High in the Arctic . . Eskimo !

July 28th, 2007, 6:30 pm

Very kewl stuff thanks for the stories love them and yes I can relate to the guy and the rifle. first time shot mine it gave me black eye too learned lesson not to hold so close to eye next time lol and bang bang goes the 30-30 and wap cracks the scope on my eye and cursing and swearing came forth lol but lesson learned no problems now hehe

[Bogey]

July 29th, 2007, 4:46 pm

OriginNO_II wrote:

Very nice photos. All this time I always thought Eskimos were of Native American (Indian) descent but now I see they are Asian.

They came over the bridge?


Great photos and great stories. I'll be awaiting the stories . I like them, better then the ones I have Post more stories and photos.

July 29th, 2007, 5:07 pm

It is hyphosised that the native americas came over from asia over the land bridge that was formed in the Baring straight with Alaska and old Russia. they have another one that they say that they came in canoes and followed close to land and canoed across the short open waters.

July 29th, 2007, 6:22 pm

well I have read that they crossed the land bridge .. to Point Hope as this had an abundance of animals of all types. Some say that this is how the American Indian came to the lower 48 states.

They have extremly similar dance and music !

they did not use canoe.. they walked across. and continued to do so far into recent eras such as the 18th and early 19th centuries !

Point Hope people have many relatives in Russia.
Even today when a child is born, they have what is referred to as the "mongolian spot"
Two of my Inupiaq sons were born in Boston Mass. When my first born son was born the doctors exclaimed.. There it is.. "the Mongolion spot" which is not a spot per say but rather the entrie buttocks region is 'BLUE" !dark blue but it fades after many years. Full blooded Inupiaq have this spot with them for life!



Midnight in mid May. Rex Rock Umiliaq = whaling captain scanning the horizon in search of animals migrating through the lead opening. All day, each and every day this is the norm. wait, watch, look & listen. Hunt & eat right here.

This image won the Alaska Press Award and has been published in many different forms of media over the years.

July 29th, 2007, 7:03 pm

This umiaq is very small and fragile. Any whale could easily just swat this with a flipper or a tail. This never happens. We are one with the whale. those whales know we are in the water, Whales are very smart but they are also just like little children. We wait.. .. for that whale to "GIVE" itself over to the captain of its choice.

This was an extremlly cold day, the likes of which I will never forget. I would literally scream, when I reached the end of a roll of film. A simple task such as quickly changing a roll of film was an excercise in pure torture and incredible pain. It would often take me hours to recover from such an ordeal. Sixty below with 50 mph winds is nothing that can be accurately described as to how much it hurts. That wind will "cut" your face. Make no mistake these people "are not used to the cold" that is a myth and not true. They get just as cold as you or I would in sub zero temperatures ! But there are many tricks to overcome the extreme cold. To help cope !

How you dress is extremly important and .. .. dirty clothes cannot keep you warm. Using many, many loose layers is one of the most important things I learned. How to dress!

What you eat.. .. and HOW YOU EAT IT is perhaps the #1 trick to keeping warm in such terrible conditions!

Are you cold ? Go.. pick up that hacksaw. and I will teach you how to get warm, not by working, as most would think, but by "eating" !



This is a hunters breakfast.. .. Raw frozen caribou meat or Raw frozen fish. Slice that meat up into small strips. do not chew just swallow that meat, whole in small strips, or chunks. FILL YOUR STOMACH FULL... ... ... your gonna push out body heat the likes of which you have never encountrered in all your life. @ 30 below zero we are taking clothes off because we are just tooo hot !!!
When you eat "quaq" (raw frozen meat or fish) your stomach has to work very very hard to digest that frozen mean or fish. Also because it is frozen there is a lot of moisture in that food, You can hunt all day without getting thirsty !
Inupiaq Technology, time tested for thousands of years! Now can you spot some people here, .. .. that are too hot ? !

[Bogey]

August 3rd, 2007, 6:35 pm

Lol, I would have never thought of eating cold food to stay warm. And people here drink hot chocolate... At least in the region where I live Well, at least it doesn't get as cold here as it does up in the Arctic.

August 3rd, 2007, 7:00 pm

We drink hot tea, hot chocolate & hot coffee out on the ocean ice. & we also drink coca-cola and other types of soda pop.. but you have to be carefull with the soda pop because they freeze so quickly ! But always super ice cold when you want one.

[Bogey]

August 3rd, 2007, 7:11 pm

I bet its super ice cold. How much soda cans do you throw away a day (on average) from freezing to ice? Or do you do something to them?

August 3rd, 2007, 8:16 pm

none !

Here in the village, a can of soda - pop is $1.00

A case of any brand is $24.00 !

