Arctic Survival
CONSERVATION WOVEN DEEP IN NATIVE HUNTING PHILOSOPHY
I- By Howard Eock
Times Editor
“Do not kill animals you do not
need.” Tony Joule, at the Inupiat
Paitot meeting at Kotzebue last
October, quoted this ancient ad
vice that has been handed down
from generation to generation in
the Arctic.
This advice has been honored to
B great degree down through time
to the present day. To defy it is to
invite loss of respect from the popu
lace of a community.
Infractions have been and are us
ually made by those of arrogant
nature. Fortunately those are few
and far between. -The advice has
always had the general respect of
the people and therefore observed
quite faithfully.
The Eskimos and Indians in their i
pursuit of game were not and are
not heartless killers of animals, as
they are sometimes pictured. They
were and are very much aware of
the finality of death and have made
attempts to atone for the kills they
have made In order to survive.
Beautified Weapons
The famous archaeologist Dr.
Kelge Larson, director of the Arctic
Institute of Denmark, had this to
say:
‘The Eskimo hunters were not
heartless killers of animals. You
will notice that on their weapons,
like the harpoon, they carved beau
tiful and intricate designs. There
was a reason for this and it had
been handed down from generation
to generation. The ancient Eskimo
hunters in making their weapons
beautiful and attractive had con
victions that the animals they took
did not like to be killed with ugly
weapons.”
There have been kills of animals
that would seem to take slaughter
proportions. This has been done
because hunters knew the take
could be stored for future use.
Sigloaks
The people along the Arctic coast,
apparently for centuries, had sig
loaks, underground food caches, to
store meat a year or more at a
time.
The sigloak was usually excavat
ed on high ground with the idea of
having the deepest chamber above
the water seepage level. At Point
Hope, at the westermost point of
the Alaska mainland, sigloaks were
excavated among the old village
ruins that were above seepage level.
This community of ancient whal
ing culture, built its sigloaks with
roof supports of whale jawbones,
shoulder blades, ribs, vertebrae, and
slabs of rocks. Wood was not used
because it rotted in a comparative
ly short time.
The Point Hope sigloak usually
had two or three chambers or
shelves at different levels. The
deepest chamber was used to keep
a frozen meat supply. Whale meat
and muktuk were stored in it, the
choice diet of the Point Hope Es
kimos. This deep chamber kept
meat frozen even during the sum
mer months.
The upper chambers were used
for storing walrus, oogruk, seal, and |
other meats. These levels during
summer were usually at about
freezing point or at slightly warmer
temperatures. This was desired be
cause at these temperatures the
meat went through a process of
curing or tenderizing. The Eskimos
had liking for meat that was cured
to the point of pungent aroma.
Wasted Nothing
As was pointed out at the out
set. the natives took animals pro
portionate to their needs. Through
experience they had learned to
waste nothing of what they had.
The animals they took were utiliz
ed where almost every part of it
was used for food or clothing.
This manner of utilizing of ani
mals was probably due, in part, to
times of food shortages when hunt
ing conditions were unfavorable.
Akin To Animals
The natives in the Arctic regions,
' as well as those in the interior, In
having to survive through hunting
economy, had become akin to the
animals they hunted.
The animals were indeed vital to
their existence and a great many
of them had to be taken. In taking
them hunters did not always feel
justified to kill them. They made
Jf - n - - - .
overtures of apologetic nature to
the animals they had to kill.
This feeling must have been quite
general. No doubt the advice, "Do
not kill animals you do not need,”
sprung from this attitude.
There were other overtures of
atonement the ancient people of
the north made toward their ani
mals. Mentioned earlier was the
beautifying of the weapons. Others
were made in legends, songs, and
dances.
One great hunter on the Arctic
coast, not long ago. came across a
wolverine. This animal’s fur was
much desired for hood ruffs on the
artegee, or the parka.
The animal passed within easy
shooting distance. Upon closer
scrutiny, he found the fur was not
of desired quality and he let it go
on unharmed. He said, "Why should
I shoot it? Its fur was not good for
anything.”
