Joseph Rosendo’s Travelscope

-Welcome to "Joseph Rosendo's Travelscope."

where you join us as we accept the world's invitation to visit.

-Come with me.

-Today on "Travelscope," I look back to my first journey through Alaska's inside passage to the land and the people of America's last frontier.

-"Joseph Rosendo's Travelscope" is made possible by... EVA Air flies from eight cities in North America to Taiwan and with one stop onward throughout Asia.

It offers a premium economy class and a cabin all its own in between business and economy classes.

EVA Air -- A Star Alliance member.

And No-Jet-Lag -- jet lag prevention.

-Alaska's inside passage is a cultural and natural attraction, and the best way to see it is from the sea.

We begin our journey here in Seattle.

Join us for our visit to America's last frontier.

-My oceangoing vessel carries its 700 passengers through Canadian waters to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, and cruises U.S. waters through Alaska's inside passage to Juneau, Skagway, and Sitka.

I'm up at the bridge, the nerve center of the Seven Seas Mariner, with Captain Alfredo Romeo.

Now, along the way, what are some of the high points of the trip for the passengers?

-As you know, where are you going to go in the Tracy Arm, which is an interesting place.

We go all the way up to the glacier and hopefully we will be able to stop there.

-Did you always want to be a sea captain?

-I -- yes.

As a matter of fact, yes.

I was born and grew up in Genoa, Italy, and when I was little, I used to go to the port and watch all these big liners and other ships and all, so I got hooked.

-Now, was that Columbus's hometown?

-Well, I'll tell you what.

I mean, I was baptized in the same church as Christopher Columbus, believe it or not.

It was destiny You had to become a captain.

-It was.

It was fate.

Yes.

-Well, you certainly have the best view on this ship.

It's fabulous up here.

-Thank you.

-Because of its native history and its fishing industry past, Prince Rupert has a symbiotic relationship with the sea.

And this is the perfect way to approach the town -- by sea.

We're here at the North Pacific Historic Fishing Village.

I'm with Karin Ljungh, and tell me about the history of the canneries along the Skeena River.

-Well, there were many of them.

This was known as Cannery Row.

In the old days, you'd see about 15 of them between here and most of the Skeena River.

Basically, they operated with a multicultural society, which it consisted of the natives, Europeans, Chinese, and the Japanese.

Ladies worked in the canneries.

-Mm-hmm.

-They were the ones that process the fish -- cut it up, washed it.

And, uh... -So this was like a little city here?

-It was a city.

Yeah.

-People living together and all the pluses and minuses of that.

And so there really was an intermingling and a coexisting here.

You had to in order to work.

It's wonderful being here because you really do get a feel or a sense of the people who lived here.

-Oh, you do.

You feel it.

-You really do.

I mean, I stayed here years ago and you really felt it.

-Did you stay in the bunkhouse?

-I did stay in the bunkhouse.

-Did you have the little pitter patter going up the stairs at night?

-I didn't hear that.

-[ Laughs ] -But, boy, I felt I could have.

-I mean... -Most people hear that.

-So they haven't all left.

-No, No.

-They haven't all left.

-They have not all left.

[ Laughter ] -Long before the canneries and the train, The Tsimshian First Nations people and the early European explorers plied Prince Rupert's waters in colorful long distance canoes.

-Stroke.

Stroke.

Together.

-The Voyager style canoes were obviously larger adaptations of cedar and birch bark canoes.

The largest known Voyager style canoe was 40 feet long.

This particular canoe is 42 feet long.

-How far would they go in a day?

-Oh, some days, 120 miles.

-Wow.

-So we're crossing the Prince Rupert Harbor.

It's the third deepest ice-free harbor in the world.

That's 400 feet of water below us.

At one time, there were several thousand Tsimshian people living along the shorelines here.

We are in traditional Tsimshian territory, but you never assume you can just go into somebody else's territory without asking permission.

[ Inaudible ] And after that, we will turn the canoe around and we will back the canoe in, as was traditional to show that we come in a non-threatening way.

We come in peace.

You always back your canoe into shore.

-That's great.

Let it ride.

-Welcome.

-Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Prince Rupert is the rainiest town in Canada -- getting over 200 inches of rain a year.

And so it would make sense at the end of our Voyageur canoe trip to come to a rain forest, which is also a lunch spot in August for the bald eagles in the black bears.

From here we head back to our camp and also learn a bit about the culture of the people that have lived in this area for over 10,000 years.

-Tell me a little bit about your culture.

The culture has been here in this area for a long time.

-During the residential school area... -Mm-hmm.

-...we just about lost all our culture.

So 50 years ago, the government of today didn't want us to practice our culture.

We went underground to do our potlatch.

