I 29.2: K 96/998
Kuuvagmiut Subsistence
Traditional Eskimo Life
in the
Latter Twentieth Century
FSDEKAl
Douglas B. Anderson
Wanni W. Anderson
Ray Bane
Richard K. Nelson
Nita Sheldon Towarak
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2012 with funding from
LYRASIS Members and Sloan Foundation
http://archive.org/details/kuuvanmiutsubsisOOande
DEPOSITORY ITEM
NOV 0 5 1998
CLEMSQN
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Kuuvarjmiut Subsistence
Traditional Eskimo Life
in the
Latter Twentieth Century
Douglas B. Anderson
Wanni W. Anderson
Ray Bane
Richard K. Nelson
Nita Sheldon Towarak
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Asia and North America were once joined by a massive "land bridge" in a region now
popularly called "Beringia." In order to promote the conservation of the unique natural
history and cultural heritage of this region, the governments of the United States and
Russia have proposed the establishment of an international park agreement between the two
countries. The Shared Beringian Heritage Program of the National Park Service recognizes and
celebrates the contemporary and historic exchange of biological resources and cultural heritage
in this region. The program seeks local resident and international participation in the
preservation and understanding of natural resources and protected lands and works to sustain the
cultural vitality of Native peoples in the region. To these ends, the Beringia program promotes
the free communication and active cooperation between the people and governments of the
United States and Russia concerning the Bering Straits region.
Located in northwestern Alaska, the Northwest Arctic Borough School District operates schools
in 1 1 villages for approximately 2,000 students. Ninety percent of the students are Inupiaq
Eskimo. The district's main goals are to prepare students to be contributing members of a
rapidly changing society and to preserve the unique heritage and values of the Inupiaq culture.
The district's Bilingual Bicultural Education program is based on Iiiupiaq language and culture
study. Its goals include helping students learn cultural skills, instilling a sense of pride and
identity, and helping students learn to communicate with elders.
Kuuvanmiut Subsistence: Traditional Eskimo Life in the Latter Twentieth Century was
originally released as a commissioned report giving a detailed description of the lifestyle of the
Kobuk River area people in northwestern Alaska as observed in 1974 and 1975. The study was
undertaken as a part of the National Park Service's interest in learning about the Alaska d-2
proposals (proposed Alaska additions to the national park system) and the natural and human
resources, which are integral parts of the land. A limited number of copies were published in
1976, funded by the National Park Service with additional funding from the Northwest Alaska
Native Association. Recognizing the value of Kuuvanmiut Subsistence to the people of
northwestern Alaska, the National Park Service prepared an edited, unpublished version of the
original manuscript in 1986. In 1992 the Northwest Arctic Borough School District requested a
re-publication of Kuuvanmiut Subsistence for classroom use in its bilingual curriculum . This
volume, prepared in cooperation with the Bilingual Program, is based on the 1986 edited version.
Publication of this 1998 edition was funded by the Shared Beringian Heritage Program of the
National Park Service, through a cooperative agreement with the Northwest Arctic Borough
School District.
The maps, which accompanied the original release of Kuuvanmiut Subsistence, are not included
in this edition. These maps have been digitized, or computerized, and are available to
researchers through the National Park Service at Kotzebue, Alaska.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Part 1: The Historical Context
vn
ix
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Part 2: The Environment
Earliest Inhabitants of the Kobuk River Valley 1
The Historic Era 7
Summary of Kuuvarjmiut Economic History
Chapter 3
The Environment
Climate
Flora
Fauna
26
27
28
25
Chapter 4 Kuuvarjmiut Subsistence Cycles
Upper Kobuk: Traditional Subsistence Cycle
Upper Kobuk: Modern Subsistence Cycle
Lower Kobuk: Traditional Subsistence Cycle
Lower Kobuk: Modern Subsistence Cycle
26
35
43
48
30
Part 3: The Village and Its People
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Part 4: The Harvest
Chapter 7
Modern Village Life
Population Dynamics
57
The Social Network
62
Movement Between Villages
62
Linking the Villages
63
The Partnership
64
Division of Labor
66
Child Training
68
Noorvik Village Life
70
Subsistence and the Cash Economy
82
The Settlers
85
Reminiscences of Kuuvaijmiut Villagers
Lucy Foster Remembers
88
Susie Barr Remembers
92
Beatrice Mouse Remembers
94
Jenny Jackson Remembers
102
Louie Commack Remembers
109
Comment on the Narratives (Nita Sheldon)
111
)
Travel
Foot Travel
Rafting
115
117
57
88
115
in
Other Watercraft 118
Clothing 120
Weather Forecasting 1 2 1
Surface Conditions 122
Ice Conditions 124
Snowshoes 126
Dog Teams 1 26
Snowmachines 129
Sleds 133
Shelters 134
Trail Systems 138
Place Names and Use Areas 139
Chapter 8 Fishing 144
Fishing Equipment 146
Seine 147
Seine Drying Rack 148
Fish Rack 148
Fishing Pole, Lure, Club, Gaff 1 49
Fish Spear, Dip Net, Fish Weir 1 50
Caches 153
Spring and Early Summer Fishing
Ice Fishing 154
Early Summer Fish Camps 155
Gill Netting 158
Seining and Dip Netting 160
Summer Fishing
Rod and Reel Fishing 163
Seining 164
Gill Netting 167
Processing the Catch 171
Early Fail Fishing
Establishing Camp 177
Seining and Gill Netting 1 80
Processing the Catch 1 82
Late Fall and Early Winter Fishing
Hooking Through the Ice 184
Gill Netting 186
The Burbot Trap 1 89
Chapter 9 Hunting 199
Caribou 199
Caribou 1 lunting in the Past 201
Caribou Hunting in the Mid-1970s 204
Moose 211
Black Bear and Grizzly 213
Dal I Sheep 217
Porcupine 218
Snovvshoe 1 lare 2 1 8
Muskrat 219
Waterfowl 221
Ptarmigan 221
Chapter 10 Trapping 223
Red Fox 224
Wolf 225
IV
Chapter 1 1
Wolverine
Lynx
Marten
Beaver
Otter
Marmot
Mink
Gathering
Berries
Other Edible and Usable Plants
