We have been lucky enough to borrow a car for our last week in Sitka. I've spent the last few days checking out the "touristy" shops/museums/history. On Tuesday I went to the Sitka National Historical Park aka Totem Park. It was created to commemorate the 1804 Battle of Sitka during which the Tlingits fought valiantly against the Russian Fur Traders. There is a museum and a nice little 1 mile loop trail in the woods with a variety of totem poles scattered throughout the path.
Today I went to the Sheldon Jackson Museum. The museum has some wonderful Native Alaskan artifacts. Unfortunately, Sheldon Jackson was a missionary who made it his priority to "discourage" Native culture, language, and spirituality in order to "Americanize the Natives". The museum is on the grounds of the once operational Sheldon Jackson College which has since been bankrupt.
It's hard to believe that we only have a few more days in Sitka! We depart for Anchorage early Saturday morning. We've met some wonderful people and have been thoroughly impressed by the community as a whole.
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