Saturday, June 30, 2007

Nalukataq!




Wednesday everyone prepared for the NSF representatives who would be visiting. Sandra and I went out to the field to check up on our beloved wier and straighten things up. We also cleaned up the messy and chaotic control shed, well, at least as much as we could. That night, the UTEP lab had a teleconference with Craig to discuss our progress.


Thursday the NSF reps arrived to asses BASC and see how taxpayers' money is being utilized. Each project that is undertaken here is the culmination of time, energy and I'm sure endless nights of sitting in fetal position crying, and stress to produce a grant that will be accepted. In our case, the NSF funds several grants under which we operate. The projects funded by NSF are paid for through tax dollars, so it was relieving to hear people actually check on the work being done. Sandra, Santonu, Perry and Adrian headed out to the field to give the low down on their projects.


Thursday was a very special day aside from our visit, it was Lewis's Nalukataq. It's an all day event, and can last until 2 am. I headed out with Rob, Jason (FIU) , Mai and Ana (SDSU) to the early festivities. We were there when they were handing out goose soup and donughts. We saved some for everyone back at the lab. The kids were running around playing and we saw the NSF reps and Lewis hanging out. Lewis Brower, as I mentioned beforehand, is a whaling captain and BASC employee. He's a very interesting guy, and I have a lot of respect for him. Lewis was all decked out in his special outfit. We hung around for about 30 minutes and received some whale tongue in a bag, yes I said whale tongue.


After the Nalukataq, we headed over to the Inupiat Heritage Center. We walked around and saw many artifacts that were made and used by the ancestors of the Inupiat people for whaling. There was also a bird exhibit that consisted of a stuffed variety of avians. I saw a door that led into a huge room about whaling. The initial sight is an exhibit that expressed the spirit of whaling and of Inupiat values. The whaling captain is responsible for his crew, including outfitting all members and taking care of them. In the old days, people wore amulets shaped like different creatures for protection.


Captains were not allowed to wear amulets of certain creatures or to eat particular sea animals or game. The Captain's wife was not allowed to sew while her husband was whaling in order to prevent the line from tangling. She was also forbidden to use scissors or butcher meat, and other behaviors were banned out of fear of preventing a catch. The Inupiat believe that the whale gives itself to the man, and that the woman has an important role in taking care of others, the home and keeping the spirits of those around her high. It is thought that the whales know how they are spoken of, and so you must always speak highly of them and give them respect.


They believe that a house must be clean, as must the boat or else the whale will not give itself. Ultimately, the people are tied to the whale; the spirit will tell other whales how it was treated in respect to the actions taken by those who caught and ate of it, and convince them to give themselves. Thus, if you took care of others and behaved according to Inupiat values, the next year's season would be fruitful for you and you will survive. The catch is kept in permafrost ice cellars, and thoroughly cleaned before it is stored. The flesh and spirit of the whale is given the upmost respect, and must be kept in a clean home. The community would hold ceremonies before a whaling expedition. After the introduction of Christianity, modern practices include a prayer and they have abandoned using amulets for protection.


The actual process is fascinating. The crew will head out onto the sea ice. For this purpose, knowledge of the envionment, ice, currents, wind, creatures and survival techniques are passed down through the elders and older captains. They use snowmobiles now, but in the past sleds and dogs were utilized. The crew heads out to the pressure ridges and make a trail using various tools and ice picks. Certain members are given the responsibility of maintaining the trail throughout the season. A lead in the ice is located, and camp is established nearby. This includes tents, food, water, and so on. The men wear white jackets with white or grey fur. The sealskin boats are put into the water, and the crew heads out on the lead to find the whales. Once one is seen, they wait for it to come to them. They must be in close proximity to spear it, and wait until it is practically right in front of them before attacking. Once caught, the whale is heaved onto the ice via big thick ropes and many many people. Then, it is cut into smaller pieces and divided up accordingly (described in a previous blog). Eventually, the whale is distrubuted among the community and local communities who did not catch anything. The rest is saved for Nalukataq, in which the entire community attends, and the winter.