In our household (4) we go through a case a day 24 x 30 = 720 bux a month !

is that insane ? or what ! but that is our "water" up here! that is the prerferred drink.

Add to that.. ... 3 industrial size contiainers of Tang each month Plus assorted juices of all types !

Purchasing food from the small store in the village or having it shipped up through a freight co. or through the mail is very expensive.

It is very easy for me to spend 1000 a week just on food ! purchasing it from the store.

Hunting is far less expensive, but the cost of gasoline up here has long been over $5.++ for many years.

I was in Anchorage once a few years ago and had to purchase supplies for one of the whaling captains.. $300 worth of food in Anchorage was a lot. A months supply of good food, dried goods and such. it cost over 400 dollars to ship that up to the village !

Now couple that with all of the extremly high unemployment, and it makes for a tough life up here, unless you have another method to support your family.

Beachcombing is a major event year round for the sea casts treasures upon these beaches from very far away lands, Russia, China, Japan, and Joe Oktollik threw a bottle into the ocean with a note.. It came back 5 years later. note was still dry and legible.. no reply was enclosed.
colorful beads wash up, turquoise beads. very valuable I am told. Artifaces from ages long ago are found. Valuable artifacts.




We found this last summer up river 40 miles up the coast line. An ancient fossilized saw of some sorts, it is obvious how the handle fits into the hand with a place for the index finger to support the saw. It is apparant that this is made for a small hand of a young girl perhaps, extremly flexible and skillfully made. To saw frozen fish perhaps. We passed it around to some of the elders for their opinion and they all agreed it was some type of saw, but for what no one knew exactly, UNTIL I opened my mouth and showed them how it was used and what it was really used for, . The held it like this. I said.. .. " and pushed it into the bowl and turned it around and around several times so they could easily pick up their spaghetti ! Everyone got a big laugh out of that.!

Arts & Crafts are the sole income for many of the families in the village. This is how they survive. Very few jobs in the village, Time to get busy and learn how to make, sew, weave, carve, make dolls, masks, Ivory & fossil ivory is found by some people, if you look and hunt and dig long enough. It is very rare and commands a huge price. for jewelery and other arts and crafts.



That fossil ivory bracelet sold for 280 dollars.
Gorgeous fossill ivory inset with fossil inlaid ,
very skillfully into the existing bracelet piece.






Bone Masks are in huge demand all over the world. These are made out of the vertebrae from the bowhead whale, Not one "anything" is wasted from that whale. Everything is used. even the bones. nothing is wasted in the Iniupiaq way of life, Everything has a purpose and a specific use. These are time tested methods dating back several thousands of years or longer !

[Bogey]

August 4th, 2007, 5:53 pm

Lol. Send me a fossil if you find one you don't want .

The place has a lot of history underground. That bracelet looks nice. I might have kept it if I found it. (unless I was starving).

August 4th, 2007, 6:51 pm

LOL we didn't find that bracelet.. My son Isaiah made that bracelet!

Fossilized ivory costs many hundreds of dollars! Sometimes as much as 3,000 dollars for just one piece!

The end of August is the main time to go hunt for Ivory, or anytime there is a storm or a very strong west wind. We haven't had any storms this fall which is very unusual.

We know exactly where to go if a strong west wind storm arrives. we go out and wait in that storm for the ivory to wash up on the beaches.

We are headed up to Barrow Alaska next week to purchase some fossilized ivory we hear that there is lots for sale.





My son Mark made this bracelet today!

that is all my four sons do,.. .. is carve and make bracelets and ear-rings

Eskimo dolls are in huge demand and they fetch a very high price!

[Bogey]

August 4th, 2007, 8:32 pm

What is used for the jewelry? Like the bracelet. I mean, is there any precious stones used?

August 4th, 2007, 9:22 pm

NO.. THAT bracelet is all fossilized ivory.. the black part is baleen.

We work with walrus ivory, fossil ivory, mastadon ivory, mammoth ivory,
baleen from the whale.

skins frm the animals. no precious stones. Just ivory.

[Bogey]

August 5th, 2007, 11:12 pm

LOL, that ivory looks like marble

January 20th, 2008, 5:08 pm

But we moved further NORTH, to the TOP OF THE WORLD, Barrow Alaska !



Lets see what happens, when a whale is harvested.





Beluga whales have been caught and divided and quickly brought back to the village for the elders as shares.
Beluga whale looks almost exactly like a dolphin. They are (maktauk) (muck tock) instead of Maktak. (muck tuck)

Fresh beluga is delicious when boiled and eaten with "mustard" ! It is grey in color and I enjoy beluga much more so than whale. Although I am from back east in Boston I still miss the food from back east.! Pizza !, fried clams and steamers and lobster.!

