Arctic Survival
Taking Ducks and Geese Engrained Deep in Native Way of Life
By Howard Rock
Times Editor
The Eskimo man crouched be
hind a block of ice near the top of
a pressure ridge next to the bench,
A moment before he had seen a
huge flock of ducks winging their
way directly toward him. They
were flying low. That was good!
Just the way he wanted them —
flying low.
He quickly examined his qilami
taaq to see if the strings were not
twisted or tangled. The ducks were
now almost directly over him. He
stood up suddenly, swung his
qilamitaaq once or twice and
heaved it skyward. The ancient
weapon soared into the air and
tangled its string on the wings and
necks of one of the flying ducks.
Tlie duck, unable to use its wings
effectively any longer, fell to the
snowy ice below.
This was one of the ways ancient
duck hunters brought down his
quarry for food — the eider duck.
Qilamitaaq. his weapon, was made
with five oval shaped ivory or bone
weights, each one strung with
braided sinew and fastened to a
duck wing feather grip.
When thrown, the qilamitaaq
flared out like the claw of a hawk.
When it connected with a flying
eider duck it entangled its wings
rendering them quite useless. Thus,
eider ducks in the Arctic were
hunted in the manner described for
thousands of years past.
Way Of Life
Spring is now coming on in the
Arctic regions of Alaska and Cana
da. With it will come great flocks
of eider ducks on their annual mi
gration to the north. The Eskimos
are anticipating the appearance of
the ciders and are craving them for
food.
After a diet of other meats for a
whole year, the coming of the eider
Will be a significant and satisfying
change. Whether the eider duck
provides needed vitamins is not
known to this writer, but he does
■know there is strong craving for it.
Whether it is an acquired taste
Or whether it is needed in the sys
tem of the Eskimo makes no dif
ference. The eider duck is an ur
gently needed food in the Arctic.
It is a way of life molded through
Use down through the ages.
As any animal, its appearance in
the succession of animals in the
Arctic, the eider duck triggers a
mood peculiar to itself in the life
of the Eskimo. It has definite mean
ing — it enhances his well-being.
It is an unmistakable part of the
scheme of things, a definite facet
in his mode of livelihood — an in
disputable part of his way of life.
Great Migration
Tn this month of May, the first
Of the great flocks of eider ducks
will make its appearance over the
horizon from the southerly direc
tion following the coast and on up
north toward Barrow, finally wind
ing up in the Canadian Arctic.
Migration starts rather casually.
It then intensifies toward the end
of May as the days grow warmer.
Then, great flocks in frequent suc
cessions begin to wing their way
north. They fly in varying alti
tudes. undulating slowly now and
again, flying invariably in V-for
tnatfons, their cries mingling —
Showing darkly against overcast or
sunny skies.
They wing north, tens of thou
sands of them, in seemingly endless
numbers through sunlit nights and
days. Occasionally, they glide down
toward open leads to light, to rest
End swim around and to dive for
morsels in the sea.
King Eider
Two species of eiders are pre
dominantly seen in Arctic Alaska,
the King Eider and the Pacific
Eider. Drakes of both species are
beautifully marked and colored, es
pecially around the head.
The head of the drake King Eider
] is the most spectacularly marked
{ of the two. One distinguishing mark
| of this sea bird is its nose, or knob,
that rises almost vertically from the
bill just above the nostrils. The
color of this knob is bright yellow,
bordered by fine black feathers
at its base. The ridge of the nose
has a stripe tapering to the bill of
the same fine black feathers.
There is a rough triangle formed
by the eye base of the bill, and the
i base of the skull. The color of this
triangle is light green. From the
■ chin to tlie base of the skull is a
stripe, again of fine black feathers.
The eye is black with a border of
fine black feather on the bottom
i lid and a stripe of white on the
upper lid.
The crown of the head from the
base of the skull to the top of the
nose is a solid lightish pastel blue.
The bill at the base is bright red.
blending into grayish white at the
tip. To complete the coloring of
the head of the King Eider is a
white stripe around the neck.
