This video, adapted from material provided by the ECHO (Education through Cultural & Historical Organizations) partners, provides great insight into the lives of contemporary subsistence whalers.  Check it out.

While corporate funded think tanks and their political lackeys told us the science was out on global warming, others were already dealing with its harmful effects. For over a decade many Inupiaq of northwest Alaska have been watching their villages erode away, tearing apart at centuries of their subsistence way of life. Warming waters prevent the formation of sea ice that protects their island shores from storms, leading to widespread erosion and endangering their lives. For many years they have been trying to piece together a relocation plan to save their communities, but suffer from lack of funding and a coordinated government body to deal with this problem. Here is the story of one of those villages, Shishmaref:

Today I want to share a very good general resource I found las week: the Alaska Native Collections site, by the Smithsonian institute. Despite its name, the site includes information about Alaska but also about Russia or other polar contruies. The site is not only beautifully designed but also packed with a lot of maps, photographies and information, allowing the visitor to learn about the arctic cultures easily. If you just want to learn a few basics, you can do a quick reading, if you want to deep more, you just need to open the “Read more” sections.

Through the Sharing Knowledge project, members of Indigenous communities from across Alaska and northeast Siberia are working with the Smithsonian Institution and the Anchorage Museum to interpret the materials, techniques, cultural meanings, history, and artistry represented by objects in the western arctic and subarctic collections of the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) and National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) in Washington, D.C. The Arctic Studies Center, which organized and implemented the project, is a special research program within the Department of Anthropology, NMNH, with offices in Washington and at the Anchorage Museum in Alaska.

The goals of Sharing Knowledge are to make the Smithsonian collections accessible to all and to support cross-cultural learning among Indigenous home communities, in schools, and around the world. Interest in the extraordinary arts and cultural heritage of the North is truly global in scope. Participants in this project are Elders, scholars, artists, and teachers who invite all to explore, learn, and appreciate.

The combined holdings of NMNH and NMAI are vast—more than 30,000 items from Alaska and northeast Siberia, most collected between the mid-19th century and the mid-20th century. The great majority has never been published, exhibited, or seen by contemporary residents of source communities in the North. Collaborative study of these collections for Sharing Knowledge began in 2001-2005, with a series of trips to the museums in Washington by more than forty Elders and regional representatives. This documentation process will continue as many more objects are brought from Washington to new Smithsonian exhibition galleries and Arctic Studies Center facilities at the Anchorage Museum, starting in 2010. Through its alliance with the Arctic Studies Center (since 1993) and its planned physical expansion to house these programs and collections, the Anchorage Museum has become an important Smithsonian partner in fostering the collaborative work of museums and Native communities.

Object records on this site include edited transcripts of museum discussions as well as summaries drawn from history, anthropology, and recorded oral tradition. The Cultures section includes regional introductions and information about contributors. The Resources section offers reading materials, web links, and a curriculum guide with lesson plans designed for middle and high school students.

The Sharing Knowledge site reflects the current state of an on-going project, with inevitable gaps and uneven representation of the different cultural regions. It will grow over time as more information is recorded and new contributors can be brought into the discussion. Please watch the site for continually updated materials and features.

Photography (C) Larry McNeil

As I mentioned this place has tones and tones of info about the cultures and the people, so it seems an unforgetable place to ask for help whenever I can manage to do the big trip!

Few months ago I promised to deepen in the Alaska Native Languages Center of the University of Alaska Fairbanks. So did I, and I listed all the languages they describe ont heir site:

Aleut: Unangax^ (Aleut) is one branch of the Eskimo-Aleut language family. Its territory in Alaska encompasses the Aleutian Islands, the Pribilof Islands, and the Alaska Peninsula west of Stepovak Bay. Unangax^ is a single language divided at Atka Island into the Eastern and the Western dialects. Of a population of about 2,200 Unangax^, about 300 speak the language. This language was formerly called Aleut, a general term for introduced by Russian explorers and fur traders to refer to Native Alaskan of the Aleutian Islands, the Alaska Peninsula, Kodiak Island, and Prince William Sound (see the section on the Alutiiq language). The term Unangax^ means ‘person’ and probably derives from the root una, which refers to the seaside. The plural form ‘people’ is pronounced Unangas in the western dialect and Unangan in the eastern dialect, and these terms are also sometimes used to refer to the language. The indigenous term for the language is Unangam

Alutiiq: Alutiiq (Sugpiaq) is a Pacific Gulf variety of Yupik Eskimo spoken in two dialects from the Alaska Peninsula to Prince William Sound, including Kodiak Island. Of a total population of about 3,000 Alutiiq people, about 400 still speak the language. Although traditionally the people called themselves Sugpiaq (suk ‘person’ plus -piaq ‘real’), the name Alutiiq was adopted from a Russian plural form of Aleut, which Russian invaders applied to the Native people they encountered from Attu to Kodiak. Closely related to Central Alaskan Yup’ik, the Alutiiq language is divided into the Koniag and the Chugach dialects. Koniag Alutiiq is spoken on the upper part of the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island (and Afognak Island before it was deserted following the 1964 earthquake). Chugach Alutiiq is spoken on the Kenai Peninsula from English Bay and Port Graham to Prince William Sound where it meets Eyak. The first work on Alutiiq literacy was done by Russian Orthodox monks Herman and Gideon and the talented student Chumovitski, although their progress continued only until about 1807 and almost none of their work survives. After that, a few others – notably Tyzhnov, Uchilishchev, and Zyrianov – worked on the language during the Russian period, producing a translation of Matthew, a Catechism, and primer, but they achieved less success than those who worked in Aleut. The first modern linguistic work on Alutiiq was done by Irene Reed in the early 1960s and by Jeff Leer beginning in 1973. Leer has produced both a grammar and a dictionary of Koniag Alutiiq for classroom use.

Ahtna: Ahtna Athabascan is the language of the Copper River and the upper Susitna and Nenana drainages in eight communities. The total population is about is about 500 with perhaps 80 speakers. The first extensive linguistic work on Ahtna was begun in 1973 by James Kari, who published a comprehensive dictionary of the language in 1990.

