Photo-Essay of Life in the Arctic - ALASKA (Barrow, Hope: camp, inspection)

[Sunset_Va]

Rance, if you are reading, my suggestion for all of Majik's postings to be entered in to a sticky,perhaps titled Life in Barrow.

He has really contributed to this forum and the world.

[Bruce 01]

Majik, thank you so much for your priceless pictures and stories! I've just spent most of my Sunday morning reading this thread, couldn't stop! It is all beyond amazing, and I await for more!

[Majik_Imaje]

And here they come.. right on schedule.. ducks.



We have the best times. and the very best food(s) out here, and a whole lot of fun all day every day There is n0 such thing as a "monday morning" out here. no one cares one bit which day of the week it is.. or even which month it is. Just camp out and have fun, and hunt and play and eat, with plenty of the kewlest stories your ever going to hear.




Two ducks.. LOL .. these "things with wings" are a whole heck of a lot smarter than you would ever think. Yes it is story time once again. At the old town site, many decades ago. long before I ever arrived. this event actually happened. Two hunters were near by a certain hunters house. Waiting for ducks.. Two of them are headed this way.. just two, that's all. One of the hnters took careful aim, and blasted one of them ducks right out of the sky. The other duck immediately dove straight for that hunters house. Again the hunter took careful aim, and waited and shot.. ..his dog.. that duck climbed high high back into the sky !!




Just how good do you think you are with a rifle, you have perhaps 3 seconds to nail that seal out there. These are the very best hunters in the world. LOL and each year they find out just who is the best, using that rifle or any rifle for that matter. and the winner is.. for about 20 years.. the same person would win this contest hands down year after year after year for a very long time.. it wan't even a hunter.!! True story.. ask anyone. doreen koonuk she never went hunting. but every year when this contest is held. she would always choose a different hunters rifle and just ask one question. how does your rifle shoot ? high or low or right or left. she would embarasses these hunters year after year. and win that prize.



Delicous fresh duck soup, delicous caribou soup, every day, we eat well, get a long oh so well. the village life for me is just the ultimate. Everyone is so well known by everybody. Everybody knows the inside of everyones house. This is one incredbily team oriented, functioning community that "acts" and "lives" at ONE.



All day long, ducks ducks ducks. for weeks ducks ducks ducks. when they "katak" (fall). then we go out to get them in umiaq's.

[Majik_Imaje]

.. .. .. .. .. is very tiny, and many people have to work together as one, to cook so much food for so many people, so many times each day. You have to have your act down pat to pull this off in such a tiny "messy" place of mass chaos. FORGET THE FACT THAT IT IS WELL BELOW ZERO. don't pay attention to the vicious unrelenting bitter winds. There is just so much to do.

The hunters never sleep, they are always at the ready for days on end. But these women are totally exhausted after the events of feeding so many people so many times each and every day for 8 weeks, hmmm 15 x 4 = 60 plates per day, um, 420 (chuckle) plates per week. thats as far as I can go using my head, I want to type. not get out paper and pencil to figure that monthly figure. but the #'s are staggering.. here is your kitchen. and bedroom. ha ha ha. notice there is no kitchen sink. This is an extremly choreographed ballet in the middle of mass chaos.

er.. .. please forgive the "mess" !!



Alapa (Ah lah pah) = "cold" and once you open this flap, your making this tent cold inside. Your kitchen is very drafty, make sure your dressed warm.

How to dress. Everyone basically for all practical purposes dresses the same. After basic undergarments then two very loose T-shirts, at least one good flannel shirt, sweater, hooded sweat shirt, spring jacket, and then final parky.

For the "bottoms" same basic loose layer build up, with one item that is the most important. with out this your gonna be colder, we do a lot of sitting.
after basic undergarments comes the most important item. GYM SHORTS. then your loose fitting sweat pants.. then your jeans, then your ski pants, which often come off during the day.

Dirty clothes cannot keep you warm, those pores need to breathe and trap layers of "air" this is what keeps you very warm. especially when sitting, without those gym shorts you will notice the difference.

When your dressed correctly. nothing can make you cold. your very comfortable and warm. Sitting, standing on ice 24 / 7 can present a huge problem if you do not have proper foot wear. Bunny boots were fantastick not once in decades did my feet ever get cold. Even without socks.

Its time to move the tent.



Once a week the tent must be broken down and moved, the heat from that woodstove causes the plywood to sink down into the ice. uh uh.. time to move. again this is no easy task. The plywood must be washed and cleaned. huge amounts of snow must be melted to do this. Everything comes out and moves and gets set back up one important step at a time.



The boyer sleeps at the back of the tent, when it is his time to go to sleep.
which is usually from about 10:00 - 1:00 a.m. you really do not require that much sleep out here, especially when you are exposed to that bright blinding sunlight each day.
(chuckle), Story time: LOL, I had just been told by one of the cooks that I could go to sleep now. I was a boyer. !! damn that was hard work. whew, busy busy busy non - stop. it was time for bed and I took my place at the back of the tent and fell asleep. when I awoke, my eyes focused on the back of that tent wall. it was all bloody. blink, blink. what is this ?? I brought my face in front of my hands and there was blood all over them. I bolted upright and had huge question marks floating out of my head as I was grasping my body all over , looking for areas of pain. there were none, it was then that I looked over to my right at the cooks standing there waiting, working, looking at me when I sat up.. they burst into hysterical laugher once again. that high shrill pitch of laughter.!!! I have absolutely no idea what the fact is going on. The more bewildered I look the more these women are bent over laughing holdng their stomachs with tears running down their face.