Willow
Spruce
Birch
Firewood
226
226
227
228
229
229
230
232
233
235
235
237
238
231
Chapter 12 Using the Harvest
Subsistence in the Modern Village
The Trade Connection
Seals and Whales
Traditional Medicines
240
242
244
246
240
Part 5: The Patterns of Change
Chapter 13 Subsistence and the Environment 251
Localized Nature of Resources 25 1
Examples of Localized Resources 252
Localized Resources at Two Campsites 255
Dynamic Nature of Resources 257
Explanations of Variation and Localization 261
Localization, Variation, and Subsistence 262
Effects on World View and Land Concepts 264
The Open Land Concept 265
Subistence Range-Present and Future 266
Subsistence and Kobuk Valley National Park 267
Chapter 14 The Present and the Future 269
Subsistence and Cash Economics 269
Competition for the Resources 271
Culture and World View 272
The New Technology 273
The Next Generation 275
Subsistence and the Land 276
Tables and Illustrations
IV
Appendices
1. Inupiaq Orthography and Pronunciation Guide
2. List of Animals and Plants Used by Kuuvagmiut
3. Compilation of Resource Uses
281
283
287
Bibliography
309
Tables
Settlement Locations: 1 884- 1885 15
Climatic Data for Villages of Kobuk and Kotzebue 26
Flora and Fauna Used by Kuuvurjmiut Eskimos 29
Annual Activity of the Upper Kobuk River Communities 3 1
Annual Activity of the Lower Kobuk River Communities 32
Kuuvurjmiut Subsistence Activities in the Kobuk Valley
National Park 33
Kuuvurjmiut Calendar 35
Kobuk River Village Populations in 1970 57
Age Distribution by Sex of Kiana Residents in 1975 58
Number and Percentage of Kiana Residents by Age Groups
and Sex in 1975 59
Marriage Patterns of Kiana Residents in 1975 60
Ratio of Kiana Residents Married to Non-Kiana Residents
in 1975 60
Marital Residence Pattern in Kiana in 1975 61
Marriage Patterns of Noorvik Residents in 1975 61
Marital Residence Pattern in Noorvik in 1975 61
Number of Fire Fighters: 1 97 1 - 1 973 84
Comparison of Dog Teams and Snowmachines: Cost,
Upkeep, Performance 131
Early Summer and Spring Fish Camp Supplies and
Equipment 156
Fall Fish Camp Supplies and Equipment 178
Caribou Hunting Equipment 205
Moose Hunting Statistics for the Kobuk River Villages:
1972-1975 213
Wolf Harvests for the Kobuk River Villages: 1972-1975 226
Wolverine Harvests for the Kobuk River Villages:
1972-1975 226
Lynx Harvests for the Kobuk River Villages: 1972-1975 227
Illustrations
Snaring Ducks
103
Hemispherical Shelter Made with a Tarpaulin
117
A Tripod-Type Shelter
117
Raft Made With Spruce Poles
117
Man's Traditional Winter Garments and
Contemporary Winter Clothing
120
Side and Top View of Sled with Gee Pole
133
Eskimos with their Sled and Dog Team
133
Basket Sled Attached to Snowmachine
134
Plank-Type Sled
134
Alluaqsaaq. A Temporary Snow Shelter
135
A Simple Temporary Snow Shelter
135
A Cone-Shaped Shelter
135
A Snow House
135
Using Temperature Inversion as Protection from Cold
136
Heated Earth Camping Place
136
Willow Bough Shelter
137
Canvas Wall Tent Furnished for Winter Camping
137
Gill Net
146
Netting Shuttle
147
Float
147
Sinker
147
Seine Drying Rack
148
Summer Fish-Drying Rack (Type 1)
148
Summer Fish-Drying Rack (Type 2)
149
Fish Drying Rack for Half-Dried Fish
149
Fish Club
149
Gaff
149
Fish Spear
150
Dip Net
150
Fish Weir Top View
151
Fish Weir of Matted Brush and Branches
151
Fish Weir Constructed Under River Ice
152
Blackfish Trap
152
Hook, Dip Net, and Fence Used for Fishing
153
Cache for Storing Fish
153
Spring Fish Camp at Black River
157
Smelt Seine
161
Seine Set in Eddy of Kobuk River 165
Water Flow in a River Eddy 169
Positioning of Several Gill Nets for Salmon
in the Kobuk River, 1975 170
Women Cutting and Drying Whitefish 171
Cuts Made to Process Whitefish 172
A String of Whitefish 173
Cuts Made to Process Salmon 173
Devices Used to Ward Off Birds 1 74
Cottonwood Logs Used to Make Smudges 175
Fall Fish Camp Along the Upper Kobuk River 179
Cuts of Caught Whitefish 182
Fall Cut of Salmon 182
Enclosure for Unprocessed Fish 182
Fish Raft Used to Tow Salmon Back to the Village 1 83
Trot Line Set Under the Ice for Burbot 1 86
Fall Fishing Site of Paniyavik 1 87
Ice Pick and I looked Pole Used to Set Gill Net Under Ice 1 88
Holes in Ice Through Which a Gill Net is Set 1 88
Pulling a Line Under the Ice 1 89
Gill Net in Place Under the Ice 1 89
Placement of Burbot Traps Upriver from Shungnak Village 190
Current Indicator and Throat Poles Set into River Bed 191
Outline of Where a Burbot Trap will be Built 192
Wall Log of Trap Braced in Place 192
Funnel for Trap Entrance 194
Side View of Throat in Trap 194
Poles Set to Form Long Shoreward Wing of Trap 195
Layers of Willow Saplings Set Between the
Poles of the Trench 195
Fastening Toggles to Keep Barrier of Willow
Saplings in Place 196
Pliers for Setting Toggles Over the Willow Wall 196
Cutaway and Condensed View of a Burbot Trap 197
Lawrence Gray's Fish Trap 197
Burbot Trap (Top View) 197
Killing a Bear with a Spear 215
Cubby Set Used to Trap Lynx 227
Deadfall for Lynx 227
VI
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS «S®S
Acknowledgements
This study is based on a year's research among the Kuuvarjmiut (pronounced
Kuu-vahng-meet) Eskimos of northwestern Alaska. It was carried out from the
summer of 1974 through the summer of 1975. Principal support for the research
was provided by the United States Department of the Interior, National Park Ser-
vice. Additional funding and assistance was given by the Northwest Alaska Native
Association (NANA), the regional Native corporation.
All of us who participated in the study are extremely grateful for the kind-
ness, hospitality, and assistance extended by the people of the five Kobuk River
villages in which we worked. In every community we were made to feel welcome,
and we received the utmost cooperation in all aspects of our work. Our fondest
hope is that people of the Kobuk villages will find merit in what we have written,
and that our research will be of use to them in making decisions affecting their
traditional culture and livelihood.
We were assisted in some way by almost every family in the Kobuk River
villages, but there are people in each community to whom we owe special thanks.
