Alaska trip

More about MuskOx

Musk oxen--dead and alive-- are everywhere in Alaska...

Musk Ox at the Anchorage Museum of History and Art.

The Large Animal Research Station (LARS) in Fairbanks stands at the exact site where the Musk Ox Farm was born in 1964. Originally owned by the Yankovich family, the farm was left by Mike Yankovitch to the university for the study of musk ox. The farm remained in Fairbanks for ten years before moving to Unalakleet.

John Teal, an anthropologist and founder of the Musk Ox Development Corporation, had a dream to have indigenous peoples raising indigenous animals to create cash flow which would assist them in moving more fully into the cash economy. With the musk ox herd near a large village in Unalakleet, Alaska Natives could manage the herd that provided their qiviut for knitting. But the logistics of having a farm in such a remote area proved to be a nightmare. First, the farm was situated in a prime berry-picking location, making half of the population of Unalakleet unhappy with the newcomers from the start. Then, getting enough feed to the location in the winter turned out to be almost imposssible -- and outrageously expensive.

After Teal's death, the herd was moved again, this time to Palmer where it still operates today.

LARS, with musk ox, caribou, and reindeer, ended up on the original site in College in 1980 when 16 musk oxen were transplanted from Nunivak Island. (College is part of Fairbanks. It was originally separate, but when the two were given the same zip code by the Post Office, College became a part of Fairbanks.)

Whereas the Palmer farm is a commercial endeavor and an experiment in the domestication of musk oxen, the farm at LARS is primarily a research faciilty studying the biology of large arctic mammals with a focus on nutritional, physiological and behavioral research. These studies are designed to give insights into the management of wild populations to ensure their continued survival.

LARS is also a community outreach center, providing an opportunity for grade-school and high-school students to study at the site, and providing tours to the general public to help supplement the operating budget.

The two farms complement each other in practice, and conflict in philosophy.

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Both farms provide qiviut to the Oomingmak Knitter's Co-op. LARS also sells raw qiviut for handspinners, and commercially spun lace-weight yarn:

<ul>

<li>One pound raw qiviut, $150</li>

<li>Half pound raw qiviut, $60</li>

<li>One ounce raw qiviut, $20</li>

<li>One ounce yarn (approx 320 yards), $50</li>

</ul>

They don't have an order form on their web site yet, for more info call 907-474-7945 or email fylars@uaf.edu.