that is exactly what these children are doing, they are pretending to chase that whale.
It is 9:00 a.m. Easter sunday 30 below zero .. as I am walknig past some houses in the village, I hear some shildren screaming and making a lot of noise. I hear the words . "Killimaq, Killamaq (hurry up) - Agviq (whale) . Of course these children are just pretending.
They are copying their parents or mimicking them in what they do.. for real.. !
Notice the "sled" under their "boat" there is a reason for that. they are doing everything they know their parents do for real.
Now we are 7 miles out on the ocean ice pack on the frozen Chukchi Sea in the Bering Strait of upper Alaska 200 miles above the Arctic circle.
Here are their parents doing the same thing, taking a skin boat (umiaq) down to the lead opening, mounted on a sled to protect these skins that are all hand sewn using dental floss.
These are the people of Point Hope Alaska, The oldest continually inhabited settlement or village in all of North America. Life can accurately be traced back some 3,000 years to this one spot of land.
Point Hope is a tiny whaling community of 800 + Inupiaq Eskimo's whose whole life revolves around the mighty Bowhead whale.
come along and enjoy the ride as we head out to the ocean ice to see what these people go through just to eat !!! Imagine chopping a trail for miles cutting a trail through the ocean ice to move equipment and supllies for 800 people that live out here for two months.. just to gather food . No one gets any pay for this.. .. the only reward is that you get to eat !!
Imagine sleeping outside @ temps of 50 below zero.. .. for two months with no tents.!
This is home for the next two months. right here. 24 / 7 home sweet frozen home.
This is a typical whaling camp many miles out on the ocean ice. This image was created at midnight in mid May.
Come along for a journey that will amaze you and leave you speechless, with spell binding text and the most amazing stories you have ever heard!
Lets go: out to the ocean ice. from the comfort of your home or office. the temp is 50 below zero.
18 whaling captains and their crews are spaced out, some 1/2 - 3/4 of a mile apart from each other. hidden in the ocean ice.. waiting,.. ..
The women are 1/2 of a mile behind these hunters on much safer ice. this is where they do all of the chores associated with whaling namely cooking for the Captain, his 8 hunters, a boyer and 3-5 women that do all of the hard work of cooking for all these people 3 - 5 times each day for the next two months out here in the middle of frozen no where.
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