Best Alaska Souvenirs to Bring Home

The best Alaska souvenirs are those that you can’t get anywhere else in the world. With a storied history and various influences that include a mix of Native American, Russian, and Canadian cultures, Alaska has a number of local items that are perfect to add to your home or to gift to loved ones.

Essentially, there’s nowhere quite like the 49th state in so many respects. From wild seafood to beautiful handicrafts, here are some of the best souvenirs from Alaska.

Pendleton Baby Blanket

Pendleton blankets

Keep little ones warm and snug with this beautiful Pendleton blanket that features a large Thunderbird, a symbol that is considered a messenger and protector in various Native Alaskan tribes. Made with pure virgin wool, this blanket is an ideal baby shower gift.

Ulu Knife

Ulu knife

The Ulu is an ancient tool that dates back to 2500 B.C. Traditionally used by Inuit, Yupik, and Aleut tribes, the Ulu was used for a variety of tasks, including skinning animals, cutting ice, and even trimming children’s hair. Ancient Ulu blades were made out of thin rocks, slate, and jade, while the handles were constructed from wood, ivory, or bone. While ancient Ulus are displayed in museums around Alaska, modern versions of the Ulu knife are available in a number of stores.

This multi-purpose knife is a great Alaska souvenir because not only is it a keepsake that represents Alaskan Native culture, it’s also a wonderfully practical kitchen tool. Its curved blade makes it easy for cooks to chop and mince everything from meat to vegetables using only one hand, and its striking shape and handle make it the perfect souvenir to display in a corner of any kitchen.

Matryoshka Dolls

Matryoshkas Dolls

Pay tribute to Alaska’s Russian history by buying a set of Russian nesting dolls, also known as Matryoshka dolls. While traditional Russian nesting dolls focus on Russian fairy tales, they’re also inspired by other themes like dog mushing, polar bears, whales, eagles, and other designs highlighting Alaska’s nature and outdoors. Use them as home decor or give them to one of the younger kids in your family, who will no doubt have fun unveiling the dolls hidden within each other.

Alaskan Native Art

Aside from ancient tools, another great Alaska souvenir to bring back home is a piece of artwork. There are all kinds of artistic works to bring home, including masks, sculptures, blankets, carvings, and wall art made by Alaska Natives. These artworks are usually colorful and a fantastic way to represent Alaskan culture and history.

Salmon

Salmon

Alaska is famous for its fresh seafood. During your Alaska vacation, you should sample as much of this local specialty as possible, especially if you happen to stop in Ketchikan, which is known as “the salmon capital of the world.”

Not only is wild Alaskan salmon delicious, but it’s also considered a model of sustainability in the fishing industry. Decades of careful population management have ensured that salmon continue to swim in abundance here. It’s a responsible alternative to the majority of salmon from industrial farms, which often pollute the waters around them with antibiotics and colorants.

Not all wild Alaskan salmon is the same, and it’s important to know the differences. Sockeye salmon is the leanest of the bunch, with deep reddish-pink flesh. It smokes or grills beautifully and has a stronger, but never fishy flavor.

Coho salmon

Coho salmon, sometimes known as silver salmon, is the second largest type of wild Alaskan salmon. It has flakier flesh than sockeye. Finally, king salmon, also known as chinook salmon, is considered the most coveted. With its moist, meaty flesh and deep color, it’s superb seared, poached, broiled, grilled, or sliced raw.

If you’re left craving more of Alaska’s fresh seafood after your trip is over, don’t worry—you can arrange for authentic Alaskan salmon to be shipped right to your doorstep on a monthly basis. A number of companies have subscription delivery boxes that ship Alaskan fish all over the United States.

If you don’t want to sign up for one of these boxes, you can pack a few smoked salmon packages in your suitcase to take home and enjoy with some bagels and cream cheese at a later date.

Jade

Jade

Alaska’s state stone is jade, so you can rest assured you’ll find plenty of jade jewelry during your trip to the Last Frontier. For centuries, this precious stone was carved and traded among Native Alaskan Nations. To this very day, jade is still mined on the Seward Peninsula and in other areas.

Accessories such as necklaces, earrings, and bracelets made from this precious stone are perfect Alaska souvenirs to buy for yourself or a loved one back at home. If you’re lucky, you might find other, rarer shades of stone beyond the more common green. Some of the jade unearthed here may be red, yellow, or pale lavender.  Aside from jewelry, you’ll also find jade knives, dolls, and figurines.

