Thursday, May 30, 2013

Matanuska-Susitna Valley



 We took a little Memorial Day excursion to the Palmer area in the Matanuska Valley northeast of Anchorage. During the Depression in the 1930s the federal government established an agricultural colony here to utilize the great agricultural potential in the valley and to get some American farm families off the dole. Though the failure rate was high, many of the descendants of these farm families still live here.  We visited a reindeer farm and a muskox farm, both of which evolved from these "Colony" farms.
 Reindeer are gentle and friendly, especially if you have food for them.  Their awesome, velvety antlers are composed of living, blood-nourished tissue, and are shed annually. They serve as the reindeer's body-cooling system.  Reindeer are intelligent creatures and can be trained to perform many of the same tasks as horses.  Of course they are of GREAT help to SANTA at Christmastime.
 The musk-ox was important to the native Alaskans, but became nearly extinct here by 1865.  This female is part of the herd that has been reestablished as a native cooperative mainly to provide qiviut, the animals' very fine under-wool, which is shed naturally every spring.  After it is collected, cleaned and spun, native knitters make qiviut into exquisite, lacy scarves and hats using patterns unique to each native area.  They claim qiviut is 8 times warmer than sheep wool. A 2 oz skein costs about $70.

Memorial Day near Hatcher Pass: the glorious mountains of the Alaska Range are still well-covered with snow. 

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