Breaking Trail in Barrow for Whaling !! (Kotzebue, Point Hope: storage, dangerous, moving)

[JohnPF]

You mean this?

(CNN) -- The indigenous people of Alaska have stood firm against some of the most extreme weather conditions on Earth for thousands of years. But now, flooding blamed on climate change is forcing at least one Eskimo village to move to safer ground.
Floodwaters rip through the village of Newtok, Alaska, destroying its infrastructure.






The community of the tiny coastal village of Newtok voted to relocate its 340 residents to new homes 9 miles away, up the Ninglick River. The village, home to indigenous Yup'ik Eskimos, is the first of possibly scores of threatened Alaskan communities that could be abandoned.

'Climate change' forces Eskimos to abandon village - CNN.com

[Floyd_Davidson]

Originally Posted by blueflames50

Jessie...what is the outcome if you cannot go whale hunting??? what happens to the village and what do they do for food??? very sad situation indeed.

All of the dramatic story telling is indeed fascinating, but a few down to earth bits of reality would help now and then too.

The spring whale hunt is fun. It involves the entire community, working together. But if not a single whale is caught this spring it is very unlikely to have much effect on Barrow. That is because the fall whale hunt is significantly different.

In the fall 3 to 5 guys in a large power boat go find a whale and shoot it. Then they and any crew that feels they will gain more by helping with the towing process than by continuing to look for their own whale, will tow the whale to Barrow. The Barrow Whaling Captain's Association in recent years has limited the harvest to 3 whales per day due to the strain on resources to butcher more than that in a single day. And at 3 a day it takes only a few hours for all three to be history.

Barrow has a quota of 22 bowhead whales per year, and might also harvest 2 or 3 from the quotas of other villages (they then share the meat). It is very reasonable to figure that a fall whale hunt could produce 25 whales for Barrow crews without even stressing the fabric!

Hence catching a whale this spring is great, but the community effort is actually what it is all about. If meat production falls short, the fall season is still going to fill the pantry.

[Floyd_Davidson]

Originally Posted by warptman

They go to the AC Store.

But consider what would happen to Bethel if nobody caught even one fish for a whole year. Not one.

Thousands and thousands of pounds of food would have to be brought in by air cargo. Imagine the cost.

In Barrow it is a little easier to calculate an educated guess. The bowhead quota is 22 per year. The average whale caught is about 40 feet long, and a bowhead weighs about a ton per foot of length. So the dead weight of whale meat supplied to Barrow is about 1.76 million pounds. If only half of that is edible, we have 880,000 pound of food. That is for an Inupiat population of about 2400 people. About 1 pound of whale meat per person per day.

Who would be paying to ship 880,000 pounds of food to Barrow if whaling was a total failure?

[warptman]

I wonder if Val has any leftover strips? Yum...

[JohnPF]

if nobody caught even one fish for a whole year. Not one.

They sure look like fish, but of course are not fish but rather mammals, just like us

[Floyd_Davidson]

Originally Posted by JohnPF

They sure look like fish, but of course are not fish but rather mammals, just like us

Except the statement was about fish, not whales.

Salmon, whitefish, lush... it's what feeds Bethel. Bowhead whale is what feeds Barrow. Two similar places in many ways, and distinctly different in others.

[JohnPF]

By the way, how is bowhead cooked?

[Floyd_Davidson]

Originally Posted by JohnPF

By the way, how is bowhead cooked?

Cooked?

[JohnPF]

I knew this was not a proper term. Well, the whale is cut up and than what? Fried, smoked, dried, eaten raw?
All of the above? Different uses for different parts of it?

[stiffnecked]

Originally Posted by JohnPF

I knew this was not a proper term. Well, the whale is cut up and than what? Fried, smoked, dried, eaten raw?
All of the above? Different uses for different parts of it?

You forgot fermented.

I'm sure their is a better explanation somewhere.

http://www.whaling.jp/english/isana/no32_03.html

In mid-June, the "Qagroq" feast takes place to celebrate the successful whaling for the year. The feast, joined by all the townsfolk, lasts for three days.
On the first day of the feast, "Mikiaq"--a mixture of fermented whale skin, blubber, meat and blood--was given out to the people who gathered at the feast. On the second day, "Avarraq," sliced tail fin, was served.
On the third day, all the parts of the whale--the heart, intestines and other viscera such as the kidneys, were boiled and served to the people. Also Muktuk and meat were given. Besides whale meat, I could see various kinds of wildlife meat, such as Beluga, bearded seals, walrus and caribou.
Seeing the happy smiling faces of people eating whale and other wildlife meat during the feast, I came to know how the traditional diet is important to them.

http://pics.caseyhalverson.com/photo/98903/original

http://www.nativevillage.org/Message...s/Apuqauti.htm