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  1. #26
    Senior Shooter Greg McCary's Avatar
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    Re: High in the Arctic .. .. Eskimo !

    Seems like I have seen this very same post on a different forum a few months ago. Nice work, looks like you have added a few images since.
    I am like Barney Fife, I have a gun but Andy makes me keep the bullet in my pocket..

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  2. #27
    Arctic Man Majik_Imaje's Avatar
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    Re: High in the Arctic .. .. Eskimo !

    High in the Arctic .. .. Eskimo !! has been posted on over 40 forums on the internet. Each one is a little bit different. each one was hand typed except for two chapters. Pause for polar bears, and what is an Igloo !

    A book is in the works. I want the movie. and the hard part is getting George Carlin to play my part. he is the only person that closely resembles my personality !!

    I am just an electrican who fell in love with photography many decades ago. I know nothing about writing and such and this affords me much practice learning how to acomplish this huge task.

    It sure is a lot of work, and it keeps my very busy. I have so much to do. and this is my way of preparing to make the story and all of the different images FIT !

    I have so many hundreds of images that have not been scanned into the computer yet. I have perhaps six months work just to accomplish this task.

    If you would like to see all of these images without the story behind them. that is possible now. they are located here.

    What I am about to explain to you will sound preposterous. but it is true.. Irma Oktollik will explain it all much later. but in essence.. we do not hunt that whale. we wait for that whale to give itself over to the captain of its choice.!!

    so.. we wait.. out on the ice. for signs of animals migrating.



    This image was created precisely at midnight in mid May. Rex Rock Whaling Captain (umailiaq) - whaling captain is scanning the horizon at midnight in search of signs of animals migrating through the lead opening.

    Sit, wait, watch, look & listen. this is what we do all day long, day in and day out for many many weeks. it would be boring for you. perhaps but this is just the most exciting time of the year.


    My Captain, Jake Koonuk (umailiaq) he was the person who made this all possible.
    That seal skin is stuffed with "air" it is "Avatakpak" it is used in much the same manner as a bobber is used in fishing. There is 200 feet of thick rope attached to that "float". It is the #2 person's job in that umiaq to make sure that the rope does not pull anyone or the captain out of that boat when a whale has been harpooned !
    Jake told me.. '" the truth must be told" Wow. now I know why I am here. and what I have to do.

    John denver paid a visit to this village in 1976. and on the toinght show with Johnny Carson he told some bold faced lies and hurt these people in many ways,
    some of which you will find terribly disturbing.!! I just had to do something, and all I can do is try.. .. to attend a closed meeting of the whaling captains in Barrow. This meeting is CLOSED. you must be a Umailiaq . a whaling captain to gain access to this meeting. Whaling captains only.. a Captains wife is Umailiaq also ! she is at that meeting also. this is serious !!

    Now for more of the bizarre.. when this first whale hunt finished. I had no water to process this film. .I did this all myself. I could not let any lab have these images.. no.. too many of them have been stolen by huge famous corporations here in alaska..

    British Petrolium stole 75 of my best images !! Graphix Art publishing company in Portland Oregon hosted this rip of and laughed in my face about it. They did publish a book called Alaska's Arctic my six images start at page 128

    The house I was living in had no water, no running water, no water period. I had to attempt something that I had never done, and I had to take a chance, I used snow as my water source to process 60 rolls of vericolor film.. and this was quite a chore. TONS of snow had to be melted. and it was not what I thought it would be. when the snow was melted, the water was full of debris, animal hairs, soot and paper bits and other stuff that had to be strained throu towles many times. but the water still had a yelowish tinge to it.

    27 years later, these negatives are still in pristne condition !! how do you effetively wash color film with no running water ? I had to devise a system that would work on the first attempt at this new process. But I had to do something. and I was going to make an album of 100 11 x 14 images to try and present at that closed meeting in Barrow. I worked feverishly around the clock to try and get this done. This was months of incredibly hard work to do all of this in such a make shift color darkroom, with no water source.

    I finished this album (7 of them) with just days to spare and I hopped on a plane at considerable expense and flew to barrow. The day of this meeting arrived and I am excited. I know I am up against incredible odds of ever gaining access to this closed meeting with the International Whaling commission, The Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission and 2 state senators and many other very important people.

    I just have to try. I am walking to this meeting, in downlown Barrow and my foot hits a piece of ice and I slip and go completly horizontal. the album flies into the air and lands hard, breaking both front and back covers and the pages are all scattered all over the street in mud. I sat there and cried like a liltle baby.. got uup and decieded to see what I can do to reach this meeting.. I am a total mess, mud all over me.. the album is ruined.. pages with mud on them and all torn and messy.. Itook my jacket off and clean up the pages as well as possible and arrainged them . I have a mess in my hands. I am covered in mud.. I walk into this meeting adn I am immeditely thrown out. physically.

    Outside.. I gain my compsure and try to thin what can I do.. I walk back in and again I am trhown out physically.. Oh this is serious. I need help !!!.. ... .. .. "thanks you : ! I take a deep breath.. I gotta do something differernt.. and I walk back in.. here they come.. and as they are about to grab me for the third time. I opened the album and I screamed out.. You need these photographs.!!! after much whispering, I was allowed in and was able to get up on that podiium and present my case. in Inupiaq and in english. I apologized for my unruly appearance. and the condition of the album.. I assured them a new identical album would be sent on the very next plane.