Those in Noorvik are Louie and Annie Commack {Aquppak and Nauyaq), Jenny
Jackson (Masruana), Lucy Foster (Akugluk), Beatrice Mouse (Anausuk), Douglas
Brown, Elisabeth Sheldon, and Albert and Minnie Sheldon. We are also grateful to
Martha Garfield, who worked as an able assistant to the project.
The residents of Kiana whom we especially thank are Peter and Effie Atoruk,
Martha and Albert Wells, Andrew and Anna Black, Nellie Baldwin, Elsie Hunnicut,
Josie Black, Harry Cook, Clara Jackson, Albertha Atoruk, Susie Barr, and Paul
and Grace Outwater. The work of our project assistants, Roger Atoruk, Donna
Atoruk, Helen Blastervold, and Elmer Jackson, is also most deeply appreciated.
In Ambler, Arthur and Dora Douglas, Mark and Olive Cleveland, Oliver
Cameron, Minnie Gray, Tommy and Clara Lee, Frank and Myra Jones, Truman
and Cora Cleveland, Keith and Anore Jones, Don and Mary Williams, Tommy and
Elsie Douglas, and Harry and Sarah Tickett gave valuable assistance.
Residents of Shungnak whom we warmly thank are Joe and Laura Sun, Charlie
and Annie Lee, George and Sophie Cleveland, Leonard and Vera Douglas, Albert
Commack, Charlie and Bernice Sheldon, Gene and Magdaline Lee, Pete and Bar-
bara MacManus, Wesley Woods, Levi and Ruth Cleveland, Jim and Beulah
Commack, and Paul and Sarah Weisner.
Wilson and Daisy Tickett, Charlie Horner, and Tony and Mae Bernhardt are
the people of Kobuk to whom we owe special appreciation.
We also owe a debt of gratitude to John Schaeffer, executive director of NAN A,
who kindly offered his support and encouragement to the project. Robert Belous of
the National Park Service also gave important assistance to each of us. Although
not formally members of the project, Barbara Bane and Kathleen Mautner made
extremely valuable contributions to it, giving suggestions, information, and assis-
tance during every phase of its undertaking. They also actively participated in
vi i «#<
m$
^S* ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
participated in preparing and editing this report. Map work for the report was
capably done by Arturo Frizzera.
Finally, a very special note of thanks to Zorro Bradley, anthropologist with
the National Park Service, and his wife Nattalie. Mr. Bradley initiated the project,
gave constant, invaluable assistance as it was carried out, and helped it to final
completion. More important, Mr. and Mrs. Bradley shared with us their friend-
ship, kindness, and hospitality during the year of the study. For this we offer our
sincerest thanks and warmest affection.
Many other people, in the villages and outside them, have helped us in innu-
merable ways. Although they are not specifically named here, their support and
encouragement are deeply appreciated.
Chapter Authors
This book was written jointly by the five researchers: Douglas Anderson,
Wanni Anderson, Ray Bane, Richard Nelson, andNita Sheldon. In addition, Stephen
McNabb compiled the material on place names in the Kiana area. Lawrence Kaplan
revised the spelling oilnupiat words and place names throughout and contributed
the appendix on Inupiat orthography. The illustrations were drawn by Tim
Szawinski based in most instances on field sketches by Ray Bane. Chapters or
chapter sections were organized and written by specific members of the project,
but each contains data and perspectives contributed jointly. In the chapters on
subsistence activities, some sections were written by researchers other than the
principal author, but are not here credited.
Principal authors for each part of the book are as follows:
Chapters 1 & 2 D. Anderson
Chapter 3 R. Nelson
Chapter 4 D. Anderson and R. Nelson
Chapter 5 W. and D. Anderson, Sheldon, and Nelson
Chapter 6 N. Sheldon Towarak
Chapters 7 to 10 R. Bane
Chapter 11 W. Anderson
Chapter 12 R. Nelson and N. Sheldon Towarak
Chapters 13 & 14 R. Nelson
Appendix 1 Lawrence Kaplan
Appendix 2 & 3 R. Nelson
This volume was edited and revised by Richard K. Nelson, from an original
report prepared for the National Park Service in 1975. Before the original report
was submitted, it was reviewed in draft form by many people, including represen-
tatives of the Northwest Alaska Native Association and the five Kobuk River vil-
lage corporations. The authors would like to thank all of the reviewers for their
suggestions, which substantially improved the quality and accuracy of this study.
INTRODUCTION «3»
< u
Introduction
Background
The Kuuvarjmiut Eskimos and their ancestors have lived in the Kobuk
River valley of northwestern Alaska for thousands of years. They are a branch
of the lhupiat Eskimos, who inhabit a vast expanse of the Arctic, stretching
from Alaska across northern Canada and around the coasts of Greenland. The
Kuuvanmiut are among the few people in North America, indeed in the entire
world, who still actively pursue a hunting-fishing-gathering lifeway and sus-
tain themselves in major proportion by the harvest of wild resources.
In 1980, the U. S. Congress passed legislation that led to establishment
of Kobuk Valley National Park. This park encompasses nearly two million
acres, a substantial part of the homeland that has nurtured Kuuvarjmiut people
for millennia. As a national park it is now open to all visitors; but the found-
ing legislation also stipulates that it should remain available for traditional
subsistence activities by residents of the Kobuk communities.
Establishment of the Kobuk Valley National Park will undoubtedly bring
changes to the Kuuvarjmiut, most of them beyond our ability to foresee or
control. At the very least it will attract many more persons to the region than
have visited there in the past. Management of the park will also affect the
Kobuk people in many other ways, but hopefully they will have an active role
in all decisions that affect this area. Their own village governments and tradi-
tional institutions will be important in this process, as will regional organiza-
tions like the NANA corporation and Mauneluk association. Nevertheless,
their destiny will also be profoundly affected by government policy makers,
whose decisions must consider not only the indigenous people but also broader
state and national interests.
Passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) by the
United States Congress in 1971 has brought far-reaching changes and an ar-
ray of important challenges to Alaskan Natives. The act was to provide a "fair
and just settlement of all claims by Natives and Native groups of Alaska,
based on aboriginal land claims . . . without establishing any permanent ra-
cially defined institutions, rights, privileges, or obligations." After it was
passed, many unforeseen problems arose concerning land occupancy and us-
age rights. Some of the most important issues were related to a further stipu-
lation that "no provision of this Act shall replace or diminish any right, privi-
lege, or obligation of Natives as citizens of the United States or of Alaska, or
relieve, replace, or diminish any obligation of the United States or of the State
of Alaska to protect and promote the rights or welfare of Natives as citizens
of the United States or of Alaska." This study was carried out to provide
information for legislators and planners who must consider these mandates of
law, and in whose hands the fate of Alaskan Natives lies.