Billikens

Billiken

Even though the original Billiken charm was created in Missouri, this tiny good luck token eventually became a staple in Alaskan souvenir shops. This popular souvenir is usually made out of ivory, and it’s the perfect gift to give to people who are superstitious.

Billikens are usually sold as earrings, key chains, or necklace pendants, so you can buy a few of these items without having to worry about taking up too much space in your suitcase.

Alaskan Rug Bowls

Add a decorative accent made from authentic Alaskan fishing materials to your home. These lovely bowls, made from Alaskan fishing line and rope sourced from a 100-year-old cannery, are the perfect item to store your keys by the entryway, showcase fruits, or use as a centerpiece on your dining room table.

Tea

Chaga tea

Sure, you can buy tea anywhere—but not exclusive varieties like chaga tea and wild rose tea. Alaska has its own special blends of tea, and during your trip, you can hunt for bags of their unique hand-mixed blends, which usually have a Made in Alaska stamp on the bag. The next time you’re brewing a cup of tea at home, don’t be surprised if the aroma and taste transport you back to your trip to Alaska.

Bear Claws

Bear claw

If you like to entertain or know someone who likes to throw dinner parties, a set of bear claws is one of the best Alaska souvenirs to bring back as a gift. These unique, wooden salad servers are shaped like bear claws and are a fun decorative element to add to any dining table.

Burl Bowls

Bowl

If you want to go the extra mile, pair a set of bear claws with a wooden burl bowl. These bowls are made from trees with burls (a type of malignancy that generally causes trees to decay). Although burls are damaging to trees, they are highly prized by furniture makers and wood sculptors because of the beautiful patterns and marks they leave on wood. Cooks and hostesses will be sure to appreciate this practical and pretty pairing.

Gold

Gold jewelry

Alaska has a fascinating gold rush history that you will learn all about during a trip to Skagway, the site of the famous Klondike Gold Rush. At the tail end of the 19th century, the discovery of the precious metal drew some 100,000 eager prospectors to the state. Some struck it rich overnight, while others went home empty-handed.

The whole frenzy only lasted about three years, from 1896 to 1899. Nevertheless, it would forever reshape the character and identity of Alaska. Many of those prospectors wound up sticking around and making their homes here. To this day, Alaskans have something of a frontier mentality—fiercely independent, resistant to overbearing authority, and adventurous to the core.

White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad

Reading about the Klondike Gold Rush is one thing, but it’s quite another to experience it for yourself. Board the White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad and journey through the trail that gold prospectors once took in their fated attempts to strike gold, or try your hand at gold panning.

However you choose to experience this important time in Alaskan history, you should make sure to bring back a small nugget or flake you discover while panning for gold, or buy a piece of this precious metal in a store, where they are also sold as Alaska souvenirs.

Birch Syrup

Birch syrup

Vermont has maple syrup, but Alaska has the equally delicious birch syrup. This sweet confection, made from the sap of birch trees, is found in stores all over the state and is used on everything from pancakes to ice cream and waffles.

Bring back a bottle for friends, family, or yourself, but be warned—you might want to stock up on a few, as you’ll find yourself drizzling this delicious syrup on every kind of breakfast treat and dessert that you eat.

Mukluks

Mukluk boots

If you want to keep your feet warm during your trip to Alaska or back home during the cold winter months, then buy a pair of mukluk boots. These cozy boots were traditionally made with reindeer skin and were worn by Native American tribes, including Inuit, Iñupiat, and Yupik tribes.

Today, you can find updated versions of the boot, which are usually fur-lined and have laces that run up and around the exterior of the boot. They come in a variety of designs and colors, so you have plenty of options to choose from.

Glacial Mud

One of the highlights of an Alaska vacation is the opportunity to see a magnificent glacier up close. And while that life-changing experience is hard to bottle up and bring home, you can capture a bit of that magic by bringing back a bit of glacial mud in your suitcase.

Copper River

Mainly sourced from the mineral-rich Copper River, glacial mud has several healing and detoxifying properties that can soften and transform skin. You can find it in specialty stores in products such as facial masks and mineral soap bars, which are all incredible gifts for beauty junkies and green beauty fans back at home.

Wild Berry Jams and Jellies

Gooseberry jam

An incredible array of berries grow wild in Alaska. The Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian people have gathered and preserved these fruits for centuries. Today, foraging is still a big part of life for many Alaskans. These days, it’s less a matter of necessity and more because the results are just so delicious.

