[MajikImaje]

Hello people(s). My name is David and I live @ the top of the world in Alaska, Barrow Alaska.
I have been living with Inupiaq Eskimos for almost 30 years now. I have some amazing photographs to show you in this most unique
PHOTO ESSAY life in the Arctic @ 50 below zero !!
These hunters sleep outside, for two months, with no tents. They chop a trail with pick and axe for many miles, to move supplies, equipment and 700 people move the whole village out to that ocean ice pack.
this is how these people gather food.
Point Hope Alaska is the oldest, continually inhabited settlement or village in all of North America. Life can accurately be traced back several thousands of years to this one spot of land.
during the mid 1800's the population was just over 10,000 Inupiaq Eskimos. then the whaling companies arrived and the population was reduced to just 190 people. Through greed, disease, and mass starvation only 190 people, were left.
I came here in 1981 for just three weeks, as an electrican forman to wire two construction camps. When the job finished,I quit the company and stayed, that was 27 years ago, I'm still here.
Now come along for the journey of a lifetime, from the warmth and comfort of you home or office.

this seven mile journey out to the ocean ice pack will take about three-four hours. It is a very rough ride, the pace is very slow. this trail took the combined efforts of hundreds of people chopping a trail using pick and axe. We move out here for two months just to gather food. No one gets any pay for all of this iincredibly hard work.. the only rewared.. . .. .. is you get to eat !
These people never complain. this is their lifestyle / culture for over 3,000 years.

Paddling straight into a 50 mph wind @ 50 below zero is some nasty weather, to survive in and function, 24 / 7 for months!
This is a typical whaling camp, seven miles out on the ocean ice. this is home. right here, 24 / 7 this is it. right here. Home Sweet Frozen Home. This is where these hunters eat, hunt, and sleep. right here.

Now just how do you think these people stay warm out here. ?? No. they are not used to this type of cold, we have many tricks to stay warm(er) out here. Things we do, that you will never ever think of.
Do these people look cold ?? Nope. .this is the happiest time of the year.

I promise to show you things you have never imagined. Stories that will leave you spell bound, and wanting more, more, more.!!
come along for the most amazing journey into the far regions of the Arctic. that very few people have ever seen.

 

[Alex g]

wow love the first pic it does invite one on a journey
looks very interesting

 

[Señor BigJuts]

Re: (Alex g)

wow. Living out there must be tons of fun. I would love to get a chance to visit there.
Pictures are great.
So how exactly are you guys staying warm?

 

[MajikImaje]

Re: (05slvrstonegray1.8t)

We have ways to keep very warm out here. but they are nothing you would ever think of .
Dirty clothes cannot keep you warm. Many many very loose layers, and it also depends on what you eat.
Eating a hot meal out here is something you would not expect to see, at such sub zero temps.

Eating a hot meal will make you lazy, your body will relax, ummm, good. after a short period of time, your body slows down and it will not generate enough body heat to keep you warm. You slowly begin to get cold(er). Then you need to use Inupiaq Technology: time tested for many thousands of years.
Are you cold ??? then walk over and pick up that hacksaw. Slice some thin strips of Caribou meat from those ribs. This is a hunters breakfast. quaq. Raw frozen meat or fish. Slice thin strips and swallow them whole. DO not chew them. Now fill your stomach full.

Your body has to work very hard to digest all of that raw frozen meat or fish. You soon will be pushing out and generating body heat the likes of which you have never ever experienced in all of your life.
Do not attempt to do this and stay inside.. your going to end up in the hospital. At thirty below zero, we are talking clothes off, becasue we just get too hot. also we live in an extremly dry enviorment. This will have the opposite effect in a damp enviornment
Can you tell who has recently eaten in this manner ?? It is quite obvious. John Tingook and Amos Lane. sitting out, enjoing the day, in a two month long picnic with hunting.

We do a lot of sitting out here. Waiting, watching, look & listen, the only sounds are the wind, the ice cracking and the sound of your thoughts. But we have the best food imaginable all day long, We even have fresh doughnuts. way out here, in the middle of frozen no where.

The sun is blinding, 24 / 7 the reflections are bouncing all over and reflecting off that ice that is everywhere for miles and miles in every direction. You easily get the best tan of your life in about 10 hours. .. .. on your face, and hands.!! very thick sunglasses are needed out here. for sure.

Now how do you think this woman is going to ever get that dough to rise when she is mixing it all up in this drafty tent. ? Tricks !! lots of them to stay ot here, for two months.. Fresh delicous doughnuts are made in each and every camp site daily. Once that dough is mixed, it is placed into a clean plastic bag. then the woman will put her parky on, and carry that dough inside her parky, on her back, much in the same nanner in which a child is carried.
Just where do you think these people get all the necessary water they need out here each and every day ?? we are surrounded by SALF WATER ICE. We melt snow,.. .. for washing and cleaning only. but for delicious fresh drinking water.. tons of fresh drinking water is needed out here. lots and lots and lots.!! any ideas on where this comes from ???

