Arctic Survival
Whale Hunt Ended in Tragedy; Boys Were Saved by Clothing
! By Howard Rock
Times Editor
"When 1 came up out of the wa
ter, I saw my father. He was bleed
ing around the head. He was hold
ing on to a floating paddle,” said
Weyahok sadly.
He was telling about the tragedy
that happened when he was around
13 years old. He had never liked
to tell about it because it had af
fected his profoundly.
It had been around the middle of
May. The ever exciting whale hunt
was in progress. Chief Attungow
ruk. as well as another crew, had
gotten whales and every crew was
still trying to get more. They were
trying to get more meat for the com
ing year.
Anticipation
"There had been a considerable
excitement, especially for me, some
time before th whaling season start
ed. said Weyahok. “One evening
my father, Kakairnok, said to me,
‘My son, you are growing up and
you should start to do what men do.
How would you like it if I took you
on as a member of my crew-”
"Needless to say, I was the hap
piest boy in the village. The antici
pation of whale hunting with my
father and his crew was very excit
ing. Another happy thought was
that I would be in company of two
other boys, Akniachak, around 16
years of age and a veteran of three
was going to do this so Koonook
who was a bit younger than I was
and who was going whaling for the
first time also.
“Mother was excited also but a
little worried at the same time. She
had said to me, ‘I will make you
some warm clothing to wear.’ She
had told Koonook’s mother that she
was going to do this so Koonoook
was to have warm clothing also.
Akniachak already had his from
the past season.”
Heavy Clothing
Weyahok's mother had made him
a parka of heavy winter caribou
skin and a pair of knee-length pants
of the same material. Koonook’s
mother had done the same for him.
Tlie parkas and pants were not much
for looks but they were very warm.
The season was now half over
and Kakairnok and his crew had
not had any luck.
“One day, just before midday, my
father said to us, ‘We are not doing
very well here. I think we should
move our camp up north away from
the other crews. We might do bet
ter up there.’
“We broke camp and loaded our
gear in the umiak and started north,
paddling along the edge of a lead.
We passed two whaling camps along
the way. Beyond the last camp was
the shore ice that jutted out sea
ward. When we rounded it, we must
have been over a mile away from
the last whaling camo we Dassed.
Whale Surfaces
“We were leisurely cruising along
about 90 feet from the shore ice
looking for a suitable place to set
up camp, when a larger than aver
age sized whale surfaced about 75
feet directly ahead of us.
“Father looked back to us quickly
and motioned for us to paddle. The
crew consisted of my father. Ka
kairnok, two other adult men, one of
which was the helmsman, a woman
who prepared meals, and three of
Us boys.
“We started to paddle after the
whale with all the energy we could
muster to catch up with it, on one
of three or four series of surfaces
it makes to breathe. We caught up
on the third surfacing and my father
raised his whale harpoon.
“My father's whale harpoon had
a stout wooden shaft fastened to a
bone shank rounded to a dull point
at the end. On the end of the shank
was the harpoon head of sharpened
slate made out of ivory and it had
a blade of sharpened slate fitted at
the point. The harpoon head itself
was fastened to long, stout walrus
hide rawhide thong. The other end
was fastened to three inflated seal
skin floats.
“My father struck and plunged the
harpoon deep into the kidney area
of the whale. He used the momen
tum of the umiak to help him. The
helmsman had swung the umiak
more than 45 degrees angle to the
whale, considered by the whalers as
a safe angle.
Umiak Hit
ine wnaies tail must nave shift
ed sharply beneath us the the mo
ment of the strike.’ continued Wey
ahok. “The great flukes suddenly
rose out of the water hitting our
umiak just forward of the mid
beam. There was a sickening feel
ing of being lifted into the air by a
great force underneath.
“There was sounds of wood snap
ping. mingled with the scream of
the woman member of the crew. The
great force under us seemed to
cease and then I felt myself sailing
through the air. I seemed to sail
for long mements and I felt the im
pact of the water when I came
down. I went under for what seemed
a long time. I swallowed some
water.
Wounded Father
“Finally I felt air around my
head. I gasped for breath. I saw our
umiak upside down. There was no
shape to it. It looked like a deflated
seal skin float. To the left of it, I
! saw my father! He was bleeding
j badly around the head. He saw me
I and shouted. ‘Eeqneeng, (Son,) try
. to make it to the ice. Try hard! Son,
I cannot make it. My bones are
broken! Hurry, son, try to make it
to the ice!’ I could see my father
clinging to a floating paddle with
his left hand. His other arm must
have been badly injured.
, - _
"I could not swim but I tried to
do what my father told me to do.
‘Use your arms and hand and pad
dle with them'.’ father shouted."
"The ice was about 125 feet way.
The whale had thrown us outward.
My right knee was hurting me ter
ribly.