Two of the most important issues affecting the Kobuk villagers are:
First, given that the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act has granted formal
ix <t*
4g&!0> INTRODUCTION
ownership of core regions to Native groups, to what extent do these people
retain rights to use lands beyond these core regions — lands that have been
theirs for millennia? And second, since areas beyond the core regions are
considered essential to the lifeway and economy of the indigenous people,
how can their opportunity to continue traditional subsistence living be as-
sured, in the light of Native Land Claims mandates?
The Study
This study was commissioned by the National Park Service and the North-
west Alaska Native Association (NANA), to provide background informa-
tion for the Kobuk Valley National Monument. The monument was then a
part of pending legislation, but necessary planning for its establishment and
management was already under way. The research goal was to compile an
accurate and comprehensive description of subsistence activities among Kobuk
villagers, viewed from as many perspectives as possible. It was also intended
to provide information necessary to answer questions like those above. And it
was meant to help toward clarifying concepts, such as the nature and defini-
tion of "rural Alaskan subsistence," which have become crucial elements of
laws and policies affecting village people today.
In implementing our research, we set the following objectives:
( 1 ) to document the history of Native use and occupation of the
Kobuk River valley;
(2) to determine patterns of recent, historic, and prehistoric change in
subsistence activities, and to examine the role of change in
shaping modern subsistence;
(3) to describe the fluctuating nature of resources within the Kobuk
valley ecosystem and to establish whether open access to all
traditionally utilized lands is necessary for perpetuation of the
indigenous economy and its cultural underpinnings;
(4) to compile an accurate description of modern and traditional
subsistence activities;
(5) to describe the knowledge and perceptions that underlie
Kuuvcujmiut subsistence activities, to examine their significance
in the contemporary economy, and to understand their role in the
overall pattern of Kobuk village culture; and
(6) to examine the future of subsistence activities in the light of
changing cultural patterns and land use policies.
Field Methods
Research was conducted among the Kobuk River Inupiat between June
1974 and August 1975. Efforts were made to incorporate all five Kobuk vil-
lages into the study, and to include as many local residents as possible among
the researchers.
"■'■-:> X
Work was initiated by Ray Bane and his wife Barbara, who resided in
Shungnak on the upper Kobuk River from June 1974 until June 1975. Mr.
Bane developed and implemented the methods of delineating village subsis-
tence areas, and he documented subsistence techniques of the upper Kobuk
people. His work was aided by Mr. Joe Sun, a Shungnak elder, who contrib-
uted much useful information from his inexhaustible knowledge of Kuuvarjmiut
traditions.
Nita Sheldon Towarak returned to her home village of Noorvik from
January until July 1975, postponing her final year at the University of Alaska
to record the cycle of life in this lowermost Kobuk River village. Aided by
her knowledge of the Inupiat language and her training in linguistics, she
concentrated on recording personal recollections of older village residents.
Martha Garfield, also a resident of Noorvik, was engaged to document sub-
sistence areas and place names of that region.
Richard Nelson and Kathleen Mautner lived in the upriver village of
Ambler from January until June 1975. Studies in Ambler focused on utiliza-
tion of subsistence resources, mapping of harvest areas, analysis of general
subsistence ecology, and description of the non-Native resident community
in the upper Kobuk region.
Douglas Anderson, who served as head of the project, resided in the
downriver village of Kiana from March until July 1975. He was joined by
Wanni Anderson in April and Stephen McNabb in June. The Kiana research
covered a range of topics, including compilation of village and regional his-
tory, description of subsistence areas and techniques, documentation of
women's economic roles, and recording of place names. Two residents of
Kiana, Donna Atoruk and Helen Blastervold, were also engaged to collect
information on subsistence areas and place names. A third resident, Elmer
Jackson, a student at the University of Alaska, did research on the life histo-
ries of several village elders.
Methods of conducting the study differed according to the kind of infor-
mation being sought. Subsistence techniques were observed and, where pos-
sible, the researchers took part in the full round of hunting, fishing, and gath-
ering activities. Researchers also made an effort to participate in all aspects
of village life, to gain understanding of the community patterns which inte-
grate with subsistence activities.
Much information was gathered through informal conversations, cover-
ing a broad range of subjects that could not be studied by direct observation.
Most of this work took place during daily visits to people's homes or casual
meetings in public places such as village stores. Information gathered this
way included knowledge and techniques, attitudes toward the environment
and subsistence living, ecological concepts, and specific historical events.
Formal interviews were also carried out by all researchers, to allow struc-
tured exploration of particular subjects. They were used especially for gath-
ering the personal recollections of older residents in Noorvik and Kiana. These
people were sometimes asked direct questions about events, activities, or tech-
xi <@s
INTRODUCTION
niques of the past. But at other times they were only asked to talk freely about
their younger days. Some of these conversations were tape recorded, and copies
of the tapes were given to the narrators.
Documentation of areas used for subsistence by the Kuuvarjmiut was
done through interviews with most families in the five Kobuk villages. House-
hold members were asked if they had participated in a certain activity during
each of the past three years or, if not, when they last did so. Then they were
asked to show exactly where they carried out the activity. They also desig-
nated areas where they generally obtained each resource, such as where they
hunted caribou in the fall, seined for fish in the summer, fished with gill nets
in the spring, and so on. This information was used to make fairly detailed
maps of resource places and subsistence zones in the Kobuk valley.
Place names were also recorded and mapped during these interviews.
This allowed a fairly complete inventory of places presently significant to the
Kobuk people. The names usually designate landscape features, campsites,
abandoned settlements, special resource places, and locations of noteworthy
historical events. A researcher flew with knowledgeable upriver residents along
travel routes to mountain hunting areas, and several boat trips were made
with downriver people to record traditional campsites between the Kobuk
River delta and the Hunt River. Although not complete, the place name list
gives an indication of use areas throughout the Kobuk River valley and dem-
onstrates the Kobuk Eskimos' detailed knowledge of their region.
Most of the material in this book was written at the University of Alaska,
Fairbanks during the summer of 1975, immediately after our research in the
villages. In the summer of 1 976 Stephen McNabb returned to verify the loca-
tions and spellings of place names.