 

[sle39lvr]

Re: (Alex g)

Thank's for sharing the pics. It's nice to see something different ratherthan fisheye shots from Rebel XT's...

 

[abawp]

Quote, originally posted by MajikImaje »

Just where do you think these people get all the necessary water they need out here each and every day ?? we are surrounded by SALF WATER ICE. We melt snow,.. .. for washing and cleaning only. but for delicious fresh drinking water.. tons of fresh drinking water is needed out here. lots and lots and lots.!! any ideas on where this comes from ???

I would think some sort of condensation collection would be mandatory, but can't imagine that brings enough water for everyone.

 

[u4ik.]

Re: (abawp)

Quote, originally posted by abawp »

I would think some sort of condensation collection would be mandatory, but can't imagine that brings enough water for everyone.

maybe a way to channel that water, unless you guys have some sort of filtration process for purifying water or extracting the salt from the water?

 

[Sub-Zero Carvings]

Wow, interesting first couple post. Had me reading the whole thing. So where do you get the fresh water from..?

 

[MajikImaje]

Re: (u4ik.)

Delicous Fresh drinking water, can be brought down here, on sleds, massive pieces of ice, from the frozen Kupak river. some 80 miles away. but this is a tremendous amount of work, and very expensive. GAsoline has been well over $5.00 per gallon up here for many years.

this is the one way, but as I said, it is very expensive, & time consuming. We also have one other method that is used 95% of the time. We have to take the "salt" out of the ice. and that is the much preffered method that is used.

Take any large piece of ice, it is all around us. Now stand it upright, brush all the snow off the top and from most of the sides. Now go wait, watch. The sun will do its job. As time pases you will see that piece of ice start to become crystal clear at the top. as time goes on. that piece of ice will become much clearer, You can actually watch that salt settle inside of that frozen piece of ice.!! When it is crystal clear, then walk over with your kettle, and ice pick and chop that ice, horizontally and bring it into the tent and melt it in that kettle.
The most delicous fresh drinking water you have ever tasted !!
Inupiaq Technology: time tested for many thousands of years.

Some famlies stick together out here. But in essense there are 18 whaling captains and their crews stretched out along the ice some 1/ 2 - 3/4 of a mile apart from each other. Each crew consists of One captain, 8 hunters, 3 - 5 women to do all the cooking & one boyer.
Here is a "boyer" on his way to work.!!

At night when these women go to sleep, it is the job of a boyer to stay awake, alone, by himself and perform the necessary chores to keep that tent warm for the women. He must chop wood, keep that stove fired up just right. He has much to do. In addition to keeping that tent warm. he must also melt snow to wash the cups and thermoses, Make new fresh hot coffee, hot chocolate and hot tea. Make fersh water for re-filling these thermoses all night long and bring the new ones down to the hunters, and bring back the empties and start that process all over again, all night long. He must be ever so watchful of the wind, and for cracks appearing in the ice. This is a dangerous place out here. anything can happen and usualy does in many unexpected & bizarre ways. he is armed with many rifles in case of a polar bear attack. so lie down, go to sleep, your in good hands with this 3 year old child !! He is very well trained !!

All children are brought down to the ice. this is where they learn what is involved in hunting and the first job they learn is how to become a much needed boyer to handle this necessary work.
Howard Stone Jr. was the very first boyer I met. I was shocked that a 3 years old child was capable of handling all of that responsibility !!
I have met many such boyers in my 5 whale hunts living out on the ocean ice.

 

[Elliot]

Re: HIGH in the Arctic .. .. Eskimo !! (MajikImaje)

I would pay good money if you turned your experience & photographs into a full color coffee table book. Please continue these excellent posts! http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif

 

[synthsis]

Re: HIGH in the Arctic .. .. Eskimo !! (Elliot)

very cool and informative post, but the question begs , how the hell did you come across a photo forum linked off of a car site?

 

[DamienR8]

I agree with Elliot's post above. This is interesting stuff. I would like to hear more!!!.
BTW. The 1st photo belongs on the cover of a book.


Modified by DamienR8 at 8:17 AM 3/25/2008

 

[MajikImaje]

Re: (DamienR8)

Well thank you all.. !! very very much. I promise not to disapoint you. .. (chuckle) how did I get here? in a car forum ??
well to tell the truth.. .. .. when that wind is blowing, you can't see six inches in front of your face.. I just hold on and let them dogs take me where they will.. (chuckle).. Only joking of course.
Photography is photography, no matter on which forum it is located at.
and "yawn" most people are bored with seeing the same ol same ol, day after day. etc..
so.. .. onward huskies.. !!
Hi honey, I'm home.. hmmm wow that smells good.. ! what's for dinner tonight ??

