# High in the Arctic !! Eskimo....



## Majik Imaje

yes ! I live 200 miles above the Arctic circle in a very small whaling village of 750 Inupaq Eskimo's. Believe it or not. I was faced with the ultimate challenge.. ! how do you develop 60 rolls of color film when you have NO WATER! ? True story.! I had to melt snow, for 6 months! to obtain the necessary precious water to mix chemicals, develop the film & process 11 x 14 images! how do you wash film without RUNNING water? ha ha ha ha
these negatives (6x7) are still.. in pristine condition.. here are some of the results.!!

BTW: Point Hope is the OLDEST CONTINUALLY INHABITED SETTLEMENT OR VILLAGE.. .. ... IN ALL OF NORTH AMERICA ! LIFE CAN ACCURATELY be traced back some 3,000 years!











-=EASTER SUNDAY, (explanation below)







That's how the "children go whaling" Notice the "sled" under the "boat" ? 

ha ha ha ha ha.. NOW HERE IS THE REAL THING!!







See the sled ? the children Know what they are doing! This is their life!


-=Home Sweet Frozen Home!=- This is home.. .. for two months!

This is where we sleep, for two months. No tents! temp 40 below zero (F)






:lmao: ..how do we stay warm? .. .. .. .. come and learn.. .. .. The Eskimo Way! HOW DO YOU GET fresh water.. 3 miles out.. .. on the ocean ice?

betcha can't figure that out!!


Hello everyone. ! My name is David, Pakak or Tamak are my Eskiimo names! Pakak (to rummage through, looking) Tamak (to become LOST)

I am originally from Boston Ma. ha ha ha ha. I was working in Anchorage alaska as a forman on a huge airport. I was sent up to Point Hope, for just THREE WEEKS to wire some construction camps.

when the job was finished. I quit the company, and STAYED !

iI have been here now.. .. .. 25 years!!

I truely have.. .. .. some incredible images.. .. and fantastik stories that will just amaze yew!

I am very gratefull to find this site! I hope this is my new I-net home!

at least it is warm.. (shiver) !

Aapka & Aapa (Grandmother 89) Granfather (90)


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## Mitica100

Hello David, welcome aboard. Beautiful shots, I loved the first one! Glad to have you here.


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## Majik Imaje

Life is very harsh up here.. but wonderful.! I wouldn't trade this for anything, anywhere in the entire world.. Our back yard.. is larger than most states and some countries.. and nothing out there! talk about absolute FREEDOM!! WHEW! I got lots of incredible images.. impossible stories.. and some of the wierdest things to share! THAT JUST DON'T MAKE SENSE!

how is it possible?? for a person (Eskimo) to smell a whale? under 20 feet of ice ?? imagine a person walking around.. on an ice pack the size of ha ha ha.. 100 miles long.. 5 miles wide.. walking, riding snowmobiles.. sniffing! ha ha ha ha.!! at 50 below.. and then.. after two days of this.. he says.. DIG HERE.!!! DOWN DOWN DONW.. 20 FEET THICK
... "there is the dead whale"!! talk about finding a needle in a ice field? I want to know..how he did that. he claims he could smell the whale? That just doesn't make sense.






Kathy Rock Age 10 We are 3 miles out on the Bering Straight on the Chukchi Sea. She is sitting on a snow-machine (mobile).

the temp is about 30 below (F). 250 F-16 As I approached Kathy, I raised my camera, and she started to smile. I said NO!

I am not here, dont look at ME! and I raised the camera again. and her face "changed again" I said no! Kathy? I am not here. look "past " me

look right through me, I am not here. -=click=-.. that's how I got.. 'that look'!


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## LongDucDong

Excellent series! I think eskimos are so intriguing. Thanks for sharing!


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## LaFoto

Hiya David, or Pakak or Tamak, welcome to ThePhotoForum. 
Good to have you here. I see that you have A LOT to share! Wow. I am already all impressed!!!
I moved your thread from the Introductions to the General Gallery, since you are introducing yourself with so many photos right from the start, so they should be seen by everyone (and many more go to the galleries than go "downstairs" to the Introductions). 

Thank you so much for joining and sharing these photos.
Don't stop as yet. Out of 60 rolls of film there MUST be more for us to see! They are so good.


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## his4ever

I am excited to read and see what you have experenced.  Thank you for sharing what you have discovered.  This is great .


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## Majik Imaje

I have been on 5 whale hunts!

82 1 camera 60 rolls of film

83 5 cameras 300 rolls of film

88 1 camea 100 rolls of film

89 1 camea - 100 rolls of 120 film

90 1 camera - 2 rolls!

I have a "few" images to show you ! Lets have some phun eh ?


Majik = the initials of my four sons.. Imaje = Xact same w/ last name!








Oh.. I forgot.. you want to see more images ?? Kewl.. java intense web site.. (harmless) honest.. only works with MSIE.I got a lot to learn.. about web design!!!


http://majikimaje.com ! have phun and enjoy!!!


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## Big Mike

Welcome to the forum.

I am always amazed when I see how these people as so in tune with nature...it's really amazing.

I saw a show on CBC last year.  It was about a very old man who lived in a a very remote arctic type village (somewhere on the east coast of Canada I think).  He had been taking photos for 50 or 60 years...it was an amazing story of how he recored the history of that place.


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## Majik Imaje

Cities, civilization.. do not interest me one bit!  Gas is over 5,00 per gallon up here with 80-% un-employment!

It used to cost me. 1,000 per week...just to feed my four baby sons!

5, 3,2,1 years young!  I am a single parent..that has successfuly raised four boys.. all my by self!  I pulled them all out of high school 3 years ago!

I am the very proud father of four high school Dropouts.. !!

Have you ever seen Ivory ?  have you ever seen/ felt FOSSILIZED IVORY that is over 10,000 years old ?  Or how about going for a walk.. along the beach..in the summer time.. and a friend of mine.. saw something sticking up perhaps 6" out of the mud.. and he "kicked" it.. ha ha ha ha.. he almost broke his "toe"  ha ha ha.. you can't get a "toe" truck upu here in the Arctic.. but he grabbed it.. and the ground moved.. 10 feet away.. he ran home.. got a shovel.. and whoa!!!   W0w0W !  $15,000!  Fossilized MASTADON IVORY  25,000 YEARS OLD!
.....................................................what's in your wallet ?"





wanna see some ??? ha ha ha ha..!!! My sons make these!

http://majikimaje.com/shophere/agora.cgi


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## Antarctican

Welcome to the forum. What a FASCINATING thread and it's an understatement to say I look forward to your future posts!!!

I've visited the High Arctic twice (Resolute, Pond Inlet and Svalbard) but have never lived there.  I can imagine what amazing stories/sights you have experienced.  It's a hard life indeed.


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## Majik Imaje

Eskimo..you have heard that word before.. ! Now learn how / what they do... to survive.. in perhaps the harshest climate on earth!!

Currently.. temp is 35 below.. nice wonderul day!  wmd is about 30 mph! 

Here is Point Hope.. (use google earth to zoom in)







Surrounded by water on three sides..We are only ONE wave away from total destruction.. and becoming.. phish phood!








THERE IS NOTHING.. .. nothing else. out there..OH BUT YES  there is!!

but you WILL never ever in a million years.. "BELIEVE THIS"!!

STAY TUNED..  for some incredible photos and true TRUE stories!!







The man ..who lost his nose!! ha ha ha.. TRUE TRUE TRUE

http://majikimaje.com/stories.html


I have a very "warped" sense of humor.. I hope to get some of you people laughing / screaming ! enjoy!!      what's for DINNER tonight ???








