General Discussions

**Majik Imaje** · 05-29-2007, 12:46 AM

The name of my TRUE story, is called :

HIGH IN THE ARCTIC .. .. ESKIMO !

Hello ! My name is David, an electrican that left Boston and moved up to Alaska.

I was sent up to this tiny Eskimo village for just 3 weeks to wire two construction camps. When the job finished, I quit the company and stayed.
That was 27 years ago, and I am still here.

Point Hope Alaska > The oldest continually inihabited settlement or village in all of North America. Life can accurately be traced back over 3,000 years to this one spot of land.

Point Hope - Tikigaq is a tiny whaling community of only 750 Inupiaq Eskiimo's

We live from the Ocean, the land, and the air.

Tuzroyluks' crew, waiting for a whale @ 40 below zero, this is how we obtain our food. Any whale can easily outrun this skin boat, We do not go after whales, we wait, for that whale to give itself over to the captain of its choice. A whale will always match the captains personality so does the weather. No matter which year it is, THAT whale will always do the exact same thing for that captain, as well as the weather, they will both match his personality. Some whaling captains will never receive a whale because of their (bad ) personality.

Come see and learn the Eskimo way, from the comfort of your home or office.

At this very moment in May 700 people 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.

This is a typical whaling camp, this is home for the next two months depending on the condition of the ice.

This image was taken at midnight in May, this is home, this is where we sleep, eat, hunt and everything else and more, We sleep outside with no tents at temps of 50 below zero! All this. just so we can eat !

**ADAM Web Design** · 05-29-2007, 01:47 AM

How do you get Internet out there?

**Majik Imaje** · 05-29-2007, 02:43 AM

We have three different ways or methods of obtaining internet up here.

1. Dial up 150 per month

2. ADSL 150 PER MONTH

3. WIRELESS 70 per month plus 300 in equip.

Everything is expensive in the Arctic due to the high cost of freight to get it up here.

a case of soda pop is 24 $ Gas has been over $5 for years. and we use lots. 60,000 miles a year is the norm for miles on a snowmobile / snowmachine whatever you call them.

Many miles out on the ocean ice. I see this young girl Kathy Rock, sitting on the seat of a snowmachine, it is 40 below zero, as I approached her, and brought up my camera she began to smile, I brought my camera down and said Kathy, please, doh't do that. I want you to pretend that I am not even here, look right past me, look right through me. I spent 1/2 hour with this little girl and I only exposed one frame of film. Yes ! Yes ! -=[click]=-

Does 30 or 40 below zero sound very cold ? ha ha no it isn't, not here above the Arctic circle, that is a wonderful day! These girls have been playhing outside for days and days on end, do they look cold ? No. they look like they are playing in sand instead of snow

I was walking past a huge wall of ice and I could hear these girls giggling, as I came into view and raised my camera, the one on the left said, "wanna see me eat snow ? -=[click]=-

18 whaling captains are spaced out some 1/2 - 3/4 a mile apart, some familes stick together. The tents are for the women who do the cooking for the hunters and captain and the boyer and 3-5 women in each camp.

Hundreds of people are living out here at this very moment. 7 miles out, practically the entire village moves out here for two months

How do you suppose we get delicous FRESH drinking water way out here in the middle of frozen no where.?? We melt snow for washing dishes and cleaning and such, but for delicous fresh drinking water, how do you suppose
we obtain it way out here?

**ihtikk** · 05-29-2007, 04:32 AM

These are very nice photos but I couldn't have lived in these conditions. I hate cold. Good for you!

**Majik Imaje** · 05-29-2007, 05:10 AM

Well if I said it wasnt cold up here you would not believe me one bit.

so, I took an eskimo woman from here who has lived her whole life @ 50 below zero, and I brought her to Boston, when it was 30 above zero, and with her big fur parky on, she froze her *** off!

It is a very common sight in Anchorage to see college students walking around with just a T-shirt on and shortcuts outside when it is zero out!

Here in Alaska, above the Arctic circle it is so dry, we cannot use vaseline on our skin outside, the petrolatlum evaporates and it flakes off like candle wax. Up here, the cold just gets on you it never goes into you. it is very different.!!

**Kane Hill** · 05-29-2007, 07:22 AM

That is so cool. By far one of the best stories I have heard online yet. How do you get your nice drinking water? Boil/melt snow? This may sound stupid but is the snow different next to the ocean? I have never been that far north. Denver is as far as I have been. I'm in deep south Texas. We freak out when is 40 ABOVE zero.