And consequently, I just about lost all my culture.

It's starting to come back slowly.

We're quite proud of our culture.

-Do you find that when visitors come here to Prince Rupert, they're interested in your culture?

I mean, do people respond positively?

-Oh, yeah.

I'm quite pleased to say that just about 100% respond.

I taught them that one word.

-What is that word?

-[ Speaking native language ] -Yeah, that means let's go.

-I'll keep that word.

Can you teach me another word?

Friendship?

-[ Speaking native language ] -[ Speaking native language ] Thank you.

How do you say in -- -Thank you.

[ Both laugh ] -I know that one.

-Yeah, okay.

That's good.

-Time and tide wait for no man.

Neither does a cruise ship.

From our Tsimshian First Nations encounter, we hurry back just in time to leave Prince Rupert with our ship.

It seems to me that you're trying to establish a very good neighbor relationship with your environment and with your destination.

-Yeah, you're absolutely right on the money.

We're trying to create that balance where we want them to enjoy Alaska, but more importantly, we want them to be part of Alaska.

What we found is a lot of people like to be enriched intellectually, and we approach that with what I like to call the "edu-tainment" side of things.

-Okay.

-This particular cruise, we have a spotlight on public broadcasting.

So there's a lot of very interesting figures sailing with us.

-We have people like Gwen Ifill doing presentations and one-on-one conversations.

-Not only are guests having an opportunity to listen to her lecture, but interact.

-I think that's great.

-And it's that kind of experience that we love.

I'm going stand -- I'm was gonna sit on the stand because there are so many of you and I know what you're going to do.

You're going to see whales and you're going to turn around -- [ Laughter ] And you know what?

Because I'm facing this way, it see them, I'll let you know.

-No matter what you're doing on board, Alaska's awe-inspiring natural wonders are constantly snatching your attention.

-Welcome to Alaska's inside passage.

We just entered it, and now we're heading towards Tracy Arm, where we'll see glaciers and those 3,000 foot cliffs going right down into the water.

Just as we entered, we were greeted by a beautiful humpback whale who was spouting and then took a deep dive and showed us their tail.

In the distance, we can see the mountain range separating Alaska from British Columbia.

Bald eagles flying over the islands.

Such a spectacular sight.

This truly is America's last frontier.

And we couldn't have asked for a better day to experience it.

Well, I've got my Russian hat on in honor of Seward's Folly -- the purchase of this great land, Alaska, from the Russians.

As we came to the 30-mile-long fjord, Tracy arm, we were greeted by glaciers and icebergs and bald eagles, snow capped mountains, waterfalls.

It's as if everything has congregated here to take your breath away.

And believe me, it works.

As we leave Tracy Arm, stopped by the ice in the water, this reminds me of another beautiful spot -- Yosemite National Park, with its wooded hillsides, its waterfalls, steep cliffs.

When John Muir came here in 1879 he said that it reminded him of his beloved Yosemite.

Yosemite is one of my favorite places in the world.

I think I've discovered my second favorite place in the world.

-The wonders don't end at Tracy Arm's doorstep.

Back out in the passage, it's the whales' time to put on a show.

Humpbacks, Grays, Orcas all take the stage accompanied by our cheers.

[ Whale snorts, people cheer ] -There it is!

Whoo!

-That was really... -Here comes the tail!

[ Cheers of excitement ] -No roads lead to Juneau.

But they come by air and by sea for Alaska's capital and the city's natural attractions.

From trekking the 12 mile Mendenhall Glacier to kayaking Juneau's rivers and skiing its mountains -- and every season, Juneau's 30,000 inhabitants are ready for adventure.

-Morning, guys.

-Morning.

-Good morning.

-Interesting combination of gear.

I'm all dressed up, and you guys are in shorts and ski gear.

Are you going to go skiing?

-It's not spring.

-[ Chuckles ] It's not spring.

-It's not spring.

Yeah, you're -- -Don't be fooled.

-You're denying that.

-That's right.

Yeah.

-[ Chuckles ] -And, so, where do you go skiing around here?

-Anywhere there's snow.

-So you're going to hike, tell me again, three miles to get to a place where then you can start to hike straight up?

-Then we start skinning up.

-Skinning up on your -- -Skins on the skis.

-On the skis.

Make us able to go uphill... -Right.

And then 20 minutes down, -... on skis.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-[ Laughs ] -Is everybody like you guys, I mean, no matter what the season you're out in the nature trying to do something -- -No, but there's more and more of us every year.

-Okay, guys, thanks a lot.

-Yeah.

[ Woman speaking over PA ] -Mount Roberts Tramway offers spectacular views of Juneau.

And an introduction to the indigenous Tlingit people.

-The Tlingits have been here for a long time.

