Last summer, we wanted to see Alaska, and decided to go on a cruise for the first time to see the area. On that trip, our first port stop was in Ketchikan.

We separately wrote up about John and Jennifer going fishing during this stop, but we actually split up since our kids wanted to do very different things. Here we write up about James’ and my visit to the Saxman Native Village, as well as seeing the well-rated lumberjack show.

Map and Planning

Ketchikan is roughly a day and a half’s trip north from our initial port in Vancouver. Here’s a map of the area for reference.

While John was excited about fishing, his brother James was much more interested in Native culture. After looking at some of the common excursions people do in Ketchikan, James liked the idea of seeing authentic totem poles, visiting a workshop where they’re built, and watching Native dance.

After looking at the options, we decided on an excursion to Saxman Native Village. An alternative was Totem Bight State Park, but it seemed further away, and practically seemed to make more sense to see the former. Logistically, it made most sense to book an excursion package, where they take you in a shared van to the village and give you a guided tour.

Additionally, the excursion was timed to be after the day’s first (8am) showing of The Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show. The lumberjack show was fun and well-rated, and next to the dock. We booked a combo ticket which was cheaper, though it is possible to book separately. Additionally, we realized that we could fill free time in the end by going to the various shops and touring the historic part of the town, e.g. Creek Street.

Arrival

The ship docked in Ketchikan as scheduled, and we got a quick breakfast on the ship’s cafeteria before heading out. The ship docking area is quite close to the main part of the town. We did look around the immediate town area for a few minutes before Jennifer and John met their fishing charter guide.

Lumberjack Show

Meanwhile, James and I went to the first showing of the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show, which was near the dock. The cruise ship let us out by 7am, so the 8am showing worked well.

The show was really fun! We’d recommend going if you’re in town. It consisted of a number of logging competition activities – competitive sawing and chopping, running on a moving log in water, and so forth. The different sections of the crowd were involved in cheering on the two teams.

The show itself lasted about an hour. There seemed to be many daily showing in the summer, and are fairly correlated with the cruise ship schedules.

Saxman Native Village

After the show, we got in an excursion van to go to the Saxman Native Village. In the first part, we went into a building painted with Native art, where the had locals from the tribe performing a typical Native dance. James and I thought it was fairly interesting, though e.g. it wouldn’t have been our youngest’s cup of tea.

After that performance, they walked us out to the neighboring totem park area, and told us about totem poles, as well as some of the area’s history.

One thing that I found interesting was that totem poles are not particularly specially glazed or preserved, but rather are expected to have a lifetime of about 75 years before they rot and effectively return to the earth. Hence, they need to be periodically replaced, and there’s a need for skilled artisans to make them. I suppose that this makes sense, I just didn’t think about it.

After explaining the meanings behind some of the poles and telling stories, they took us into a workshop where totem poles were made. They told us that a master totem pole maker might charge $5,000 per foot to build a totem pole, and take quite some time as well. We saw a few poles in progress, being carved and painted on the ground.

Ketchikan Shops and Waterfront

That was mostly the end of the excursion. After that, we wandered around downtown Ketchikan. This included the historic Creek Street, which was the older waterfront area (and at one time red light district).

The main area of town is fairly compact – after all the entire population is only about 8,000 people. By late morning, the fog had burned off, and it was quite sunny.

There is also no shortage of souvenir shops by the water, we went into a few. I believe we also picked up some food, though we may have done well to just eat on the cruise ship, we were still figuring things out with that.

By that time, Jennifer and John had come back from their parallel fishing trip, and we were winding down our time there. Generally, Ketchikan was a nice place, and we did enjoy our time there.

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