The Spirit Houses of Eklutna, Alaska
The Spirit Houses in Eklutna
The brightly colored doll size cabins make up a tiny graveyard city. Red, white, yellow and blue, the houses feature the double cross of the Russian Orthodox faith and are filled with tokens of a life lived here. A dish, where meals are placed for the first 40 days after passing, a favorite teacup, a well worn sweater, or a favorite toy. The children's spirit houses are the size of shoe boxes, while an adult house can be as large as 6 x 4 feet.
Russian Orthodox missionaries came to Alaska in 1794, sent by Catherine the Great. The native people blended their new Russian Orthodox faith into their ancient tradition of spirit houses. The devout have the double cross on top of their spirit house. This is active cemetery today. They ask that you please be respectful as you tour the grounds.
You pay your entrance fee of $5.00 in the wooden box at the entrance. And bring bug spray (you will thank me later)!
Eklutna is the oldest known, continuously lived in Athapascan village, in the area. The Athapascans have been here for at least 350 years and maybe as long as 1000 years. It is hard to determine the time due to acidic soil, which eats away the remnants of the past. "Eklutna" translates to "by several objects river." Likely referring to the surrounding hills. The Tanaina (Athapascan) people in this area were discovered by explorers in 1652. Eklutna is thought to have been mainly a winter residence, though it has been a year round community for many years now. It is certainly older than the nearby city of Anchorage.
St. Nicholas Church at Eklutna: The native hand hewn log church is believed to have been built in the 1830's, though some say it may have been moved or built later, around 1870. The new church (white, on the left side of the entrance) was built in 1962 by chief Mike Alex. They still hold services at the new church several times each month.
The Alex family has long been the caretakers of the church. You can see the Alex family spirit houses in the cemetery painted in their family colors of red and white. "Eklutna Alex," born in 1866, was Eklutna's last Shaman. He was a devout man and cared for the church in the absence of clergy, and the cemetery as well. When his first child, Mike, was born in 1907, he and his wife walked 200 miles to a church in Kenai to baptize him. This was no small feat, especially considering that they made the journey in February.
After his father's death, Mike took over in caring for the church at Eklutna. He eventually helped raise funds to have Saint Innocent's built in Anchorage, a large modern facility with 12 distinctive onion domes. He passed away in 1977. His one regret was his lack of a formal education. He had said, "I am sorry that I did not want to go to school to learn Russian, because I could have been a member of the clergy by now."
This is no fancy tourist destination, but is a crumbling, colorful, informal, historic stop along the not so beaten path. It is located at Mile 26 on the Glenn Highway. Stop in for a visit and remember to bring your bug spray!
