Arctic Survival
Timely Tomcod Proved Arctic Lifesover
* ... ... . .r_~ XXT.,.%
By Howard Keck
Times Editor
Tomcod. the little fish that never
seer-- to travel on schedule but
seems to turn up when most needed, j
is perhaps one of the important liv
ing things in the existence of man
in the Arctic.
In the past, there have been lean
years in the north when the little
tomeed made its timely appear
ance to relieve the meager diet the
Eskimo experienced when hunting
conditions were unfavorable.
V- rally by the millions, the tom- i
cod teem in the sea under the ice.
When a run is heavy, the Eski
mos pick up their special made
hooks and. literally, dip them in
and pull them out. hooking the
little fish with almost monotonous ;
regularity.
Hcoks to catch tomcod have to be
made specially.
The men carve inch and a quarter
long pieces of walrus ivory into
shapes something like a curved
teardrop. Four of these are made
On which a hook or barb is fastened.
A sinker is also fashioned out of
ivory. This is carved like a tear- j
drop. also, and polished. This sinker j
is also made into a large hook with
four prongs It is about three inches
long.
When the hooks have been made 1
the men tone seaguii wings, spin
the quill into sections and gently
scrape them smoothe. These sections
are about 8 inches long. Four of
these quill pieces are required.
When ready, the men carefully
fasten them to the bottom of the j
sinker.
At this stage, when the sinker is
held up in the air each of the hooks
flare out gently in four equally
spaced directions. The idea is to
keep the hooks from tangling while
being used.
The hookmaker is now ready to
attach the long hook line to the
sinker.
The hook line is made out of ba
leen or whalebone, which he has
split into long strings. If the baleen
is ten feet long he has a ten-foot
long baleen string. He scrapes
them carefully and rounds them into
a string less than an eighth of an
inch in diameter.
He makes several of these de
pending on the length of the baleen.
He ties them together with a special
knot that will not slip.
This done, he fastens the line to
a short fishpole. This pole is about
a foot and a half in length. It is
made out of wood, the ends of which
had been carved out forming an
oval with a slit opening at each
end.
The baleen fish line is then coiled
Ull lilC J/VU. n o*‘l ...
usually fish for tomcod. Often, they
drive dogteams taking along with
them one or two of their children
who are big enougli to help.
A hole in the ice is made with a
long-handled ice pick. Tomcod fish
ing begins. When a run is especially
heavy a sled load is caught in a
short time.
It is very common to catch a tom
cod in each of the four hooks on
the line and some are snagged on
the sinker hook.
For lure, anything redish or yel
lowish is attached to the hooks.
In the fall of the year in the Arc
tic heavy winds usually rage creat
ing huge waves breaking along the
beaches. At such times many tom
cods are washed ashore. They are
picked up still wiggling fresh out
of the sea.
As food tomcod is not necessarily
a favorite diet of the Eskimos but
it is a welcomed change from the
other foods.
It is served boiled, fried, or
frozen. It is also dried, strung
through the gills and hung after
the innards have been removed.
Husky dogs relish tomcod. The
little fish apparently furnish a vita
min the dogs need. In twelve days
or two weeks after a diet of some
tomcod the coat of the dogs take
MANY EYES
WILL SEE
YOUR ADVERTISEMENT 1
When it comes to advertisement, the Tundra Times covers
a whale of a lot of territory . . . from Barter Island and Point
Barrow to Kotzebue and Nome, from Attu in the Aleutians to
Ketchikan to the south . . . and advertisements in these pages
will be read widely.
Mr. Advertiser, make your products or services available
to this vast market.
k A
DISPLAY ADVERTISING
1 to 49 column inches... $2 per column inch
Special rates on larger ads
TUNDRA TIMES J
c/o Jessen's Weekly
Box 970 - GL 6-5292 j
Fairbanks, Alaska j
on a sheen and the dogs are happy
and healthy.
In ancient times the women
skinned the tomcod. dried the skin
and used it as a container for their
fine sinews. It kept the sinew In
perfect consistency for immediate
use.
The little tomcod had definite role
in the survival of the people in the
! Arctic. Its presence in great num
bers in the Arctic seas must be the
i reason why the hair seal and other
| sea mammals abound. Thus, the
I tomcod must be classed as one of
groat importance in the existence
of man in the Arctic.
Simon Paneak...
(Continued from page 1)
village was a tractor-caterpillar 1
used to construct the airfield.
All supplies for the village must
be flown in or transported from 1
Betties by dogteam. It takes 5 to
*10 days to make the trip by dog
team.
Because of the difficult transpor
tation problem, prices are extreme
ly high. ...
A 100-lb. sack of flour costs $26;
a 10-lb. bag of flour cost $2.75, and
a can of peaches 80 cents. Fuel costs
$9.50 for five gallons or $105.50 for
a 53-gallon drum. Air freight is 20
cents per pound from Fairbanks.