    I thanked the very kind Native people for allowing me in and to state my case.. NO Commission, no agency, no group,no one, no government may have that authority to say.. you may not eat !! come and sit out on this ice and say that !! you would never last 1 hour !!! This is brutal weather. and there is no place to go, to warm up !!!
    I flew back to the village, very depressed at the outcome of my experience in Barrow.

    A few days later, this arrived in the mail.



    It doesn't matter in which whaling camp you visit, everything is in the exact same place. These are time test methods dating back hundreds of years and this tradition of living out on the ocean ice pack dates back many THOUSANDS of years. This culture must not ever perish. We have so much to learn from these unique people.. now for the sad part.


    Point Hope used to have a population of over 10,000 Inuuiaq Eskimo's .. .. then the whaling compaines arrived and the population was reduced .. .. through greed, disease and mass starvation.. .. this village was reduced to just 190 people..

    The U. S. goverment tried their best to wipe out the remaining people of this village. they were going to detonate a nuclear bomb close to the village to create a deep water port or harbor. they had no intentios of ever telling the people.. nah !! they are not important.. !!

    It only took one rock to stop the whole shameful thing !! (Howard Rock was the one person responsible.) want proof ??? GOOGLE:: project chariot

    The government was succesffully STOPPED from carrying out this barbaric sensless perverted idea. BUT. then the people of Point Hope were given most unique present with no warning.. the radio active waste was buried all over their hunting ground to see what effect it would have on the people and its enviroment.


    BASTARDS !!.. 300 OF MY CLOSEST friends are now dead. all died young because of the rampant spread of cancer throughout this village. The government again denies this and states it is because of tobacco use!!

    People that don't even smoke.. have cancer.. and nothing can be done about this incredible travesty of justice of North America's Oldest people.. sob ..!!

    The Whale bone graveyard is the most famous graveyard in the world. There is only one !



    and very few people are aware, of what put all of these people in this graveyard.. it was the "white man" and his ways !!


    I can't begin to describe what it feels like to walk in here, (sob).. the names of over 300 people I knew so intimately.. everyname was a very close personal friend.!!!!
    Imagine walking into any graveyard anyplace and you recognise and know the names of everyone on those head markers.. the feeling ??? it can't possibly be put into words.

    John Denver should have been tried, and put into jail and hung for what he did to these people..
    all in the name of greenpeace activisim.. deception - lies and anything is "right' as long as their means are achieved.

    I was in "Boston when I saw this on TV on that episode of the tonight show. I became very upset at some of the things Mr. Denver was talking about. It just didn't make sense to me.. He complained about the children.. how they trashed his private air-plane. and cut up the tires and how expensive it was to fix and get out of that village. what he conviently left out, was the fact that the children were furious at what he did to their parents !! They took revenge !! and rightly so.. (IMHO) Jo-Jo Omnick was out on the tundra, for over three days, running around, thinking he was a caribou.. Jo-Jo thought they were giving him candy, chocolate mesculine.. cocaine, alcohol, pot was brought in by Mr. Denvers crew to bribe these captains to let mr. Denver take his TV crew out to the ocean ice.. The captains said no!.. Destruction and deception is what took place.. just to get his way so he could "help the people in their plight to hunt their food.. THEN.. Mr. Denver SAID the biggest bold face lie ever when he says.." they caught a whale and just left it there to rot.".

    no no no no no no not ever !! would that ever happen in ten thousand years. No matter who much work is involved . these people are ONE with that whale. Their whole world revolves aruond that whale, It takes a whole year, just to get ready to go whaling, theer is just so much work to be done. The world just doesn't understand what is involved here. this is my goal, . to get this message out to the entire world before.. these people perish..

    This unique oldest lifestyle / culture is on the brink of extinction. all because of agencies and lies, and mis-information. The ocean has no shortage of animals, it is us humans that have a shortage of people capable of telling the truth any longer.!!

    We will pay 50,000,000 for the "head" of one person.. but we will kill and lie and kill our own people and not give a dam about it one bit !!!

    I came here for just 3 weeks to wire a construction camp, but I met a group of people unlike anyhthing I had ever encountered ever anywhere in my whole life and that was 30 years ago and I have no desire to ever leave the Arctic.. it is paradise for sure.




    Well ya just gotta stop and say to yourself. how did this ever.. .. "just haqppen" how ??

    that is one of the beautiful things about the Arctic.. beauty is everywhere. if you look !!!

  3. #28
    project forum co-moderator Frog's Avatar
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    Re: High in the Arctic .. .. Eskimo !

    When the Makah nation wanted to exercise their treaty rights to hunt whales a few years ago, all the protesters would say that they don't understand why they needed to hunt whales.
    I don't think people should protest something they don't understand.
    Keep Shooting!

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    Please refrain from editing my photos without asking.

  4. #29
    Arctic Man Majik_Imaje's Avatar
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    Re: High in the Arctic .. .. Eskimo !

    "The relationship between Makah and whales is very old. Ozette deposits dating from 2,000 years ago hold humpback and gray whale bones and barbs from harpoons. The relationship is also very recent. The Makah Tribe resumed whale hunting under international and domestic law, and on May 17, 1999, harvested their first whale in 70 years" A quote from their home page.