Alaska King Crab is a delicacy and is much sought after but visitors. It is one of the main foods that tourists crave. Salmon, King crab, are just two of the food items tourists search for when arriving in Anchorage.



1 A.M. in the morning and this crew is ready to head out. Something seems to be happening and more and more umiaqs are leaving the camps to head out south.

I am not aware of what is going on, I just notice that people are leaving.

and a lot of conversation is going on that I am not understanding


A world of ice, in all directions, except for the narrow lead opening which grows and opens wider and sometimes closes when that wind shifts.




Twenty-Four hours a day, sitting, watching, looking, waiting, days on end, NO SLEEP. The wind is constant, it is strong, it is cold, each "" day "" is the same. Whcih day of which week of which month is irrelevant, it doesn't matter, nothing matters except to accomplish the work, to obtain FOOD...

no pay... no unemployment.. .. no funds.. .. no sponsers.. .. .. it takes a whole year, just to get "ready" to begin! This hunt is extremly hard work in the worst conditions imagineable. It was impossible to capture images in "bad" weather, nothing but a white horizontal snow wall moving past you. In white out conditions you cannot see but a foot or so in front of you.. if that .


NOW. with some modern technologies we can communicate along that vast ten mile or so "gaunlet" of whaling captains & crews that are "hidden" behind & in the ice.

Not only do the captains at the edge of the ice have C.B. radios & VHF radios, the tent areas and the homes back in the village can all stay in touch with each other over many different channels.. Ch68 for VHF and CH2 for C.B. and the static is always heard, and adjusted, and then the familiar voice comes over and is heard in every camp and home throughout the village.. .. .. Can You hear me now ?


When a whale has been caught, a FLAG IS put up so other crews can see where EVERYTHING and EVERYBODY must converge to the help organize the enormous work that lies ahead. NO SLEEP for days & days, !
the hunters are at the ready constanly, in any weather, the sun provides the power to keep going, on and on and on!
Everything is white and blinding, constantly!


One by one, umiaqs and crews are taking off from the ocean ice. Something is going on, I guess this is serious, so I head, to see which crew I can come upon that is close to my area.



This is Ernie Frankson's crew, casting off, getting ready to wait for a whale, the time has come, after six long weeks of sitting and waiting, and watching in this frozen cold windy climate of ice and brilliant sun. a cloudy day is always a relief for me.


Each and every crew I reach is just leaving as I approach them. whew I am out of breath, walking carrying all of this camera and tripod. fully dressed I have over 38 pockets ! ha ha.. ! Having a simple system for placing items in my pocket(s) was always a very disclipined procedure, because it is so easy to loose things that can't be found with that many pockets, just to discover at a much later time, oh, there it is!
Out here on the ice, I was a dumb as could be. simple obvious things such as drinking water was a complete mystery to me. Where is all this delicious fresh drinking water coming from ? I just wasn't observent enough to notice in the begining.
Take any large piece of ice and stand it up. brush all the snow off the top and most of the sides. We gotta take the salt out of the ice, out here in the middle of frozen no where. We use the sun for that, and or sand! We wait.. ... .. and the sun beats down on that ice and the ice begins to become "clear" at the top. Wait and the ice will become clearer and clearer going down into the ice deeper and deeper. NOw walk over to that ice with your Kettle and chip the ice horizontally and fill your kettle with the most delicious drinking water you have ever tasted !




Floyd Oktollik is looking back at me, and I know exactly what he is thinking! "what is that dumb city boy from Boston going to do next"?
when they left I walked over to that calm spot to the right of the umiaq and stuck the tips of my bunny boots over the edge just about 2 inches and stood tall, My camera strap is abound my neck, I moved my hands and arms behind me and stodd just a little bit taller.. hey look at me.. this is so kewl. and I am here absolutly alone, everyone is gone, The women are all behind me 3/4 of a mile or closer. but for all practical purposes I am here alone. Six weeks out here, I am getting very used to it. I am somewhat cold but comfurtable. I gaze down at that water that is just like black glass. so calm like a mirror, not the slightest movement at all. I am starring at that one area, it is black glass.. so black, so calm, not even the slighest ripple of movement of water at all.. blink blink and ther is a huge hole in the water ? hmm? I could have easily reaced over and stuck my foot right down into that huge hole. a big bowling ball would have fit in with room to "spare" !(pun intended).