Central Alaskan Yup’ik: Central Alaskan Yup’ik lies geographically and linguistically between Alutiiq and Siberian Yupik. The use of the apostrophe in Central Alaskan Yup’ik, as opposed to Siberian Yupik, denotes a long p. The word Yup’ik represents not only the language but also the name for the people themselves (yuk ‘person’ plus pik ‘real’.) Central Alaskan Yup’ik is the largest of the state’s Native languages, both in the size of its population and the number of speakers. Of a total population of about 21,000 people, about 10,000 are speakers of the language. Children still grow up speaking Yup’ik as their first language in 17 of 68 Yup’ik villages, those mainly located on the lower Kuskokwim River, on Nelson Island, and along the coast between the Kuskokwim River and Nelson Island. The main dialect is General Central Yup’ik, and the other four dialects are Norton Sound, Hooper Bay-Chevak, Nunivak, and Egegik. In the Hooper Bay-Chevak and Nunivak dialects, the name for the language and the people is “Cup’ik” (pronounced Chup-pik). Early linguistic work in Central Yup’ik was done primarily by Russian Orthodox, then Jesuit Catholic and Moravian missionaries, leading to a modest tradition of literacy used in letter writing. In the 1960s, Irene Reed and others at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks developed a modern writing system for the language, and their work led to the establishment of the state’s first school bilingual programs in four Yup’ik villages in the early 1970s. Since then a wide variety of bilingual materials has been published, as well as Steven Jacobson’s comprehensive dictionary of the language and his complete practical classroom grammar, and story collections and narratives by many others including a full novel by Anna Jacobson.

Deg Xinag: Deg Xinag (also Deg Hit’an; formerly known by the pejorative Ingalik) is the Athabascan language of Shageluk and Anvik and of the Athabascans at Holy Cross below Grayling on the lower Yukon River. Of a total population of about 275 Ingalik people, about 40 speak the language. A collection of traditional folk tales by the elder Belle Deacon was published in 1987, and a literacy manual in 1993.

Dena’ina: Dena’ina (Tanaina) is the Athabascan language of the Cook Inlet area with four dialects on the Kenai Peninsula, Upper Inlet area above Anchorage, and coastal and inland areas of the west side of Cook Inlet. Of the total population of about 900 people, about 75 speak the language. James Kari has done extensive work on the language since 1972, including his edition with Alan Boraas of the collected writings of Peter Kalifornsky in 1991.

Eyak: Eyak is not an Athabascan language, but a coordinate sub-branch to Athabascan as a whole in the Athabascan-Eyak branch of the Athabascan-Eyak-Tlingit language family. Eyak was spoken in the 19th century from Yakutat along the southcentral Alaska coast to Eyak at the Copper River delta, but by the 20th century only at Eyak. It is now represented by about 50 people but no surviving fluent speakers.only one remaining speaker, born in 1920 and living in Anchorage. Comprehensive documentation of Eyak has been carried out since the 1960s by Michael Krauss, including his edition of traditional stories, historic accounts, and poetic compositions by Anna Nelson Harry. The name Eyak itself is not an Eyak word but instead derives from the Chugach Eskimo name (Igya’aq) of the Eyak village site near the mouth of Eyak River (Krauss 2006:199). The Chugach word Igya’aq is a general term referring to ‘the outlet of a lake into a river.’
With the passing of Marie Smith Jones (pictured above with linguist Michael Krauss) on January 21, 2008 Eyak became the first Alaska Native language to become extinct in recent history.

Gwich’in: Gwich’in (Kutchin) is the Athabascan language spoken in the northeastern Alaska villages of Arctic Village, Venetie, Fort Yukon, Chalkyitsik, Circle, and Birch Creek, as well as in a wide adjacent area of the Northwest Territories and the Yukon Territory. The Gwich’in population of Alaska is about 1,100, and of that number about 300 are speakers of the language. Gwich’in has had a written literature since the 1870s, when Episcopalian missionaries began extensive work on the language. A modern writing system was designed in the 1960s by Richard Mueller, and many books, including story collections and linguistic material, have been published by Katherine Peter, Jeff Leer, Lillian Garnett, Kathy Sikorski, and others.

Haida: Haida (Xa’ida) is the language of the southern half of Prince of Wales Island in the villages of Hyadaburg, Kasaan, and Craig, as well as a portion of the city of Ketchikan. About 600 Haida people live in Alaska, and about 15 of the most elderly of those speak the language. Haida is considered a linguistic isolate with no proven genetic relationship to any language family. A modern writing system was developed in 1972.

Han: Hän is the Athabascan language spoken in Alaska at the village of Eagle and in the Yukon Territory at Dawson. Of the total Alaskan Hän population of about 50 people, perhaps 12 speak the language. A writing system was established in the 1970s, and considerable documentation has been carried out at the Alaska Native Language Center as well as at the Yukon Native Language Centre in Whitehorse.

Holikachuk: Holikachuk is the Athabascan language of the Innoko River, formerly spoken at the village of Holikachuk, which has moved to Grayling on the lower Yukon River. Holikachuk, which is intermediate between Ingalik and Koyukon, was identified as a separate language in the 1970s. The total population is about 200, and of those perhaps 12 speak the language.

Inupiaq:Inupiaq is spoken throughout much of northern Alaska and is closely related to the Canadian Inuit dialects and the Greenlandic dialects, which may collectively be called “Inuit” or Eastern Eskimo, distinct from Yupik or Western Eskimo. Alaskan Inupiaq includes two major dialect groups ? North Alaskan Inupiaq and Seward Peninsula Inupiaq. North Alaskan Inupiaq comprises the North Slope dialect spoken along the Arctic Coast from Barter Island to Kivalina, and the Malimiut dialect found primarily around Kotzebue Sound and the Kobuk River. Seward Peninsula Inupiaq comprises the Qawiaraq dialect found principally in Teller and in the southern Seward Peninsula and Norton Sound area, and the Bering Strait dialect spoken in the villages surrounding Bering Strait and on the Diomede Islands. Dialect differences involve vocabulary and suffixes (lexicon) as well as sounds (phonology). North Slope and Malimiut are easily mutually intelligible, although there are vocabulary differences (tupiq means ?tent? in North Slope and ?house? in Malimiut; iglu is ?house? in North Slope) and sound differences (?dog? is qimmiq in North Slope and qipmiq in Malimiut). Seward Peninsula and North Alaskan dialects differ significantly from each other, and a fair amount of experience is required for a speaker of one to understand the dialect of the other. The name “Inupiaq,” meaning “real or genuine person” (inuk ?person? plus -piaq ?real, genuine?), is often spelled “Iñupiaq,” particularly in the northern dialects. It can refer to a person of this group (“He is an Inupiaq”) and can also be used as an adjective (“She is an Inupiaq woman”). The plural form of the noun is “Inupiat,” referring to the people collectively (“the Inupiat of the North Slope”). Alaska is home to about 13,500 Inupiat, of whom about 3,000, mostly over age 40, speak the language. The Canadian Inuit population of 31,000 includes about 24,000 speakers. In Greenland, a population of 46,400 includes 46,000 speakers.

