Day 5: Morris Thompson Cultural Center

Today we went to the Morris Thompson Cultural Center, a building built in 2008 that merges a visitor's center, cultural center, and national park center. When we first arrived in the kitchen we met Dixie, the cultural director who had my hands immediately in salmon guts mixed with cream cheese. I was a little shocked! She had prepared a huge pot of moose soup, fry bread and cranberry rhubarb spread, salad, and salmon spread (what I was making). After the meal had been served to the finance conference, we just hung around in the kitchen getting to know Dixie and asking her as many questions as we could about the culture. It was amazing to learn about how these people have survived and what changes have occurred over the years. She brought us on a tour of the exhibits in the museum and showed us some of the art that would be placed in the new Chief Andrew Isaac Medical Center in a few months. She has beadwork that was commissioned for the Smithsonian in Washington DC and her artwork is fantastic and inspiring! Afterwards Cristian ate some "muktuk," which is whale blubber, and they also had samples of seal meat bathed in seal oil (which is VERY pungent). It was a culturally packed day, that's for sure!!!!!

 Making fish spread..............

 Moose soup

 Fry bread

 "Muktuk"

Seal meat/oil