 

[DamienR8]

MMMM blubber. So how do you shower in the cold???
Also, what are you homes made of?

 

[socalGLXVR6]

wow!

 

[tmack]

great thread!

 

[cutright]

Re: HIGH in the Arctic .. .. Eskimo !! (MajikImaje)

david,WOW,what an awesome life and story..please keep the story going

it is very interesting and wonderful to see your photography with the stories you are telling.. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif

 

[MajikImaje]

Re: HIGH in the Arctic .. .. Eskimo !! (cutright)

Well thank you all for your wonderful comments. how do we shower in the cold, the exact same way YOU do.
We go into a warm house and use the comforts of the bathroom!
out on the ice? for two months ?? there are no showers out there.
melt snow for washing. but there are no washing machines out there either..
One woman on another forum asked me, how do you change your socks and underwear out there every day.
My question to her was. Where? are you going to do this ??!!
30 - 50 below zero is mighty cold. going to the bathroom out here is an excercise in pure torture. !! I mean it! (enough said) !!
These children are what fascinate me the most, Playing out, all day long, day in, day out, a tow month long fun filled glorous time out here. and everyone is just so happy. I was walking along the ice, trying to visit another camp site and I could hear some girls "giggling", I came around the corner of a huge piece of ice, to see these three girls lauging and giggling. As I came into view the girl on the far left (Rachel) said to me.. "Wanna see me eat snow ?"

I just love catching children at play, they constantly copy that which they see their parents doing out on the ice.
Easter Sunday - 9:00 a.m. I am walking through the village, it is very cold. Perhaps as much as 40 below, I am walking past a house and I can hear children yelling and screaming with much excitement. I hear the Inupiaq words: .. .. " Killimak, Killimak (hurry up, hurry up) samma (look! I show you) Agviq, Agviq, (whale, whale), I came into view to see this incredible sight of children chasing a bowhead whale.

Notice the sled, under their "boat"! there is a reason for that, as I said, these chldren copy and mimik that which they see the parents doing out on the ocean ice.
this is the real thing. 7 miles out on the ocean ice.
This is an Umiaq (oo me ack), a skin boat, Six ugruk (oog rook), skins are used to cover an umiaq. Ugruk is a huge bearded seal.
these skins are hand sewn by the women, using a water tight zig - zag type stitch, all sewn together using .. . ."dental floss' for its much needed strength!!

The sled, under that umiaq is to prevent the skins from being torn or ripped on sharp pieces of ice.

 

[MajikImaje]

Eating, sleeping, hunting, right here, this is what we do for 2 months, or longer, depending on the condition of the ice.
That ice pack on the other side of the lead opening is moving very quickly, due to the ever present strong vicious north wind. The ice is moving from right to left in this image.
Perhaps as much as 15 - 20 mph. constantly moving all day / night long for days..
it is very easy to hallucinate out here on this ice. (chuckle). This is truely a different world and a different planet, a planet and world of nothing but ice.

DO NOT STARE: at that ice, because when you do, at some point in time, that ice will STOP, and you will begin to experience the sensation of moving in the opposite direction, I was constantly falling over, much to the delight of these hunters. this dumb city boy from Boston. I had these hunters laughing oh so har, hysterically for days. This was my first time thrust into this magnificent world. I was more impressed at what these people did, all the hard work, never complaiining, just so they .. .. .. can eat. There is no pay for all of this work.
Imagine chopping a trail, through miles of ice.. .. a 70 year old man, chopping down the high spots, smoothing out and filling in the low spots. This is no easy work, but these people just work so very hard, just to obtain the food that they need. Blubber, (maktak) (muck tuck)
A = uh.
That young man is Tigluk, he was one of the first elders I had met and became very close friends with when I arrived here.

This is slow, painstaking work, the danger of polar bears, is ever present, at all times. They can strike without any warning what so ever, they are feroicous beasts of prey.

There is no rush, just take your time and be careful, anything can happen out here, and usually does in many unexpected ways.
for one, that wind can shift at any moment and when it does, it is a mass panic, mass exodus, everyone, run for your lives. Killigvuk is the name for this mass panic. That ice is headed our way and it will run over and crush anything in its path. It takes as much as 8 hours to set up a whaling camp out here. The tents, all the supplies in the proper place with everything functioning. At least 3 sleds are required in each and every camp site. one for the inside of the tent, one for the lead opening and one for going back and forth to town to bring more supplies down to the ocean ice.
When it is time to "killigvuk".. .. .. 15 minutes and were gone, Eveyone is moving off that ice, nothing is left behind.. if you don't have a ride.. just run, someone will pick you up on one of these trails, these machines keep circling until everyone is off that ice pack. Whew what a mad dash of sheer panic.