Koyukon: Koyukon occupies the largest territory of any Alaskan Athabascan language. It is spoken in three dialects – Upper, Central, and Lower – in 11 villages along the Koyukuk and middle Yukon rivers. The total current population is about 2,300, of whom about 300 speak the language. The Jesuit Catholic missionary Jules Jette did extensive work on the language from 1899-1927. Since the early 1970s, native Koyukon speaker Eliza Jones has produced much linguistic material for use in schools and by the general public.

Siberian Yupik / St. Lawrence Island Yupik: Siberian Yupik (also St. Lawrence Island Yupik) is spoken in the two St. Lawrence Island villages of Gambell and Savoonga. The language of St. Lawrence Island is nearly identical to the language spoken across the Bering Strait on the tip of the Siberian Chukchi Peninsula. The total Siberian Yupik population in Alaska is about 1,100, and of that number about 1,050 speak the language. Children in both Gambell and Savoonga still learn Siberian Yupik as the first language of the home. Of a population of about 900 Siberian Yupik people in Siberia, there are about 300 speakers, although no children learn it as their first language. Although much linguistic and pedagogical work had been published in Cyrillic on the Siberian side, very little was written for St. Lawrence Island until the 1960s when linguists devised a modern orthography. Researchers at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks revised that orthography in 1971, and since then a wide variety of curriculum materials, including a preliminary dictionary and a practical grammar, have become available for the schools. Siberian Yupik is a distinct language from Central Alaskan Yup’ik. Notice that the former is spelled without an apostrophe.

(Lower) Tanana: Tanana Athabascan is now spoken only at Nenana and Minto on the Tanana River below Fairbanks. The Athabascan population of those two villages is about 380, of whom about 30, the youngest approaching age 60, speak the language. Michael Krauss did the first major linguistic fieldwork on this language beginning in 1961, and this was continued by James Kari. Recent publications in the language include the 1992 edition of stories told by Teddy Charlie as recorded by Krauss in 1961, and a preliminary dictionary compiled by Kari in 1994.

Tanacross Athabascan: Tanacross is the ancestral language of the Mansfield-Ketchumstock and Healy Lake-Jospeph Village bands. It is spoken today at Healy Lake, Dot Lake, and Tanacross on the middle Tanana River. The total population is about 220, of whom about 65 speak the language. A practical alphabet was established in 1973 and a few booklets have been published at the Alaska Native Language Center, but Tanacross remains one of the least documented of Alaska Native languages.

(Upper) Tanana: Upper Tanana Athabascan is spoken mainly in the Alaska villages of Northway, Tetlin, and Tok, but has a small population also across the border in Canada. The Alaskan population is about 300, of whom perhaps 105 speak the language. During the 1960s, Paul Milanowski established a writing system, and he worked with Alfred John to produce several booklets and a school dictionary for use in bilingual programs.

Tlingit: Tlingit (Łingít) is the language of coastal Southeastern Alaska from Yakutat south to Ketchikan. The total Tlingit population in Alaska is about 10,000 in 16 communities with about 500 speakers of the language. Tlingit is one branch of the Athabascan-Eyak-Tlingit language family. A practical writing system was developed in the 1960s, and linguists such as Constance Naish, Gillian Story, Richard and Nora Dauenhauer, and Jeff Leer have documented the language through a number of publications, including a verb dictionary, a noun dictionary, and a collection of ancient legends and traditional stories by Tlingit elder Elizabeth Nyman.

Tsimshian: Tsimshian has been spoken at Metlakatla on Annette Island in the far southeastern corner of Alaska since the people moved there from Canada in 1887 under the leadership of missionary William Duncan. Currently, of the 1,300 Tsimshian people living in Alaska, not more than 70 of the most elderly speak the language. Franz Boas did extensive research on the language in the early 1900s, and in 1977 the Metlakatlans adopted a standard practical orthography for use also by the Canadian Coast Tsimshians.

Tunuu: although the early Russian fur trade was exploitative and detrimental to the Aleut population as a whole, linguists working through the Russian Orthodox Church made great advances in literacy and helped foster a society that grew to be remarkably bilingual in Russian and Unangax^. The greatest of these Russian Orthodox linguists was Ivan Veniaminov who, beginning in 1824, worked with Aleut speakers to develop a writing system and translate religious and educational material into the native language. In modern times the outstanding academic contributor to Unangax^ linguistics is Knut Bergsland who from 1950 until his death in 1998 worked with Unangax^ speakers such as William Dirks Sr. and Moses Dirks – now himself a leading Unangax^ linguist – to design a modern writing system for the language and develop bilingual curriculum materials including school dictionaries for both dialects. In 1994 Bergsland produced a comprehensive Unangax^ dictionary, and in 1997 a detailed reference grammar.

Upper Kuskokwim: Upper Kuskokwim Athabascan is spoken in the villages of Nikolai, Telida, and McGrath in the Upper Kuskokwim River drainage. Of a total population of about 160 people, about 40 still speak the language. Raymond Collins began linguistic work at Nikolai in 1964, when he established a practical orthography. Since then he has worked with Betty Petruska to produce many small booklets and a school dictionary for use in the bilingual program.

