We finally took the plunge and went north to village of Kaktovik on Barter Island, AK. The island lies off the northern coast in the Arctic Ocean. Bears come to the island in large numbers, largely due to the whalebone pile left there by the Natives. They harvested three whales this year, so the pile of blubber and bones is fairly substantial.
Traveling to, and staying in, a Native village can be iffy at times. Outsiders are not always welcome and are often either ignored or met with hostility. In this case, it was the former. We flew up in a cigar tube masquerading as an airplane, and landed on the dirt strip after circling for 45 minutes waiting for the fog to clear. We managed to arrive only four hours after originally scheduled, which is some sort of early arrival record for this time of year.
Accommodations can be. . .unusual. . .in the Alaska Bush, and the Waldo Arms Hotel in Kaktovik is no exception. It’s an old, modified ATCO trailer that can best be described as being in a state of slow motion collapse. Peeling paint, sagging ceilings, mushy floors, communal toilets. It’s often referred to as the “duct-tape hotel”. A detailed description could take up pages. That said, the owners have been there forever and are an institution in Alaska. The rooms were small but warm, and the beds comfortable. The food was very good.
I shot up a lot of frames and some movie footage in our two days. I’ve posted some of the photos HERE, primarily for relatives, but thought you all might like to see them. Any questions, please ask. Oh yeah, we got back to Anchorage only three hours later than scheduled. Wow.
That is completely awesome. Thank you for sharing the pictures. All I can say is wow, those bears are something. And the whale(s) pile! I bet you’re glad you went–what an experience.
The whaling crew goes out in about a 12’ boat. The harpoon has an explosive tip with a delayed fuse so that when it’s plunged into the whale’s back, it breaks the spine, hopefully killing it instantly. Someone stands by with a powder-actuated harpoon gun in case the whale isn’t dead. They tow it to shore with the boats, then drag it up on shore with a loader. At some villages, it’s all done with skin boats and manpower. My understanding is that this year they killed five whales, but could only salvage three, the other two sinking before they could be secured.
Not at all, although it’s somewhat rancid. The temps are cool enough to keep it from getting completely rank. The bears, however, can smell it from a hundred miles away.
No, there was no opportunity. Apparently the meat is not bad, as it’s mammal. The fat can be a trial, however, and the muktuk pretty unmanageable. Truth be told, I don’t believe the Eskimo eat much of it, either. It’s more a tradition than anything else. You see big squares of muktuk sitting in peoples’ front yards, which of course also attracts bears. They have a village bear watch and few people walk when bears are in the area.