    Well it doesn't seem that these people depend on that whale to live as the Inupiaq people do. Barrow Alaska is allowed 50 whales each year,, and they get all 50 every year ..

    Point Hope is the only village that does it the old traditonal manner. and it is at least 1000 years older. 2000 years older than Barrow Alaska !!

    chances are, these two are related Pt. Hope & Makah because most all villages in alaska were founded by people from Point Hope.. Greenland was founded by the same people so chances are these are some that went south instad of further north..

  5. #30
    The red headed step child jgredline's Avatar
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    Re: High in the Arctic .. .. Eskimo !

    This has been the most enjoyable thread I have read on any forum...What a blessing....And to think it was done on film...Those images are incredible...
    εὐχαριστέω σύ
    αποκαλυπτεται γαρ οργη θεου απ ουρανου επι πασαν ασεβειαν και αδικιαν ανθρωπων των την αληθειαν εν αδικια κατεχοντων
    διοτι το γνωστον του θεου φανερον εστιν εν αυτοις ο γαρ θεος αυτοις εφανερωσεν
    τα γαρ αορατα αυτου απο κτισεως κοσμου τοις ποιημασιν νοουμενα καθοραται η τε αιδιος αυτου δυναμις και θειοτης εις το ειναι αυτους αναπολογητους

  6. #31
    Arctic Man Majik_Imaje's Avatar
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    Re: High in the Arctic .. .. Eskimo !

    I had so much fun out here on the ice, creating images of people, and I gave everyone in the villaqe, all their own photos for free.

    this turned out to be the wisest thing I ever did. I knew what I had for images, I did not need their money, I needed their trust.




    This has to be a first. creating images out on that ice, and then delivering them many hours later down to the lead. for everyone to see!



    GORGEOUS color enlargements 11 x 14

    since then, Jacques cousteau, BBC London, Paramount studios have tried to gain access to this village. they were all blocked and denied and asked to leave the village !!

    I have carte blanche in any village from Kotzebue up to Barrow and beyond.

    Everyone that comes up here, only wants to "take" I wanted to give !!

  7. #32
    Member xystren's Avatar
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    Re: High in the Arctic .. .. Eskimo !

    All I can say is what a fantastic and incredible thread! The pictures are absolutely fantastic, and the stories behind them are incredible.

    Thank you so much for sharing this. It is absolutely unfathomable what has been done and the whole project chariot... just plain F'%#$% scary. Look how far we have come along... after reading about that, I don't think very far at all in retrospect.

    It is nice to see the other side of things, from someone that is not just a visitor, but someone who has been a part of the culture and has lived it. Myself would have been reluctant to "blow my nose into my hands, massage it in, and put my gloves back on" but now, I don't think I would be.

    This has been a eye-opener, and a fantastic learning experience. Your example of wanting to give back is something that is all to rare today. Thanks again so much for sharing.

    Cheers,
    Greg
    Cheers,
    Greg

    ---
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    EF-S IS 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6; EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III; EF 50mm f/1.8 II
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  8. #33
    Arctic Man Majik_Imaje's Avatar
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    Re: High in the Arctic .. .. Eskimo !

    Well to tell the truth. I sorta got used to that way of keeping my hands warm(er) with no problems of pain and such.

    While working in Prudhoe Bay, many years later, I would often sneak and hide and do what had to be done. I guess I got caught. ha ha. (chuckle). when I went into the lunch room, everyone gotup from the table and moved. After I got up from the floor, from laughng so hard I explained what was going on. At first they all looked at me in the same discusted manner thatyou felt, when you first read those words. ewww!!

    Let me explain something, it is impossible for you to comprehend; now matter how much imagination you possess.

    Get on a snowmachine, when it is 60 below zero, head straight into that wind that is blowing @ 80 mph and travel @ 100 mph for hundreds of miles.

    You have no idea what that feels like on your face ! It is just like someone is moving a razor blade on your face or skin. I have seen hunters many times, that have come back into the village after being out there for weeks at a time. the black burn marks on their faces, as though someone had used a propane torch and this skin is all burnt and black in a straight line, where they didin't get enough kakiik on that part of the face !!

    It takes many, many months for that skin to heal. and they never complain. that's the part that I can't understand. These people have every reason, every right, buty they just never. such happy happy people.



    Children are our most important precious valuable resource.

    The imaginations of these children playing are just so priceless.

    is just undescribeable.

    You cannot keep them inside. no matter what these temps are.

    I just love watching them and capturing them while they are just doing their thing !!

    I just never know what "treasures" that I am going to "capture". I am filled with anticipaton as I come around a corner of the ice. or here in town as walk past a house. I walk until I hear "voices" and here in the arctic that can be a great distance away.

    This place is just so quiet. .. that when two people are speaking to each other (provided the wind is calm). 1/4 of a mile away. you can hear them !

    and it was just such a day. when I was walking through the village and I could hear children yelling in excitment. they were speaking in Inupiaq, but I clearly understood everything that they had said. Killiak Killimak, (hurry up, hurry up) samma (look I show you), Agviq !! (whale)!

