Seward - Mural Capital of Alaska

When Sarah Palin was governor of Alaska she designated Seward as the "Mural Capital of Alaska".  These are created by the Seward Mural society and are designed by Alaska artists.  The designs are projected onto the walls and the outlined shapes are assigned a number corresponding to a paint color.  Then the Society members and volunteers fill in the colors much like the popular "paint by numbers" paintings.

Mural near the harbor

The Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward is Alaska's only public aquarium and ocean wildlife rescue center.

Wildflower mural

This mural depicts the common wildflowers of Alaska.  Here you can see the Dwarf Dogwood in the bottom left hand corner, the Lupine, the Columbine, Iris and the Forget-Me-Nots, which are the official State flower.

The Iditarod Trail

Siberian Huskies

The Iditarod National Historic Trail is one of 22 national trails managed by BLM (Bureau of Land Management).  This trail is 938 miles from Seward to Nome.  It was used as a major transportion route from 1910 until the late 1920's when airplane use became common.

Iditarod means "distant place". The first race on the trail was held in1973, and now dog sledding is Alaska's official sport.  Many communities have sledding trails on the outskirts of town.  During the summer months the dogs pull sleds with wheels to keep them in shape.  By November there is enough snow to start the races and people compete to qualify to participate in the famous Iditarod. Mitch Seavey, of Seward won the race in 2004 and won $69,000.  He and his dogs did it in 9 days, 12 hours, 20 minutes and 22 seconds.

The next two murals depict legends of the First People.  Next to the murals there were explanations of the paintings and I have copied the words here.  I hope you will enjoy these stories as much as I did.

Raven the Creator

"In the beginning the world was all water.  As Raven flew above he sees Salmon Woman swimming below in the water.  Ever curious Raven swoops down to talk to her.  He becomes enarmored and asks her to marry him.  Salmon Woman agrees, but only if he creates land.  With the help of other sea creatures, Raven obtains sand from the sea bottom, which he drops from above to create the land and islands.  Salmon Woman can now come ashore and dry her hair in the wind."

Raven Releases the Sun, Moon and Stars

"There are many versions of this story in Alaska.  In this one, the world was dark because a Chief has the sun, moon and stars kept hidden away in a box.  Raven discovers this and in disguise as the Chief's grandson, he tricks him into opening the box, thus releasing the sun to give light to the world and the moon and stars to light the night sky."