Kane

**Kane Hill** · 05-29-2007, 07:24 AM

BTW: Very nice pic's [thumbsup]

**Majik Imaje** · 05-29-2007, 10:34 AM

WE obtain Fresh Drinking water by sucking the salt out of the frozen ocean ice.

We melt snow to make water for washing but for drinking we have to use Eskimo Tecnnology. time tested for thousands of years.

Take any large piece of ice, it is everywhere, stand it up, brush off the snow from the top and from the sides,, now wait and let the sun go to work. As the sun hits that ice. it will become "clearer" and in time the top will become crystal clear, then take your kettle over to that piece of ice, and chop horizontally and melt that ice. all the salt has been removed or sucked down into that frozen piece of ice. We can speed up this process by placeing that huge piece of ice on sand, it will suck the saltl down much quicker, We use sand to cut gigantic holes in the ice when we need to for various reasons.

Lets "Pause" here ! for just a bit.. (pun intended)

DANGER: BEWARE: DANGER :

A little "Arctic" type humor on a very serious subject !
Polar Bears: -
DANGER: Polar bear - Nanuq (Nanook of the north) Nanuq is pronouned just like that old "fake" movie Nanook of the north, made decades ago.. what is so ironic is that the persons name was not really Nanook and that in real life he died by being eaten by a polar bear!

Sob.. I had a very close friend in Point Lay (100 miles+ north here) Charles Stalker Jr. III He was my electrical apprentice in that village. Dec 1990 Sob.. .. A polar bear was going after his pregnant girlfriend. Chalres was only armed with a knife when he distracted that bear away from his girlfriend. He never had a chance, one swipe of the LEFT paw, literally cut him into two pieces and he was eaten. The bear was killed and his girl-friend survived that attack because of the heroism that Charles displayed.
Allan Rock was out on the ocean ice and was attacked by a polar bear. Armed with only a large knife. That bear died!
ALL bearsare left handed, they will always swing with the left paw first.
Billy weber was out on the ocean ice and a polar bear was coming after him. armed with only a .22 rifle and only one bullet left. Billly weber ran, His friends could see the predicament he was in but were too far away to help. There is only one place to shoot a polar bear, and that is in the ear. Shoot for the skull and it will bounce off his skull and the bear will get you!
Billy was running for his life, and that bear was gaining on him, while running he merely pointed that rifle back and took his last shot, Billy lived to tell about it.. that bear was that close, that Billy got him right in the ear.

These are all very true stories that anyone in Point Hope will verify.
Last week, ha ha ha... Gus Kowanna (17) bought himself a rifle that was way too powerful for him or anyone else for that matter, he was warned, don't do that Gus, and don't put a scope on it, he didn't listen. .303 weatherbee bolt action. Gus proudly went out to the ice with his new weapon, He was warned, Gus is out on the ice and went up to the tent for something, when he came out of the tent, there was a polar bear, looking at him from about 30 or 40 yards away or slightly further. Gus picked up his rifle and took careful aim and pulled the trigger, That scope punched him right in the eye and now the polar bear is coming after him, Gus loaded another bullet and took aimi and held on for dear life to that rifle.. BLAM.. that scope punched him square in the eye and he is hurting so bad, getting socked like that, he can't think of the pain he doesn't have much time left at all, carefully he loads another round and held it as tight as could be and pulled that trigger.. that bear went down and Gus got rid of that rifle. I wish I could have reached Gus to get a pic of his face. it was sure swollen. black eye real bad.. he learned his lesson, the hard way. but at least he alive.