    I came around the corner of a house I was walking past, and this is what came into view -=[click]=- these children are actually going after that imaginary whale,! This is their whole life. This is all that is important in life. Getting ready, for that next hunt, as it takes a whole year, just to get ready, there is just so much to do. In the beginninig of this thread you saw an umiaq being brought down to the lead opening and it was on .. a sled !!

    these children copy & mimick every detail; of that which they see their parents do.

    It is 9:00 a.m. Easter sunday Morning and the temp is 40 below. This is our #1 best selling image for 20 years.



    Again, I am walking, whew, lots & lots of walking, this must be the reason I am still alive. so much difficult walking out on that ocean ice. I hear.. .. "children.. giggling, behind some huge ice wall I am walking past. I came into view and there she was whoa !! Daisy !

    The girl on the far left Rachel Koonuk laughs as she says.. "wanna see me eat snow" ?

    Daisy Della Fay Koonuk - close cousin to Rachel, and Doreen Long is in the middle. It is more than 30 below here. and these children will play out all day long, all night long, (may)because if you stay out in that sun, you easily become solar powered and it is so easy to say awake and alert for 3 days or longer. No one knows which day of the week it is out here and no one cares. but those 8 weeks are packed with lots of fun.



    Children.. I just love to capture children, naturally, and some of my very best; most powerful images are of "children" of all ages !!

    Back on page one, YOU SAW; a little girl, cleaning some dirty stove pipes for the tent.






    she is only ten years old. I was watching her older sister cut up some whale blubber (MAKTAK) muck tuck) A = ah "blubber" flammable fat" !!

    This is what these people crave. this is what life is all about, food ! and giving thanks to the creator of all things.



    burp ! I walked over to Kathy, we are 7 miles out on the ice. she is sitting on the seat of a snowmachine, I asked if I could create a photograph of her, with my camera, she smiled

    I knew what I wanted before I ever approached her. but how to achieve this with her. I brought the camera up to compose and she began to smile, I brought the camera down and said No ! Please do not do that. I am not even here. you cannot even see me, I want you to look riht past me and through me. I brought that camera up and asked for my additional help !! ( always do this) and I wait, there it is,, yes yes yes ! -=[click]=-
    I spent 1/2 hour talking to this child.. .. and I only exposed one frame of film !


    I knew what I had just seen, Aningnah !! (oh so pretty).!!

    so many people in other forums have pm me and said. you shouldn't have cut the top of her fur ruff off. (chuckle) !! Excuse me, I am the creator of this image and as such I did not want that extra bit of nothing in this image, enough of it was there, the full focus of this image is that look in her face and eyes.

    This is our # 2 best selling image. .

  9. #34
    Arctic Man Majik_Imaje's Avatar
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    Re: High in the Arctic .. .. Eskimo !

    If I type in the word IGLOO no doubt you have heard that word, but do you know what an IGLOO IS ? I sincerly doubt that very much, you think an IGLOO is built out of snow or ice.. that is a myth ! that simply is not true, NOT FOR ALASKA EVER!

    First of all, in the Inupiaq language there are no O's or E's. Therefore the correct spelling of THAT WORD is Iglu

    Iglu = one dwelling place.

    Iglut = two dwelling places.

    Igluk = three or more dwellings.

    ever since the begining of time thousands of years ago, The Inupiaq people have always constructed an iglu out of whale bones and sod ! These ancient ruins are all over the place and still visible here today. and in many villages. From Kotzebue just over the Arctic circle clear up to Barrow and beyond, Kaktovik

    This is an Iglu, this broken down "condo" once had electricity running to it. The service drop is on the left hand side. one of the porclean insulators is still visible.



    When covered with snow, the inside of these dwellings were quite protected from
    the elements of the constant never ending strong Arctic winds.



    As you can easily see, there is quite a bit of room in some of these old units. Some of them were very long with rooms off to the side. Large families lived in these dwellings for 2,600 years and some of the old ancient ruins are still visible here today as the wind and erosion, uncovers earth and sod to display the ancient bones dug deep into the permafrost many thousands of years ago!



    All over the OLD TOWN SITE, ruins are still visible and more are becoming visible each year, The village of Point Hope had to be moved 2.5 miles south in the late 70's due to flooding. That is still a major problem today, we are only about 12 feet above sea level, one huge wave and we are all fish food!




    Bones are everywhere, and they have significant meanings and uses !

    and of course.. .. stories !


    Bones.. .. .. what is there to say about .. "bones" ?

    Well usually a subject not many would find interesting, except up here, because of the "varied" use of bones. A lot can be said and shown to explain many things and uses for "bones".

    The whalebone graveyard has jaw bones from many whales collected over many thousands of years.

    Nothing is ever wasted by the Inupiaq peoples. Jaw bones from whales mark grave sites and cermonial festival sites.

    The last chief of Point Hope (1920s era) is buried here. Atangorak.



    The whale bone graveyard is 1 mile away in the distance, yes it is that far away from this, grave which as you notice, for some reason is not among the people of Point Hope. He was not considered a nice person. He had six wives and took another man's wife for his # 7 th wife. He was murdered shortly there after. all of his six wives are buried here also !

    Jaw bones from a whale of that whaling captain are always used to mark their grave sites with the biggest whale that captain has ever "received".