In 1947, Paneak met Dr. Law
rence Irving, a research scientist
now at the University of Alaska,
and has kept records for him on
such animals as ptarmigan, ducks,
geese, and caribou.
He has secured permission from
fish and wildlife agents to capture
such fowl as ptarmigan in snares
and nets. Most of them he bands
and sends on their way. On others
he records whether the fowl is male
or female, he weighs it, then skins
it, and weighs it again. He studies
where the ptarmigan nests, records
where he finds their eggs.
Although he has not had formal
training in ornothology, he is con
sidered an authority on birds of the
arctic.
During the time fowl are migrat
ing, Paneak and his family work
five days a week gathering infor
mation for science.
Another of Panaek’s duties is as
doctor for the village. When some
one is ill, has a fever, and needs
immediate hospitalization, he noti
fies the school teacher who prompt
ly radios the mesage to authorities.
A plane is dispatched to transport
the ill person to a native hospital.
The primary need of the village,
according to Paneak, is a small light
plant so the villagers can have elec
tric lights. The school, the chapel,
and the postmaster, all have small
generators.
Gasoline is expensive and the vil
lagers do not want to use caribou
fat lamps as they formally have.
According to Paneak, the village
has only a few rules:
1. No liquor may be brought in
by plane.
2. No person is allowed to gam
ble inside the village. “It’s better
to hunt than waste time gambling,"
said Paneak.
3. School children must be home
by 9 f.m. except on Sunday.
4. Each person is responsible for
seeing that his dogs are tied at all
times.
Wood for fuel is gathered from
30 to 50 miles away and transported
by dogteam to the village. In addi
tion to caribou, hunters get moose,
sheep, and mountain grayling and
white fish. There is a warm water
year-around fishing place about 25
miles from the village.
"We don’t make very much
money’,’ said Paneak, “So far we
haven’t bothered with taxes and
I’m glad.”
Adler's Book Shop
Out-of-town orders solicited
and filled promptly
Box 1159. Fairbanks
r, . ■
W.ltl iV'iaill n .i.i.M. ■
Quivering Feather
Alerts Seal Hunter
By Guy Okakok
Contributing Editor
Quivering Feather
Whenever an Eskimo finds a seal
hole, he puts a duck feather over
the edge of the hole.
No matter how the weather gets
he sits still watching it. sometimes
all day long.
He never knows when a seal will
come up to breathe. Finally the
feather begins to quiver or move.
“Now,” he says, there's one down
there!”
On the third breath he strikes or
shoves his harpoon through the seal
hole, not one but twice in order to
make sure he strikes the seal.
“Ah." he says to himself after he
has struck it.
“Now I'll steady my harpoon un
til my line slackens."
Then he pulls the seal on to the
ice and drags it home.
His wife strips the seal and cooks
it. What’s left, the woman donates
to her neighbors.
What a meal!
WWW
Eskimo Recipe
Its easy to make Eskimo ice
cream. Try it, find out. and see how
delicious it looks. All you do is
this.
Melt some reindeer fat or if you
do not have it try caribou fat.
Sprinkle on some salt and pepper
if necessary. Then sprinkle on finely
ground pieces of meat and then add
cooked apples, raisins or berries.
After you whip it thoroughly and it
becomes thick, set it out to cool.
Try it this way and see how de
licious it looks.
If you don't think its good don’t
bother with it.
Cousins Again
It's easy to argue.
Once we did, my cousin and I. We
both were young in those days.
We argued and argued. Finally
we decided to wrestle. We kept on
wrestling until my new dear skin
parka got soaked with solt water.
Both of us became exhausted and
couldn't go on any longer. Then we
gave up and became cousins again.
Violence May ...
(Continued from Page 3>
large foreign fishing fleet close to
our shores.
“Several problems are created by
the Russian fishermen. The first
and most important problem is the
destruction of crab.
"The second problem is the very
real threat to local fishermen. The
first and most important problem is
the destruction of crab.
"The second problem is the very
real threat to local fishermen who
could be put out of operation merely
by not being able to catch enough
crabs.”
With the gear the Russians use
<which Alaskans are not allowed
to use) and with little conservation
measures to slow them down, they
could fish Alaska waters out in
no time, according to Channel
Light.
“The third problem is the loss of
crab pots, the gear fishermen
around Kodiak use to catch the
king crab. Fishermen are allowed
30 crab pots per boat and the pots
cost about $200 each.
“There are tow types of crab
pots, circular and square. The cir
cular pots are about 7 ft. in dia
meter and the square pots are about
4 ft. high, 8 ft. long and 6 ft. wide.
"The Russians are trawling over
these pots, destroying the markers
of the pots and therefore the fisher
men lose their pots.
"Many Alaskans charge the Fed
eral Government with continually
backing off under Russian pres
sure. It looks as though the Federal
Government isn't doing all it can to
stop this Russian aggression,” ac
cording to the-student1 publication.