The majestic King Eider and its
mate, brown speckled female, tra
vel in the same formation with the
Pacific Eider. There seem to be a
close kinship between the two spe
cies. They intermix in flight and
on water.
Great Controversy
The extent of the importance of
j the eider duck to the Eskimos can
not be denied. This was dramatic
ally illustrated in May. 1961 at Bar
row, Alaska when the Eskimo eider
duck hunters of that town rose up
in force to protest the application of
a duck season law. Two hunters
had been arrested by Fish and
Wildlife agents for shooting ducks
out of season.
Ask Mass Arrest
On a Sunday around the last of
May. the Eskimos of Barrow held a
general meeting and decided a
course of action — to go enmasse
j to a local hotel to be arrested by
j the two wildlife agents who were
staying there.
On the following Monday, 138
men. each carrying a duck, descend
ed upon the hotel.
Such was the story of a people
who rose up in defense of a way of
life they have enjoyed for thou
sands of years. The attempt to ex
tinguish that right was too dras
tic — a way of life that had been I
a definite factor in their survival
down through the ages.
Eider ducks — the unique sea
birds that migrate along the far
flung beaches of Alaska and Cana
da, have a meaning that is more
than the nourishment they provide
the Eskimos. Their appearance each
spring is a hai'binger of a better
life — a tonic for their well-being.
The swarming multitudes of them, J
their cries in the Arctic air, the
whistling swish of their flights —
these things that are uniquely
Arctic, have a precious niche in
completing the cycle of the North
ern World. Something or someone,
has placed them to round out the
scheme of things in the Arctic
country. In doing so, they have be
come an integral part of a way of
life — an integral facet that has
aided the existence of man in Alas
ka and Northern Canada.
One-Shot Chance
The shadow of enforcement by
wildlife agents still hangs over Es
kimos who hunt eider ducks for
food each spring. In many areas
natives get only a one-shot chance
at eider ducks. To illustrate this
point: at Point "Hope, the eiders mi
grate right over or along the near
by beach near the village.
In the latter part of May, the sun
melts the snow on the gravel
beaches. The ducks seem to follow
them as they wing north. At that
time the anchored shore ice still
clings to shore.
The eiders on their return migra
tion to the south fly low over the
MAJESTIC KING EIDER DUCK—This beautifully marked and colored King Eider duck is one of the
species of eiders that migrate each spring into th e Arctic. After nesting in the Arctic tundras it mi
grates back to the Aleutian Island areas where it winters. The eider duck has been a focal point of
heated controversy between the Eskimo who hunt it for food and the U.S. Interior Department's Fish
and Wildlife agency. This water color sketch was done by G. M. Sutton on Southampton Island in the
Canadian Arctic. —Re-printed from ARCTIC, Journal of the Institute of North America
sea, occasionally rising only to
skim low over the water. They are
usually about a quarter of a mile
out and more. They are rarely
hunted, if ever, on their southerly
migration. At that time, the na
tives are busy fishing with nets on
north and south beaches while
others move to their summer camps.
Pressure Still On
The drama of an age-old custom
that refuses to be extinguished
and a duck season law enacted for
temperate zones still goes on and
is putting its unrealistic pressure
on the natives who hunt ducks for
food.
Although the Interior Department
in Washington quietly gave sanction
to Eskimos to take ducks for food
and advised then that they should
not give wildlife agents cause to
arrest them, but it has not given a
directive, or order, to the agents
to relax their enforcement of the
law made originally for the lower
states and not for Alaska, where
conditions are altogether different,
seasonally speaking.
Apprehension
As a result, the Eskimos are ap
prehensive under these conditions.
They are afraid that more arrests
will be made. They say. ‘‘When we
take game for food, we should not
be forced to feel guilty because of
game laws.” They think that game
laws are not applicable to them.
‘‘These laws are not fit for us,"
said James Hawley, of Kivalina.
In the meantime, apprehension
and the feeling that they should
comply with the law has hurt them,
economically. The main feeling re
mains that they do not wont to
be denied of a source of food they
have had for centuries.