B@Ss>xii
Parti
The Historical Context
EARLIEST INHABITANTS <C^E
Chapter 1
Earliest Inhabitants of the Kobuk River Valley
Ten thousand years ago, when the Bering Land Bridge connecting Alaska
and Asia had barely vanished beneath the rising sea, forerunners of
the Kuuvaijmiut Eskimos were already at home in the Kobuk River
valley. They lived in a landscape vastly different from today. Whereas the
vegetation is now dominated by tall stands of spruce, poplar, alder, and wil-
low, very few of the plants 1 0,000 years ago would have reached higher than
a foot or two. Early residents of the Kobuk valley hunted caribou and other
modern arctic fauna, possibly together with native species of horse and bison
which may have persisted until that time.
Compared with most other parts of Alaska, the prehistory of the Kobuk
valley is extremely well known, largely through the archaeological research
of J. L. Giddings in the 1940s and subsequent excavations made in the 1960s
at Onion Portage, midway up the Kobuk River. Despite these extensive stud-
ies, archaeologists are still far from a thorough understanding of how Kobuk
valley lifeways developed and evolved. For example, they can only speculate
on many aspects of the subsistence cycles represented by archaeological ma-
terials.
The gaps in our knowledge are related to the kinds of archaeological
sites known from this region. Most of these sites are the remains of winter
settlements, and so our information about past lifeways is skewed toward this
one season. Winter homes were often partly underground and built of wood
and sod. After they were abandoned and deteriorated, they left easily seen
depressions covered with thick grass. During the other seasons, people of the
Kobuk occupied temporary camps and lived in tents of wood and skin. Al-
though these camps saw as much activity as the winter settlements, they van-
ished almost completely after abandonment, leaving no surface signs to give
their presence away. Further, these ancient campfires now lie in dense under-
growth along the river and its tributaries. They are extremely hard to find and
yield only scant evidence of the activities that took place there. (For further
information see Giddings 1952, 1967; Anderson 1968, 1970a).
Onion Portage, situated at a place called Paatitaaq, is one of the most
important archaeological sites in arctic America. More than 70 distinct cul-
tural layers reveal a progression of winter, summer, and fall settlements span-
ning 10,000 years. Objects left by the people who lived or camped there in-
clude stone, bone, and antler tools, pottery shards, and bone fragments from
the animals they hunted. Archaeologists use these remains to piece together a
picture of life during ancient times.
The earliest people who occupied Onion Portage were big game hunt-
ers. Their stone implements resemble tools left by hunters of the last Pleis-
^SB* 1
s?g£» EARLIEST INHABITANTS
tocene mammoths in eastern Siberia; and they are similar to ones used else-
where in the Alaskan interior by people who hunted extinct horses and bison.
Despite their close ties to groups so far away, we are quite certain that the
Kobuk River people of 10,000 years ago were not recent arrivals from Asia.
Most likely, they had come to Alaska thousands of years earlier, and the
reason we see such strong cultural similarities between Kobuk and Siberian
peoples is that Asia and Alaska were connected as a single land mass. Styles
that emerged among people in one part of the vast tundra region quickly
spread throughout the other parts. For example, a particular type of stone
core, part of the Akmak complex used by the earliest people at Onion Por-
tage, was used throughout Alaska, northeastern Asia, Mongolia, and north-
ern China.
Residents of the Kobuk valley must have traveled widely to obtain ma-
terials that could not be found locally. A particularly important case is wood
for poles, shafts, and other items which must have been necessary for people's
survival. One source of wood may have been through trade with residents of
the Koyukuk River to the south. Kobuk people also seem to have communi-
cated and traded with groups living in a distant part of the Brooks Range,
because their tools were made from a kind of chert stone found there.
As conditions gradually changed, dwarf birches, alders, willows, and
perhaps poplars began growing along the Kobuk River and its tributaries.
After about 8,500 to 8,000 years ago, the Kobuk people thus had the advan-
tage of local access to wood. They continued to be in touch with their neigh-
bors of the Koyukuk River drainage, but now it was to obtain obsidian, a
glass-like stone used for making fine tools. At the same time they began
using locally available cherts, which were inferior to those obtained earlier
through trade but nevertheless suited their needs.
A cluster of abandoned hearths uncovered at Onion Portage gives evi-
dence of subsistence activities among people living there 6,500 to 6,000 years
ago. All hoofed animals except caribou were extinct in the region by that
time, so this animal had become the primary source of food. Neither these
people nor their ancestors seem to have depended on fish from the rivers or
lakes. Perhaps they occasionally speared fish to supplement their diet, but we
may never know for certain because any antler used to make fish spears would
have long since rotted away.
The Onion Portage hearths were situated on what was once a low, wet
flood bank on the river's edge. The associated campfires were probably backed
by willow thickets like those that line much of the Kobuk River today. In all
likelihood, they were occupied briefly during early June or early September
by hunters searching for caribou. Like their predecessors they used antler-
headed spears, and perhaps arrows, for taking game. Although the antler it-
self has decomposed, the stone microblade insets from these spears have sur-
vived. Scattered about the hearth areas are remains of caribou jawbones, prob-
ably left after hunters had removed the tongues for eating. Imbedded in the
hearths are tiny fragments of other bones, which may be the remains of rib
sections that hunters roasted over their fires.
EARLIEST INHABITANTS <$£s
Undoubtedly the winter dwellings of these people were not far away.
But no trace of them has yet been found, and so we do not know if their
tools and weapons resembled those of the Akmak complex 2,000 years
earlier. We can speculate that their tools were perhaps smaller than the
ones used by their Akmak ancestors, considering the kinds of game they
hunted. Information on many different groups across the arctic shows that
small, delicate weapon heads and knives are sufficient for bringing down
and butchering caribou.
After about 6,000 years ago, Onion Portage was abandoned for a pe-
riod of 2,000 years, and archaeologists are at a loss to explain why. Per-
haps the river channel here simply changed, making the site unattractive to
potential residents. Or possibly there is a more far-reaching explanation,
such as diminished availability of food. This could have resulted, for ex-
ample, from changes in the region's vegetation. After about 6,000 years
ago, spruce trees began spreading along the Kobuk River and its tributar-
ies, and alder became abundant throughout the region. Caribou tend to
avoid alder thickets, seeking their feed in open tundra areas, tussock mead-
ows, scrub willow patches, and muskegs. So perhaps domination of the
landscape by alder caused the caribou to move elsewhere. Without cari-
bou, and lacking knowledge of fishing techniques that were developed later,
the area would have been too barren to support a human population.