Even after that polar bear is dead, stone cold dead, that bear can still kill that hunter or who ever opens that bear up for gutting or skinning or whatever it is called. The liver must be destroyed by fire, so that other animals will not eat it. the tubes must be carefully tied and you better know what your doing, if you get any of that juice on your skin, your dead, there is just too much vitamin A inside that bear.
In Barrow Alaska 1940's A very famous Inupiaq hunter was cleaning a polar bear and he was all but finished and his hands were cold and he cupped his hands to blow into them, he got the tinest bit of that juice on his lip.
He lived for many years and everyone in those parts is aware of him, he passed on in the late 80's I think. His skin was bleached pure white and his hair was as white as snow, he lived, and everyone is witness to this bizarre event.
Scientists are concerned about global warming and the recent amount of polar bears that show up in the water drown, dead. They figure it is because of the extended long swims from the ice pack to the next ice pack.
That is not the reason ! There seems to be a shortage of seals further north, and a polar bear will attack anything he can eat. and the biggest mistake a bear can make is to attack a sleeping walrus. A walrus likes to sleep on its back, neck up ,head back exposing his vital neck region, the walrus is stretched out, asleep and along comes a polar bear, hungry, he pounces on that walrus who merely lowers his tusks around the bears head and rolls over into the water and drowns the bear! The walrus always wins.
Polar bears live on the ice, they follow the ice, sometimes they miss and end up in town, we do our best to get them out of town, but when a bear is going after a child or another person, we have no choice but to take it down quick.

Last month a mother with 3 cubs entered town, the ending was a good one, they were successful in getting that mother out of town and back onto the ocean ice. with all three cubs
The most delicous meat I have ever tasted in all my life has been polar bear meat, It is jet black, grainy like an old piece of garnled wood but it is so sweet and tender, better than the best prime rib I have ever eaten, It was the only time I have ever asked for seconds and everyone all at once said NO!

The hunter takes care of the bear, the women take care of the skin. This skin is worth over 15,000! To properly accomplish a "native" tan, without the use of chemicals, an extremelly sharp Ullu knife is needed, and many women are required to finish this in the course of an entire day.

Sally Killigvuk (left) and Elizabeth Oviok - Postmaster (right) are using all they got with much strength to scrape the skin until it is soft and clean. There are about six women working on this and it will take them most of the entire day.
Once it is cleaned then it must be thrown into the ocean tied up of course to something solid, then it is hung up in the Arctic wind for a few months to dry out.

Well I hope you found this "bear-y" interesting !
I have LOTS MORE to "show & tell"

The best.. ... is yet to come.. ..!

:ranger:

**Kane Hill** · 05-30-2007, 07:06 AM

Very nice. I would have never thought of that. (standing up the ice) but it does make sense. Where do you get your sand from? Is that imported in? This is a very interesting story. I would love to read more.

Kane

**Majik Imaje** · 05-30-2007, 08:46 AM

WE have TONS, THOSANDS OF TONS of sand on the beaches.

Now, if I type in the word "Igloo" I bet you think you know what that word means, or what that word is.

I bet your wrong.

Here in Alaska, above the Arctic circle, since eons ago, thousands of years. The Inupiaq Peoples do not use SNOW or Ice. for a dwelling place, that is a myth.

First of all, there are no O's or E's in the Inupiaq language. So the correct spelling is :iglu

Iglu = one dwelling

Iglut - two

Igluk = 3 or more

So Igluk are made out of whale bones and sod. !

Certain parts of Canada & Greenland use snow/ice.

This old "condo" which is collapsed once had electricity running to it, The service drop is located on the left side, that stick, you can see the old porclean is still on it.

Now here is a nice "fixer upper" ..

These Iguk are fairlly new as iin many hundreds of years old, Older than the U.S.

As you can easily see, an iglu is quite large inside, I am only half way in due to the excessive amount of snow behind me. Many igluk have side rooms also, they are quite large and long,

NIce uncluttered view, outside the door, no windows in any of these units, One or two different ways to get out. Mounds are still lbeing uncovered all over the place here. Extremlly old igluk are still turning up due to the eroison of the coastline.

Living underground with the ground over you, covered with snow provides excellent insulation value for sure.

Here are some very ancient ruins that have just showed up during the last 50 years due to erosion.

Not quite what you thought an Iglu was eh? Now you know the real truth.

I got lots more surprizes for you..

Point Hope has been occupied for thousands of years, and in the mid 1800's their population was well over 10,000 Inupiaq, right here. Then the greed of the whalilng companies arrived and ALL the animals were decimated. Through disease and mass starvation only 190 people survived. When I arrived in 1981, there were just over 400 Inupiaq. Today, the Tikigaq corporation has just over 1,200 shareholders, 750 still live in the village.

Tikigaq = Point Hope (Tigara) on very olden maps)

Tikigaqmuit = Person from Point Hope Bostonmuit is a person from Boston.

