Siku aasiie Abviq (ice and bowhead whale)

Siku

Note: All of the pictures on the ice and snow were taken between the hours of 9:30 and 11:15 pm!

Last night after dinner (about 9:30 pm) we all geared up and hiked out to the coast...and just kept on walking into the white abyss. It was odd to be walking literally on the ocean. At first I was a little worried, but I became more comfortable as I was engrossed in the landscape. Alex had no worries and couldn't waid to get on the ice. We followed the snow machine trail closely and kept a wary eye toward the horizon to watch for polar bears. It was eerily peaceful, and I am thoroughly enjoying being out of my comfort zone in an unfamiliar extreme environment. I put too many clothes on though, and had to pull off a few layers. I didn't want to leave the ocean, but we had too. We saw huge pressure ridges and a few smaller cracks in the ice. Some places my foot sank about foot down and was covered in slushy slurry ice. I wasn't cold, though.

The coast is difficult to walk on, your feet sink into the pebbles and sand every step. Finely polished pieces of driftwood from other places in the world were scattered along the beach. Who knows what kind or where it came from; there are no trees for hundreds of miles around here.

We got back up on the coastline and had a 30 minute snowball fight. Alex was a natural at pelting people and seems to know the secret to making a remarkable snowball. Anyway, after that we went further up the coast and climbed up a lookout tower to view the sea and town.
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Today I finally ate the whale that was given to me. Lewis Bower, who is Inupiat Eskimo showed us how to eat the whale we received the other day. He is also a whaler and has a skin boat of his own. He told us how difficult it is to hunt them. Bowhead whales have excellent vision and can hear their families 5000 km across the ocean, so it is no simple task. I was absolutely fascinated with his stories. He told us that you must always be prepared, because it is quite dangerous and the whales are so in tune with their surroundings that it is very difficult to find and catch one. Lewis said that he and his crew had a whale rushing towards them head on, and that they couldn't just run to the boat or to their hunting equipment because the whale would hear. They all had to move only when the whale breached to breath, so that it would only hear itself as the water was pushed out of the blowhole. Once it is close enough, it is harpooned, and once killed a whole crew has to rope it and drag it back in. The ice is also very dangerous, especially during sikugvik ("ice breaking time"). He said there are many different kinds of ice, and that it can break when you are on it. In 1995 the whole town lost 99 snow machines and most of their hunting equipment when the ice shelf broke. They would have lost over 100 people if it hadn't been for the helicopters and search and rescue crew.

I was honored by the time I tasted the food and felt like I was taking part in an ageless ceremony that has been an integral thread in the lives of the people here. Their very survival depended on these creatures. Lewis told us that every part of the whale was used. Even the flippers are eaten as a source of fiber, and it is commonly utilized here as a pacifier for kids. The meat on it is hard and fibrous. He said 30-40 years ago they would use the oil that they now throw away for cooking, fires and lanterns. "You will never get us to grow corn or farm." He said, "this alone is what generations of my people have survived on." I realized when he said it that its damn near impossible up here to farm anyway. The only way to sustain the energy needed to survive up here anyway would be to eat it.

The community caught a total of 11 whales this year. There are two seasons, spring (ending around now) and fall. The spring season is called traditional whaling and follows tradition that has been followed by Inupiat Eskimos for generations. A small crew on a skin boat with harpoons will team up with other crews. Victorious captains proudly fly a flag above their vessel. The whale is divided among the community. The middle of the whale is cut entirely around the circumference of the whale and it is enough to feed to entire town! The "waistline" down is given to the captain, who divides it as he sees fit. The other parts are distributed among the community. Friends were given larger portions, especially if they didn't have a fruitful season. Lewis told us that no one was turned down, if anybody asked they received.

He was able to tell the approximate size of the whale just by looking at the blubber and cutting into it. The size of the pores and sound it makes as you cut into it are the indicators of approximate size. He said young whales are soft and taste just like King Crab. You could just set your knife on the meat of a young whale and it would cut right through. I thought it tasted like crab too. I ate a few pieces of the epidermis and blubber, I tried some kidney, small intestine and some of the actual whale meat. The meat is dark, and quite tender. I thought the kidneys were quite good too, and they are considered a delicacy here. The meat was a little fishy, but good. I actually liked the epidermis and blubber, it was oily and good. It was quite similar to crab.