TIGLUK (tig  luke)  is about to go hunting.. then...he notices..he was not. where he thought he was !!!

http://majikimaje.com/Hunting.zip


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## Antarctican

^^^ heehee, the blubber caption has me laughing all right!!


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## Majik Imaje

I am thrilled to be here! and I promise you exciting stories.. UN-BELIEVEABLE stories..!!

AND A LOT OF PHUN STUPH!!


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## outdoorlover

The wonder of photos and internet!!!
Thanks for sharing a part of life that most of us will never be able to experience.


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## Olympus8MP

Majik Imaje said:


> ..  only works with MSIE.....



Works fine on firefox 2.0 here on Linux. I don't use any microsoft products... lol


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## newrmdmike

very cool, when can i come visit!?


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## Majik Imaje

You have heard of the word  "IGLOO" and you probably THINK you know what one is. Well truth is. In Alaska,, Above the Arctic Circle an Iglu is not made out of ice! No! that is false! Inupaq 101  there are no O's  in the Inupaq language! IGLU = 1 DWELLING,  IGLUT = 2 DWELLINGS  IGLUK = 3+

An Iglu is made out of whale bone & sod.  Now add snow.. and it looks sorta like the ice block thing.. We dont do that up here. Although the Inupaq peoples do not live in an Iglu any longer. there are some remains.

-=click=-









In fact, this dwelling once had 'electricty ' see on the left side.? The service drop! Inside view coming next post!​


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## pickypics

I am definetly keeping track of all your posts.... This is great, reading and looking at your photos... Keep it up!!!


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## PNA

Incredably interesting......

Thanks for sharing.


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## pantherlax

Wowwwww. Your pictures are great, but you are also educating us greatly, culturalizing us. 
I definitely admire you.


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## Majik Imaje

Quite a large family can live in an Old sod house = IGLU.

THIS is where they would gather every evening.. seal oil lamp..warm

this is home.! now where is the DVD player ?


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## Majik Imaje

Home sweet Home, this is where we live.. for two months! April - May and longer . depending on ice conditions!

This is the greatest time.. whaling! but a whole lot more happens than just whaling.. Lots of animals.. Lots of ducks.. lots of FOOD!





Out on the ocean Ice.. this is home.. sit and wait.. for the animals to arrive. Sometimes.. 3 weeks. just sitting and waiting, watching, no excess noise. but alot of laughs and stories. and good hot food! the lead opeining is just starting to open up.. that ice pack on the other side is moving. slowly.. and it is very very easy to hallucinate out here.! Just stand there and watch that ice move. and.. .. and.. whoa.. that ice WILL STOP..and you will head in the other direction! The wierdest sensations happen out here..for instance.One side of your face is sweating, and the other side is being frost bit! The sun reflecting off all the ice is BLINDING and due to all the 24 hour sunlight and white ice relecting. you get quite "dark" in as little as just 2 days! Wait a minute ? "HOT MEAL"? HOW? WHERE? ha ha.!! There are lots of "tricks" . A hunter will go hunting and walk on the other side..(seals) polar bears, ugruks (bearded seals).. he has his food with him. Frozen fish or frozen caribou.. and food.. that is being cooked. As he walks. for hours.. at some point. he will reach down into his mukluk (boot) and bring out a fish that has been wrapped and prepared and placed in his boot. The body heat he is putting out from eating quaq. will cook that fish ! it is steaming hot when it is taking out. time for a picnic! 

How do you get delicous fresh water way out on the ocean ice ? Where does it come from ? 
here is a piece of "baleen" that has been etched on by a very good friend "Hanko" (far right) of mine.. (next door neighbor) 
Native Ars & Crafts are a huge business in the Arctic. Tourists from all over the world visit Alaska, and one thing we noiticed in our gallery when speaking to people tourists.. This is my 8th trip to Alaska. This is my 5th trip. Once you experience Alaska. two things happen.. either you come back.. or you decided to stay!


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## df3photo

Very nice.  I'm ready to move up there with you... keep up the stories and PHOTOS!


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## Majik Imaje

Back out on the ocean ice. The entire village is out here. 750 people, children, elders, everyone.

The village is basicly empty. At certain times of the month. women have to get off that ice! Go home.! 

Whales & Polar bears have a very unique sense of smell for blood!

The last thing you want out here. is a polar bear. They are very clever. and some times very stupid!














The hunters, sleep, eat, watch. Right at the lead opening. This is home. 18 whaling captains are spread out along the ice pack at about 1/2 - 3/4 mile intervals. Some families stay closer together in a group

1/2 - 3/4 a mile IN BACK of the hunters are the cooks. The women.! and the "boyer" 
YOU WILL never ever believe this! See the boy. with the binoculars.?

That is a boyer.! I will show you the boyer of our crew! 
you will NEVER BELIEVE THIS !! 


-=INTRODUCING=-​ 
-=JIMMY NASH=-​ 
=-AGE 3 =-​ 
when the women go to sleep at night in the tents. It is the boyers RESPONSIBILITY to keep the wood stove fired up just right. In othre words.. hand a three year old your lighter and matches and go to sleep! 
ha ha ha ha ha ha!​ 


 

Now for a tremendous story that will just blow your mind.. 
hand a 3 year old matches & an axe and have him chop wood and keep the fire going all night while you go to sleep!!! THIS IS VERY COMMON here in the village when we are living out on the ocean ice.!!!
The person who does that.. and so much more.. is called a "boyer"
Go to a book store (any good one) look for the book Alaska's Arctic, you will see this photo and many more starting on page 128.


This is what a "boyer" does.. out on the ice.. his job is one to keep that home made wood stove (inside the tent) fired up just right.. and it takes a lot of wood.. and "sicpun" seal oil which is extremly flamable, 
chopping wood, keeping the fire going, melting snow/ice for water.. ice is for coffee/tea and such.. making the beverages and filling all the thermoses and bring them down to the lead opening where the hunters are.. (at the edge of the ice) no tents.

gather clean snow, to make water for washing dishes, do the dishes.. make breakfast for the women in the tent.. 
the "color" red is NOT ALLOWED.. anywhere near the lead opening.. white, sky blue.. but no bright colors.. and .. sssshh!!! no noise..!!!

the "boyers" responsibility EVERY NIGHT is to watch the WIND.. IT CAN SHIFT at any moment and out on the ice so far.. this is extremly dangerous.. watch the ice.. for cracks around the tent area 1/2 mile back from the hunters at the lead.

He is armed with many different types of rifles in case of polar bear attacks !!!
THIS IS A 3 YEAR OLD CHILD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Majik Imaje

We have been here since the second week of April.. nothing happening yet. SSDD



-=same snow different day=-​ 



​See that "white stuff" on the ice?  You probably use the word "snow" for the white stuff. In the Eskimo language ( Inupaq)  there are more than 100 different words to describe the EXACT type.. of "snow"!


But how do you get delicious fresh water way out here. certainly not by melting clean snow? Nope.. clean snow is melted and used for washing purposes ONLY! .. yuk.. snow taste's terrible !

But lots and lots  as much as you want is available way out here on the OCEAN ICE. but how? where?​
​


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## Majik Imaje

This is how we wait in the check out line!! ha ha ha ha.!!


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## Majik Imaje

It was a lot of work walking from camp to camp to obtain different photos from different camps. I was walking with 3 cameras a huge tripod . I was tired, but then I heard some "giggling" going on behind some walls of ice. I walked around the cornner to see these 3 girls "Playing out",,,As I raised my camera. to snap a moment of Arctic History. the girl on the far left said.