    Kamaktoaq is a cermonial festival site used once a year @ whaling festival which is held each June, if we have been successful in receiving a whale.
    Point Hope used to have more than 20 clans, before the whaling companies arrived here. Now we have just two clans left. Kamaktoaq & Unisigsicauq.


  10. #35
    Arctic Man Majik_Imaje's Avatar
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    Re: High in the Arctic .. .. Eskimo !

    Back to the ocean ice :

    back out on the ocean ice.. these tents have to be moved each week because of the heat from the wood stove will cause the plly wood to sink down deep into the ice.. time to move and set up a new camp site at or very near the same location.



    fIRST THING that must be done, is get some new water for cleaning & washing. this is always done using snow. But which "type" of snow. In the U.S. we have one word, for that white stuff, that falls out of the sky landing on the ground. "Snow"! But in the Inupiaq language, that word is not enough. There are many different types of snow and as such in this world, you need to know exactly which type of snow your talking about. up here, this is very important.
    There are over 100 words in Inupiaq, to describe this white stuff ! There is also special methods to use to get "clean snow" for washing dishes and cleaning, not any type snow will do. it must be very clean.to find this type snow. you must walk and find some very hard snow and knock of the top crust, then down deep is your clean snow.

    When placed into this pot. we do not want to waste time, melting it several times. Melting it once is what we need.So to accomplish this. the snow has to be compressed as much as possible. A big pot of snow does not equal that much useable water to work with. This chore is done, all day long constantly we need much water for washing dishes, and cleaning other items.




    Once the tent is all set back up. we need water immediately. but first the new floor must be put down. four sheets of plywood at least are used and they must be washed first before putting them into place.

    A ten foot sled is against the wall, covered in caribou skins. At least 3 sleds are required for each camp. One for the hunters at the edgeof the ice.
    one for the inside of the tent and one for going back and forth to town to get more supplies and equipment.


    This is your arctic kitchen. miles out on the ocean ice pack for 8 weeks !!!

    Time to cook for 15 people in here.

    these people laugh and have so much fun, even in the most difficult of conditions




    I was a boyer on the Oktolliks crew for three years. I was amazed and exhausted from all the work that had to be done, during the night time.
    and I am replacing a 3 year old or a very young boys job and responsibility ! How they do this is beyond me. I was all thumbs. There is not much room here to work with and at least two or three women are sleeping in here. Once the women are awake and they do not need a boyers help any longer, that boyer is allowed to go to sleep at the back of the tent on the left side. It was just such a morning when I was told.. go to sleep. when I woke up some 3 -4 hours later. my eyes focused on the back of that tent wall. all I could see was red blood all over that canvas. blink blink I wasn't sure what I was looking at but it was blood. I moved my hands in front of my face and their was blood all over them. I bolted straight up sitting in that area looking at my hands and grabbing my body and clothes all over the place as fast as I could, to find the area of pain. There was none. I looked over at the cooks and I ust know they could see the question marks coming out of my head floating upward. Instantly they broke into that high pitched hysterical laughter that is heard all over the place out here constantly.
    Calvin was out on the ice. hunting ducks, he shot one, and it flew right into the tent and was flapping all over me while I was sleeping. I was in such a deep sleep. I never felt anything. but that story was told up and down the ice and in every village, news travels very fast up here.




    Out here, thre is just one thing we cannot do without. It is in every camp site. It is mandantory out here. but it is not allowed down near the lead opening where the hunters live.





    when the tent is moved, everything is broken down, the wood stove has to be off and cooled down to move.
    The stove pipes must be cleaned out as the soot is thick in side. Buring wood all day long, all night long for a week, coats the inside of these pipes, with a very thick layer of this soot (pualar)

    this is a very dirty job to do, but it you do this correctly, the process of using snow to clean out these pipes works perfectly in fact it is so easy to clean these, that children are given this important chore to do each week.

    Just make sure your wearing "old" gloves. scoop up a pipe full of snow, and empty it out. simple as that Keep repeating this simple procedure until the snow comes out clean. then the pipes are ready to connect to the tent / stove and fire it back up again.



    There she is. Cleaing stove pipes. do you recognize who that little child is ? That is Kathy Rock.. the young girl in the begining of this thread.



    Here they come "ducks" what can I say about duck hunting. ha ha..(chuckle)

    Two hunters were at the old town site. hunting ducks, waiting and two flew over in range of the shotguns. This is a true verifiable story. with any of these stories all you need is person's name and Point Hope Ak. 99766

    that letter will reach that person. two hunters raised their rifles and one of them squeezed that trigger. One duck fell. The other duck did a nose dive straight towards that hunters house. (very few "shacks in this area) as that duck was diving towards that hunters house, he took careful aim as that duck was flying down down down. BOOM he missed. as that duck was seen climbing high back up into the sky, the hunter had just successfully shot.. his dog!

    dem dux shore bee smart!!




    Delicous fresh duck soup, prepared out here daily, for many weeks.




    although there is a lot of work out here to do..
    Children are used to accomplish some of the simple
    chores. this is hard work none the less and every so often
    you just gotta take a break !!




    Some of the food is cooked outside if possible and always on the south side of the tent as the wind whips all over the place out here. There is only so much room inside that tent and many coleman stoves plus the wood stove are used all day long for a lot of difficult hard work.

    washing dishes out here. is a huge chore also. Nothing comes easy out here.