When people again occupied the middle Kobuk valley, they were not
descendants of the earlier residents. Instead, their culture showed affinity
with areas farther south in Alaska's interior and the southwest Yukon. These
may have been Indian people, using tools much like those in other parts of
the interior, where abundant supplies of wood were available. Or perhaps
they were Eskimos who had taken on an interior Alaskan lifeway and ma-
terial culture, adapting to the new habitat of spruce forests lining the riv-
ers. But if this were so, we would expect that a few traces of their original
cultural tradition should have remained.
Since there are no earlier traces of Eskimo culture here, it was prob-
ably Indians who began to occupy the Kobuk River valley about 4000 B.C.
Their tools included small, irregular projectile points notched near the bases
for tying to wooden arrow or spear shafts. Toward the latter part of their
occupation, around 2500 B.C., these people began making use offish from
the river. The first notched stones at Onion Portage, which were probably
used for gill net sinkers, come from levels representing occupation by these
people.
It was not until 2200 B.C. that arctic peoples again occupied the Kobuk
region. The changeover was dramatic, for after 2,000 years of Indian occu-
pation it only took about 50 years for an early, dynamic Eskimo culture to
spread throughout the Kobuk valley. This culture is known archaeologically
as the Denbigh Flint complex. The Denbigh people were master craftsmen
who lived in various coastal areas of western Alaska. They appear to have
developed two of the three major subsistence patterns followed by modern
Eskimos — sea mammal hunting with harpoons (except for whaling), and
caribou hunting with spears, bows, and arrows.
E£5$5> earliest inhabitants
Archaeological Artifacts from Onion Portage
Akmak microblade cofe
f
Akmak microblades
Denbigh spear point
Palisades spearpoint
Denbigh Eskimos also developed a pattern of seasonal moves between
the interior and coast that remained a vital part of Eskimo lifeways until
modern times. They wintered along the Kobuk River and elsewhere in the
Brooks Range, spent their summers on Kotzebue Sound hunting for seals,
and returned to the Kobuk for fall caribou hunting. Like the earlier tundra-
oriented residents of the valley, and in contrast to the Indians they had re-
placed, the Denbigh people maintained contact with Siberia. Perhaps this
was through trading connections like those known from the nineteenth cen-
tury at Kotzebue and at Sisualik across Kotzebue Sound. The craft of flint
knapping was apparently acquired from the Siberians, but the Denbigh Eski-
mos achieved its highest refinement.
Denbigh Eskimos may also have introduced to northwest Alaska the
idea of grinding stone tools instead of only chipping them to shape. They
used this technique to make adze blades for woodworking, as well as certain
other grooving and cutting implements. Like their predecessors, they were
primarily caribou hunters, whose lifeway resembled that of Brooks Range
Eskimos during the nineteenth century.
It is quite possible that Denbigh people were the ancestors of all Eski-
mos. In any case, between 1600 B.C. and 600 B.C., their descendants began
to concentrate on intensive hunting and gathering within their own local re-
gions. This brought about regional variants in their culture. Game must have
been plentiful during this period, so that families could spend most of their
time hunting and fishing right in the Kobuk valley.
Their Eskimo relatives who lived year round on the seacoast or along
the shores of Kotzebue Sound no doubt supplied them with foods like seal oil
and beluga maktak (skin and blubber). From coastal people they also ac-
quired pottery, which was newly introduced from Siberia. These Kobuk val-
ley residents of the first millennium B.C. also had frequent contacts with the
neighboring Indians, even to the point of adopting many traditionally Indian
ways of making things.
After the beginning of the Christian era, the Onion Portage site was
abandoned, perhaps because people favored other camps nearby. More and
more, they did things in the manner of their coastal relatives. Their tools, for
instance, became much alike, and they constructed their houses with long
tunnels more suited to the coastal climate than to that of the interior. Their
4 *»
EARLIEST INHABITANTS iggffe
subsistence activities, however, remained typically interior Eskimo. They
wintered in isolated households along the river, perhaps spent springs at the
coast, and returned before fall to hunt caribou from camps along the riverbanks.
They communicated extensively with people from the Koyukuk River drain-
age (Clark 1974) and perhaps spent time living along some of its tributaries.
People flourished in the Kobuk valley until between 500 and 600 A.D.,
when declining caribou populations forced them (and other interior tundra
groups) to concentrate along the coast and live by harvesting fish and sea
mammals. Previous seasonal experience on the coast must have helped them
in adapting to the patterns of life there.
The temporary evacuation of Eskimos from the Kobuk and other north-
ern river valleys allowed neighboring people from the interior to utilize these
areas. These were presumably ancestors of the Koyukon Athabaskans, Indi-
ans who live along the Koyukuk River today. For 50 years or so they occa-
sionally made fall hunting forays to Onion Portage, probably one of the few
places where caribou could still be found. When they had finished hunting,
they may have dried meat to take back to their home bases. This practice must
have been similar to the more recent Kuuvarjmiut practice of going north to
hunt caribou along the Noatak River.
Before 1000 A.D., the Eskimos had concentrated their activities on the
seacoast, where they developed the elaborate seal, beluga, and whale hunting
techniques that still sustained them during the past century. Then, around
1000 A.D., Eskimos who were most likely ancestral Kuuvarjmiut returned to
the Kobuk valley. They probably brought many coastal practices with them,
such as winter houses with long entrance tunnels to keep out the draft of
severe storms. Only later were these replaced by houses with storm sheds,
which became typical of the interior.
The period following 1 000 A.D. was one of population growth and plenty
for both the Kobuk and Kotzebue Sound Eskimos. Caribou were again abun-
dant in northwestern Alaska, and the Kobuk people developed new fishing
technology that enabled them to make full use of the river's resources. At the
same time, conditions along the northern edge of Kotzebue Sound favored
hunting for baleen whales and other sea mammals, providing goods that were
traded to the river people.
S55«'».--,
V> EARLIEST INHABITANTS
Between 1000 and 1400 A.D., the Kuuvarjmiut developed a wide range of fishing tech-
niques and began a seasonal round of subsistence activities basically like that followed today.
Settlements that developed along the middle Kobuk River centered their economy around
winter caribou hunting in the valley, spring seal hunting at the coast, and summer salmon
fishing in the main river. The earliest of these winter settlements were located where people
could also fish for salmon during the summer. At Ahteut, Onion Portage, and Qalugraitchiaq,
winter houses were located at bends in the river with long sandbars, where seining would have
brought fine yields of salmon.
