Day 3 -- Safari
Today I am going on a husky safari. I’ve always wanted to go on a husky safari. I get to sit in a sled and let the snow dogs pull me from place to place through the forest and back. I think I will get to know a lot about Aksala today. From the different scenery to the small indigenous people who live in igloos on the edge of the forest.
I met with my first tour guide of my trip today. His name is “Qilaq” (literal translation = Heaven). He was very excited to take me to all the places he thought were “necessary” to visit, if one is going to visit Aksala. I was beyond excited. We started of the day at 7am. Bright and early. In order for us to visit many places, we would have to travel hours in between one destination to the next (because Aksala is huge and very spread out). I didn’t know exactly what to expect, but I was expecting a bunch of snow, some trees and a whole lot of wilderness. I was right.
I met with my first tour guide of my trip today. His name is “Qilaq” (literal translation = Heaven). He was very excited to take me to all the places he thought were “necessary” to visit, if one is going to visit Aksala. I was beyond excited. We started of the day at 7am. Bright and early. In order for us to visit many places, we would have to travel hours in between one destination to the next (because Aksala is huge and very spread out). I didn’t know exactly what to expect, but I was expecting a bunch of snow, some trees and a whole lot of wilderness. I was right.
Our journey started at Eagle River. One of the most famous rivers in Anchorage. It was quite close to my hotel so walking there was no issue.
I met with my safari guide and he drove us to the very outskirts of town where we switched from car to sled. I was beyond excited at this point.
Our journey took us alone the border or Eyak territory. It was magnificent! I have never seen such beautiful landscape in my entire life.
Our first destination was an indigenous tribe called “Eyak”. These tribes are located at the middle-southern part of Aksala. The map above shows the 7 main indigenous tribes that are still living in Aksala. Tribes that are still surviving in the 21st Century is extremely rare to find. You could say I was very excited.
We arrived at the tribe’s camp grounds after about 3 hours of sledding. As soon as we arrived I could tell it was a very spiritual tribe. All around the camp were small wooden figurines. They were carved too look like humans and different types of animals. Ranging from bears to eagles to humans. Even babies. I later on found out that some of these wooden sculptures were used for healing, future telling, guarding people from evil spirits, fertility problems and to travel into the “spirit world”. Evak’s believe that spirits have a major part in human lives. Some go as far as to believe that some specific animals are gods/spirits from the spirit world.
The sculptures prove that even though there are only about 120 Evak’s left in Aksala, that they still stay connected to their roots and still believe in ancient myths. The stories they told me while I was visiting them affected me greatly. The traditional tribes have such a strong bond with nature and with the wildlife that they lived with. Something that I have never experienced before. They get their clothing from the animals that they have hunted. The food is always fresh (hunted animals). Animals such as; Mouse, birds, fish, sea animals and rodents.
Below is a drawing that I have drawn of a traditional Evak family. The man “Tikaani” (Literal translation = Warrior). The woman “Kanut” (Literal translation = White swan), and the boy “Ulva” (Literal translation = wolf). The names of every person are picked based on their characteristic traits at birth.
This was one of the many sculptures surrounding the houses at the Eyak camp.
The culture in Aksala is nothing like the culture in California or any other place in the world. It is unique and raw. Untouched for centuries, and centuries to come.
Although almost 80% of people living in Aksala follow the Christian religion, the tribes here believe in spirit world. Orthodoxy is a religion greatly practiced all over Aksala. It does not have as many participants as Christianity but 12.8% of the population follow it. Orthodoxy uses wooden carvings to sacrifice to the gods. Something I have never seen done before. Just like the Evak’s, most native tribes follow this religion. Orthodoxy can also be faintly seen and practiced in Christianity. This makes it the oldest religion in Aksala, and also the most cultural.
A brief History:
Aksala has never been in any major wars. This is because its located in one of the most rural areas on the planet. Aksala does not have a very large and strong army because they don’t need it. The people here believe in peace and freedom, not war and fighting. Aksala has a very peaceful history and the people here are very proud of that. Even with all of the different tribes living around Aksala, they never battle each other. The tribes respect their own territory and believe that they have enough to survive. Therefore, they do not need to go to battle with other tribes because they don’t want any more and do not want to practice violence.
The people here have a very peaceful vibe and are all very "anti-negative" and "anti-war". Nobudy ever seems to have a problem with another person, or if they do, they settle it between themselves.
This definitely had an effect on how Aksala is run at the moment. Aksala has never suffered the effects of a great war as it stayed neutral during WW1 and WW2. Contributing towards both sides by proving the countries at war with enough food and water for their soldiers.
The picture below was given to me by my tour guide as he was explaining the war to me. He was the soldier giving out food boxes to the harmed.