Once are back on land, in a much safer place, we wait, there is no sense in going back home. We wait.. .. .. . .. watch and listen. Everyone is thirsty.. .. .. where did we put this ?? and where did we put that.?? Fresh coffee, chocolate & tea are prepared.. but someone has to do these cups and dishes.!! it is below zero, it is still very cold but chores must be done. no matter what the weather is like.
I seriously doubt you will ever complian about washing cups ever again.
Keep your back to the wind, to stay warm(er).

!

Now everything must be sorted out, for when the conditions are right to go back down to that lead opening. When that lead closes, due to the sudden shift in wind.. we wait and watch. Although the lead is many miles out. far beyond anything we can see. We know instantly when that lead has opened back up again.. just by looking at the sky, if it is cloudy. The difference in brighness will be very evident when that lead opens back up. The water reflects back to the clouds and a much darker area is seen on these clouds indicating the presence of open water.!!

When we head back down to that ice, when the wind is back to the prevailing wind (north) then this is what has run over our previous camp site.
ICE, mountians of ice as much as 50 feet high in someplaces. Huge giagantic blocks of ice.!! This is something to experience and behold.

 

[MajikImaje]

Re: HIGH in the Arctic .. .. Eskimo !! (MajikImaje)

The price of a small turkey in the village store, is about $135 bux. That tiny turkey will not even feed one family for one meal. Theer is just no way we can affored those prices, in a village with 75% unemployment.

To effectively feed your family, you must hunt, and gather food, This is the time of the year, for the greatest variety of food(s).
A bullet is far cheaper, than the price of meat in these stores due to the extremly high price of freight of the airlines.

Wait and watch, and sometimes, this is all there is to do.. .. just wait. There is no rush, the animals will start migrating through this lead opening. Many different types of animals, Beluga whales, Bowhead whales, walrus, seals (4 types), ducks are flying, there is a lot going on, but in the begining, we sit and wait.

We must be out here, before these animals begin to reach our area, But year after year, for thousands of years, these animals migrate past the point of land Here @ Point Hope

These are aged old hunting skills that are passed on generation to generation, Just think about that. One people in this one tiny spot of land for over 3,000 years !!
Out on the ice., wating, to go back out to the lead, children excercise their imaginations constantly, This is a fun, quiet, pristine enviorment
a different world of constant fun, A whole cummunity that works, lives, laughs and mourns as one.

The more serious side of all this is the same, day after day, after day, we know the animals are coming, that is what makes it so exciting, it can happen at any time, in any place. day or night.

Always vigilant, every ready for when that sign appears. Always ready,

Here is where you test your skils, as a marksman, a hunter, and a family provider, in the harshest enviorment known to man on the face of the earth. This is life, out on the ice. outside all day long for weeks and weeks witout ever going inside.!! This is hard core hunting at its brutal extremes. These; people get just as cold as you or I would. But they need their food to keep warm(er). blubber, = fat is actually better described as "flammable fat" so watch out !! (joke).
Seal oil, whale oil, is extremly flammable. very small amounts of it are used, when the wood for the stove is very wet. It only takes a tiny bit of that oil on that wet wood.. and that wood will burn for al ong long time. before it is ever consumed.

when that seal pops his head above the water, to have a quick look around, you have just a few precious seconds to aim and shoot and this is not as easy as it might look. That seal is not going to just sit there looking at you for very long. .

At night, when that sun goes down, it ges mighty cold(er) out here. The difference is very noticable. This is when I would have to stop using my camera, put the lens cap back on, That's it for the rest of this day. In the morning, I would have to literally chip the ice out of the viewfinder, using the sharp end of a finger nail clipper thingy.
My camera(s) were always encase in a small amount of ice, perhaps 1/16" it would all easily crack and fall off, when I moved any of the controls. during the remiander of the day, the cameras worked flawlessly. very sluggish at times but that is to be expected in such brutal conditions

REx Rock, Umailiaq, scanning the horizon @ midnight in mid May. The land of the midnight sun. Always looking at that horizon line, for any signs of animals. Wait, watch, look, listen. something will happen, it might not be what you expect.

Well it has been a long long day. time to rest, eat, and talk. Out here on this ice. Once we go into 24 hour sunlight a change takes place in everyone, When your exposed to constant sunlight 24 / 7 you become "Solar Powered" for sure. You are all charged up, constantly, as long as you stay out in that sun. It is very easy to stay alert and aswke for 3 days or longer.

This is early or mid April,. that is the only time it gets this dark, by
mid May we have the midnight sun. 24 / 7 until the end of August.