Archaeological remains show that the Kuuvarjmiut possessed sealing harpoon heads, so
they must have made spring trips to the coast to hunt seals after the ice broke up. They appar-
ently did not engage in spring gill netting. In fact, the scarcity of sloughs near these three sites
makes them rather poor for early summer fishing.
On returning from the coast, probably around the first of August, the early Kuuvarjmiut
set up fish camps near their winter settlements. Their tents may even have been within sight of
the winter houses. A possible reason for having the two settlements close together was the ease
of transporting summer-dried fish to winter quarters. Dog traction had not yet been developed,
so pulling was solely a human task.
Since Ahteut, Onion Portage, and Qalugraitchiaq are located at main river crossings for
southward migrating caribou, hunters also had easy access to caribou in the fall. These animals
may, in fact, have remained near the settlements all winter. Also, whitefish traps may have
been set up in the river at these sites during late fall or early winter. Although evidence for such
traps is difficult to come by, the sites are located where they could easily have been built. In
any case, life on the Kobuk River remained quite bountiful during the fifteenth to seventeenth
centuries.
The oldest known archaeological site along the lower river is Ekseavik (Iqsiugvik), lo-
cated about five miles up the Squirrel River. This was a winter village, probably situated some
distance from the residents' midsummer camps, although it is near excellent sites for early
summer gill netting. Several net sinkers and net gauges excavated from the roof and floor
middens of houses indicate that gill nets were prepared at the settlement. These lower Kobuk
people traveled to the coast for sealing, as did their forerunners from the three middle river
settlements. Before the river opened in spring, they also traveled to Kobuk and Selawik lakes
before the river opened each spring, to catch sheefish through the ice.
On an island across from the mouth of the Redstone River, the eighteenth century settle-
ment at Ukiivigruich was home to families who pursued a typical upper Kobuk subsistence
cycle. Because they now possessed dog teams, they had much greater winter mobility than did
their ancestors. But these people did not visit the downriver areas or the coast in spring; in-
stead, they remained inland year round, apparently traveling only to the higher reaches of the
Kobuk River. They made extensive use of birchbark, probably gathered farther upriver. No
trace of sheep horn was found in the site, so they apparently did not hunt this animal, although
it should have been available.
As far as can be determined, the eighteenth century Kobuk subsistence cycle continued
throughout the early nineteenth century (Hickey 1976). Some time during the latter half of the
nineteenth century caribou began to decline, as they had periodically during the previous ten
millennia. Again, Kobuk people had to rely heavily on the seacoast for their economic pur-
suits. This time, however, those living in upriver areas were able to stay in the interior because
a growing influx of foreign goods offset the effects of caribou scarcity.
6 *®t
tK&a
THE HISTORIC ERA <ffffs
Chapter 2
The Historic Era
The five modern Kobuk villages were established between 1907 and
1914, attracting families from the entire river system. Although there
are few living people who can remember the pre-village days, stories
rich in details of that former way of life have been handed down as part of
Kuuvarjmiut oral history. In addition, other descriptions are found in accounts
written by early explorers and visitors to the region.
Few westerners explored interior northwestern Alaska until near the end
of the nineteenth century, so little was written about the area or its people
before that time. The earliest reference to Kobuk River Eskimos appeared in
an 1847 report by the Russian explorer Zagoskin, who was told of a village
named Kobuk "on the river of the same name" (Zagoskin 1 967: 1 26). Zagoskin
obtained this place name from Norton Sound people, who had learned it from
other Eskimos during the 1838 Kashevarov expedition to the Arctic Ocean.
Thus, we have no way to determine the settlement's location along the river,
or to know if it was occupied during the summer or winter.
The next mention of a village along the Kobuk was by John Simpson
( 1 852:92), the first European known to have entered the river itself. Simpson,
who was the surgeon on HMS Plover, made a sled trip in May of 1 850 over
the rotting spring ice to Selawik Lake and Hotham Inlet. He also went some
distance up the Kobuk's eastern channel (probably Makkaksragiaq Channel).
Along the lower Selawik River, people told him of a large village on the
Kobuk, seven days' travel to the north. Depending on whether we rely more
on the direction or on the travel time, this would place it either a little up-
stream from the mouth of the Squirrel River or somewhere in the upper half
of the Kobuk River system. The reference was clearly to a winter village. At
the mouth of Makkaksragiaq Channel, Simpson visited a Kuuvarjmiut camp
and saw many caribou bones and antlers lying around, indicating that caribou
occurred in the lower river area at the time.
The second westerner to visit the Kobuk River was Capt. E. E. Smith,
who went a few miles upstream in 1 874 but made no report useful for locat-
ing Kuuvarjmiut settlements during that period (Cantwell 1889:105). There-
fore, early written sources reveal only that villages existed in the lower Kobuk
River area during the first half of the nineteenth century. Archaeological find-
ings indicate that such villages had existed intermittently in the area for the
previous four centuries.
The first sizable Kobuk settlement actually visited by westerners was
located along the low shores of the delta about ten miles from the mouth of
one of the channels (Cantwell 1889:54). G. M. Stoney visited this village in
1883 and gave it the name Gilderville. He traveled about 85 miles upriver,
probably to the vicinity of Kakiaqtugvik and Iglulisaaq (Stoney 1900:535).
7 <S©a
s?^> THE HISTORIC ERA
Stoney returned to explore the river again in 1 884. During the same
year, Lieutenant John C. Cantwell of the U. S. Marine Revenue Service also
made a trip up the Kobuk, and he wrote excellent descriptions of the settle-
ments his group encountered. The assistance of Cantwell's guide Natarok
had much to do with his expedition's success. Natarok not only knew the
geographical features but also seemed to be acquainted with families along
the entire river. On the low shores of the delta, Cantwell found several settle-
ments, most of them unoccupied:
We passed many deserted huts, but saw no natives until about
10 a.m., when we observed a collection of huts on the right
bank, and upon landing discovered a native and his family,
who were greatly surprised at our appearance. The children
were perfectly naked and retired precipitately to their huts.
Here we were informed that many natives had starved during
the winter. (Cantwell 1889:54)
Cantwell came upon another group of huts atop a high bluff about 31
miles above the river's mouth, and he learned that this was the settlement
Stoney had called Gilderville. Apparently, he saw no more winter houses or
occupied summer fish camps until he reached a deserted village in the vicin-
ity of Qalugraitchiaq. This was the first settlement large enough so that
Cantwell called it a village rather than a group of huts.
