Carnahan thought for a moment he'd be picking up the check for the whole crew at the village's restaurant. Instead, Hugo led the crew of 10 or 12 down the hill to his house, where his wife, Doris, served pancakes. The communal breakfast at different homes in the village became a part of the work routine. In the ensuing years, the reputation of this small museum has gone quietly beyond Anaktuvuk Pass and the North Slope. For the past three seasons, the Fairbanks-based Northern Alaska Tour Co. has brought several dozen visitors weekly to Anaktuvuk Pass during the summer, said Matt Atkinson, the company's marketing coordinator, and many of them make a stop at the log building on the hill.
People definitely enjoy the museum, but even more, they enjoy their interaction with the curators.
The company does not include mention of the museum in its promotional materials because its hours do not always coincide with the chartered tours, Atkinson said, but those guests who do have the opportunity to visit the museum see another dimension of Anaktuvuk Pass. The museum provides a window on the Nunamiut's traditional life, a life that visitors may have difficulty imagining in the midst of a modern Eskimo village. The museum also provides an outlet for the men and women in the village who make the distinctive Anaktuvuk caribou hide masks. More than 30 years ago, two men out hunting, Bob Ahgook and Zaccharias Hugo, made a couple of grotesque caribou skin masks to surprise the community during holiday festivities. Their prank was a catalyst for a cottage industry that keeps gaining momentum.