PALMER FRIDAY & THE MUSK OX FARM
This morning, we begin our excursion toward Denali National Park. Our first stop is in Palmer. We’ve lucked out – pulling into Palmer just in time for their Friday Fling, a downtown farmer’s market with a band and food stands. Jhan enjoys stopping at the Tundra Comics booth. This national cartoon is one of Jhan’s favorites, and the cartoonists are based in Palmer. We buy a T-shirt and a book as gifts for relatives we’ll be visiting in Washington State, who we believe will appreciate the humor.
Just north of Palmer, we visit the Musk Ox Farm. In 1954, John Teal became concerned that wild musk oxen were nearing extinction. He also saw impoverishment in native villages of coastal Alaska. After a decade of research funded by W.K. Kellogg Foundation, John alleviated both issues by beginning Alaska’s first domestic musk ox farm. The musk ox hair, called qiviut, was combed and spun into yarn, and in 1968, the Musk Ox Project begun by John started teaching native Alaskan women how to knit qiviut garments.