Wanna see me eat snow ?...everyone laughed!  it is 30 below zero. These girels have been outside.. for days!  So next time someone tells you Alaska is a very cold place!  ha ha ha.! yes it is.! Just look at how cold it is ! It is a very common site in Anchorage when it is zero degrees outside.
To see students walking with just a t-shirt and short cuts on!

Put it this way. Up here. the cold just "gets on you".. it never penetrates

Back east coast in Boston. It doesn't matter how much you put on. the cold goes right through all your clothing into your bones. It penetrates deep. We cannot use Vaselilne up here. it is too dry. When you put it on. It will evaporate and flake up and fall off like candle wax.

But stay outside in the sun.. and you can EASILY STAY awake for days and days and days...you become "solar powered"! it sure is a lot of fun.


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## Antarctican

I'm enjoying this thread... such interesting info is included with the photos.


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## Majik Imaje

Yuummy donuts. @ every camp. when the ducks arrive it is fresh duck soup, daily! SOUP?? where does the water come from ? snow ? no ..snow is only used for washing. Delicous drinking water and water for cooking and coffee and tea and other hot beverages is absolutely delicious!







Making donuts from scratch .. miles out on the ocean ice and it is / was 60 below that day. that is why some people are warming up, in the tent.

How do you ever get the dough to rise?  after the dough is all mixed, then it is put inside a plastic bag. and the bag is put up inside her back after she puts her parky on!

Just like children are carried


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## Majik Imaje

for all you women out there. or husbands or whoever you are. Next time you do the dishes. I want you to remember this image. you will never complain about dishes again.

We had to evacuate the ice. Killigvuk " get the hell outa there as fast as possiible. RUN FOR YOUR LIVES....

The direction of the wind is ctirical.. If that wind shifts to south wind. the ice is headed our way. and it will run right over you and crush everything in its path. 50 foot high mountains of ICE. are formed when it advances.
(Photos soon).

It takes 8 hours to correctly set up a whaling camp.
If we have to Killivuk (kill e vuck). it takes less than 20 minutes to be gone out there with no trace, or anything left behind. We simply vanish!

In the olden days.. they had no way to evacuate. they didn't have snowmachines and 4 wheel hondas.. so when the wind would shift.

They would grab a new born son and stip him complety naked and hold him into the wind and move to the direction needed to survive.

We are back on land and it is very very very cold. the tent has been taken down of course and everyone is huffing and puffing from the evacuation.. it is a mad dash .. with everything you got.. your exhausted when you get back to safe ice. yes we are still on the ice. but land fast ice. very close to land.. EVERYONE IS THIRSTY .. we have to wash dishes.







The whaling captain is in charge of his crew and umiaq ONLY. The Captians wife is in charge of the ICE, she tells him where to set everything up! SHE IS BOSS OUT HERE.

and she.. is doing the dishes.! right here she is cold. that is why she is warming up! Where? How? she has her back to the wind and she is warming up INSIDE of her parky!

Fresh hot tea, coffee is about to be served.. we need clean cups.. Where is all this fresh delicous water coming from ?? We are on OCEAN SALT WATER ICE!

IT IS ALL AROUND US. Everywhere.! 

how can you find delicous fresh water out here.? where is it ? how do you obtain it?  you can't drink SALT WATER! we don't bring it out here . 

coka cola we bring out there. we can't find that out on the ice.!

BUT WE DO HAVE OCEAN ICE EVERYWHERE.. now we need Eskimo technology to get the water.. !! so we turn to the SUN!

TAKE A HUNK OF ICE..  it won't be hard to find. it is every where.

now stand it up.. brush the snow off.. and .. .. .. wait!

whistling a tune of music.. waiting.. as the day goes on. the sun will expose the top of that piece of ice.. and the SALT.. WILL SETTLE. 

the longer you leave it there.. the more clearer the ice becomes. then you can see through it. NOW CHOP.. HORIZONTALLY  from the top..

fill your tea kettles.. this stuff is delicous.. there is also another way.

bring sand out here.! we use that.. to cut giant holes in the ice.!

placing a block of ice on the sand will speed up the process of sucking the salt down down into the ice.. when that ice is very clear. then it is ready for drinking!


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## AIRIC

Wow, fantastic. I would never have imagined a line drop to an IGLU. 

Eric


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## asr84

Excellent. Thanks for sharing!
This is documentary evidence, I  had never heard before of the village Point Hope. The name is beatiful and the story very intriguing. Hard to imagine continual habitation of a town dating 3000 years ago.... amazing, even more these days. 
Great job with the photos!


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## Majik Imaje

is very very old... since before the times of Jesus Christ!

Point Hope = Tikigaqmuit= -=People of Point Hope=-


http://majikimaje.com/history.html

Rex Rock speaks before Congress.. ..Rex is the president of Tikigaq!


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## Palgie

Im speachless, your stories and i love your photos, tell everyone over there i said hello 

Definatly keep the photos comming this is great thread!

Palgie.


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## Majik Imaje

Thank you all so very very much for your thougtful kind comments about my images and text.

I am going to share with you. some incredible tales of truth. I am going to tell you things that you will simply not believe!

I know from experience how people react with some of the stories that are yet to be told here.

and no doubt some of you will react in the same manner.

so for this commercial I am going to provide some links.

Walkiin Freezer No electricity needed http://bibleforums.org/forum/showthread.php?t=75902

Children chasing a bowhead whale http://bibleforums.org/forum/showthread.php?t=75723

Jesus drove a snowmobile http://bibleforums.org/forum/showthread.php?t=76301

Please go to the BOTTOM of the snomobile thread the explanation at the bottom is much easier to understand.

I wlll be back soon.. for the SECOND QUARTER.. 

TILL THEN.. thank you all so very very much for showing intrest in this tread.. YOU WILL JUST NOT BELIEVE what happens.. here in the arctic!








The wind.. has changed.. Lets go back out to the Ocean Ice.. whales are coming.. Hop on.. you are nice and warm.. good!!.. We are headed back out.. 3-4 miles out.. to the lead opening. this trip will take 3 - 4 hours.
I was truelly CONVINCED that when we arrived at the camp, that all my lenses would be "shattered" the crashing of the sled. When it reaches the high point of a small hill, we would have to go over, it was exactly like being dropped from 4 or 5 foot in height sometimes. I was so relieved that when I finally opened the case . everything was ok.!


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## df3photo

i like that last picture a lot. so... when is your book coming out? Let me know so I can purchase it!


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## Alex_B

Some very interesting images here! 
Too many though to comment individually .. 

Reardign your webpage I wonder why you exclude netscape and firefox ... that is not the best of all ideas. I know it is a pain sometimes to construct pages that work more or less on all browsers, but it certainly is worth the effort


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## Majik Imaje

Imagine choping a trail with pick and axe for ten miles to move equiment and boats out on to the oecan ice.

Imagine sleeping outside for two months @ 50 below zero.. just to eat!

Lets go visit some of the camps out here and see how live is lived


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## Majik Imaje

The image at midnight won the Alaska press award in 1989

it is always a constant NORTH wind that is "bitter". Thus the wall! to block the wind.

Rex is far left his Dad is far right! PRESIDENT OF ALASKA WHALING COMMISSON


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## William

Wow.  All this is amazing.  Thank you so much for sharing this.

-Will


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## Majik Imaje

Oktollik's camp.Molly Oktollik and her busy helpers! There is just so much hard work to be done each day by these women! They also at times paddle in the umiaq if a crew is shorthanded.  The tents are for the women only. this is where they sleep nice and warm. The hunters sleep outside at the lead opening.