Greiving Reindeer
Back In the 1920s most villages
in the north had reindeer herds
which they used for food and
clothing.
In the month of August when the
hair of the animal was prime for
parkas, the herds were rounded up
and butchering for food and cloth
ing ensued. One of the most desired
parka material was the skin of
half-grown fawn.
Male fawns were butchered for
this purpose. After butchering, the
herd was driven off into the hills.
It was usually the job of the wo
men to skin and dress the fawns.
Therefore, they remained for some
time on the butchering grounds.
And Women Wept
About an hour and a half after
the herd had been driven off. there
appeared one by one, back from
the hills the mothers of the butch
ered fawns bellowing for thei,r
young. This proved too much for
some of the women and they broke
down and wept.
On another occasion, a pair of
walrus, apparently mates, were
in the water a short distance from
the beach in summertime. Hunters
at once got their rifles and shot
the male.
Its mate lingered for a lengthy
period out of rifle range and
trumpeted its grief.
One woman who had witnessed
the incident said with feeling. “It
was so sad. She was crying for her
male, but what can we do?"
King Loon
One young Eskimo hunter was
hunting ducks. A king loon flying
majestically approached him with
in perfect shooting distance. He
raised his shotgun and fired. A
flurry of feathers flew off the giant
bird indicating that he had made
a direct body hit.
The king loon quivered visibly
then spread its wings straight out
and glided beautifully, landing
with a smooth spray of wake on the
quiet waters of a lake.
The young hunter started to stalk
it at once in order to put it out
of its misery. As he did so, the
head of the great bird began to
droop until its bill w'as half way
into the water.
When he thought he was close
enough to shoot, the loon raised its
head high, arched it and dived into
the water. It came up far out of
shooting range. As the young hunter
watched the head of the king loon
drooped once again.
Many years later the hunter said,
“I have never forgotten that loon.
In the first place its meat is not
good to cat. Even dogs will hardly
touch it.
“The thing I can't forget was the
way that big loon took the shot.
It would have toppled any other
bird. Even under such circum
stances, that king loon had dignity.
“That incident has haunted me
and since that time I have never
taken any animal I didn't need.
Eased Conscience
There were probably many such
incidents that involved man and
his animals in the Arctic country.
Native hunters and their families
were far from being heartless when
it came to killing animals. A great
hunter was a considerate man who
adtually felt something akin to
kindness toward the animals he
hunted.
In his attempts to make atone
ments. upon finding the vital ne
cessity of taking game for survival,
he eased his conscience somewhat
and at the same time attempted to
establish a compatibility between
himself and the animals he hunted.
In attempting to do this, he left a
saying. “Animals will not fear a
man whose soul is good and who
is kind and generous.”_
Pt. Bar row News
THIRTY YEARS BRING MANY CHANGES TO TOP OF WORLD TOWN
By GUY OKAKOK
Welcome Commissioner
Welcome was known by the Bar
row people to the three persons who j
came in today by Wien Airlines. I
The names of these persons are.
Commissioner Phillco Nash. Area I
Director, Mr. Robert Bennett, and j
Superintendent of Alaska Schools.
Mr. Coombs.
Today In children’s program a key 1
was presented to Daniel, one of the j
school kids, by Mr. Bennett. After \
he handed to him the boy said,
“Thank you, Robert.” The boy
didn't even add another word be
side ‘thank you.’
Mr. Bennett said the people
concerning this key. “Education is
the key to begin with to open the
problems to the children and the
adults.”
As he sees now, the children are
doing well in school.
Good Workers
During dedication of buildings
i Commissioner Nash said today that
this is the first time he has ever
been in Barrow village. He sees now
that our place is the big town and
finding good citizens in Barrow.
He said Magistrate, Mrs. Sadie
Neakok, took him to the houses
visiting them and quite sorry that
he has only short time to do this.
Mr. Nash said to the audience this
evening that the Eskimos are smart
people and good workers. The Es
kimos from Alaska who went down I
to New York to study the RCA
course are now employed and i
everyone of them passed. He said. |
“They are making good salaries.”