So, lets go back down to the ocean ice and see what Whaling is all about. So many groups and agencies and animal rights groups are so willing for us to become extinct. WE need OUR FOOD, to survive this harsh climate which we call HOME.
this is our tradition / subsistence is our only way to LIVE. we only take that which we need to eat, we waste NOTHING.

Many hundreds of people are involved, young and not so young, to chop, pick, smooth out a trail to go 7 miles out to the edge of the Arctic Ice Pack on the Chukchi Sea in the Bering Strait of Upper Alaska 200 miles above the Arctic circle of the North Slope.

In this image, I am being literally TAKEN down to the lead opening, I am sick sick sick with the flu, I slept outside that night @ 50 below, woke u the next morning. I froze.. .. the flu! I felt terriffic !

But sore as anything due to the ride on that sled, I felt like I had just gone through a few games of tackle football. I was convinced beyond any shadow of doubt that the lenses would be all smalshed from the crashing of the sled when it would go 4 or 5 feet in the air when we went over little hills, hardl constant bashing, crashing, for 7 miles which took almost 3hours to get out ther. ocean ice is not smooth,

FRESH DOUGHNUTS are made in every camp every day, along with a huge variety of other foods we eat.

Majing fresh doughnuts at 50 below zero requires a few tricks, to get that dough to rise just right, this tent looks warm but it is very "drafty" and the dough will not rise properly, after the dough is all mixed up, then it is put into a clean plastic bag, and she puts on her parky and the bag of dough is carried inside the parky on the back in the same manner in which children are carried in sub zero temps.

These women work so hard all day long preparing food for each crew of 8 hunters a boyer and 3- 5 women. That is a lot of food to prepare 4 times every day for two months!

Each camp and tent is set up exactly identical, everything is in the same place no matter which camp you visit.

Aquaq is preparing Caribou soup. Caribou has no fat on it. Grind up threee pounds and fry it up in a skillet and when your finished there is less than one tea spoon of fat. Caribou meat is delicous. It tastes just like beef, depending on hiw it is cooked. We make Caribou, mushroom, cheese sandwiches with a "Philly" twist!

The hunters eat, sleep, hunt, work, right here, this is home for the hunters 24/7 for the next 8 weeks or longer depending on the conditions of the ice.
Are you tired ? lean back, close your eyes and rest a few hours, that is all it takes, due to the 24 hour sunlight, we easily become solar powered and can easily stay awake and alert for 3 days or longer.

See that ice pack on the other side of the lead opening? that is moving very quickly rrom right to left in this image due to the poweerful strength of that North wind. Do not watch that ice. It is very easy to hallucinate out here on this ice pack, all you gotta do is watch that ice moving, at some point, that ice will STOP, and you will feel the sensation of moving in the opposite direction. I was constantly falling over much to the delight and hysterical laughter of the hunters, "dumb city boy from Boston"

ARE YOU COLD ??... We have many ways to stay warm and very comfortable out here. ways you would never think of or ever expect. How you dress is very important, but what you EAT and when you eat it is the most important factor. A hot meal will make you lazy, and relaxed and your body doesnt generate any body heat, and after a while you begin to get cold,

PIck up that hacksaw and cut some thin slices of that caribou meat that is RAW, & FROZEN. slice it up thin, swallow it whole, small pieces, do not chew them. NOW, FILL UP YOUR STOMACH FULL. This is "quaq" Raw frozen caribou meat or raw frozen fish. When you fill up your stomach, your body has to work very hard to digest all that raw frozen meat, your body will begin to generate body heat the likes of which you have never ever experienced in your life. WARNING: do not ever attempt this and try and stay inside your gonna end up in the hospital. At 30 below zero we are taking clothes off because we are too hot. Can you spot the people in this next image that just finished eating in this manner? it is quite obvius that John Tingook is too hot. it is more than 30 below zero in this image !

more to follow soon....

**potchie** · 05-31-2007, 03:34 AM

i wish i coud experience that,, though as i can see its too hard to live there... grgrggrrggr i feel the cold temp.. but exciting right?

**Majik Imaje** · 05-31-2007, 06:52 PM

Yes ! it is extremely exciting to be out on the Ocean Ice.

A different world, a different planet.

We have many tricks we use to keep warm, time tested Inupiaq Technology, thousands of years old.