Jason and an Inupiat boy in a whale skull outside the museum.


The Heritage Center revealed much of the deep history of the Arctic and the Inupiat people. There are several organizations in Barrow dedicated to cultural preservation efforts, which involves a multidimensional network of people. There are several representatives from the North Slope Borough School District, Ilisagvic College, the North Slope Borough, City of Barrow, Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission and many more that are involved. The organizations here work closely with the local people (especially the elders who hold the root to traditions) and scientists to preserve and document the wealth of cultural knowledge and artifacts. I was captivated by the whaling exhibit, which described the philosophy of the Inupiat culture and further iterated the ties between the people and the whales and land.

















All of us left back to the lab with our lives a bit more enriched and handed out the tongue and goose soup. It was very very chewy and tasted pretty fishy. The goose soup was good, though.


Mai prepares the tongue



Our reactions to the whale tongue:


















Perry didn't like the tongue...But there was goose soup.




And Perry felt better.



After our toungue and goose soup, we all went about our usuall business working on data and whatnot. At about 5:00pm, there was a meeting in which all of the groups in BASC presented their ongoing projects and some data. I won't bore you all with the details, but the meeting ended around 9:30pm. After everyone was insane from sitting and listening attentively it was time to party! We headed out to the Nalukataq again.


The place was jumping, literally. There were tons of people wearing their traditional parkas and muckluks. Several people were jumping on the blanket, and lots of them would grab packets of candy and throw them out at the crowd. The blanket is made of sealskin and teathered down by four pieces of rope that are suspended by wooden beams. A pit is dug out beneath the blanket to allow for the resonant motion. Its a dangerous affair; ankles have been broken and people have completely went up in the air and fallen far from the blanket. Those who help animate the blanket are also in harm's way; I saw a few people get taken out by a brave crash landing Inupiat. It did look like a lot of fun, though. The men were pretty good, and got about 15 meters high. I wanted to get on, but my ankles are not strong (we all remember my crutches) and if I had hurt myself, Dave would have pummeled my injured body anyway.













Alex was joyous and helped hold on to the blanket and toss people. He jumped at the previous celebration, and wanted to do it again. Getting on to the blanket is a battle. Aside from the height of the blanket, several people clamour to get on which is a challenge. Finally Alex was victorious and got some air. The locals were happy to see him jumping, they all shouted and asked him to stay on one more time, and then congratulated him for doing it afterward.










After a while, a gargantuan cake was presented. My colleagues informed me it was delicious, but I wouldn't know :(

After an hour of blanket tossing in the damp and foggy cold, we decided to head to the gymnasium to get good seats for the dance. I was really excited. We arrived to an empty gym with a beckoning climbing wall. Dave and I asked permission...granted. We all fumbled to get the right size shoes, get our harnesses on, and finally we were ready.








Just as we were about to climb, an elder walked in. NO CLIMBING! The elders are given much respect and considered ancestors and the only threads to tradition. We immediately stopped, took off everything and cleaned the place up. We took our seats in back (front seats are for the elders) and waited for the fun to begin.We watched as the few people who trickled in took their seats. They looked majestic in their Inupiat parkas trimmed with intricate beadwork and lined with wolverine, wolf, seal or bear fur. Each one was unique and stately. After only 20 minutes the entire gymnasium swelled with people and voices. Everyone was jam packed next to everyone else, and all the elders were speaking to each other and their families and friends. We were greeted by some women who sat in front of us. They were very kind; one of the ladies let us tough her wolf fur lined coat. I sat there petting her all evening.


Once the place was full, a couple of men came out with the blanket everyone was jumping on and placed in the middle of the floor. Herman, a BASC employee and captain himself, explained that the blanket was used to help catch the whale and could last a long time if taken care of. After another 25 minutes, the drum crew walked in and sat down. They all prepared for the dance and sprayed their drums with water. Once everything and everyone took their places, an elder Inupiat man walked to the center of the blanked and spoke Inupiat. Everyone was silent the moment he opened his mouth and cheered after he spoke. He then bowed his head and said a prayer, the boys were asked to remove their hats.