    Aquaq is getting ready to make caribou soup. tuttu is the name for caribou ("2 - 2 ")is the sound that word makes.
    Caribou meat is delicious, it has no fat in it.. If you grind up 3 pounds and fry it.. when finished there is less than 1/2 teaspoon of fat. Caribou tastes much like beef, depending on how you cook it.

    but it is delicious.

    There is a house here in town, that always has a dozen caribou sitting on top of that small roof.

    A tiny frozen fossilized "steak" in this town from the store.. is over 17 dollars. with a family of ten people it is impossible to feed that family at those outragous prices when you do not have a job.
    one of the herds up here above the Arctic circle have more than 400,000 animals !!

    there are less than 15,000 Inupiaq eskimos above the arctic circle.



    It is 20 below zero. does she look cold ? she is.. but it is only for a very short time.. and that "tingle" on your skin is very refreshing at times when working inside the crowded tent area.




  11. #36
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    Re: High in the Arctic .. .. Eskimo !



    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 COME 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!!

  12. #37
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    Re: High in the Arctic .. .. Eskimo !

    Wow, missed this the first time or two around. Good read and pictures.

  13. #38
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    Re: High in the Arctic .. .. Eskimo !

    Out on the ice: the bottom of that umiaq should be kept dry. They do not want that skin to freeze the skin to the

    ice, which could result in ripping that delicate skin. Great care must be taken for all equipment, The proper tools,

    the proper equipment, is checked and re-checked many times, Nothing can ever be taken for granted out here. Too many

    peoples lives are at stake in this endevor. This is hard core hunting to the maximum extreme.




    When that wind is blowing strong, you beter have a belt to put around your parky, to prevent that wind from blowing

    up inside the bottom of your parky, you will ve very cold, all day if that wind penetrates your clothing. This north

    wind is vicicious. unrelenting.



    There is plenty of time to sit, and watch, tell stories and act out favorite events on particular hunts. Issac

    Killigvuk is tellign his story, and I will tell you another, that person beside him to the right, Is his son

    Lazarus. Laz had an older brother named Jonah. One day Jonah's girl-friend and their baby, just got up and moved to

    anoher house. He could not handle the stress and pressure of the situation, he committed suicide, using a gun.

    Lazarus a few days later tried to do the same thing and blew the whole front of his face off and he lived. He has

    had countless reconstruction facial surgeries !



    Whenver anytype of animal is brought up on the ice, or into town at your house, some curious pets stop by to check

    it out, take s aniff and see what they can discern. Seals are used for food for people and for dogs, Walrus,

    caribou, and fish are the main parts of the diet, The favorite food is of course.. blulbber... fat.. .. 'flammable

    fat' !!



    Everyonce in a while, it is time to get back out on that trail and make it smoother, chop down the high spots and

    fill in the low spots and smooth it all out. This is important. or equipment will break down. Out here there is no

    place to go for spare parts. If something breaks, then that whole crew has to pay the price of the extra work

    involved without that mode of transportation.





    A whaling captain takes time out for me to create an image of him, while is high on the ice, his crew is sitting

    down on the sled in front of him watching the whole event unfold !!





    That wind is strong and it is cold, Seldom do you see these captains with thier hoods up like this. Only when it is

    very bitter cold, They have to put up their hoods to protect them from that wind. This is hard core hunting at its

    extreme. These temps can go way down and with wind chill, otten it gets down to 100 below zero!!



    The work that these women do each day is non stop, cutting food, preparing meals for all of the many different

    people that make up a crew. It is that Captains responsibility to feed that whole crew for the entire two months.

    That is every expensive. No one gets any pay for all of this work. In th event we catch no whale. it is has all be

    done for nothing !!. In 2006 we struck out. No whales !! A lot of very hard work, just to eat. and even that is not

    guaranteed !!




    Take that shot. it is the difference between getting food and going hungry. Our way of shopping is not getting food

    off the counter or off a shelf but out of the ocean. The choices are many, but you have to be a very good shot to

    get your food out here.




    Once that whale has been caught, then it is time to move all these ropes to the area where all the work is to be

    done, Whose camp site does this go to.. for now it waits at a half way ponit till the first successfull captain

    catches a whale. then the tedious work of laying out all of this rope is accomplished. There is a lot of work to

    rig for pulilng a whale out of the ocean, A whale weighs an incredible ton per foot. We have a 48 foot whale here.

    48 tons, That's a lot of weight for people power only to pull this whale out of the ocean and onto the ocean ice.




    Here they come, singing away, towing a whale, Paddling against the wind for 9 miles to bring that whale back to the

    camp of the captain that haprpooned it. All crews will converge on this one spot, for here the real work begins.




    Setting up the ropes for rigging this whale, is a pains taking process, everything must be checked and rechecked

    for there is no room for any mistakes.



    There is lots to do. cutting these holes in ice that is 8 - 10 feet thick. is no easy task to perform, It takes a

    lot of work. This is when the real work begins. It is time consuming to butcher a whale, Once it is started, it must

    be all finished before anyone can get any sleep. Round the clock workers are working, taking the necessay steps to

    get this entire whale back to the village into the freezers and into the underground ice cellars that are deep into

    the permafrost of the tundra.