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## Majik Imaje

Same tent. same type home made wood stove. Grub box in one side and a sled with caribou skins for the women to sit on in the tent. Every tent is the exact same set up inside!

it is also very easy to burn a tent down if you get that stove too hot.

Kenny Attanguana is asking the women.. "we need more coffee"!


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## Majik Imaje

There it is! my small one! I like a bogen 350  heavy but rock solid

I painted it white. !


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## PNA

You have wood burning stoves.....but where does the wood to burn come from and where do you store it????

Outstanding shots and narration. Thanks.

Paul


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## Majik Imaje

FOR DAYS.. for weeks.. we wait.. patiently.. we have to be out here BEFORE the animals start migrating! Before that lead opens.. I still am totally mystified as to how they know ..WHERE that ice is going to break! for the lead to open!







An umiaq (skin boat) has six ugruk's (bearded seal skins) to cover the boat. The six skins are sewen 

together with a water tight stitch using "dental floss"!


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## Palgie

You have started a small debate in my house 

just thought i would ask, if you go whale hunting how would you kill it and take it back to the shore? as wales are huge right??

Also where do you get electricity from as water from the ice and electric don't really go too well with each other 

Thanks for the updates so far very informative and i will keep checking this post for more updates 

Palgie.


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## Majik Imaje

Home made wood stoves are very dependable. if you have wood!

We have lots of different ways to get / find wood! Along the beaches,

the point catches lots of driftwood.. even telephone poles are in the water.

the point catches lots of different items. wood is one of the many things we find when beach combing.. the most valuable by far is "fossilized walrus ivory that is thousands of years old. It takes many many thousands of years for a white piece of ivory to turn black down to the core of that piece. 10,000 years or more to be exact! That ivory has to be bashed around in the ocean for centuries for it to absorb all the elements of the sea.







if we don't have any wood.. then we will purchase some at the store.
sometimes the only wood we have .. is very very wet. but we use it,
immediately. how do you get wet wood to burn. "Sicpan" (sick pun)

"sicpan" is small piece of seal blubber. about the size of a strip of bacon,
slightly thicker.. you must be very careful when using sicpan because it is
so extremly flammable. But when placed on top of the wood that is in the woodstove. it melts into a very thick oil and coats the wood. Many a tent has been burnt down becasue too much sicpan has been used.

Eskimo's live off of blubber. = fat = flammable fat!

We eat lots more than just blubber. or muktuk, caribou, fish, berries, seal, walrus, ugruk, ducks, eggs.. ptarmign, Our menu is quite assorted with many different types of food. This is the main reason Point Hope has been established and cointinuing for so long.. Animals are so plentiful in this one spot.


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## Majik Imaje

yes.. time to move.. every week we have to move everything, because due to the heat from the woodstove, the plywood floor will start to siink into the ice. The ice is 20 feet thick, but we move a short distance away and clean everything and set it back up again





not much area to work in considering food has to be prepared for about  ten or moe people on each crew. That is a tremendous amount of work for the cooks  3 - 4 times a day!

But even out on the ocean ice. There is just one thing that has to be present at every camp.. see if you can guess what that ONE ITEM is.!







yes !! Music! That plywood floor has to be hand washed very morning, and later during the day.!  All trash is gatheed up and transported back to the village for disposal. That is a 3-4 hour drive that is very time consuming and seldom taken unless necessary. Where are the bathrooms?

They are located behind every tall piece of ice!  Alapa!!  ah la pah= COLD!

YES.. OUTSIDE! HIDING BEHIND A LARGE PIECE OF ICE!  ALAPA!!
alapah.. = cold  ah la PA is colder..  ALAPA IS COLDER STILL

PULL DOWN YOUR PANTS AND SLIDE ON THE ICE! (joking)

DEPENDING ON HOW.. you say that word.. is how you communicate how cold it is.
this person "missed the boat" because he was off.. going to the bathroom


*hey! wait for me!!*​ 










Waiting, watching, waiting, watching, waiting, watching ! this is fun!

Beluga's are very plentiful but nothing has arrived yet! 







Midnight in May- Alaska, Land of the Midnight Sun. and you can see the sun & the moon at the same time in the sky!  One is east the other is west and they revolve in the sky together in full view! may - August it never ever gets darkl


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## cosmonaut

Great pictures, but how in the world did you ever develope color film in such a harsh enviroment?
                            Cosmo


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## Majik Imaje

whales!!.. sssshhhh!! hide... ! QUIET~~~ SSSHH~!

EVERYTING CHANGES SUDDENLY.. sssshhhh!!

The color red is not allowed down at / near the lead opening. the tents are a 1/2 - 3/4 mile back from the lead.

hush ... skinboats (umiaq's)Quietly slip into the water, NO ONE IS TALKING NOW.. this is the GRAND FINALE...!!

we have been WAITING FOR SIX WEEKS!!

LIGHT COLORS ONLY sky blue, white .. 






it is 2 a. m. here we go.. sssshhhhh.. all you can hear is the wind.

the adrenallin is pumping.. the excitement is building.. everyone is holding their breath.

STOP RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW! WE ARE SCARED !!!


of failure!........! This is not. like the old days. due to restrictions placed on us by the International Whaling commisson.. we only can TRY..

3 times! This is now a baseball game! 3 strikes and your OUT!

GO HOME! you can't eat your food!.. and we have to obey!

last year.. no whales.. we struck out! 






Japan is curretnly harvesting 1000 whales.. for scientific purposes !
bullshat! they refuse to obey! and we can't eat. now.we have to pay
60 bucks for a tiny frozen turkey.. TURKEY CAN'T KEEP US WARM

WE NEED MAKTAK (MUCK TUCK) A = aH .... 'blubber'


3 whales is no way enough to feed this entire village for a year.

we now are limited to "snacks" of our food which we need to survive.







FLOYD Oktollik.. just couldn't resist.. ! atta boy floyd! -=click=-

see how calm. the water is there. close to the ice.. ? Just after they left.

I walked over to that edge, and stood there, looking all around all over the place. I am totally ALONE!... I mean.. alone.. hey! this is pretty cool.

So I walked a wee bit closer to that edge. where the umiaq went into the water.. I walked right up to that edge.. and stuck the TIPS OF MY BOOTS just over the edge by about 2 - 3 "... the water was like glass. 

it is very calm.. no noise ... no WARNING!.. camera is around my neck hanging, and I got my hands behind my back.THAT GLASS LIKE mirror reflection never moved one bit. not even the slighest ripple. that whale just came up with no noisie.. no water movement.it just appeared.
A huge whale was right there.. I can see the blow hole about a foot or two from my boot tips and i could have easily stuck my foot into that basket ball size hole and that whale blew! *WHOOOSSSSSHHH! *and I got soaking wet. ! oh my gosh what a STINK! and I got this stink all over me. I am running back to the camp.. the tent.

I got water dripping all over on me and it is starting to freeze.. but this STENCH is all over me.. when i reach that tent.. ( I dont know why I didn;t have someone take a pic of me) Well I know why.. them women were rolling on the ground laughing so hard when they saw me ! 
they knew what happened just by looking at all the ice hanging off me.

DONT COME IN THIS TENT! and they fell back on the ground laughing as hard as they could! THIS IS A TRUE STORY.. 

i NEVER EVER went near the edge of that ice ever again to this day!

I got a couple of Questons I want to ask the Lord when we finally meet..

1. whose idea was that Lord ? yours? or that whale?

2.. who laughed the hardest Lord.. you? or that whale !







Akauq is cutting Tuttu with an Ulu.. that's got a catchy ring to it eh?

Got to start cooking lots and lots of food. when the Hunters get back with a whale or without anything. 
Everyone will be very hungry.