After the prayer, he said a few more words in Inupiat, everyone cheered and the drums began to pound. The guests all waited while the whaling crews got up and danced. Their movements were powerful, each one on the floor had a great presence. They yelled out in victory. The men and women have different movements they perform. Some of the men made motions that looked like they were harpooning at a whale, while others stuck to the more traditional ones. When Lewis got up to dance, we were all amazed. He seemed different, he was powerful and it felt like he was 8 feet tall. The look in his eyes was very intense.

After all the crews got up and danced, the community was invited up. The woman who let me pet her coat told us to go up. We were all nervous, and decided to go as a group, I think 8 of us ended up going. The beat of the drums pounded in my chest. After the first dance, the locals went nuts cheering and clapping. They all prompted us to stay up for another one, so we did. After that dance, they all cheered even louder and I got lots of nice comments on my way back to my seat. One man told us he was proud of us for getting up there, and shook our hands. The lady who was in front of me said "see, now you know what we feel like." A man went up to Perry and said he was a good dancer. Perry said he was still shaking and the man told him it was the power of the dance.
I loved watching a little boy, maybe 3-4 years old who would get up and dance with all his might. I made me realize that the Inupiat people have a strong understanding of who they are, where they came from, and where they belong. They know their history, language, traditions, dances, songs, and stories. They still live off the land (or at least the creatures); many are subsistence hunters. They take an active role in policy and government, and are a strong community. Perry and I were talking about the Tiguas and Akamas (sorry if mispelled) and realized what a unique place we were in and what a grand experience it was :)








The Day after Nalukataq:
The day following the festivities everyone in town looked tired. I was exhausted myself, but luckily I had an office day and got the LI-6400 zeroed and made sure it was in working order. I also worked on some permits for Dave's project. We will be traveling to several areas on the North Slope and to the Seward's Peninsula. The locations are between here and Atqasuk, Council, Kougerok (near Nome and probably mispelled) and Ivotuk to do some sampling. We will be flying into some areas by helicopter and camping out. Other areas are more civilized and we will stay in a cabin or inn or some dwelling. Some of our supplies for outside contact and incase of an emergency include a satellite phone and a PLB. I had to go by the North Slope Search and Rescue to get the Personal Locator Beacon (PLB), so Perry and Sandra joined me. Sandra and I had originally planned to check out Brower's Cafe.


The facility was pretty cool, and we got to see the helicopter. A member of the search and rescue team instructed me how to use the device and cautioned me to use it only in a grave situation. "If this goes off, no matter what, we're on the way." He also gave us all a search and rescue patch. We were thrilled and went on our way....to the police station to get another patch, we're hooked!










Right at the entry was a huge muskox head hanging on the wall. Monday is Founder's Day (for the Norht Slope Borough, of which Barrow is the seat of government) and we will attain even more goodies and patches, patches, glorious patches.






Finally...Brower's Cafe:
Brower's Cafe is nestled in the old town of Barrow, and is a historic whaling station. It is also the site of the first International Polar Year in 1881. Outside of the cafe is a set of bowhead whale mandables perched up to form an arc framing the Chukchi Sea of the Arctic Ocean. The ice that hugged the shore just a couple of days before was gone; only a strip about 3.5 miles long remained. There were a couple of plaques hanging behind the register, along with old harpoons and guns from the late 1800s and early 1900s. The walls inside the building are made of rustic wood and huge paintings of an eskimo and a polar bear catch your eye immediately. We already ate before we went, so I ordered pecan pie (I give it a 3 out of 5) and icecream. That was our day, we returned to the lab and prepared for our next adventure.....THE POLAR PLUNGE!


































Next blog: A group of 20 insane scientists decide to take on the Arctic Ocean and take the plunge! (I'm obviously ok people, so don't worry). Also, more pictures of dancing at Nalukataq.