Howard Luke Cabin

Howard Luke Cabin. . , Howard Luke is a well-respected native elder and longtime friend of the Binkley family. He was born in 1923 near Nenana, Alaska and moved to the Fairbanks area in 1936. Howard grew up learning the traditional values and skills of his culture and witnessed the transition into the modern age. He was an accomplished dog musher and boat racer in his earlier years., For about 30 years, the Riverboat Discovery tour stopped at the original Chena Village a few miles downstream on the Tanana River where Howard Luke made his home. He still lives there today and currently operates a camp for native youth where they can step away from modern pressures, learn native skills, and connect with traditions of the native ways of life., The cabin you see before you is a replica of a cabin Howard Luke built for his mother, Susie, in the 1960s. It is an example of newer generation of log cabin construction that would have been common at that time. It still features traditional log construction and is insulated with moss, but it is larger than the cabins of the early 1900s and instead of a sod roof, it features a metal roof laid over several inches of moss insulation. The advantage of a metal roof is that it never needs to be replaced, unlike a sod roof which must be redone approximately every 10 years. Other more modern features of this cabin include a propane stove and lights, as well as a large worktable in the center. The original cabin that Howard built even eventually had a refrigerator., The friendship Howard Luke has shared with the Binkley family over the decades is treasured, and this cabin was built in Howard Luke's honor in order to recognize the contributions he has made to our community., [Bottom photo caption reads] "Carving floaters, Backus and Luke"