I have to compare this list of languages with the one provided by Ethnologue, but in case of non-coincidence I think that the ANLC is more reliable, as they work shoulder to shoulder with them.

Welcome, this is the post, This is the story, of;

High in the Arctic .. .. Eskimo !!

 This is a two month long journey, in sub zero temps you would never want to have to deal with. It is very cold, blistering cold with vicious winds. Alaska’s Arctic is unrelenting winds coupled with extreme temps that often reach minus 100 degrees below zero with wind chill.  (30 below W/40 miles an hour winds = 130 below !) You have no idea, what that feels like on your face, when driving into it @ 80 mph !!  On the North side of the beach of Point Hope is glass smooth ocean ice. When traveling to Kupak river, the throttle is full blast!

This ride out to the ocean ice, on this sled is one incredibly rough, ride. Being a pasenger on a sled is the absolute worst place to be. All of the snow and ice that the machine kicks up, ends up on me, the rider, this journey which is about 7 miles, takes, what seems like a few hours to complete, When we finally arrive down at the tent area, I feel like I have just played a game of tackle football, I am so sore all over, from the constant crashing of the sled as it comes down hard on the ocean ice.  The ocean ice, is not smooth, not by a long shot, The terrain is constantly changing, This trail has to be hand chopped using a pick and axe to smooth out this trail by hand,  this man pictured in this image, with the axe, is over 70 years old, chop down the high parts, smooth it all out and fill in the low portions, This is his job all day long, Keep this trail open.  Come along for a journey.   A most wonderful story in a far away unknown forgotten land.   This is very hard work, no easy task to stay out here all day long working, and the only reward or pay is..  ..  ..   that you get to eat ! 

Point Hope Alaska 99766

The oldest continually inhabited settlement or village in all of North America.

 Life can accuratly be traced back to over 3,000 years to this one spot of land, Over 10,000 Inupiaq residents used to inhabit this land and thrived and succeded in a climate where very few people could ever endure. The whaling compaines arrived in full force during the mid 1800’s. Through greed, disease, & mass starvation, the population was reduced to just 190 people. there was no food ! the whaling compaines made sure of that. The whale population was decimated, the walrus & the Caribou we no where to be found. Gone through greed. When the people of the village turned desperate, The skins were cut off the skin boats and cut up and boiled to make a soup, Lots of people died through that idea, which only make people sick and did not work at all.  Death is no stranger to this village, it frequents this tiny piece of land all to often, so many people that I have been so close to, have passed on so suddenly, most of them from cancer, from the nuclear waste that the government spread all over this area,..  .. (to see what effect it would have on the people, the land and the enviroment).  GOOGLE:   Project Chariot  -   The Firecracker Boys  for a shocking account of how stupid people, can make such bizzare decisions and out right murder over 300 people and no one is held accountable, the government says that is because of the use of tobacco products.  

A huge whaling ship was loaded up with tens of thousands of ivory tusks to ship back to the home port. It did not get very far due to the fact is was so severly overloaded with all that Ivory. The vessel sunk, just a few miles off the coast of Point Hope. In this next image, we are looking ’south”, the direction we are headed out to the ocean ice pack to the lead opening. Although the image above this text shows no ice, We have land fast ice some eight months out of the year.  Thanks to google’s eye in the sky, we can see lots up close and personal. Right here on this page.

We are on the south side of the village, headed 7 miles out, on the ocean ice, to gather food, for the next two months. The south side of the image above is at the top of the image, The south side of the image below this text is on the bottom of the image.

