Northeast Anchorage , Alaska — Northwest (North America)
Athabascan Family Lodges and Cabins
Photographed by Don Morfe, September 11, 2009
1. Athabascan Family Lodges and Cabins Marker
Photo Captions:
Photo in the lower right: Anvik: log cabin, caches, semi-subterranean winter house, c. 1923.
Women and children slept in small compartments beneath platforms running along interior walls, warmed by hot rocks borrowed from the central hearth.
Photo in the lower right: Anvik: log cabin, caches, semi-subterranean winter house, c. 1923.
Women and children slept in small compartments beneath platforms running along interior walls, warmed by hot rocks borrowed from the central hearth.
Our people had log houses without nails and we all lived the same. We lived subsistence way of life, and love it that way. We have our fish houses, drying racks and all that.
Alberta Stephan, Eklutna.
Athabascan pole and log dwellings were similar to historic log cabins that they later adopted. In colder areas, lodges were sunk two to five feet into the ground. On the milder shores of Cook Inlet, Athabascans built log houses above ground. They slept in the back areas, and used the front part for cooking and drying.
In earlier versions of the log cabin, pairs of vertical posts were placed at the four corners and used to frame the single doorway. Logs stacked between were lashed to the corner posts. Poles covered with moss, sod, caribou skin, or birch or spruce bark formed the roof. A stormshed passageway to the door kept out the cold. Windows of tanned mountain sheep intestines let in the light. (Inscription below the photo in the upper right) Kenai log homes, 1903-1906-Outbuildings might include a steam bath hut and food cache, as well as racks of drying and working skins.
Topics. This historical marker
this page online
Location. 61° 14.005′ N, 149° 42.863′ W. Marker is in Anchorage, Alaska. It is in Northeast Anchorage. It can be reached from Heritage Center Drive. The marker is on the grounds of the Alaska Native Heritage Center. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 8800 Heritage Center Dr, Anchorage AK 99504, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in the Alaska Railroad Corridor, in the Athabascan Region, in the Prince William Sound, and in Southcentral Alaska. It is also on the American Pacific Coast. Globally, it is in North America, on the Ring of Fire, in the Pacific Rim, in the Western Hemisphere, in the Western World, and in the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Russian Empire.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 3 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Mobile Architecture (within shouting distance of this marker); Ancient Traditions of the Athabascan People (within
Photographed by Don Morfe, September 11, 2009
2. Athabascan Family Lodge and Cabin
Photographed by Don Morfe, September 11, 2009
3. Cabin and Lodge Display at the Center
Photographed by Don Morfe, September 11, 2009
4. Pond on the Grounds of the Center
Photographed by Don Morfe, September 11, 2009
5. Display at the Center
Photographed by Don Morfe, September 11, 2009
6. Display at the Center
Photographed by Don Morfe, September 11, 2009
7. Sign at the Entrance to the Center
Credits. This page was last revised on February 4, 2026. It was originally submitted on December 10, 2013, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. This page has been viewed 4,307 times since then and 226 times this year. Last updated on April 5, 2014, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. submitted on December 10, 2013, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. • Syd Whittle was the editor who published this page.
