MUSEUM, UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA, FAIRBANKS

You won’t want to miss the museum at UAF. It’s in a beautiful new building, overlooking a valley. On a really clear day, you should be able to see Mt McKinley from the museum windows. There are various prices. $9 admits one senior; $5 for all film viewing; $4 for the headphone audio guide. We paid $16 each for an all inclusive pass.

The museum has something for everyone, and includes current paintings to fossils! You have all been to museums, so I won’t labor on it. One thing that really stuck out to us was the section that documented what happened to the Aleuts during WWII. The American Japanese were put into internment camps as we all know from history books. That’s a sad comment on our government. The same thing happened to the Alaskans who were living on the island chain. The Japanese invaded one of Alaska’s islands, Attu, and the US was afraid that the Japanese would springboard from there into Canada and the US. So the authorities went into the neighboring villages and rounded everyone up, and sent them into camps located away from their homes. The camps were not equipped to handle so many people, and 10% of those relocated died from diseases gotten mainly from the Army personnel. They had about 300 people using toilets that emptied over the ocean. Then of course the children played on the beaches where the waste had washed across the shores. The US Army used the vacated towns as their headquarters, and GI’s looted and vandalized homes and places of worship. No reparations were made to these poor people, those who survived lost everything. This documentary made a big impact on us. Another dark secret our government was able to quash from notoriety. Maybe my pal UNO is reading this and knew about it? Do you have anything to add?

The audio guide was a nice experience. Instead of repeating what is already on the signs of the exhibits, it adds commentary and in some cases sound effects. Worth the extra cash in my opinion.

Although the RV parking area is posted NO OVERNIGHT PARKING, we nevertheless asked a clerk in the museum shop if it would be okay for us to stay there that night. She said it would be fine, so when we finished in the Museum about 8:30PM we just stayed there and left the next day for Denali. Just so you know, the non-RV parking area has recently installed meters. $2 for 4 hours. Go anyway!