WowoW ! Two teenage "girl-friends" Elaine & Minnie pose for me in traditional dress @ 50 below zero ! do they look cold ? Nope! Inupiaq clothing is very warm & extremly light. Accidently "fall" into the water and you sink like a "rock" there is no chance.**(recent hero).--further in this thread.

Lilly & Donald Oktollik - Aaka & Aapa - Grandmother & Grandfather.

My four sons: Great grandparents.

MA J I K are their Initials MarkAndrew, Jesse, Isaiah, Khristoper

using those same initials plus our last name = I MA J E

i HAVE STORIES YOU WILL NEVER BELIEVE.. .. .. all documented, ask anyone up here. Yes Life in the Arctic is fascinating, that is what has kept me up here all this time. This Point Hope I prefer to call it Point HoME.

Daisy Della Fay Age 3 - A computer monitor can not do justice to this incredibly sharp image. 1983 United Bank of Alaska offered me 100K for the complete rights to this image. Under the advice of some friends high in the Art world I declined that offer. Gosh I sure am glad I took their advice. WowoW! Many times during the tourist season, as people were walking by this image, we often overheard ...that was my daughter .. when she was young..!

The tents in the backgruond are for the women, on much safer ice. the umiaq is brought down to the lead opening 1/2 -3/4 a mile away, the skin must be protected. sharp ice can easily rip this thn skin which is hand sewn six ugruk (bearded seal skins) with a water tight zig zag stitch using dental floss.

The children often copy their parents when playing outside.
This image needs no explanation, a childs imagination and the
quest is on to capture that whale..

**XHA** · 05-31-2007, 07:02 PM

Awesome!

**Majik Imaje** · 06-01-2007, 07:07 AM

The Inupiaq way of life is .. .. .. "patience" wait, watch, learn, look & listen. Watch.. .. ... constantly, all day, every day, day in week out. For two months that are over ... too quickly, is is paradise out here on the ocean ice, a different world, a frozen world, a different planet, that is gorgeous! Crisp, clean, and COLD. Alapa ! (cold)

Now with the sun low in the sky @2:00 a.m. the sunlight shows, how thin this skin really is. the translucent properties of the skin are very apparent in some areas. Sewn together, with dental floss.

Whaling camps are "home" for two months, outside all day, all night, every day. The sun never sets, it is high in the sky at the end of May, 1:00 a.m. With this constant sunlight and all the reflections all over the area, You become "solar Powered" the Engerizer Eskimo dancing to a different drum beat. keeps going and going and going! Three days, or longer, with no sleep is easy to achieve out here, When your tired, just sit down on that sled, lean back and close your eyes and rest a "few" hours. Your good to go.for another 3 days or longer! when they catch a whale. No body sleeps, there is just too much work to do. If another crew catches a whale and then another, well we got two weeks work, no one sleeps !

This year (07) we have ten strikes, we have used up 9 . We have one left.
We have landed three whales by two different whaling Captains (Umailik).

3 whales is not enough to feed 800 people. That would last two months perhaps. We have to make that last all year. We are starving. Our culture is on the brink of extinction. We live in a small place with very high unemployment. there are no jobs, we need our subsistance lifestyle and our lifstyle revolves around that whale for thousands of years steeped deep in tradition & culute and values. It takes a whole year to get ready for whaling there is just so much to do.

Some of the members of this whaling Crew are only 8 years old, some are 11 years old. They learn very young. Billy Weber. smiles as he sees me approaching. Atta Boy Billy. nice shot. it is so good to see you again.

**Majik Imaje** · 06-01-2008, 08:22 PM

I would create images.. using FILM then hurry back to the village and process the film and 11 x 14 enlargments and bring them back to the ice and give them all away for FREE !!

**wisdomtool** · 06-01-2008, 09:02 PM

Certainly never expect such a region to be so beautiful

I just thought it would be white all over.

**peterlh35** · 06-01-2008, 09:47 PM

oh man those are some crazy storiessss.

**KML9870** · 06-01-2008, 10:07 PM

I wondered who dug up this thread. It's nice to see you back David. Thank you for bringing us more images!

**Aadriyah** · 06-02-2008, 12:23 AM

Such an extremely beautiful place but I cannot live there even for a day for I might sure die.. I freeze when it rains, how much more If I live in ice?

**jabo** · 06-02-2008, 02:32 AM

You guys wait for the whale? How long does that usually take? What sort of food can you get out of them? How big are them actually. So what are your recipes out there?