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## Chicagophotoshop

cool pics.  thanks for sharing.  we live in as opposite of places as you can get.  but talking on this forum as if you are next to me.  very cool


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## Majik Imaje

.. and that cop was so mad he got out of the car and came up to me!

he was so mad!  I said: (no spelling mistake)  sorry Ossifer! 

he started to chewed me out.. then it dawned on him what I had just said..! he looked.. hesitated.. and just left!:mrgreen:


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## Majik Imaje

.. and the work begins!







The flipper is taken back to town. brought before the elders left in town and the CHURCH bell is rung, over and over and over again!


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## Majik Imaje

now the work begins.. A bowhead whale weights an astonishing TON per FOOT!

WE HAVE a 48 foot whale! hundreds of people.. now.. we have to pull this whale up on the ICE!







This required 17 straight hours work! The Ice kept breaking! Everyone is exhausted.. all this.. just to eat.






TIME OUT!! WHEW.. everyone is going to be very busy for a while,
I am going to head back to the village and develop some "frozen film"
yeah! I got ?? how many rolls of exposed film on me, and at least 20 rolls of unexposed film, one huge tripod. camera(s) including a Mamiya RB 67

I am exhausted, carrying around all this Xtra weight. I have to take time out, and reorganize. I have to have a system for how to handle this 120 film which pocket for what and where. Fully dressed I have over 38 pockets ha ha ha.. you bet I lost a lot of stuff.! just couldn't find it.
systematic searches had to be performed UNTIL I learned how to organize my "body" ! ha ha ha.. ROFL.. I had to figure out a way to oragnize all my pockets.

Back to the village on a snowmobile. ! this takes hours.. Ocean Ice is not smooth. everywhere. trails have to be cut in certain areas.. it is slow going over all the little hills and such. 






I am back in a flash. so to speak.. 11 x 14 prints and everyone is excited to see. that which just happend hours earlier! ALL PHOTOS were for FREE!... to eveyone in the village! 11 x 14 ! THOUSANDS ARE PRINTED UP!.. handed out .. !

now.. Kodak.. says.. ha ha ha ha.. I gotta wait for this film to warm up..
sorry .. I dont' have the time.. winding frozen film in my changing bag..

into the stainless steel tanks.. I know my adjustment factors and I fill the tank with WATER.. for 30 sec.. dump it out and get the developer in at 101.. this film is FROZEN.. !! plop! right into developing this film is thawing
in my pre-wash.. to get everything EXACTLY to 100.5






OUT ON THE OCEAN ICE WITH BRAND NEW PHOTOGRAPHS!! 

This has to be a first! ha ha ha.!

earlier..when we had to evacuate the ice .. THIS is what was chasing us.! south wind..
GET OUT FAST.. ice will run right over everything.






Success! We have landed the whale, whew, hours were spent taking muktuk off that beast, before we could successfully get it on the ice. Everytime we thought we had it UP.. that ice would break. We don't give up and we can't take long breaks! TOO MUCH work. FOR DAYS!! no one is sleeping now.!!

HOW DOES A TINY SKIN BOAT with 8 people in it,
take down a massive whale ?

EASY.. the whale has to GIVE ITSELF to the captain of its CHOICE!








This SOUNDS like a "fairy tale"!  That is exactly what I thought when this was explained to me. A whale GIVES itself ?

to the CAPTAIN of ITS CHOICE? That sounds preposterous!


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## Majik Imaje

This is a very dangerous situation. There is an incredible amount of Stress

Strain to pull an Animal of that size, out of the ocean. 48 TONS.

Accidents can happen.. in a huge variety of ways. EVERYBODY ...

OUT OF THE WAY-STAND BACK!​ 
This actually happened 
Barrow Alaska, 1990, Pulling up a 60 ton whale onto the ocean ice. ( no pics)... See the "block & tackle on the far right..?? 

The captain. (standing in same position as in this pic) noticed that the 0 ring on the block and tackle was taking on an incredible strain.. He told three "white women" that were standing on the side in back of him.. GET OUT OF THE WAY......... move back.. GET OUT OF THE WAY.. (they didn't listen.) The 0 ring.. snapped and broke!!!!! That block & tackle took off like a bullet @ 200 mph.. !! it decapitated two of them women.. the third is alive as a "vegtable" she will never regain her "self"!!!

the mess had to be cleaned up. and then everyone. "BACK TO WORK' !!! tisk tisk tisk..


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## Majik Imaje

Elijah is the President of the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commisson!

what a beautiful day, below zero!


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## Majik Imaje

THESE huge slabs of blubber, are extremly heavy and much work is required to drag them and distruibe the entire whale out into shares for each crew, as they reach the whale!


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## Majik Imaje

A huge 4 foot piece is taken out. We can't eat this whale yet. UNLESS we cook it.. the pink muktuk turns grey it is quite good, with mustard! Once the muktuk has been "cured" FROZEN .. then it can be eaten, but the very outside of the black part has a thin skin like the skin from certain types of lunch meat.. this must be taken off and thrown away.


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## Majik Imaje

AND HOPE for another strike!

I want you to look at the situation here. Eighth people in a fragile skin boat. In the Chuckchi Sea.. waiting for a whale to GIVE itself? HOW preposterous!  Right ?  We know better than that!  Or do we! 






An elder was explaing this to me in this manner. A whale can swim much faster than we can paddle. We have to wait, for that whale to GIVE ISTELF to the CAPTAIN of ITS choice!  That whale can see, very well.
and to just give itself over to that crew is something you would have to see and expericnce to undersand.  I will explain this in detail and you will be quite surprised at what you will read AND YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE what happens!


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## Majik Imaje

A young whaling captain.. .. .. who will soon learn the ways of the Whale, they are one with the whale & the weather. It doesn't matter which year a Captain catches a whale. That whale no matter which year, will always do the same thing for THAT captain. The whale will match the Captains personality. And act / behave accordingly. (have I lost you yet?).


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## Majik Imaje

I have to go back to the villlage, I have too much exposed film on me and I need to get rid of this and find all the items I have lost. Thirty Eighty pockets, all over me, in many many layers of clothing. I turn the corner and head for home, and I see a familiar sight. My sons, three of them. One is hidden inside his momma's parky, sleeping! it is 40 below zero (F). The "belt" she is using allws the baby, to sit, inside the parky.  My oldest Isaiah, is at the end of the street, and Jesse is all bundled up having the time of his life. Michael Dirks stops to get his bike in the photograph.








CHILDREN PLAY OUT.. .. .. all day long, all night long.. in the village. 23 hour sunlight, and these children are up / plaing out.. .. for days at a time. Solar Powered is the only way I can explain this. You just DON'T get tired.







Ahhh.. warm ... nice!  It's good to be home again, My son MarkAndrew, just dropped his "fireball candy" and his mommn picked it up, cleaned it off, but Mark wants it back. .. NOW!

Upon empting all of my pockets, I begin to find all of the "lost" items, that were stored in various parts of my clothing, Tiime to reorganize in a much more, sophisticated manner, (explanatoin later).  I have another 50 rolls of fiilm, I don't need the cardboard, or the paper inserts so those are thrown into the trash, A magic marker to put a big X on the canister after fiim has been exposed, I can''t afford to mix anything up, and I am loaded to the max! EVERYTING I am carrying must ORGANIZED!... how ?


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## Majik Imaje

Whales are staring to migrate through  the chukchi sea in the Bering Straight. In 1982 A Federal Census team was sent to Point Hope, to monitor and record the amount of whales.  Over 15,000 were counted just in one month. But  that did not include the whales that surfaced before out camps or after our camps. or the massive amount of whales much further out closer to Russia. The elders say  200,000 or  more. We are allowed 3 strikes (1982 & 83).. each year, we caught one 27 foot whale.