Ray Of Hope
There is a ray of hope in the dis
turbing horizon of the duck contro
versy. The tide that has gone against
the natives, on what they think is
their inherent right to hunt ducks
for food each spring, received a
shot in the arm in their favor, not
in Alaska or Washington, but in
Yellowknife, Northwest Territories,
Canada. A legal precedent has been
made there.
Michael Sikyea, a treaty Indian
near Yellowknife, had shot a mal
lard duck on May 7, 1962. He was
arrested and jailed for shooting a
duck out of season. Canada, being
co-signer of the Migratory Birds
Convention of 1916, along with the
United States and Mexico, tried
Sikyea and found him guilty of
shooting a duck out of season. He
appealed and was found innocent.
Not Applicable
Justice J. H. Sissons, of the Ter
ritorial Court of the Northwest
Territories, before whom Sikyea's
appeal was heard, made his judge
ment onjhe ground that the Migra
tory Birds Convention Act did not
apply to Indians who hunt for food
and did not curtail their hunting
rights.
Contained in his decision was the
following:
“From time immemorial, the In
dians and the Eskimos of the north
and their wives and children have
in the spring taken migratory birds
for food and will continue to do so
and this has been and is necessary
for their survival and well-being.
The effect on the bird population is
negligible . . . but it would not
matter if it were otherwise.”
Will Be Watched
The Crown has appealed Mr. Jus
tice Sisson’s decision. The date was
net set but it is believed the case
will be forthcoming in the near
future.
The forthcoming case has aroused
unusually strong interest in the
Interior Department and Justice
Department at Washington, D. C.
and among the branches of the In
terior Department, U. S. Fish and
Wildlife, Bureau of Indian Affairs,
and other departments. National
and international organizations will
watch.
The Alaska State Government
and its branch offices will be vi
tally interested. And. of course, the
Dominion of Canada and its central
government will be watching.
Expectations
Among this great array of nation
al and international groups, with
no less, if not with greater inter
est, will be the Eskimos and Indians
of Alaska and Canada. These
peoples have a great stake at hand
that will be weighed in the court
of law.
They will watch with intense in
terest the outcome of this trial.
They know that the outcome will
have a great bearing on future de
cisions at Washington, D. C. and
the State of Alaska, concerning
their status on this question of abo
riginal rights — the right to take
ducks and geese for food when
these birds are available in the
Arctic.
Bounty Of God
Yes. the taking of ducks in the
Arctic Alaska and Canadian Arctic
is of vital interest to the natives.
Its extinction would greatly affect
their economy.
At the height of the duck con
troversy at Barrow, one of the
leaders of that big village said of
the necessity of taking ducks for
survival:
“When God created this world.
He made sure that everyone in dif
ferent parts of the world can sur
vive one way or another. When He
placed the white people, the In
dians, and the colored or other
people in parts of the world where
it’s warm, He made sure that they
could survive from the land by
growing crops for food.
“When He placed us in the far
north he made sune we could sur
vive from the land by hunting birds
for food. It’s as simple as that.”
Pt. Hope Gets
Many Belugas
By Andrew Tooyak
Point Hope Correspondent
The first white whale, or beluga,
was caught by Antonio Weber’s
whaling crew on April 20, second
by Allen Rock’s crew, third by
Laurie Kingik’s. Allen’s crew caught
two more and Kingik’s crew got
another. The last one caught was
by Amos Lane's crew.
I saw one black bowhead whale
on Sunday, April 20th. Andrew
Frankson’s crew chased it but it was
little too far away when he tried
to strike it. His harpoon fell short.
That was the first big black whale
I've seen in four and a half years.
I hope Point Hope whalers have
good luck.
Since coming back from Colorado,
we have been very happy visiting
with our relatives.
I have been taking pictures for
your paper and I am just about to
finish one roll of film.
The oldest man in Point Hope
died of old age on April 18. Old man
Macheena was believed to be over
100 years old. He was one of the
greatest Eskimo dancers in the vil
lage.