How long would you say, George?

-Documented, over 7,000 years.

-And this is a symbol of that or symbolic of that?

-Exactly.

And this was a way of marking trade routes.

-So much of North America and First Nations Aboriginal people, it's become of real interest for non-Aboriginal people.

Is that true here in Juneau, in Alaska as well?

-Well, sure.

The tramway was an opportunity to share the culture with people.

-[ Speaking Tlingit ] -It's great that it's an additional pleasure to what is actually the natural attraction up here already.

-Absolutely.

-So people come for the nature, but they get this cultural education, as well.

-In 1896, gold was discovered in the Klondike in the Yukon Territory.

By 1898, the rush was on and tens of thousands of prospectors were arriving in Skagway, the gateway to the Gold Fields.

Their journey was a lot more difficult and less comfortable than ours has been.

These days, 10 times as many visitors come to Skagway as prospectors did during the entire gold rush era.

Today, we're going to try and capture a little bit of that Klondike and Skagway history.

When the final spike was driven in 1900 for the White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad, it made getting to the gold fields a dream.

Come along.

All aboard.

-You will be able to stand outside on the platform, either on the front or back side of... -The White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad is an international historic civil engineering landmark.

What are some of the other?

The Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty, the Panama Canal.

Oh yeah, it's in great company -- Began in July of 1898 in the heat of the Klondike Gold rush.

By the time that the last gold spike was laid in Carcross, Yukon Territory, on July 28th, 1900, the rush was over, but the train continued.

It's more than 100 years old, and, daily, it takes visitors on varying trips between Skagway to Fraser, B.C.

It's a must-do attraction on your visit to Skagway.

When you reach Summit on the line, you're at the border between British Columbia and the U.S.

In Fraser, you're in British Columbia, and you can get off there and either take a bus back into Skagway or get back on the train and head home.

[ Train whistle blowing ] My train was met by Skagway legend "Buckwheat" Donahue, who drove me back to the streets of Skagway for a personal view of its history and people.

-There are over 8,800 pieces of driftwood on the facade of this building.

To me, it's a classic example of somebody who had way too much time on their hands in the winter, right?

-Yeah.

-This building went up in 1899.

-1899 was pretty busy here?

-Oh, yeah, we had a population of anywhere between 10,000 and 15,000 people in those days.

It was a transient population.

Most folks would just stay here for five or six days.

-Okay, Now, one of the things you offer to people here at the Convention Visitors Bureau is the walking tour.

So, I -- -That's right.

-I'm going to have you be my guide today.

And let's hit some of the highlights here in the historic center.

All right?

-All right.

-Who were the people that were -- who caught gold fever?

-Oh, they were people like you and me and, like, just anybody.

You have to remember that in 1893, the worst depression in the history of the world was still in effect.

It's called the Panic of '93.

And so there were, across America and Canada and the entire Western world, there were millions of people that were out of work.

And then the word came from the Klondike, "Gold," "Gold," copious amounts of gold, right?

But it got them going again.

It got the country on its feet again.

-Most of those who came never found gold.

-That's right, Joseph.

Most didn't.

By time the folks got -- heard about it in '97, the good claims are already extinct.

All right?

And so, you know, probably 99% of all the folks that came up after that didn't even find a trace of it, right?

They got up here broke and then they had to work just to get back home.

-Look, we thank you for bringing us up to this nice overlook over the town of Skagway, where you really can get to see how small it really is.

But this is a busy little town.

-Oh, yeah.

-How many people do you have visiting here a year?

-Over 900,000, paid.

-How many people live here?

-852.

-[ Laughs ] -But that's year round.

We have almost 2,400 in the summer.

Oh!

Almost 2,400.

-Yeah.

Oh, it's huge.

-Yeah.

Well, but you have cruise ships that are come in here, and they've been coming here for a long time, the cruise ships.

-Since 1899.

-But there are people who do live here.

-Oh, yeah.

-And you've been living here for 25 years?

-That's right.

-Got here by accident.

-Well, that's true.

I was supposed to get off in Juneau.

I was traveling on the Alaska State ferry.

-Right.

-Well, I partied a little bit too much the night before I was supposed to disembark.

In fact, I was dead drunk.

-[ Laughs ] -And I slept through -- I slept through Juneau.

I slept through a town called Haines, I woke up in between Haines and Skagway.

And, well, I fell in love with Skagway -Came back -- -And the reset is history.

-You stayed here for 25 years.

What is it about Skagway?

What is it about Alaska?

-Well, the land.

That was what lured me in the first place.

Then I get up here and I met people that were just too strong and just as impressive as the land.

Everywhere I went, people had confidence, self-confidence that they could do anything.

And I liked being around people like that.