Japan is now slaughtering 1000 whales for scientific purposes, THEY HAVE TO CHASE the whales because they are in very fast huge whaling vessels.

Now why would a  whale come up to a captains skin boat and "wait"?  Why would the "weather" instantly change? when that whale dies ? 

I had a whale "spit" all over me, that whale knew exactly where I was.

Irma Oktollik was telling me .. We are one with the whale, and for thosands of years, They know us.. and we know them. We don't ever harm the whale, the whale will give itself to the CAPTAIN of its choice. You watch she said.. This is Joe's weather.. it is warm (ha 20 below.)

When ever the whale gives itself over to Joe, the same thing happens no mater which year it is. That whale dies instantly, right by joes umaiq and it always happens very very close to the ice, we don't have to hunt / look for it, it doens't hide, it sits there dead. BUT when that whale dies.. ..she said.. RUN!  because the wind is going to come in at 100 mph and the temp is going to drop to 100 below. I thought to myself, This just can't be, so I moved everything, over to Joe's camp. I am up on the ice with my camera,, waiting, playing chess, with a friend from Boston, and we were not looking when we heard BOOM! I look up, there is Joe's umiaq 75 feet off the edge of the ice. A whale, still in the water, dead, and I am about to go over to shap the image .. .. walking over.. and THAT WIND.. came rushing in,, .. and we had to RUN! it got so incredibly cold, such as I have never ever experienced it in all my years in the Arctic.

HOW DID SHE KNOW?






Fresh Caribou soup!  Duck soup, Seal soup, "Soup is good food" !  Caribou = Tuttu.


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## Majik Imaje

with Morton's of course!  The "muktuk" is frozen, dipped or sprinkled with salt and chew it up. cut a slie with an Ulu knife.






That oil, on the wood, is extremely flammable!  Yes, flammable food! flammable fat!  It is just like trying to chew a "hockey puck"! so slice it thin!  it will melt, then you can chew it! yummy!


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## Majik Imaje

.. an Ulu is an Eskmo knife. and it is extremly versitile. Very safe to use,and it is almost impossible to cut yourself with one. In every house on the kitchen counter sits a big flat stone / rock. for sharpening their ulu's.
they come in all sizes, from Giant down to tiny size for sewing. Often a porcelean or ceramic cup is turned upside down and that "rough" edge is used to sharpen ANY knife.






There's lots more to follow, Whaling Festival, Blanket Toss, Polar Bears, and more, out on.... the ocean ice !


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## Majik Imaje

Everyone is getting ready for whaling. They started today. to break trail.

This involves hundreds of people chopping and smoothing out the ocean ice for a three - four mile journey out to the  lead opening which will open late march earlly April. We have much to do to get ready!

I will try and post images of this current hunt and merge them with Photos to complete and finish one of the most exciting Life-styles / culture in the world!


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## Aquarium Dreams

Wow.  This is intense.

7


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## Majik Imaje

Are spaced out in 1/2 -3/4 mile incriments, all along the Ocean Ice. 18 Captains. spans a considerable distance.

Communication between the crews is now much easier, due to advances in technology. Now a hunter at the far end of the lead, can instantly know what is going oin at the front of the lead where the other crews have a different view. That whale can surface anyplace. That whale with just one flick of its tail, can crush this tiny skin boat!  -=flick=- with the "flipper" and it is all over, that crew goes into the wter, it is all over. Straight to the bottom with all that clothing and fur. the weight would take you down in an instant. Yet no one, has EVER HAD THEIR UMIAQ damaged by a whale, in thousands of years ! NO.. NOT EVEN ONCE! think about that tiny boat right beside that MASSIVE animal. and that whale says .. I am yours!
TAKE ME!..now whales are just like "children"  .. they do display childlike tendancies.. just as some adults do. There are some captains that have never ever caught a whale.. .. "because of their childlike tendencies" they won't share, they are mean in daily living etc. A whale will not give itself over to a personality such as that.






Nick Hank, a very successful whaling captain, .. .. Calls one of his relatives on the CB radio,, he is heard very clearly at the other end and at each whaling camp. Down at the lead opening, and back at the tents.. everyone out on the ocean ice, is fully aware of what is going on via reports, frm the captains to the tent area, but a familiar "sound" often is heard over the CB radio.. and everyone takes notice.. and smiles, when they hear the words.. "can you hear me.. .. NOW"?!


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## Majik Imaje

And the Captain.. .. pays for everthing.! Just imagine the cost of feeding 15 people or more, three-four or more times a day. the cost of FUEL is outrageous! more than $5.00 per gallon, Hundreds of 4 wheel ATV's & Snowmobiles. HE PAYS THE BILL.. ..for food, equipment. and what does he get for all of this..??  "A chance.. .. .. at obtaining food only"  there is no profit from the whale itself, I take that back. yes there is, but in the form of Arts & Crafts, baleen baskets, the vertirbaes are used to make "masks" which are in huge demand the world over. But there is no profit in a whale, just food! .. So the "children.. can survuve! To grow and learn and experience, THEIR CULTURE...  ..   ..   .   ..


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## Majik Imaje

And this one needs explainng, This girl almost got herself thrown into the ocean.!

Just after this photo was taken some whaling captains came up to her and said. Put *THAT *CAMERA away! She Argued!.. "but he is taking pictures!

If you dont put that camera away we will take it and throw it into the ocean, if you argue .. we will throw YOU into the OCEAN!
She wisely obeyed. She was going to "take". .. The people of Point Hope Knew I was there to give!

They sternly told her..HE went before the tribal council, Before the elders, before the IRA, He asked peromisson, from ALL of those groups and more, BEFORE WE EVER LET him out here on this sacred hunt of OURS!

Please leavel the ice, and she obeyed.





The only way, you can come down to the lead opening, and particapte, is you BELONG to a crew. Jake Koonuk.. was my Captain,..

he is my friend. I am invited .. .. to be on his crew. I had the flu. and they took me to.. his camp! He requested me...& the rest is history!






The "stuffed" seal skin is  "Avataqpaq" (Ah Vah Tuck Puck)  it is used as a Bobber OR FLOAT in fishing! to locate a whale when he plays his personality with the Captain.  Some whales will thrash and aplash.. but onlly for THAT CAPTAIN ONLY. .others will hide. but for THAT CAPTAIN only. Some whales will not play with some Captains, and they stay away.!  The whale knows the heart of the Captain!  I don't expect you to understand or believe this.

When I -=click=- the shutter. I got the "creeps all over me! I know this man! I have seen him before!... on T.V. ! Johnny Carson, The Tonight Show, and John Denver was on that show AND HE had video. of this man. that hat! and a polar bear.
Oh my goodness. NOW I KNOW why he requested me.. ! I don't believe this. I remember when I watched that show, A lot of very bad things were said about these people,I wasn't really paying any attention to that part, just the video but I distinclly remember him saying. they caught a whale and left it there to rot!

THERE IS NO WAY, anyone in this village would / could ever let something like that happen. This is too precous, it is "sacred" ! 
There once was a man, from Boston, named "sicpan"! He was here, every year, from New Bedford, but he was well loved by all the people, and he went whaling every year for over ten years, When they found out I was from Boston, they were hoping I had that same "personality" they were happy to find out. & I was accepted. John Denver did these people a very terrible injustice. He announced on T.V that the "teenagers" of the village slashed his tires and trashed his plane. Yes they did. .and with good cause! Mr. Denver's crew brought in TOO MUCH alcohol, & other UNMENTONABLES,.. Jo-Jo Omnick.. thought he was a "caribou" and spent three days out on the tundra thinking he actually was one.!