He said they want more young peo
ple who want to enroll to this kind
of job. BIA can help them.
The third man Mr. Coombs said
to the people that in Juneau,
Alaska, when Alaskan teachers were
asked to come to the meeting he
asked everyone of the teachers why
they want to be in Alaska. Their
answers were. ‘Because of the chil
dren who need education.’ Now he
understands very well and quite
pleased to hear good answers from
them.
He said he will be coming back to
Alaska sometime but he doubt about
Mr. Nash.
He said the school children of
Barrow are smart kids. Why? Be
cause,he said, “Good teachers.”
Dogteam Runs Away
Barrow is quite a town now. In
habitants is somewhere around
1,400 and still more come in every
year.
30 years ago the beautiful green
grass was all around the village.
Now you can’t see the grass here
between houses any more as gravel
has been hauled here and there.
We boys those years even had to
use bow and arrows and most of
these bows were so strong they
could kill animals. Today there are
hardly any of these now.
Mushroom Shaped Ice
It seems now that they have for
gotten their old customs and moved
to a new life.
Mushing on the dogs hasn't change
though. Boys and girls are still
hitching their dogs. No matter how
old they are, they could be 6 of 7
years of age, they cruise around
on the lovely snow.
Believe it or not the children
could handle seven dogs, would
come home with a load of heavy
ice so they could have some water
to drink.
But couple days ago a youngster
had to walk home from the ice lake
which is 3 miles off town. Accord
ing to. story, after he had load his
sled with ice he was just about to
take off from the lake. Then all of
a sudden his dogs jerk the sled and
off went his sled and dogs and left
him behind. The boy kept hollering
at his dogs but none of them don’t
seem to mind his voice. He gave
up his holler and started walking
toward the town. He made it.
Got home tired though.
Sea Dunking
One lovely morning in August
we went out walrusing in one of
Brower’s boat. Mrs. Thomas Brower
and myself were young men then,
newly married.
On our way down toward the
moving ice, we happen to see wal
ruses. Those walruses were way
up on the ice and the ice was some
what shaped like a mushroom. We
shot them and got three walrus*'
There was one walrus near the
edge of the ice. So my buddy
Thomas Brower and myself went
over to tie the rope around the
tusl^. We both heard something
like cracking ice under us. All of
a sudden the place where myself
and Thomas Brower and walruses
were on broke under both of us.
First thing we knew both were
in the salt water. I never know
what would come to me next but
I was thinking that I was a goner.
Somehow I grabbed the rope that
Tom and I had tied to the dead wal
rus. Then I pulled up on the sur
face on the water. When I get on
the ice I still was holding the rope.
I thought I came t.o the safe place.
There above me I saw ice but
couldn’t see the men on the ice. I
noticed this ice was rocking back
and forth. Each time when the ice
I was standing on goes up I would
see my foot all on the dry ice. And
when she goes back down the water
i would come all up to my chin.
Yet I was holding the rope. Finally
the boat comes around the ice and
picked Thomas Brower and myself
in.
Lucky this has happened in Au
gust.
Loose Dog Troblem
A word has just come to the par
ents of Barrow. They have again
experienced a near serious injury
to a school child.
There's numerous several loose
dogs around school. A six-year-old
child who had no chance when the
dog attacked him. Mr. Gordon said
if it hadn't been for Mrs. Stotts,
the beginner's teacher, this could
have been tragedy.
He said, that once the parents are
made aware of the seriousness of
this problem, that we parents will
not have to wait for another tragedy
before action is taken on the loose
dogs in our town. He said, the loose
dogs on the school ground is some
thing that, with your cooperation,
we can do something about.
Eskimo Theater
The older people have been
talking of putting an Eskimo pro
gram. First: The time when the
Eskimos do having a big last war.
Second: When big starvation ar
rives to the village. Third: How
ten-legged bear killed.
There are several others that
could be used to this kind of scene.
We do not know when this will ap
pear. Hope it will come sooner.