So now you have a good indication of where we are, which way we are headed, lets go, it is 30 – 50 below zero.  April – May is whaling season, today you can use any of the resources of the internet to watch our temps,  It is mild this year, very mild, this presents a problem. We need thick ice, thin ice is dangerous, extremly dangerous! Lets go, and see what happens. During the early 80’s we were located some 5 – 7 mies out on the ocean ice pack. During the 90’s, There was no ice and the Inupiat peoples were whaling from the shore. From 2002 – 2007 we have had the best ice we have seen in decades. Go figure!-?? there is a lot of controversy surrounding the new world order of ‘global warming’. We see the effects here first hand of the fragile tundra sinking due to the melting of the permafrost in all the surrounding regions, it won’t be long before Point Hope is just an island, all of the coastal villages are in grave danger due to erosion of the beaches and the tundra washing away into the sea. But for now, we are headed out here to gather food for the next two months, this spring hunt is always held in April – May, if good ice conditions still exist some familes stay out here as long as possible. Navigatng machinery, equipment & supplies out here is a time consuming slow process, Hundreds of people are moving out here, to set up camps along the edge of the ice, 19 whaling captains, In other posts I have used the number 17 & 18, but as of very recently I have been informed that now as of this hunt in 2008, that Tikigaq, now has  19 whaling captains, Joe Frankson & Elijah Attanganna are the oldest still active whaling captains in the village, Joe is over 70 years young, and still hunts a major portion of the year. He is very agile and quick witted and it is always a great pleasure to greet him.. hello there ‘young man’ ! Joe always smiles and gives me a hearty handshake and a good laugh !  These whaling captains setup a ‘gauntlet’ along the edge of the ice that spans some 10 miles. Each captain is spaced out 1/2 – 3/4 of a mile from each other, Now with modern convieniences such as CB radio & VHF radio’s, everyone is in constant touch with each other, along the ice, back at the tent areas, and even back, into the village, Everyone is aware of everything going on 24 /7 in real  time.   This makes it much easier when a whale is caught, everyone knows which camp to go to, for the amount of work and celebration will be immense, Here is what the women are up against,  take virtually everything out of your kitchen, that you use for food preparation, serving, & cooking, now add to that, all of the food necessary to feed 12 – 15 people three times each and every day for the next two months. This is quite an enormous amount of supplies and materials to move out here, on the frozen ocean ice, to be placed inside of such a tiny tent, to work and prepare meals. All of this material, supplies, and equipment have to be carefully brought down to the different areas, this is a slow difficult process to achieve in sub zero weather. Cracks can and do occur in various places on the ice pack and these huge cracks must be monitored very carefully. It is dangerous out here and the absolute worst thing is to get caught on the wrong side of the ice pack. That can spell disaster. Cracks occur all over the place, some are huge, some are tiny and you can’t see them, the ice is always cracking, that sound is very common out here, but to be alert, watchful and always aware of your immediate surroundings. A whole community, hundreds of people, all working together, independent of each other, doing the exact same things, the exact same way, time tested traditions, thousands of years old, all working together out here,, as ONE, to gather food, No one receives anything other than food. Those that are blessed to receive food, are thankful and share it with others less fortunate. Everyone depends on everyone else to make sure that the proper job(s) are accomplished. Those that have major cracks in their area(s) have to monitor them and give others the updates of; if this ice is worthy to inhabit or should we move to a different location. Anything can happen out here, at any time, and usually does, in many unexpected, bizzare ways.  Living out on the frozen ocean ice pack, with swift currents running underneath the ice, can at times present huge problems when we are out here, hunting.  It was on my second whale hunt, when suddendly a boyer came running down to the lead opening, screaming, .. .. “we are not on the ice”.  I looked down at my feet and wondered what the heck he was talking about. I was absolutely clueless as to what that statment meant, then I saw the panic in everyone as they began picking things up and tying hondas together with a rope and throwing them into the water, the hondas float upside down, they are cleaned later, no problem at all.  The umiaq was picked up and moved to a new location and people were put inside and brought to the other side. We were on the wrong side of the ice.  The ice had cracked behind us and no one at the lead opening was aware of this. One member of the crew I was with, looked at me and smiled and said. “how you getting back white man” ?  He was serious and I was scared. Luckily, everything turned out ok.  Such danger is always present out here. In all of the 5 whale hunts I have been on. No fatalaties occured, there were a few instances of people falling into the water, but everyone survived.  Each and every whaling camp is set up identical in each and every aspect, everything is put into the same exact spot or place in each camp site.  In the tents, a sled is placed on the right hand wall, covered with caribou skins to make it much more comfortable and warm(er) for sitting.  Many families stay together out here and set up tents next to each other, to help each other in a more proficient manner.   These women do an incredible amount of work daily and they never complain.  Work so hard, day in and day out and there is no pay for any of this incredibly hard work,  .. .. .. just the right to eat.  That is the only reward !  This is a very unique lifestyle here in the arctic, unlike anything that happens or occurs anyplace in the United States and in very few places all over the entire world.  GLOBAL WARMING means in effect global cooling and severe weather changes are due, and the cold(er) winter weather is headed to Europe and the East Coast of the United States, what does it mean for us up here in Alaska ? time will tell, but cold does not bother us up here, any situation, we are fully functinoning, there is no such thing as a day off from school because of bad weather,  That just never happens here, no matter what the weather.   This is a typical whaling camp for the hunters, this is their home, the women are in the tents doing the cooking all day long, the men are outside constantly 24 / 7 for the next two months, they have no place to go to warm up, This is their home, this is where they hunt, sit, eat, and sleep.  This image was captured at midnight in mid May. From mid may til the end of August will be not see or experience any darkness what so ever, constantly blinding sunlight, the moon and the sun are seen together in the sky  24 / 7 for the next 3 1/2 months. We do have periods of no darkness at all, but we never have periods of 24 hours of full darkness, that doesn’t happen. we always have some light during the day and it is bright enough to read a newspaper outside during the long dark winter months, everyday we get some light, dusk type light, for a couple of hours.  The idea of 6 months oftotadarkness and six months of total  light is pure myth !! (for Alaska ).  l  will go into this subject in much more detail later, It is mid May and the midnight sun is visible from now until the end of August. then we finally see darkness again. Then the days start to get shorter by as much as 20 minutes shorter each day. Dec. 21st is of course the worst day of the year for ‘light’, we have only perhaps 2 hours of light. But the summers and the now happening spring hunt is just the most favorite time of the year for sure, the freedom of being out here, is indescribable to impart using just mere words.  This is something that has to be experienced to understand the one-ness these people have with their enviroment and the animals of the sea. Whaling is something that most people will never understand, the need for this particular food.  Three thousands of years have passed with no interuption of these peoples food supply, The late 1800’s were a disaster for these people only because of the greed of the whaling companies, but these people need this food to survive, this is what their bodies crave, beyond anything you or I could ever comprehend or understand. This is their life, their life revolves around the bowhead whale. Every aspect of the year’s events, are for getting ready again to hunt their food.  This hunt occurs only once each year, It is a much anticipated event, and as I have stated, it takes a whole year, ..  ..  … ‘just to get ready’.  When spring arrives (April) the village is alive with people making the final preparations, time is short. Outside of peoples homes the sleds are being loaded with supplies, The ‘grub’ box is one of the very first things brought down to the tent location, the tent is put up, the sled and the grub box are put into place as well as the home made woodstove. The Arctic kitchen is the first thing to be set up.  Get that wood stove working and begin to melt snow for water to wash, the plywood floor that is placed in the tent. Careful cleaning of everything is necessary to keep everything clean and the working area is constantly being kept clean, sweeping the floor is very necessary but a broom is never used as it is too large.  The preferred method of sweeping the floor is to have a large ‘feather’, or wing from a bird.   This one feather does the job perfectly, it takes up very little room, and is used in all of the camps as the specific tool needed to accomplish this daily task.  Much of what we do in our world does not apply to your world and the same is true of your world, does not apply to our world.  That canvas in the image below is to protect the hunters from the unrelenting north wind, which never stops blowing.  The north wind is the prevailing wind and it blows and blows ever stronger all through the days of the year, Occasionally the wind will shift to south wind, then the ice must be evacuated in a mass panic. A mass exodus, run for your lives, ice is headed this way and it will run over everything in its path.  When the lead opens many miles out on the ocean ice pack of the Chukchi Sea, in the bering Strait, the opening is just a crack, in time that lead opens and animals begin to migrate through that narrow lead opening. The ice on the other side of that lead opening is moving, rapidly due to the strong ever present north wind. This ice is moving perhaps 10 – 15 miles per hour.  It is very easy to hallucinate out here, watching or staring at that ice, will cause you to fall over.  I was constantly falling over much to the delight of these hunters, I provided much entertainment of a different sort. I am a dumb city boy from Boston, I know nothing about life out here on this ice pack. When you begin to stare at that ice which is moving on the other side of the lead opening, at some point in time, that ice will stop, you will begin to feel the sensation of moving in the opposite direction. I was constantly falling over, much to the amazment of these hunters who just could not stop lauging each time it happened.   There is a lot that goes on out here, that most people just would not understand or comprehend. Sitting, waiting, watching, looking, listening, this is the order of the day, Sit wait watch look and listen and there is much work to be done on the trails and surrounding ocean ice area where the water meets the ice. A smooth ramp for the skin boat to slip into the water is a must to build.  It takes many people many hours to shave that ice at just the right angle, for that umiaq to slide into the water, The umiaq itself must be kept off the ice, to prevent it from getting wet or sticking to the ice itself, It is propped up on a block of ice to keep air circulating under the umiag to keep the bottom dry.  This skin is very thin, and it can rip easily on a piece of ice. Six ugruk skins (bearded seal) are used to cover this craft, all hand sewn using a water tight zig zag stitch made using.. .. dental floss because of its much needed strength, Dental floss is used in all sewing of parky’s also, we cannot have a seam rip open out here, at these extreme temperatures. Often the simplest of chores requires immense amount(s) of work. Such as “water”. Several methods are employed to obtain water, way out here in the middle of frozen no where, there is nothing out here, for miles in any direction, what do you need to live and survive out here, in a somewhat normal circumstances?  lots of water for drinking, and washing dishes and cooking and cleaning. Snow is used, it is everywhere, but there are cetain types of snow.  There are over 100 different words in the Inupiaq language for that white stuff.  The correct snow that is used for washing and cleaning has to be a certain type of snow.  It is found by going north of your present location,  Look for clean hard ‘crust’, that is what you break open, and go deep down to find the clean stuff. This is compacted as much as possible for melting, to provide water for washing and cleaning only. Snow tastes like ‘yuk’ when you drink it or mix it with anything, it has an awful taste. For delicious fresh drinking water, we have options. One way, which is extremly time consuming is to take a snow machine 7 miles back to land, 7 miles back to the village, 23 miles to ada boat, then 50 more miles to the base of he kupak river, going inland about 10 miles with pick and axe or chain saw and cut chunks of river ice, then bring that back down to the lead opening where you started from. That is 200 mile round trip journey.  This is the ‘water’ the elders crave, this is what they have used their whole lives.  Delicious fresh drinkng water can also be obtained, just by taking any huge piece of ice and standing it up. Brush the snow all off the tops and the sides. Let the sun go to work. Wait .. !  As the sun beats down on that piece of ice, it will become clear(er), when it is crystal clear for a good kettle full or more, then walk over with your kettle and chip the ice horizontaly with a pick. fill your kettle, when melted this is what we drink and use for cooking, it is delicious !!  Inupiaq Technology, time tested, many thousands of years. This is a very harsh life-style – culture, the world needs to be educated as to the plight of these indeginous people(s).  Telling people they may not eat, no one, no commisson, no agency, no government has that right !  Japan harvested 1000 whales last year (07)- according to greenpeace in 1982 there were only 250 Right whales left.  Now they are saying that 300,000 whales each year are dying from fishing nets and other accidents of the sea. IN other words they have been lying for decades and breaking the law(s)  to suit their own agenda,  That is what John Denver did.   The world needs to know the truth. The village of Point Hope. 900 people give or take, They are allowed ..  … ten strikes, ten attempts, if you miss, that is a strike. If you harpoon that whale and it gets away, that is a strike,  ten attempts is all they are allowed; to  try and  feed this village.