There was absolutly no warning whatso ever. WHOOOOOSSSSSSHHHHHH!
OMG. what a stink.. 5,000 gallons of "whale-aid' is raining down me.. oh what a stink..OMG. gag. running for my life to get the heck out of there and I am in the middle of a rainstorm of stink and yuk all over me! I am soaking wet all over, and I can't breathe because of this gosh awful smell of yuk.. I am running and I know what is about to happen.. Ice is forming all over me, I can hear it craking and falling and every place on me that is "dripable" if freezing and I approach the nearest camp all out of breath.. huffing and puffing and gaging and choking.

when them women looked up and saw me they instantly knew what had happend and they fall over into hysterical fits of uncontrollable laughter, NO STAY AWAY.. DON'T CME NEAR US. GEt back.. I tried to hand my camera over to one of the women to take a photo of me.. NO STAY BACK AND THEY ran into the tent.. STAY OUT.. GET BACK.. AND I could hear the high srhill of laughter as they threw out two towels for me to clean up! gosh that stink I will never forget. but I do want to know.. I want to ask two questions.. and some day I want the answer.
who? beside them women ... who laughed the hardest and the loudest.. that whale or the "persona" that sent it !
JONAH had his experience with a beast from the sea and it is written in a book called the bible.
I have had my true experience with a whale, and it is written on this web site and many others!

BUT, ..I truely want to know.. whose idea was that ?.. that was tooo well precisesly and prefectloy executed with no knowledge of what was about to happen. Yes whales have a great sense of humor.! I only wish I had a photograph to show all the ice I was encase in ! cracking all over my parky and everyting, I was a mess! cold and it stunk !

Some of these same women still today, after all of those years.. just fall into fits of laughter when they see me about the village.!



IRMA OKTOLLIK explians to me the way of the whale. We are one with that whale.

It is impossible for us to "chase" a whale in that small umiaq, that whale can swim very fast, and deep, One flip of the tail or the flippers and the crew is gone, that does not happen. those whales know we are in the water, they are very smart.
Whales can see, they can hear.. .. and they can smell. whales are like little children, some are shy and timid, some like to play hide & seek, and some are pround and show off and boastfull, making a big show of their gift to us.

We wait... .. .. for that whale to give itself over to the captain of its choice.! This is something the world does not know. A whale will always match the personality of the captain that it gives itslef over to, no matter which year it is, and so does the weather. ! Each captain has his own personalilty & the whale will always match that captains personality no matter which year it is,,, t hat whale will always do the same thing, for that captain each and every year!

Some captains will never receive a whale because of their (bad) personality. Whales some how know this and respond accordingly.

WAIT & WATCH Irma said to me, laughing, she can see the look on my face, she knows I dont believe what she is saying, (we know better.. right?) Well . I don't know how to explian this. just to repeat what Irma said, using her exact words. I still don't understand all of this, but I am amazed beyond what words can ever express on how these people truely are one with nature and the animals.

Wait & watch Irma said to me. This year it is a very warm year ( it was 25 below) I dont consider that very warm at all, to me it is freezing indeed. Irma laughs. This is Joes weather. she added. laughing, watch, When Joe receives a whale it is all over very quickly she said. he will receive that whale near the edge of the ice.
but she added (laughing) when he harpoons that whale, It will die and give up quiclly, still & dead. The wind will come screaming in at over 100 miles an hour and the temperature will drop by 100 degrees as well. you better be prepared she said and laughed. Ididn't believe one word of it I have to admit, it all sounded preposterous to me.
So with much skeptisim I moved my camera and tripod over to Joes crew up high above him and behind him on the huge ice pressure ridges.
A very close personal friend of mine frmo Boston, Brad Parker came up to visit and view this intriguing experience. We were sitting up there, playing chess, looking at the board. we didnot notice or hear Joe's crew slip silently into the water, we were concentrating on the board and we hear BOOM (exploding harpoon). I look up to see a dead whale about 30 foot long beside Joes Umiaq, as I got up that wind came screaming in, the temperature was oh so cold and bitter and Joe was standing up .. into the wind, arms outstretched with a smile on his face.
HOw did that woman know, and explain everytihng so perfectly, two weeks before it ever happened I will never know or understand how she called it all so perfectlly!


A whale giving itself over to the captain, and the actions of the whale will always be the same no matter which year it is.
I have been on 5 sacred whale hunts, each of the five years,
one whale
two whales
one whale
two whales
four whales

last year no whales, this year 3 whales

that is not much food for a community of this size and getting bigger each year.

There are many things that happen up there that just do not make sense to me!
If you have an explanation that makes any kind of sense please tell me, because I am totaly clueless how some of these skills are ever explained. One captain has a personality that is hidden.. his whale will always hide under the ice and he has to use his nose to find it.. ! now how it is ever possible to smell through ice ten feet thick is way beyond my comprehension or understanding!