Alaskan Gifts for the Whole Family
I’m way past the point in my life of getting cheap souvenirs or tchotchkes or t-shirts. I prefer things of beauty, utility or consumables like local food. Here are the gifts I bought in Alaska for me and the family. I am also including links to these great Alaskan products if you want to purchase one directly from any of these local stores.
Fresh Alaskan Fish
I shipped fresh processed fish from my halibut fishing trip to both myself and my daughter. This is one of the best “souvenirs” ever. If you don’t catch your own, you can still buy fresh Alaskan fish from Homer Fish Processors and they will ship direct to you.
Qiviut Hats for the family
Qiviut is the inner wool coat of the Musk Ox, an Ice Age relic living mostly north of the arctic circle in North America and Greenland. And it is one of the most expensive natural fibers for fabrics In the world. It’s incredibly warm, soft and rare.
Musk Ox farm has great products as does the native women-owned coop Oomingmak.
Salmon Sisters
Came here to get some smoked fish and also picked up the only T-shirts and socks for the family at their store on the Homer Spit. Visit this quirky women-owned business for all kinds of Alaska gifts and gear. Salmon Sisters.
Handmade ulu knife
I always try to buy a kitchen tool or utensil wherever I travel to, and I purchased a handmade ulu with a caribou antler handle in Talkeetna. Every time I use a kitchen tool I purchased from a previous trip I always think about the place and the good times I had there.
I use the ulu to cut garlic and various herbs.
Native Alaskan art
To commemorate my Halibut fishing trip I purchased original native Alaskan art of two halibut made from hand carved walrus ivory. The base is a whale bone decorated with polar bear fur and baleen. Only native Alaskans can harvest and use these materials in traditional art works.
Contact the artist on instagram @utuqsiq
Alaskan Honey & Homemade Jams
I love honey as much as Winnie the Poo. Typically I always buy local honey wherever I go. This time both the honey and jams were gifted to me by Marcus, my old Navy friend, and Heidi from Boreal Lodge in Wiseman, respectively.
