Museums build stronger communities in many ways. Above all, they give people a shared place to gather, shared stories to talk about, and a reason for visitors to come and stay. Asgard Alaska will do all of that, and it is much more than a museum. It is a living Viking settlement that will bring the experiences of the Vikings to life. It will combine traditional museum exhibits and content with opportunities to participate in Norse-themed activities. With many healthy and educational opportunities to take advantage of, friendships, community ties, and the bonds of family can all flourish and strengthen at Asgard Alaska.
Where things stand: Asgard Alaska is not open yet. We are raising the Land Fund to buy the site in Alaska, which is Phase 1 of our Roadmap.
How Museums Build Stronger Communities by Connecting People
While people connect to the internet with relative ease, they can have a hard time connecting to others in real life. Connection is the first way museums build stronger communities, so Asgard Alaska provides multiple avenues for connecting people to each other.
An overnight stay at one of our early campsites or in one of our authentic Viking dugouts provides the perfect opportunity for family members to get away from electronic connections. Instead, they connect with each other. When there’s no access to Wi-Fi or power, parents and children quickly remember how to engage with each other in supportive ways. Quality time together comes partly from the quantity of time spent together away from other distractions. We gathered the research in Health Benefits of Spending Time Outdoors.
Alaska is the biggest state in the union, yet it often feels like a small town. Shared passions are how that small town knits together. We hope Asgard Alaska becomes a place where people who love history, crafts, and the outdoors keep running into each other. Our volunteers will know that best, since they’ll spend the most time together building it.
Team Building
For Viking longships to work efficiently, the rowers had to work together. We understand that it’s often difficult to get disparate people to see things the same way. It takes time, trust, and accumulated shared experiences. Asgard Alaska provides a place to accelerate building trust through participation in shared experiences.
Our living Viking village will eliminate the barriers to building a team because everyone will start on equal footing. Unless a group has a Viking expert in it (which most do not), supervisors and employees will start with the same knowledge base, and they can build out from there.
Picture a day of archery and axe throwing, an evening feast in the longhouse, or a week-long program that includes learning to navigate a Viking longship and other aspects of life in an Old Norse village. Your team will be stronger when the people in it embrace the Viking spirit.
By bringing a unique experience to the Alaskan landscape, Asgard Alaska provides the facilities and experiences that businesses, church groups, schools, and other organizations need to improve their teams’ ability to work together. Team building isn’t just for organizations. Friends and families can enjoy our grounds to build stronger bonds that go beyond screen time and community binge watching.
Building Empathy
People who use empathy know how to step into another person’s shoes. They can see the world from a different point of view. They can use that viewpoint to understand how others feel, even in circumstances that may be foreign to the empathetic person. Not everyone knows how to do this naturally.
Asgard Alaska provides people with an opportunity to experience another way of life. Guests can literally step into the shoes of a Viking and experience how it felt to live more than a thousand years ago. Afterwards, visitors will find it easier to empathize with another way of life because they have experienced a culture they were not familiar with. A good place to start is How to Understand the Vikings.
Self-Reliance and Empowerment
While there is a sizable portion of the Alaskan population that is self-reliant, there are still too many things we allow machines to do for us. Rather than walk, we use cars. We don’t remember information; we use the internet to call it up instantly. Instead of entertaining ourselves and each other, we rely on screens to do it for us. Asgard Alaska will strengthen the community through demonstrations and activities that require people to use their own personal mental and physical power.
Traditional archery is a good example. With no sights or pins, the archer learns to bring mind and body together: look at the target, trust your form, release. Beginners are often surprised by how quickly the arrows start landing close. As a result, they learn that the skill lives in them, not in the bow.
Rowing a longship, creating a piece of jewelry, and taking part in an art project are all other ways that people can improve their understanding of who they are and what they are capable of.
Play and Creativity
Asgard Alaska is more than a museum where people wander the halls, look at artifacts, and read placards. It is a place where play is encouraged and supported. People learn best through play. It is something that adults may have forgotten, but they will remember when they enter our Viking village.
By experiencing the heat of a forge, the combing of wool, and the feast of the holidays, guests are playing with their environment to learn about Viking life and themselves. When dressed in Viking garb, visitors don an appearance that allows them to set aside modern notions and find their inner warrior, farmer, or whoever they choose to be in our Viking society. The Vikings played too, at board games such as hnefatafl.
Creativity is enhanced when people learn new information. Asgard Alaska provides the opportunity to obtain real knowledge that will help solve future problems through greater creativity.
Museums Build Stronger Communities Through Improved Economics
A reason for visitors to linger in Alaska is good for local businesses. Guests will need groceries, gas, and supplies, and those who don’t camp with us will fill nearby hotels and restaurants. Living-history sites abroad show the effect: Lofotr, on an island in northern Norway, receives about 100,000 guests a year (Lofotr Viking Museum). And Moorforge grew from one forge into a village that feeds local artisans. Asgard Alaska is homegrown, and we can’t wait to put it on the map. Shared time, shared work, and shared prosperity are how museums build stronger communities.
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