March 20, 2009

in Alaska West

The real stuff.
Photo: Cameron Miller

Alaska West is located just up the Kanektok River from the Yupik Eskimo village of Quinhagak.  We’re really lucky to have good friends in the village.  It’s a unique community, and we’re all there for fundamentally the same reason – incredible, consistent returns of salmon to the Kanektok each year.

During each of our angling weeks at Alaska West, we host Jackie Cleveland, a friend from the village, on a visit to our camp to talk with our guests about life in Quinhagak, the history of the village, and the subsistence-based lifestyle that is still in place there.  Jackie also brings with her a variety of handcrafts for sale that are produced by local Yupik artists and craftspeople.

This stuff is beautiful, high-quality and authentic.  Fur, ivory, beads and more are used to produce everything from hats to earrings to purses to yo-yos.  Many of our guests jump at the chance to purchase a real piece of Alaska from the community that produced it, and support the local people to boot.

Photo: Cameron Miller

{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }

beau purvis May 5, 2010 at 7:59 am

I like this..I think it is important that you do this.would like to get some photos of village ,as well.

Karen Whiteduck March 20, 2011 at 12:20 pm

great site ! I’ll be listing it on my blog about native crafts..

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