Father Encourages
“A1 the while I could hear father
encouraging me.” Weyahok con
tinued. “I suddenly noticed Koonook
and Akniachak. They were also try
ing to make it to the ice. Koonook
was whimpering. They were both
ahead of me to my right. Ahniachak
was making good progress.
“Father kept encouraging us. I
could no longer hear the woman’s
screams. When I was a few feet
away from the ice, I could no longer
head my father's voice.
Saved
“Akniachak had reached the ice
and was scrambling up out of the
water. I had passed Koonook with
out noticing him. Akniachak began
to encourage me and soon I was
close enough for him to reach me
and pulled me out. Koonook was
still about 20 feet out. He was cry
ing, ‘I can’t make it, I can't make
it!’
“I was crying as I encouraged him
because when I looked out over the
water, there was no sign of life.
There were only remnants of the
broken umiak floating out to sea.
I had lost my father—my good
father . , .
“Koonook was giving up but
Akniachak and I kept shouting to
him to keep trying. He seemed to
get a renewed strength. His stif
fened limbs were giving him great
difficulty but somehow he managed
to come close enough for us to reach
him and pulled him out. He was
crying and shuddering greatly.
“When we got him we began to
walk him around holding him by
his arms. He didn’t want to walk
and said he wanted to lie down but
we kept walking him. My knee kept
hurting. When I looked at it, it had
been cruelly skinned with great
bruises around them. Whatever hap
pened, I was fortunate that my leg
had not been broken, otherwise, I
probably would not have made it.”
Grief
Weyahok became quiet and bowed
his head. He could not talk any
longer. A great emotion had over
taken him. This was the reason he
had nevetr liked to talk about the
tragedy. He had loved his father
deeply. He had wanted to be like
him because he had worshipped. He
wanted to be strong like his father.
Weyahok did become strong when
he reached manhood, both in will
and physical strength. He was
known as the strongest man in the
village in his day. He used his
strength for sport and not to hurt
anyone. He used it in his hunting
and it made him a man of great en
durance. He was a challenge to the
great rigors of the Arctic. He used
it with care without ever over-ex
tending himself. His fellow hunters
knew his strength any they treated
his accordingly.
He never bragged about • his
strength. Instead, he smiled and
laughed. His chlidren knew it was
there. The very tone of his voice
became law and they obeyed him.
While Strikes
After a long silence, Weyahok
continued:
‘‘I have never stopped thinking
about the strangeness of us three
boys of having saved ourselves
while all our adults perished. The
whale must have injured everyone
of the adults by the great force of
Alaska Sports
Many Museums
University of Alaska anthropol
ogy students have an opportunity
this year to gain first-hand know
ledge of an Alaska culture that may
date back 9.000 years.
The link with the distant past are
specimens of ancient tools and
weapons collected by a University
research team in Mt. McKinley
Park last summer. The team’s prac
ticed eye uncovered historically val
uable artifacts which have lain un
noticed in an area passed by thous
ands of tourists as they take the
main road into the park each sum
mer.
This month, the age of the arti
facts—bones. scrapers, choppers,
side blades and weapon points—is
being determined by team leader H.
Morris Morgan, through radio car
bon dating. Morgan, a professor of
anthropology at the University of
Alaska, was assisted on the field
research by Raymond Paneak of
Anatuvuk Pass and graduated stu
dent William Bradford.
Morgan believes that the sum
mer’s work will help fill many of
the missing gaps in the history of
man in interior Alaska.
“Man has been in McKinley Park
for a considerable length of time,”
Morgan explains, “but not neces
sarily continuously. The different
types of artifacts indicate that dif
ferent groups of people inhabited
the area at varying periods of time."
“The weapon points tell us that
some of the park inhabitants were
apparently big game hunters who
lived off moose, caribou, sheep and
perhaps bison which are now extinct
in the McKinley Park area.”
Many of the artifacts Morgan’s
team excavated, under the auspices
of the National Park Service, re
sembles types and forms found in
othr parts of North America.
Morgan is familiar with both ends
* \ - • * \ . - ,.
100 Million Year Old Rocks Are
1 Being Studied at McKinley Park
Secrets of a 100 million year old
phenomenon in McKinley Park are
under intensive investigation by a
University of Alaska geology pro
fessor.
Dr. Marvin J. Andersen is record
ing the hostory and development of
the Cantwell rock formation— a
scenic wondler which has delighted
tourists driving along the Denali
Highway each summer.
Rock collections made in the area
of the formation last summer by Dr.
Andresen and two students are
now undergoing analyses at the
University’s Geology Department.
“Very thin slices are cut from the
rocks," Dr. Andresen explains, “so
thin that light will pass through
them. The slices, mounted on glass
slides, are then studied with polar
izing microscopes. The rocks, like
pages in a book, can tell the history
of the earth during the time they
were being deposited.”