(07 – 3 small whales) -  06 -nothing) – 08 – one so far from Elijah Attanguanna. & one from Rex Rock

Barrow is much different !

Meanwhile lets go out.. to the ocean ice. and see what is going on, during a two month time period. What do you do ? for two whole months, day and night ? The women sleep, during the night the hunters are always ready, anything can happen at any time. Yesterday, Barrow search and rescue helicopter had to rescue most of the people of Point Hope, the ice cracked in back of everyone, This is extremly dangerous.  Everyone is on the wrong side of the ice !! In other words, the lead is opening and they are all floating out to sea. They have no way to get back to land safely.  Search & Rescue .. .. .. saved the day.

.One down, six more to go. The first 24 hours of this crisis on-call rotation have been emotionally challenging..

In any small community, residents are related to one another in more ways than one; for example, your mother-in-law might also be your child’s teacher.

In the Northwest Arctic, family is extraordinarily important so extended family members are considered part of the immediate family.  In conversation, there are few, if any, referrals to degree of separation (i.e. second cousin). Everyone is either a brother, sister, auntie, uncle, grandmother, grandfather, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, child, grandchild or cousin. Adoption is culturally embraced; frequently the first born child is adopted to a grandparent or other relative. Large families are the norm. 

 ”Everyone is related to everyone else” I have heard it said.

Historic and generational traumas (epidemics, religious oppression, cultural decimation, boarding school practices, language suppression) compound the modern societal or individual hardships and traumas (unemployment, poverty, doubled-up homelessness, alcoholism, drug addiction, mental illness, suicide, assault, domestic violence, sexual assault, bullying, child abuse, accidental death). In such a small and tightly woven community, the smallest ripple of these tragedies is capable of triggering great tidal waves of grief upon the region’s people. Inupiaq in the Northwest Arctic, Alaska have one of the highest youth suicide rates in the world.

The Inupiaq subsistence way of life is challenged, global warming is evident in local changes, the soaring cost of fuel oil and gasoline prices ($8+/gal) impact the ability to reach elusive food sources, to provide for one’s family or to stay warm in temperatures easily to -50F. Many of the young, strong and healthy, those who have no elders to care for, leave the area for work or college and never come back.

Increasingly influenced by a global cash economy, the region’s commercial centers are growing into more densely populated and urban-like centers. Expansions of adequate housing, employment opportunities, educational or health facilities are limited by proximate land, human resources, materials, extreme weather conditions, a permafrost foundation and the fact that we are ‘off of the road system’.

“It ain’t easy living here.”