I doubt he will ever be the same again. Untold damage was done by THAT man & his T.V. crew, for the sole purpose of lying about the TRUTH.

I had to stop and say that. 1976 was the year of that video on Jonny Carson .. I would pay anthing for a copy of that tape.

I AM here to tell the truth. In 1983 I flew back to Boston (my father passed) with my album, 100 11 x 14 images of what your looking at. 

On the Boston Commons was a Free concert, I was there, with my album John Denver was playing, I went to TRY and get backstage, after the performance. The Police stopped me. of course. ha ha. I asked? could you please have Mr. Denver autograph this album please? they went back stage, I hear talking and then I hear, crash, bang, LOTS OF NOISE.. I run in.. to see Mr. Denver .. runing out of the back of the tent !

Everytime.. in any house in any village, when a song of his comes on the radio, someone, will turn the radio off!

Back to the OCEAN ICE.!!


You.. are nice and warm.. and it is 4:00 a.m. TIME FOR A SMOKE BREAK.. (I removed the cigarette, form Jake's mouth.) using photoshop.
We have been working aournd the clock for two days straight, The lip of the whale has been removed to sxpose the "baleen", rows upon rows 300 slats of Baleen, with hair hanging off it. This is how a BowHead (riight whale) takes in food, Plankton. filtered through the very fine hairs, In days of old, long ago, the hair was removed and dried. and used for "tampons". or pads. is a better descripton or term.

I have been trying to upload this next image for over two hours now, the wind storm that has hit the village is ferocious, this is common occurance.






Sometimes, (monthly) or sooner or even constant, we will have what you call hurricanes, "house shaking" winds @ 100 mph or more. and often a hunter is stranded out in that type of weather, his machine (snow mobile or ATV 4 wheeler) has broken down, or he is LOST. 

-=SEARCH & RESCUE=-​ 
Is a "group" of very skilled hunters, volunteers, who will go out into ANYTING, at any time of the day or night in any type of weather, INTO AN AREA,.. .. the size of several STATES ! (New Jersey, Rhode Island, Delaware, ) and it is white, frozen, and hurricane, and it is DARK, and it is a vicious white out and you can't see 6 inches in front of you.. THEY ALWAYS FIND THE PERSON.. in this type of weather!! HOW.??? can you possibly FIND & LOCATE ? someone,? under those conditons ?​ 
it is done many times every year. but STRANGER, MUCH STRANGER things than this.. go on.. out in that vast EMPTY ? region that has NO INHABITANTS. none! no body! BUT OH YES THERE ARE!​


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## Majik Imaje

.. .. .. are very real!  they live underground and in caves. They are spotten often and have been seen in every village above the Arctic circle

"Ingauqalauraqs "  little people used to live in point hope long long ago, they moved out when one of their young got eaten by a dog.

These people are tiny.(3-4)fool in height, dressed in all caribou skins, they still hunt with bow & arrow.

They are incredibly strong! and can run so fast .. !  It takes two grown hunters to mpve a caribou onto a sled. One of these little people can carry one and run with it over their head.

Luke Koonuk Jr. was out hunting 2 years ago, and his 4 wheel ATV honda was stuck in deep ruts of the tundra and he just could not get it free.

he was exhausted trying to get the machine freeed from the depths of the ruts.. he was bent over trying to catch hs breath and he see's out of the corner of his eye.. his 4 wheeler rise into the air a foot or so and dumped on the cear ground beside where he was stuck. He looked around ony to see a flash of a tiny person running away very quikly and disappear.

This happens a lot up here.. when someone is lost or can't get un-stuck!

now for you adventureous photographers.. GET ONE PICTURE of these people.. and you will be "RICH"!  IT IS SAID... they can jump over 100 feet.  More to come! ha ha. soon!  "this is true" but I told you .. you won't believe what goes on up here!


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## df3photo

lol... I hope it is true... never heard of it... sure your not getting too much sunlight up there???


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## Majik Imaje

A huge whale washes up on the beach 50 miles from point hope. people see this . but the next time they go in that direction along the beach.. there is no sight of it.. cept drag marks in the tundra.. 3 miles inland it is found, all stipped of blubber and all food.! now who? hauled in land. certainly not the people of Point Hope.. it takes too many people to pull that whale. The residents of the nearest villlage Kivalina were not aware of this whale being beached.  who?? brought into the middle of no where?  The bones are still there !There are much stranger things than this that happen up here! Much of which defies a logical explanation!


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## Majik Imaje

There is much that defies logical explanation up here! 

Too much.


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## Majik Imaje

Waiting.. watching, The sun is just so intense out here. 250 @ F 11 all day long, day in and day out!






Sadly, Irma passed on a few years ago, then her husband shortly there after.  Cancer runs amuck up here because of what the government did back in the 50's.  All the elders are gone, very few left at all. Hundreds gone, because of "Project Chariot" (google).  The government buried all the nuclear waste right in the middle of their hunting grounds. Now we are being told we can't go hunting in this area because we cannot PROVE that we used this land for 3,000 years, doh! it is the only land.. outside our homes ? where else would we hunt ? So now we can't hunt.. where we have always hunted. The ways of the white man cannot be understood.

Hundreds of thousands of whales, and we can try for 5 of them. We obey, we have no choice.

Wait & watch.. .. 24 hours a day. for weeks, the animals will come.


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## Majik Imaje

A flag is planted, so that people can see from afar where the camp is located.

It is very easy to get lost out here. Miles out on the ocean ice. anything can happen. Wind shifts, Ice cracks, weather changes, we are prepared for any event and hoping it won't happen. Last year we had the best ice we have had in almost twenty years. and this year is  no different, We have great ice again. This is good!


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## Majik Imaje

*Polar Bears* 
Are now a protected species, recentlly added to the endangered list. According to a recent article I read, Alaska has 4,500 and I forget the # used for the rest of them. Eskimo's are now, KNOT ALLOWED to huint the Polar Bear, for the first time ever. This has been taken away from them.
More and more bears are drowning, because they can't make the huge long distance swims between ice packs due to "????
Global Warming.

ONLY IN LIFE OR DEATH SITUATIONS. can an Eskimo shoot & kill a polar bear now.. Three entered the village two days ago (Jan13th 07)... @ $15,000 per skin.. what do you think these people did when those three bears showed up right in the middle of town. There are no jobs here, very few..... A few hunters.. carefully escorted those bears back out on to the ocean ice!!! 







Imagine this: (1990) I am driving home from Ada boat back to the village, I have 5 people! ha ha ha on my ATV.
my four sons, and my Eskimo wife. We are traveling along the beach. I have water on one side of me, and 20 feet away,
a cliff of land. In other words I am on land only 20 feet wide. Beach sand, this honda 4 wheeler loaded up like this
can only go 25 mph. A bear can run @ 40 mph!!! It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who is gonna win
that RACE!!.. I am traveling.. and I notice..... I am FOLOWING fresh bear tracks, in the sand. OMG am I scared out
of my wits.!! I have no weapon, (cept God's word) (whew, that's all I need) but a AUTOMATIC GATTLING GUN of 
prayers of desperation flew up to the Throne of Grace. What am I going to do ??? there is absolutely no where to go!!!
Me and this bear are gonna have to duke it out!! Unless, the Lord of Creation, intervenes!.. OMG am I scared !!!
We have four types of bears up here. Polar bear, Grizzly bear, Brown Bear and Black bear. I know this isn't a Polar Bear
or is it. There is no ice.. so chance are. it isn't a polar bear. Hey I am a city boy from Boston! what do I know about fighting 
a bear!!! ha ha ha.. where do you kick him. ha ha ha ha.. I got only one choice if we meet.. hold up my hand and scream
In the Name of Jesus.. shoo!!! ha haha. but my humor level was submerged deep within the chilling fear that was coming
over me, whew..Praying non stop, trying not to show concern to the kids, etc. whew.. Oh Lord... then I notice the tracks, disappear.. to the left us. the Bear is now on our left UP.ON THE LAND . I am almost to the airport runway.. if I can just make it to there. I know I can pick up SPEED on the hard land instead of this soft sand.