Scintists have established that the
Cantwell formation was formed by
deposits from streams which origin
ated in what was an ancestral moun
tain range. The base of the Cant
well forrmation is composed of
quartz boulder and is approximate
of the North American continent.
Before joining the staff at the Uni
versity of Alaska in 1962 he did
archaeological research in Mexico.
He is currently collecting data on
the evolution of land forms pecu
liar to an arctic delta underlaid
with permafrost. The research is
one phase of a study on the his
tory of the physical geography of
the Colville Delta in Alaska. The
overall project is the first definite |
study of an arctic delta ever done I
by an American team.
ly 500 feet thick. The total forma
tion is about 4.000 feet thick.
Dr. Andresen has been interested
in the Cantwell formation almost
from the time he joined the Univer
sity staff in 1960, shortly after re
ceiving his Ph D, from the Univer
sity of Missouri. He has studied it
for the past two summers but be
lieves his research is by no means
complete. The Geologist, who will
include a description nf the forma
tion in a booklet he is preparing on
the geological structure of McKin
ley Park, said he will continue his
investigation for several more years.
The Research Corporation, a non
profit organization which helps fin
ance the work of young scientists,
and funds supplied to the Univer
sity's Geology Department by the
Gulf Oil Co., helped support Dr.
Andresen’s research this past sum
mer.
In 1961 Dr. Andresen participated
in the International Field Institute
in the British Isles as one of only
20 geology teachers elected from
more than 200 departments in the
United States.
Letter to Editor
c/o Anna Kliniek Voor Orthopaedie
Leiden. Holland
Dear Sir:
Very belated congratulations to
you with the birthday of your won
derful newspaper.
Many of the patients in this hos
pital enjoy with us the interesting
articles about life in Alaska.
Sure would love to read thought
about happenings in the Bethel and
Lower Yukon area!
Maybe in the near future?
My very sincere best wishes
Elly Van Croveld
its flukes. I don’t remember hearing
the two men. They must have been
knocked out or killed outright. All
I could hear was my father as he
encouraged me and the other boys,
and the woman’s screams.
“We had started walking Koon
ook towards the camp to the south.
We walked slowly at first because
our limbs were stiff. Soon our blood
circulation came to normal and
started hurrying. I had a hard time
keeping up with the boys because
of my injured knee.
"Befoi'e we reached the camp
they spotted us and one man came
running, sensing trouble. We told
him what happened and he ran
back. There was a flurry of activity
and they launched their umiak at
once and started padlling north in
hopes of finding someone alive. They
didn’t find anyone alive, of course.
Courier
“When we reached the camp, one
man had remained. He had been in
structed to give us dry clothes. He
was a young man and he had been
told to carry the news to the village
after he got the story from us.
“While we were putting on our
dry clothes, the young man started
for the village about three miles
east on the run. When we finished
putting our clothes, we started for
home.
“We hurried as fast as we could
but the young man ahead steadily
pulled away from us. I was a drag
on the other boys because of my in
jured knee.
"When we approached the village
we could see people walking toward
the beach and when we reached it
they surrounded us. Many women
were weeping. My mother had come
forward and took me in her arms.
She was dry-eyed. She had been
stricken with silent grief
Saddened Village
The village was saddened as it
had never been before. All the peo
ple in it knew those that were lost
intimately. They grieved over Ka
kairnok. He was a fine hunter—a
fine man. His loss would be felt in
the whole community because he
had helped to sustain it with his
considerable skill as a hunter.
His loss to his immediate family
was a deadening blow. Weyahok
felt it most keenly because he had
worshipped his father. Since he was
the only boy. he felt that the re
sponsibility of taking care of the
family would fall on his shoulders.
He was too young as yet to be fully
effective as a hunter.
Chief Attungowruk of the village,
almost at once invited Weyahok to
join his crew. The Chief had caught
a whale earlier and told him that
he would be given a full share of
the whale as a crew member. He
instructed his crew to give the Ka
kairnok family a portion of their
share.
Attungowruk caught another
whale that season, in fact two days
after Weyahok joined the crew, so
the young hunter was able to pro
vide his family with ample food for
the coming year.
“It always amazed me,” Weyahok
continued, “to think back how we
were able to save ourselves when
we couldn't swim. 1 used to wade
in the lagoon up to my waist and up
to my neck once in a while but I
never learned to swim.
Saved by Clothes
When the whale struck our um
iak and threw use into the water,
our heavy clothing kept us afloat.
I must thank our mothers for mak
ing us clothes out of winter cari
bou skins. They were very buoyant
in the water and if it hadn’t been
for that, all of us would have
drowned.”
The U.S. Savings Bonds sold each
day would stretch 34 miles. In
terms of "votes for freedom,” this
would mean that over 300,000 are
cast daily.