This region is full of strength and potential as well.  Consider, after all, that a people and culture surviving for over 30,000 years isolated in one of the planet’s harshest climates, must embody several extraordinary and impressive resiliencies! These strengths however, are not the qualities brought to my attention during a rotation of crisis intervention.

“It ain’t easy working here.”

After a long day, and what seems to be an even longer week ahead, it was comforting to come home tonight to find a  familiar friend online. She provided a running synopsis of a fictional world crisis, I provided the cathartic, if not essential, heckling. We ‘watched’ the new release of Michael Crichton’s “Andromeda Strain.”  I didn’t actually ’see’ the movie, but I had seen the original version back in the 60’s or 70’s and could follow today’s storyline fairly well. Neatly settled onto her recliner in the ‘Lower 48′, my my dear friend watched the 4 part mini-series while I read her instant messaging from a laptop in the Arctic. During the commercials, we chatted.  Solar bird baths were mentioned. Gidget napped at my feet. Her dog no doubt napped in her lap or someplace nearby.

These are the moments I speak of when referring to “Living Small,” the shared or individual moments that comprise our day-to-day lives, spending time with a friend for example. These moments are easily overlooked and whether modern or traditional, near or far, in the final analysis, they are the stuff of life as we know it. 

Once again, I had better slip off to catch some sleep while I can….more blogging another day.

“Keep Coming Back” as they say in some rooms…or drop us a line. 

Be thinking of you,

Jennifer and Gidget

Com us vaig dir en una entrada anterior sóc lingüista, filòloga per ser exactes. Així que un dels eixos del meu viatge serà, probablement, l’estudi de les llengües. Suposo que aquesta mirada esbiaixada és inevitable, deformació professional. A més a més, aquest eix sovint m’ha comportat experiències interessants anant de viatge, ja que és una manera d’aproximar-se a la gent i a la seva cultura força interessant. Així que, quan vaig començar a llegir notícies sobre descobriments lingüístics, em va resultar inevitable seguir el fil. I aquest fil m’ha conduït fins a l’Alaska Native Language Center:

Alaska Native Language Center

Missió i objectiu

L’Alaska Native Language Center va ser establer l’any 1972 per la legislació estatal com a centre de recerca i documentació per a les vint llengües nadiues d’Alaska. És internacionalment conegut com el centre més important als Estats Units per l’estudi de les llengües Eskimo i Athabascan. El ANLC publica les seves recerques el col·leccions, diccionaris, gramàtiques i documents de recerca. El centre té un arxiu documental amb més de 10.000 ítems, pràcticament tot el que s’ha publicat sobre les llengües nadiues d’Alaska, incloent còpies de la documentació lingüística més antiga, així com informació sobre llengües que estan relacionades amb les d’Alaska. Els membres del grup de recerca proveeixen de materials els professors bilingües i d’altres professionals de la llengua en tot l’estat, assisteixen els investigadors socials i d’altres que treballin amb llengües nadiues, i ofereixen serveis de consulta i formació a professors, districtes escolats i agències estatals relacionades amb l’educació bilingüe. El grup de recerca de l’ANLC també participa en l’ensenyament en el programe de llengües nadiues d’Alaska, que ofereix titulacions en yup’ik centrali i eskimo inupiaq a la Universitat de Fairbanks, a Alaska. El centre també lluita per fer créixer la consciència pública sobre la gravetat de la desaparició de llengües arreu del món, i particularment en el nord. De les vint llengües nadiues d’Alaska, només dues (el yup’ik siberià en dos pobles a l’illa de St. Lawrence, i el yup’ik en disset poblats al sud-oest d’Alaska) són parlats per infants com a primera llengua, i cadascun dels vint té un inestimable valor per la humanitat i és mereixedor de la preservació. Per això, l’ANLC continua documentant, cultivant i promovent aquestes llengües, per així contribuir al seu futur i en el patrimoni de tots els habitants d’Alaska.

Llengües nadiues d’Alaska

 

Aleut | Alutiiq | Iñupiaq | Central Yup’ik | Siberian Yupik | Tsimshian | Haida | lingit | Eyak | Ahtna | Dena’ina | Deg Hit’an | Holikachuk | Upper Kuskokwim | Koyukon | Tanana | Tanacross | Upper Tanana | Gwich’in | Hän

Classes and Degree Programs

Hi ha vint llengües nadiues diferents a Alaska: Aleut, Alutiiq (també anomenat Aleut o Sugpiaq), Central Yup’ik Eskimo, St. Lawrence Island Eskimo, Inupiaq Eskimo, Tsimshian, Haida, Tlingit and Eyak i onze llengües d’Athabascan. Aquestes llengües tot just comencen a ser reconegudes com a l’herència de valor incalculable que sens dubte són.

Des de l’aprovació a Alaska de la Llei per l’Educació Bilingüe de 1972 hi ha hagut una demanda de professors que puguin parlar i ensenyar aquestes llengües a les escoles a tot l’estat, allí on hi hagi nens que parlin aquestes llengües. Per això hi ha oportunitats professionals per a tots aquells amb habilitats en els sectors de l’educació, la recerca, la cultura i el desenvolupament polític.

El Central Yup’ik Eskimo és parlat per un major nombre de persones, seguit per l’ Inupiaq. S’ofereix currículum educatiu en aquestes dues llengües. També s’ofereixen regularment cursos de Kutchin (Gwich’in) Athabascan. Per totes les altres llengües, s’ofereix instrucció individual o en grups reduïts en temes concrets. Per això s’han impartit sovint classes, seminaris i tallers de Tlingit, Haida, St. Lawrence Island Eskimo, Aleut i Koyukon, així com Eskimo comparat i Athabascan comparat.

La Universitat de Faribanks és l’única que ofereix aquests itineraris, amb la col·laboració del personal i el fons documental del ANLC.

Programes universitaris oferts: Minor in Alaska Native Languages, B.A. or Minor in Iñupiaq or Yup’ik Eskimo, A.A.S. or Certificate in Native Language Education, M.A. in Applied Linguistics.

Poder fer un cop d’ull al directori de personal i a les publicacions. Allà també hi tenen una interessant pàgina de “recursos” que serà motiu de posteriors entrades.