All of those berries make for wonderful jams, jellies, and other preserves, which Alaskans keep through the whole long winter. Luckily, you can take some of them home with you. They make for lovely gifts, especially since many of these berries can’t be found in other parts of the U.S.

Salmonberries

Keep an eye out for salmonberries in various forms. These sweet-tart little jewels look a little like golden raspberries, except with a vivid orange color, not unlike clusters of salmon roe. They’re a common sight along trails here, and they make for a sunny-colored jam.

Gooseberries are another all-star jam ingredient. Although these petite, green fruits are too tart for some when eaten fresh, they’re perfect when cooked down with a little sugar. Finally, if you spot anything with nagoonberries, buy it immediately. Also known as Arctic raspberries or Arctic bramble, these bright-red berries have an incredibly sweet, juicy flavor. They only grow wild in a few places at northern latitudes around the globe.

Alaskan Sea Salt

Sea salt

Purists will insist that different kinds of salt from around the globe each bring their own distinctive character to dishes. Whether it’s crunchy fleur de sel from the south of France or flaky Maldon salt, these region-specific salts add both texture and flavor. Salt harvested from Alaskan waters makes for a great souvenir, since it will enhance your cooking for months to come.

There are two main companies harvesting sea salt in Alaska. In Sitka, Alaska, Pure Sea Salt Company makes an excellent flaky finishing salt. You can order it plain with local flavors such as wild blueberries and Sitka spruce tips. The alder wood-smoked salt packs a powerful punch and adds a meaty, savory note to dishes.

Sea salt

Meanwhile, in Homer, Alaska Salt Co. harvests wonderfully textural, unrefined sea salt from the nearby bay. They also sell various bath soaks, shampoos, and even a facial toner, all enhanced with local sea salt.

Even if your trip to Alaska doesn’t include a visit to Sitka or Homer, salts from both companies can be found at shops in most major cities within the state. As a bonus, their products come in pretty, present-worthy packaging.

Alaskan Craft Beers

Alaskan craft beers

Alaska is home to a lively craft brewing scene. Relatively few breweries here have a wide distribution, which means that some of these beers can be tough to find outside of Alaska. They make great gifts for the beer aficionado in your life.

Skagway Brewing Company is a model in sustainability that brews beers with a distinctly Alaskan flair. Each year, the brewery forages large quantities of aromatic spruce tips, just as Native Alaskans have done for generations. They add a haunting, piney fragrance to Spruce Tip Blonde, a perfect ale to take home.

It’s hard to talk about Alaskan craft beer without mentioning Anchorage Brewing Company. For craft beer-lovers, a visit to their taproom, which is lined with huge wooden barrels, is a must. While you’re there, pick up a bottle of Darkest Hour, a whiskey barrel-aged imperial stout, for after your travels.

Reindeer Sausage

Reindeer sausage

Reindeer sausage is an Alaskan classic that appears everywhere from local diners to state fairs. Go for brunch in Anchorage and you’re likely to be asked if you’d like a reindeer sausage or two with your eggs. Or you might find them served like hot dogs from roving food trucks in just about any city.

If you’re worried that a reindeer sausage might be too gamey, fear not. Pork and sometimes beef are often added to these, since reindeer meat is on the lean side. They tend to have a relatively mild flavor.

Charcuterie might not be the first thing you would normally think about stuffing in your carry-on, but vacuum-packed reindeer sausage is easy to pack and transport. If you’re looking for a distinctly Alaskan edible souvenir, this might just do the trick.

Alaskan Sourdough Starter

Sourdough

When prospectors swarmed north, hoping to strike it rich in the Klondike Gold Rush, many of them carried sourdough starters with them. Unlike bread leavened with commercial yeast, sourdough bread required nothing more than flour, water, and wild yeast and bacteria. Sourdough bread and pancakes were important forms of subsistence out in the wild.

To this day, old-timers in the Last Frontier are sometimes affectionately referred to as “sourdoughs.” What’s more, many of the sourdough starters used in bakeries to this day date back to Gold Rush times. Because a sourdough culture naturally evolves over time and reflects the local microflora, each one has its own distinctive character.

You can bring a little bit of that baking magic back home with you in the form of a dried sourdough starter. Some bakeries in Alaska will sell you some of their starter, while Alaskan Salt Co. offers a century-old one in convenient pouches. Use it to make your own starter back home. It will add a subtle tang to breads, waffles, biscuits, pancakes, and anything else you might want to bake.

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