    Once the whale lhas been brought over to the ice to the place where it will be pulled out of the water, several

    things have to be done. First a huge piece of maktak (muck tuck) is taken out of the middle of the back of the whale

    a 4 foot square piece. It is time for everyone to eat! YOu can see the piece that has been taken out, under the

    water on the right side of this image. It takes quite aq few people to move that piece of blubber.



    the whale is tied off. Time to take a break and everyone eats a portion of this whale. but we cannot eat it in the

    traditional manner, it must be cooked, it is too fresh to eat 'raw' and frozen. we boil it, and the pink blubber

    turns to a grey like substance in color and texture. It is quite good when eaten with mustard !!




    The flippers and flukes are taken off the whale, they are brought back to the village asap. to each of the homes of

    th elders for careful and close examination. the church bell is rung, over and over and over again and everyone in

    town knows the meaning of that bell. success !! Food. Myra Lisbourne runs down to the edge of the ice to help

    these two captains carry that flipper up to the sled. to be whisked back to the village. It is more than 50 below I

    don't see how she can do this with no gloves.!!


  14. #39
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    Re: High in the Arctic .. .. Eskimo !

    A lot of work and planning goes into getting ready to pull that whale out of the ocean, upon the ice.

    anything can go wrong, anything can happen, this is a lot of weight, 48 tons, 96,000 pounds! That is a lot of food

    to be dragged upon this ice.

    The ice 'ramp' must be carefully 'shaved" and smoothed out so that whale can 'slide" easily without getting caught

    on the edge of the ice itself.
    The block and tackle has to face the correct way. once the strain is put on here, this better lie in the correct way

    , without flipping in the opposite direction. Anything can go wrong out here and sometimes does in very tragic ways,

    that are totally unexpected !



    BARROW ALASKA NO PHOTOS: > 1991 This is the exact same situation, the next step, to put the massive strain on

    that whale and many people are pulling with all the collective strength they have, as one, to move that massive

    animal. It was at this point. 3 women from the hospital were watching, standing on the side as many others were,

    watching this climatic ending of getting that whale upon the ice.




    Without any warning, the 'O' ring snapped, broke, sped through the air like a speeding bullet, two women from the

    hospital were struck in the head(s). the block & tackle was shattered as well as their skulls, Everything went into

    the third woman who lived but will never be functional as an employee, many people were hurt very badly, a coast

    guard helicopter was dispatched to the ice to clean up and transport victims back to the hospital. Some of the

    hunters were given bags, to pick up the scattered 'brain matter' all over the ice. skull fragments with hair still

    attached were found and placed together. Everything was removed, cleaned up, prayers were said. .. .. 'this is in

    the past now, we have work to do now !!" Such is the way. of life on the ice. It was the first time, anything like

    this has ever happened in modern times that we know of. I posted this same story on CITY-DATA dot COM. enter:

    "floyd davidson" -
    A white man (tanik) ((ton eek)) - "Nalaugmii" (Pt. HOpe dialect) ((nah log me)) each word

    means the same thing "white man" and floyd is a typical know it all white man. Who just had to open his mouth as

    soon as I made this post. I am discusting he said. I am wrong, that did not happen only one woman was killed by

    getting hit in the chest were his words.. He had just called a "friend" on the phone, I was banned from that site

    and all three of my threads were closed.

    When this incident happened I was in Anchorage, word quickly spread all over the entire state of Alaska. It was

    published in the news papers that two women died, from having their skulls smashed, We spoke recently to one person

    who was down there. He was one of the hunters that were given bags to go around and pick up all the "brain matter"

    and other portions & parts of what once were people. Sad but true. But it jsut shows todays mind set. Find something

    wrong with someone's post and blabber away and put them down, even if it isn't true.!! Ol floyd has a wonderful web

    site, completle with photo essays of the Inupiat whaling, taken from the edge of the road! Once I remarked about

    the site design he quickly took it down and posted a new look. 1,307 visitors in 6 years is something to be proud of

    on the front page for sure.!!

    that "ramp" for the whale to slide on and up on the ice requries quite a bit of work to get the angle of the slope

    correctly smoothed out, no jagged edges for the tail to get caught on.




    Arrange all of the ropes, get them laid out just right, make sure nothing ever gets crossed or tangled. A simple yet

    very important task is how these ropes are placed on the ice.



    There is "humor" in everything that is done out here, on the ice,

    trying to portray it, is often a challenge.!




    As you can easily see, there is a lot of different ropes laid out
    in different configurations. neatly, precisely, in the manner in which
    it is done, each and every year. Nothing changes out here, except
    the arraignment of the ice.




    People are notified, people, more people are on their way. this is going to require
    a lot of people to pull this out. but in Barrow, Perry Hopson told me that just 9
    people on his crew pulled out a 50 foot whale!! I have no idea how that is ever
    possible, but he insisits his crew did just that !




    Everything seems to be ready, time to put a strain on these ropes and see what happens.
    this whale must not flip over, everything must remain straight, swivels are used
    in key locations to prevent the "swivel" action associated with placing such a huge
    strain on the block & tackle.



    finaly everything is checked and rechecked and make sure every one is out of the way.
    There are plenty of people around watching, that is always the case.
    Making sure no one gets hurt is always the Captains responsibility.
    He gives the final word. when everything is ready, all eyes and ears are on him.