Calvin was out on the ice, hunting ducks, he nailed one, but not quite good enough. from almost a mile away that duck flew into that tent and was flapping all over me as I slept so soundly.

I keep saying this. .. .. anything can happen at any time, out here with absolutly no warning what so ever




Irma Oktollik is working those stoves, many stoves are used in each tent to create and cook that amount of food for so many people, so many times each and every day, and dont' forget them doughnuts. !! everyone is waiting
and no one ever complans about anything. I have never ever seen and met such happy people, no matter in which village I have lived. / worked in.




Once that plywood is cleaned and put back into place it is constantly kept clean and swept up. What do we use to sweep with? a good size feather !! they work so perfect.





this is not as simple as you may think. all of the stove pipes must be cleaned out to get all of that soot out. it is easy to burn down a tent out here, I have never seen any boyer do it, but I have seen two captains accomplsih this great feat. One whaling captain was so embrassed he said to me,. put that camera away and go sompeplace else.



This is just one of those messy chores that has to be done once a week. Use a pair of old gloves. this stuff is messy, just let the snow do all the work, scoop it up, empty it out, and repeat until all of the snow comes out clean.

[stiffnecked]

That reminds me so much of the "shooting station" out by NARL. We would get at least 4 or 5 calls a week to go out there during duck hunting. Not that anyone was trying to do anything on purpose. But a few of the more intoxicated hunters would be aiming and shooting at things that were'nt flying threw the air. We would go out there and take their shotguns away. Then when they sobered up they could come into Public Safety and get there shotguns back.

[laysayfair]

Wow! That was amazing. Thank-you so much for sharing!

[trlhiker]

This is an amazing thread, thanks for posting and showing us city folk how you live.

[Majik_Imaje]

I am amazed at how some people cry and gripe over temps such as -8 degrees.

that is warm up here for us.

20 below is the temp in these photographs. but you will never think that is the case becasue these people look too comfortable sort of !!



the begining of making caribou soup: Fresh delicious caribou soup is made daily out here on the ice. these cooks work non stop, for extremly long hours cooking all the food for their crew. Caribou is called "2-2" two two tuttuu. it is delicous and tastes much like beef, dependng on how you cook it.

There is virtually no fat in caribou meat, grind up three pounds and fry it up in a skillet. when finished there is perhaps 1/2 teaspoon of fat.

Usnig an Ulul knife is just the easiest way to cut 'anything" these women all have collections of home made "ulu" knives of all sizes in their kitchens at hom. Even down to very tiny ones used in sewing.

They are very sharp, extremly safe, easy to use as a knife, It is virtually imposible to cut yourself using one.
















It does not matter how big or how small you need to cut, These Ulu's are the best knife ever designed thousands of years ago.

this is how maktak is eaten, raw & frozen, in tiny thin stips, salt or dipped in seal oil.







nice kitchen to work in eh? A Kitchen of ice.





Doughnuts, always a nice treat out here. but there is one thing we can't do without down here on the ice. but it is not allowed down at the lead opening. sssshh!! Quiet at the lead, but in every tent.. .. Music is a must !

As the work continues, people are fed.




the wait continues all day & night long, right here 24 / 7 Most people would consider this very boring. but you can feel the excitement in the air all around us.





but at the end of the day in April.. sigh. darkness creeps in, time to say good night !! see you again.. .. in the morning !!

[My2cats1]

Majic,
Have you ever considered having your photos published? These would make a wonderful book.

[Majik_Imaje]

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 .

There was a tragedy out on the ice last year. It was the first time I had ever heard of this type accident. it was on a trail. two machines came over the same exact place at the same precise moment in time. they were both members of the same crew. One snow machine and one 4 wheeler.

THEY WERE WARNED:

They didn't listen, that's all it takes up here. So many young people have died in the last 5 years, precious people, very close personal friends. and it was in each and every case, the same exact thing, they didn't listen and obey the very last words spoken to them.

My landlord was out hunting one day Tony Weber. (sob) he shot a beluga whale, that morning, and all was well, sorta. for one he had no business being out on that ice hunting .. nope.. 3 whaling captains were having a funeral that day. Out of respect for those great hunters he should have not been on the ice. That afternoon, he shot another beluga (greed) he was warned. do not go out there for that animal, it is too far out and the sea is too rough.
Tony's last words were, "I think I can make it".

Tony got into a small one man umiaq and padled out there. He tied the beluga to his umiaq and started to paddle back, half way back, that beluga came back to life and dove, taking the umiaq down and Tony into the water. He was gone. The word went out and many people searched for his body, many miles away sea gulls were spotted and then they found him floating face down drown. another very good friend is gone, whew.

Death is no stranger here in Point Hope. some of the most tragic things have happened here in recent years.



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.



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!




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 deep and avoid us, 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 itself 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,,, that 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!!