As I told you in another post, I’m a linguist, a philologist to be accurate. So one of the main guidelines of my trip will be the study languages, probably. I suppose it is impossible not to be a bit influenced by that, and it is usually an interesting approach when traveling, as it offers a way of approaching people on the way. So, when on my last post I found out about language research concerning Arctic languages I decided to follow the thread. And it leads to Alaska Native Language Center:

Alaska Native Language Center

Mission and Goal

The Alaska Native Language Center was established by state legislation in 1972 as a center for research and documentation of the twenty Native languages of Alaska. It is internationally known and recognized as the major center in the United States for the study of Eskimo and Northern Athabascan languages. ANLC publishes its research in story collections, dictionaries, grammars, and research papers. The center houses an archival collection of more than 10,000 items, virtually everything written in or about Alaska Native languages, including copies of most of the earliest linguistic documentation, along with significant collections about related languages outside Alaska. Staff members provide materials for bilingual teachers and other language workers throughout the state, assist social scientists and others who work with Native languages, and provide consulting and training services to teachers, school districts, and state agencies involved in bilingual education. The ANLC staff also participates in teaching through the Alaska Native Language Program which offers major and minor degrees in Central Yup’ik and Inupiaq Eskimo at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. An AAS degree or a Certificate in Native Language Education is also available. The center continues to strive to raise public awareness of the gravity of language loss worldwide but particularly in the North. Of the state’s twenty Native languages, only two (Siberian Yupik in two villages on St. Lawrence Island, and Central Yup’ik in seventeen villages in southwestern Alaska) are spoken by children as the first language of the home. Like every language in the world, each of those twenty is of inestimable human value and is worthy of preservation. ANLC, therefore, continues to document, cultivate, and promote those languages as much as possible and thus contribute to their future and to the heritage of all Alaskans.

Alaska Native Languages

 

Aleut | Alutiiq | Iñupiaq | Central Yup’ik | Siberian Yupik | Tsimshian | Haida | lingit | Eyak | Ahtna | Dena’ina | Deg Hit’an | Holikachuk | Upper Kuskokwim | Koyukon | Tanana | Tanacross | Upper Tanana | Gwich’in | Hän

Classes and Degree Programs

There are 20 different Alaska Native languages: Aleut, Alutiiq (also called Aleut or Sugpiaq), Central Yup’ik Eskimo, St. Lawrence Island Eskimo, Inupiaq Eskimo, Tsimshian, Haida, Tlingit and Eyak and 11 Athabascan languages. These languages are becoming recognized as the priceless heritage they truly are.

Since the passage of the Alaska Bilingual Education Law in 1972 there has been a demand for teachers who can speak and teach these languages in the schools throughout the state where there are Native children. Professional opportunities for those skilled in these languages exist in teaching, research and cultural, educational and political development.

Central Yup’ik Eskimo is spoken by the largest number of people, and Inupiaq by the next largest. In these two languages major and minor curricula are now offered. Courses are also regularly offered in Kutchin (Gwich’in) Athabascan. For work in all other languages, individual or small-group instruction is offered under special topics. Thus there have frequently been instruction, seminars, and workshops also in Tlingit, Haida, St. Lawrence Island Eskimo, Aleut and Koyukon, comparative Eskimo and comparative Athabascan.

UAF is unique in offering this curriculum, which benefits also from the research staff and library of the Alaska Native Language Center.

Degree Programs Offered: Minor in Alaska Native Languages, B.A. or Minor in Iñupiaq or Yup’ik Eskimo, A.A.S. or Certificate in Native Language Education, M.A. in Applied Linguistics.

You can also check out their staff and publications. They also have an interesting “Resources” page, I will deal with it later.

1999–The largest Festival of Native Arts is held in the University of Alaska Fairbanks Davis Concert Hall, drawing up to 4,500 people. The gathering is promoted heavily throughout the state because it is the largest such gathering of the century. Feathered on this day for the first time ever is Native performance art, done by Paulette Moreno of Anchorage. The festival theme is “Dancing Our Stories.” It illustrates traditional ideas behind Alaska Native performance art and features 26 dance groups and more than 40 Native artisans. The festival started officially in 1974 in Fairbanks. Originally the goal was to give Native students attending UAF from villages a sense of belonging and home. It evolved into a celebration of indigenous cultures throughout the world. Originally, the festival was held over five days, but in recent years has been held over three days.

Festival Links

Festival of Native Arts

Home
History of the Festival
Alaska Native Cultures
Event Information
Sponsor Information
Planning Committee
Applications

Alaska’s Native Cultures

The Native cultures of Alaska are wonderfully rich both in their similarities and diversity. Each group of people interacts with the environment where they settled. The strong influence of Alaska’s varied environments form the ties between the people and their land. Legends, customs, and subsistence lifestyles developed in harmony with the specific area where they settled. To survive in the harsh climates of Alaska, a deep awareness and unity with the living things around them is an absolute necessity. All Native people have great respect for the spirit of each living thing. Respect and cooperation among village members and for all things were the values that guarantee the survival of the people.

The Native people of Alaska have traditionally been hunters and food gatherers. Rivers, lakes and the ocean were major passageways, and all the cultures included variations of water vessels among their transport options. Although most of the groups were not truly nomadic, their subsistence made it necessary to cover great distances. Almost all of the groups lived in permanent villages throughout the winter, but moved to fish camps on the rivers in the summer. Most all of Alaska Native cultures, then and now, depend heavily upon fish and marine life of many varieties for subsistence. Land mammals are also used for food and clothing. In addition, gathered vegetation (e.g. mushrooms, seaweed, etc.) and a myriad of berries supplement the diet.

Language and culture boundaries between Alaska Native groups are distinct (see map), and are reflective of the nature of the respective culture.

• Aleut
• Athabaskan
• Eyak
• Inupiaq
• Sugpiaq
• Tlingit/Haida/Tsimshian
• Yup’ik
• Siberian Yupik

AK Languages Map

Last modified 2007-10-28 by OIT Web Developer. | UAF is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer and educational institution.

Cited From: A Reference in Time, Alaska Native History Day by Day. Edited by Alexandra J. McClanahan. Published by The CIRI Foundation, 2001.

A Reference in Time