    At certain times, adjustments must be made, and everyone has to grab that rope to prevent it from moving.
    Sometimes the simplest of chores requires a hundred people !!
    It is impossible for me to capture a 48 foot whale inside of this viewfinder,
    but to give you an idea of just how much work is involved, you can see the size;
    of a 48 foot whale, in relationsip to he size of the people working on it.




    Seventeen grueling hours later, we finally have this animal upon the ice, without any cracking or breaking. 1/2 of

    the entire head had to be removed from the whale, with workers using umiaq's out in the water to accomplish this

    very difficult task. Everytime we got this whale upon the ice, the ice would crack and break, and we had to start

    all over again. This was a very difficult day.



    Pull.. Pull... everyone, pulling at once.. ONE COLLECTIVE GRUNT !!



    It took a lot of time for me to move all over the place out here. huff puff.
    this is no easy task, It is cold, yet Iam too hot.
    trying to put this all in perspective with such a huge animal to portray
    effectively is no easy task, especially when there are so many people
    gethered around the important areas.



    I have learned one thing up here. how to wait, watch, look & listen.
    the time will come, when I can move in and get a much better look
    at some point I have to help, I just can't stand here.


    Finally, after all of that work, Success !

    All of this work,for just one purpose. so that everyone can eat their favorite food.

    blubber, maktak - fat - 'flammable fat' This is what these people live for.

    their favorite food to enjoy. their whole lives revolve around the whale, they worship the whale!
    it takes a complete whole year, just to get ready, to go whaling ! there is that much work that must be done.




    Everyone is bent over, tired, exhausted,

    sweating out here is not good.

    I hear some one, calling my name.

    I turn around to see smiling faces and this 'scene' !!



    The whale is upon the ice, Now it is all carefully marked out, in the traditional manner, for each of the shares,

    that everyone in the entire village gets a portion of. Each of the crews gets their shares based on in which

    particular order they reached that whale after it had been harpooned.
    Most of the whales head is gone, froM the butchering that was done in the umiags to lighten the load.




    This is no easy task to butcher up the entire whale. This is gong to take a great amount of time,
    everything is done in a systematic way and method, for everyone receives 'shares' for the roles they play in the

    work involved.

    Here is a one in a lifetime opportunity. My shares which were given to me for my part as 'boyer' for the

    Oktollik crew 3 years in a row. um ? er. ah ! what am I going to do with all of this ??

    I traded it all, for a bag, of M&M's (peanut of course)! burp !


  15. #40
    Arctic Man Majik_Imaje's Avatar
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    Re: High in the Arctic .. .. Eskimo !

    Whaling Festival - 3 days of non stop fun ( Point Hope ) !! A time of great rejoicing for the food we have received.

    in Barrow it is different. whaling Festival is only one day long. The traditions are different also in how certain things are done.

    Point Hope - is the oldest of all the villages. This 3 day non - stop event features visitors from all over Alaska - many people from other states and even many countries, such as France, Japan, Russia and more.

    Whaling Festival = 'Qagarauq' (Cog Ah rook) (Point Hope dialect).

    all villages have their own unique dialect !! from Kotzebue clear up to Barrow - in each village - some words are different !!

    Whaling Festival = Nalakutaq (Barrow Dialect) Nah Lah Koo tuck

    In Point Hope Nalakutaq is just one part of the festival - 'blanket toss' !!



    There is much about blanket toss - nalakutaq- that most people do not know about or understand and again, it is different in Barrow than in Point Hope.

    In Barrow ( 1,500 ) years younger than Point Hope, Different traditions are honorered or respected.

    ANYONE may get on the blanket, and go for a ride into the sky.

    But in Point Hope - A mother - with a first born son - gets on that blanket to 'throw' gifts to the crowd.

    Do you think the NFL is tough ?? nah !! The NFL football league has 'rules'.

    Blanket toss has no rules - This is for keeps !! This is taken very seriously by the oldest elders of the village - the women - !!

    We are talking about women in their 80's & 90's !! DIVING HEAD FIRST - running - jumping - grabbing & throwing - that child out of the way !!

    If any child - gets their hands on any of the 'gifts' it is going to be a bad year (next year) for hunting success - THEREFORE - .. .. 'anything goes' !!

  16. #41
    Senior Member
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    Thumbs up Re: High in the Arctic .. .. Eskimo !

    Fantastic images, beautiful people, extremely well done. National Geographic's offer was indeed a GROSS INSULT, the photographs are priceless.

    Thanks for sharing.
    Bill,

    Feel Free TO EDIT My Photos, But Please Tell Me Why
    I have gone over to the dark side, no more film.
    Canon T2i, 18-135 IS
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  17. #42
    Senior Member armando_m's Avatar
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    Re: High in the Arctic .. .. Eskimo !

    Absolutely fantastic thread, thank you so much for sharing this photos and your story.

    Differences to the more civilized work are so wide that make the story incomprehensible,
    for me the extremes are simply beyond the scale of my experience.

    I can only wonder the incredible effort to go through one single day, it becomes mind blowing when one think of years spent in that magnificent community, which bases it existence on the work of every single one of them.

    How long have you lived with them ?
    Where are you when you are writing on the internet?

    Thanks again for sharing !

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