Here are a few "maps" to show you were this is all happening. Looking at a regular map, just doesn't do justice. you gotta see.. we are almost an island. Erosion is a major problem. The village has already been moved once. in the 70's due to flooding. One wave is all it is gonna take.. and we are all phish phood!!!





Google Earth v4.. sure helps a lot.!! The "Point" disappeared in 1989 along with the crude wooden light beacon. Erosion is eating up the land. 









Our back yard is bigger than most states !!! Animals, caribou, wolverine, musk ox, 4 types of bears, squirrels (size of dogs) Siglipaks.. wolves, Moose,
Too many differents type of fish to name & remember, Salmon, she fish, grayling (eaten raw & frozen), Birds, I don't know the names of all them critters
Puffin, loon, ducks of a zillion types, Cape Thompson photos coming shortly. Cape Thompson (google) project chariot . Well the Eskimo's have recently 
been told. Stay out of Cape Thompson, you can't hunt there any more. Cape Thompson is a major bird sanctuary. more on that later.







Polar Bears look so nice/ gentle, they are not. they are vicous, they will stalk you, they can smell blood for 
many many miles, their main diet is seals. Often a polar bear will sit on the ocean ice ..where there is a hole in the ice,
for any seal to come and breathe, the bear will sit with his "paws" over his nose and parts of his eyes to "hide" himself.

The seal pops his head up.. .. .. looks around,.. and it is over that quick. .. .. .. .. burp !!

Dec. 1990 My close friend in Point Lay (North of Point Hope) Culi on some maps, pop. ? 125 

Charles Stalker Jr. III.. .. .. .. was my apprentice electican. A polar bear was going after his pregnant girl friend, Charles was armed with only a knife, he distracted the bear away from his girl-friend, but the ending was tragic. One swipe with the left paw cut him in half, and he was eaten. Of course that bear was quickly killed, BLASTED.. but sob.. he was gone.
At that time.. in Point Lay school 7th grade - 12th grade.. contained 5 girls.. !!!

All 5.. .. .. .. were carrying his baby !!!!!

Jan 1950 Allan Rock Point Hope was attacked by a huge polar bear, he was armed only with a knife.. The bear died !!!

March 1967.. Billy Weber was out on the ice hunting, he was hunting and he had one bullet left, a polar bear is coming after him, His friends are all watching this.. but they are too far away to get a decent shot to the EAR.. ONLY.. Billy sees the bear charging him.. he turns and runs for his life.. while running.. he merly pointed the rifle back, kept running and shot that bear in the ear and killed him with a 22 !!!


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## Majik Imaje

Whaling Festival is a 3 day event in June, to celebrate the successful whaling season. Visitors come up here from all over the state and from all parts of the world.

Blanket Toss, Food, Games, Dance & Celebrations. It is a busy 3 days virtually around the clock.






The successfull Captains, and the Umiaq is honored.

The elders are honored at the main umiaq, as the day

begins. The flippers will be cut up and passed out to

all the family names! 







A young mother displays her handi work, as all members of the entire family have new clothing for this event! All parky's and mukluk's are hand made, hand sewn, and the "contest" begins for best Kupak's (fancy trim) on the parky's.







Coming up.. "Blanket Toss"  "Nalaukataq"


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## Majik Imaje

Sometimes.. .. "Gravity" takes over  .. Oopps!


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## Majik Imaje

Handing out of the flippers is a BIG DEAL.. this is the "cherry" on top of the huge blubber sundae. The best part.. "or so they say" .. I got a slice of two day old pizza in my pocket.. ! I can't eat Eskimo food! some of it is ok for me. but I am a "junkfood" junkie. Where's the "cheeseburgers" sniff. sniff.






This was a difficult day, the light is constantly changing, fog is rolling in, wind is shifting all throughout the entire day. wierd lighting conditions exist here in the Arctic.
The sky was constantly changing first grey, clear, blue, washed out, I went up to Ernie Frankson and mentioned how wierd the weather was today, the wind, constantly shifting from North (prevelant wind) to East, then West, North, then South , then East etc.. all day long. Ernie looked at me with a big smile and said. This is the weather of my ancestors! I have no idea what that meant, so I smiled -=click=- and moved on.






The gentleman in the brown fur parky is not from Point Hope, John Goodwin, From Kotzebue, is a regular up here evey whaling season and during whaling festival also. Cutting the flippers takes hours of work. When that whale is caught in April-May. then the flippers are put into the "siglauk".. deep root cellar into the perma-frost, as deep as 30 feet down. Climbing down into a "siglauk" is extremely DANGEROUS. The fermentation of the blubber and other animals releases gases that will kill you. A siglauk must be aired out, for hours, before someone may climb down into that deep hole via a make shift ladder, Everyone that dares to go down into one, always puts a safety line around them, just in case, they pass out!






When the whale is caught, The tail is put into the Captains siglauk that caught the whale. In the fall / winter, the first snowfall that blankets the entire village is a time for celebration again. The tail is brought out and every one has a share, THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS FOOD. it is a "downer" big time. you will fall asleep. BUT.. if you have had ANY SUGAR THAT DAY, I.E. fruit, pop, candy, etc.. this FOOD ... WILL KILL YOU. This food is still "fermenting" . which means that when you eat it, it is STILL fermenting, bubbling, etc releasing gases, if you have had any sugar, that food that is bubbling will "harden" over and prevent the escape of the gas(es) and you will die from Botulisim! Heny Attanguanna died in this manner back in 1989. he forgot! he had sugar earlier!

Suddenly this two day old pizza slice in my pocket sounds delicous! crunch!






Patrick Attanguanna is showiing Ernie Frankson which way to divide the flippers, There are 1000 people to feed today, and in the remaining two days! That is a lot of FOOD!


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## MrMatthieu

Is this thread a "personnal Blog " or is it open to comments ??? :mrgreen: 

Majik Image , you have some interesting shot, but I have to ask you something. What you put these ugly border on your picture ??? :er: 

It has to my opinon no one interest to put this on your old pictures .

Mat


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## Majik Imaje

.. .. entitled to YOUR OPINION.. ! I appreciate your kind remarks, and your input about my work.

However.. I hate seeing a flat photo with no borders. I am sorry if my sense of color or addition to the image offends you so much. I sort of like how they do look with a border around them. Sort of like a "frame" when you have a print matted perhaps. I guess I am a poor judge of what "looks" good!

We learn every day.. from many sources. what to do.. and what not to do. We learn from everyone we meet.. "even if it is what not to do" we learn something new every day!

In all my years.. of showing my images and displaing them. you sir are the only person.. that has told me how they feel about them concerning, my "ugly frames" 

THANKS FOR STANDNG UP. and voicing your opinion. I respect that 100%


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## Majik Imaje

This is one of the events that is a lot of fun to watch and enjoy, because there is a lot more to this than just taking a "high ride" being tossed into the air.

In the olden days. blanket toss was used down at the edge of the ice, to throw a hunter high into the air. to see if whales are coming North through the lead opening in the ice.


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