Shopping

Some of the most interesting shops are mentioned earlier, in the walking tour of downtown, where most galleries and gift shops are located.

Native Arts & Crafts

Many downtown shops in Anchorage carry Alaska Native arts and crafts. Before making major purchases, know what you're buying.

Don't miss the 4th Avenue Market Place if you have any interest in Native Art. The mall at 4th between C and D streets contains several shops, including a Native-owned nonprofits, and stages demonstrations and performances during the summer. Right next door, in a bright yellow building, The Rusty Harpoon, at 411 W. 4th Ave., has authentic Native items, Alaskan jewelry, less expensive crafts, and reliable, longtime proprietors who buy direct from Native artists they know. Locals shop here.

The Alaska Native Arts Foundation Gallery, at 6th Ave. and E St. (www.alaskanativearts.org), is a nonprofit promoting the best work of indigenous artists, in both traditional and contemporary forms. The gallery hosts shows dedicated to individual artists in a light, open space; another area shows a mix of pieces. The website is well worth a visit and has an online shopping function.

Nowhere else will you find another business like the Oomingmak Musk Ox Producers' Co-operative (tel. 888/360-9665 outside Alaska or 907/272-9225; www.qiviut.com), located in the house with the musk ox on the side at 6th Avenue and H Street. Owned by 250 Alaska Native women living in villages across the state, the co-op sells only scarves and other items they knit of qiviut (ki-vee-ute), the light, warm, silky underhair of the musk ox, which is collected from shedding animals. Each village has its own knitting pattern. They're expensive -- adult caps are $130 to $180 -- but the quality is extraordinary. The website contains the women's fascinating correspondence and links to a few of the rural knitters' own pages. When I bought a piece for my wife recently, one of the knitters sent me a thank-you card.

As an aside, if you are driving north from Anchorage, you may also want to stop at the Musk Ox Farm (tel. 907/745-4151; www.muskoxfarm.org), just north of Palmer on the Glenn Highway, where you can see the strange-looking creatures close up (open summer daily 10am-6pm; admission $8 adults, $7 seniors, and $6 ages 5-12).

Musk oxen also are at the Alaska Zoo and are easy to see in the wild near Nome. Anchorage also has several small shops and local secret places to find authentic Native artwork.

The Yankee Whaler, in the lobby of the Hotel Captain Cook, at 5th Avenue and I Street, is a small but well-regarded shop carrying Native arts and other Alaskan-made gifts.

At the Anchorage Museum of History and Art, at 7th and A streets, check out the gift shop for a tastefully selected and beautifully displayed array of Alaska Native art.

If you can get beyond the downtown area, you can shop at among the best places for Native crafts in Alaska, the Hospital Auxiliary Craft Shop in the Alaska Native Medical Center, off Tudor east of Bragaw (tel. 907/729-1122), where everything is made by the indigenous people eligible to use the hospital and the staff are all volunteers. The work you find here is all authentic and entirely traditional, and it's possible to stumble on artistic masterpieces. The shop is open Monday through Friday from 10am to 2pm and the first and third Saturday of each month from 11am to 2pm. They don't accept credit cards. There's exceptional Native art to see on the walls of the hospital, too.

Furs

If you're in the market for a fur, Anchorage has a wide selection and no sales tax. David Green Master Furrier, at 130 W. 4th Ave. (www.davidgreenfurs.com), is an Anchorage institution. Others are nearby.

Gifts

There are lots of places to buy both mass-produced and inexpensive handmade crafts other than Alaska Native items. If you will be in town on a weekend during the summer, be sure to visit the Anchorage Market and Festival street fair, in the parking lot at 3rd Avenue and E Street, with food, music, and hundreds of miscellaneous crafts booths. You won't have any trouble finding gift shops on 4th. Our favorite is the relatively classy Cabin Fever, at 650 W. 4th. The Kobuk Coffee Company, at 5th Avenue and E Street, next to the town square, occupies one of Anchorage's earliest commercial buildings; it's a cozy candy, coffee, and collectibles shop.

Fine Art

Downtown has several galleries, including those mentioned under Alaska Native Arts and Crafts, above, and others in the 4th Avenue Market Place. Openings are coordinated to happen on the first Friday of each month, allowing for an evening of free party hopping and art shopping.

The International Gallery of Contemporary Art, 427 D St. (www.igcalaska.org), is a nonprofit space dedicated to artists. Come here for an in-depth look at just a few artists' work and to meet people who really care about art. Because it is run on contributions by volunteers, hours are short and changeable: currently Wednesday through Sunday noon to 4pm; Tuesday 5:30 to 8:30pm; closed Monday. They're also open for first Friday, 5:30 to 7:30pm.

Artique, at 314 G St., is Anchorage's oldest gallery and has a large selection. Half of the gallery is given over to big oils and other impressive originals; the other half is chock-full of prints, less-expensive ceramics, and some mass-produced stuff. At 5th and G, Aurora Fine Arts carries pottery, prints, and gifts. Directly across G is a gallery showing only glass sculpture.