And 25 years ago, that's the kind of people that I ran into.

And it's still prevalent today.

-From gold miners to oil men, Alaska has always attracted those with a lust for life and riches.

In 1804, in search of furs, the Russians came to present-day Sitka.

Seward's Folly, Alaska's purchase from Russia for less than $0.02 an acre is commemorated in Sitka, yet at Sitka National Historical Park, you can experience the land's original people.

-When we speak about the cultural history in Sitka, the Russians were here for about 80 years, and the Tlingits were here for how long?

-Uh, on the island about 10,000 years.

-That's quite a difference.

And this is, of course, example of some of the art and culture connections.

How art plays into telling stories, is that what totem poles really are?

-There are basically four types of poles.

This one is a story pole.

The majority of the poles are family poles.

They talk about the clan's family history, mortuary poles that are either used for burials or in respect to someone that has passed away.

And lastly, the ridicule pole.

-And what was that, a raven that was singing to us a little bit?

-Oh, yes.

Oh, yes.

They have a tremendous vocabulary.

-And that looks like a -- -That's an eagle.

-That's an eagle up there over our heads.

-Well, this is the vicinity, the location for the Battle of 1804, where the Russians, they came back to reclaim this particular area.

And during that time, the Tlingits kept many of their traditions, but it -- there was a period of acculturation and there was a change.

As today, with the Southeast Alaska Indian Cultural Center, they've they've come full circle again.

The traditions that were initially suppressed, they're back now and alive and well.

-Doing the finishing detail on this bald eagle, raven potlatch bowl, a dish to serve food in -Was that the main reason for much of the design work was to decorate items that were actually being used?

-Yes, they were all utilitarian.

Most utilitarian items were carved with one's clan crest.

But there are rules to the art form, things that make the images flow, make them what they are.

-Mm-hmm.

-How long have you been carving?

-35 years ago, I did my very first carving.

-Really?

What were you, 2?

-I've been here -- -I was 8.

Yeah, third grade.

-[ Laughs ] Wow.

And it was just something that had been handed down to you or?

-No, no, I didn't really know my dad or my grandfather.

And so it just hadn't been there, but something that I've always been drawn to.

-Why would you choose a particular design?

-Personally, why would you?

-It depends on who it's for, or what it's for.

Like totem poles.

I'm commissioned to make carved totem poles for people, and it's usually telling their story.

It's never about me, it's about the people I'm doing them for.

-What is it give you?

How does it feed you as a person, individually?

To be able to do this, an idea in my head and create it, and then, you know, I can be so in tune and doing what I'm doing but thinking about everything else in my world that's going on.

And there's a lot going on these days.

-Yeah, we're all running around being unconnected.

And this is -- it's wonderful, all the things that, you know, you and the culture have gone through, that you find a way to reconnect.

It's really fabulous and very moving.

And as far as, like you say, having something that becomes a representation of an idea that was in your head.

-Yeah.

-That's really great.

Thank you for joining me on my Alaska adventure.

Alaska is America's last frontier, and as such, it belongs to us all.

We come by land, by air and by sea to be uplifted by its natural beauty, inspired by its people, and moved by their stories.

For every Alaskan has a story about what brought them and what keeps them here.

And I found, as "Buckwheat" Donahue said, that "They came for the land, but they stayed for the people."

Until next time, this is Joseph Rosendo, reminding you of the words of Mark Twain, "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow mindedness."

Happy traveling!

-"Joseph Rosendo's Travelscope" is made possible by... EVA Air connects eight North American cities to Taiwan, where with one stop, travelers can fly on to destinations throughout Asia.

EVA Air -- with business, premium economy, and economy cabins.

EVA Air -- a Star Alliance member.

And No-Jet-Lag -- jet lag prevention.

-From travel tips and destination explorations, to exotic adventures and intimate tales, "Musings: The Short Happy Pursuit of Pleasure and Other Journeys" is a collection of entertaining, humorous, and inspirational stories drawn from my travel and life experiences.

For a copy of "Musings," call 888-876-3399, or order online at Travelscope.net.

Now that we've cruised Alaska's inside passage together, learn more at Travelscope.net, where you can follow my worldwide adventures through my e-magazine, blog, podcast, and on social media.

Stay in touch!

888-876-3399 or [email protected].

[ "Travelscope" theme plays ] -Okay.

-How do you say thank you in -- -Thank you.

[ Both Laugh ] -I know that way.

-Yeah, okay.

That's good.

-I know what you're going to do.

You're going to see whales and you're gonna turn around.

[ Laughter ] And you know what?

Because I'm facing this way, if I see them, I'll let you know because I want to see them, too.

-Well, I fell in love with Skagway.

-And came back.

-The rest is history.