A few miles farther upstream, Cantwell reached an occupied settlement
where people were "busily engaged in repairing their nets preparatory for the
run of salmon." His account of a conversation with the residents gives us an
insight into Native and Western viewpoints at the time:
A number of natives had preceded us to a place where suit-
able wood could be obtained, and for a small quantity of to-
bacco agreed to have sufficient quantity of wood cut to last
us through the day. Here I saw a specimen of green stone
which the Indians informed me had been obtained from the
mountains about five days further up stream. They say that
whoever goes to that mountain and brings away any stone
will be afflicted with some dreadful malady everafterwards,
and that the stone belongs to the natives and not the white
men. 1 argued that the stone did not belong to them individu-
ally, but had come to them from their great-grandfathers, who
were also our great-grandfathers. This direct claim to rela-
tionship did not meet with a very cordial reception, but they
were not inclined to discuss the matter any further. (Cantwell
1889:56-57)
On July 2 1 , Cantwell located another village near the Nuna (Hunt River).
The people were just getting settled, having come upriver behind Cantwell;
so they had presumably spent the first part of summer at the coastal trading
rendezvous, which by 1 884 had apparently shifted from Sisualik to Kotzebue.
Entire families were there, and the men showed no intention that late in the
season of going north to hunt in the mountains.
;> 8
THE HISTORIC ERA <^
Residents of this village showed considerable knowledge of the upriver
area, although they were apparently from the middle river. They told Cantwell
that:
During the winter all the Indians [Kuuvaijmiut] who come
down to fish in the summer live near the headwaters of the
river, and . . . after the snow has fallen they make sledge
journeys to the headwaters of the Koyukuk, where they trade
with the Yukon Indians, and then go still farther to the north-
east until they reach a range of very high mountains, where
the moose and mountain sheep are found in great numbers.
(Cantwell 1889:61)
Farther upstream, Cantwell diverted the expedition to visit a settlement
located about 25 miles up the Imaguktuq (Black) River, hoping to find boats
that would allow him to continue to the Kobuk headwaters:
At 1 p.m. [July 27] we arrived at the village and were wel-
comed with many manifestations of delight. Some of the In-
dians had never seen white men, and they crowded around
me examining my clothing, etc., with the greatest curiosity.
My watch was a source of never-failing interest to all, and
whenever I took it out they eagerly pressed around me to see
it opened, then they would express their astonishment by ut-
tering the single word "Kay" in a short surprised tone of voice.
This ejaculation seems to answer the purpose of expressing
either joy or grief, admiration or contempt, acquiescence or
disapproval. A traveler soon learns to distinguish the mean-
ing to be conveyed by the difference in inflections. Our two
river Indians [lower Kobuk River Eskimos] having explained
the object of our trip, we had a consultation in which the
entire village joined. I was disappointed to learn that no boats
suitable for our purpose could be obtained, as the frail birch-
bark canoes they use in fishing are never taken as far as the
head of the river. . . I also learned that from this village a
portage could be made to the Kowak, and we would strike
the river some twenty-five or thirty miles upstream from the
mouth of the Umakalookta. The Indians agreed to help us
make the portage if we remained with them till morning.
(Cantwell 1889:61-62)
After portaging, the expedition encountered another settlement on the
Kobuk River between the present location of Shungnak and the mouth of the
Imaguktuq. Some of Cantwelfs guides from the Imaguktuq village decided
to stay there "for all summer apparently, as they had constructed a number of
houses by weaving together the supple willow boughs in basket fashion and
covering them with skins and old pieces of cotton cloth" (Cantwell 1 889:63).
Rggg> THE HISTORIC ERA
Cantwell describes fishing activities in this Kobuk River settlement:
The women, in frail canoes, were running out their nets or
hauling them up on the gravel beaches alive with the gleam-
ing white fish, salmon and trout; and as we whirled past them
one of their number seized a struggling king salmon by the
tail and by a dextrous movement twirled it high in the air and
it fell struggling and flopping into our boat. The feat was
greeted with a tremendous "kay" of approval, and the sound
of their shouts could be heard long after a bend in the river
hid them from our view. (Cantwell 1 889:63)
In all, the 1884 expedition located one unoccupied and eight occupied
villages between the Kobuk River mouth and the farthest point of ascent,
somewhere below Shungnak. Of these, two were situated in the delta, where
there were also many deserted huts; five were along the middle section of the
river between the mouths of the Siksrikpak (Squirrel) and the Ivisaaq
(Redstone/Ambler) rivers; and two were in the Imaguktuq- Shungnak area. Of
the five mid-river villages, three were occupied for summer fishing after July
21. Presumably these people had been to the coast for hunting and trading,
and they had returned in time to fish but not in time for the men to hunt in the
Noatak River mountains.
On Cantwell's return expedition in 1885, he saw a deserted winter vil-
lage between the mouth of the Nuna (Hunt River) and Paatitaaq (Onion Por-
tage), which he described as follows:
An old winter habitation was discovered a short distance from
the river, and Mr. Townsend and I proceeded to examine it.
The spot had no doubt been selected on account of its shel-
tered situation. The densely wooded ridges running in on the
river surrounded the collection of huts almost completely,
and approach to the village was made by way of a narrow
trail leading from the river. The houses were built by exca-
vating a square hole five feet deep and from twenty to twenty-
five feet square. Stakes or piles of spruce were driven close
together along the walls, and long poles were then laid across
the top, forming the roof of the house. The necessary pitch to
shed rain was obtained by covering the outside with earth
arranged in such a manner as to produce a moundshaped struc-
ture. We pushed aside the tall grass which choked the en-
trance and crawled on our hands and knees along a narrow
passage just large enough for one at a time, until we reached
the large chamber which doubtless constituted the living
room. A small square hole in the middle of the roof furnished
us sufficient light to see the interior. On the floor, along the
sides of the walls, if I may so call them, were laid small wil-
low wands, upon which the inmates were accustomed to lay
their skins and sleep. In the center a square space was left.
^SiiJZ*
THE HISTORIC ERA <gjj&
where could be seen charred sticks of a long-extinct fire.
We set fire to a few dry sticks, and the smoke shot up in a
straight column through the opening in the roof, showing
that defective flues are a source of annoyance not yet known
to the natives. (Cantwell 1887:26)
Cantwell saw another unoccupied summer village, named Un-nah-
tak, on the Kobuk somewhere above the mouth of the Ivisaaq (Redstone/
Ambler River). He also noted many deserted villages in the vicinity of
present-day Shungnak and Kobuk.
The one inhabited settlement in this area was on a large island at
Siktaqsram Paana, south of the Kobuk-Shungnak channel. Living here were
people he had met the previous summer on the Imagluktuq. Farther upriver
was a small fish camp with two women and three children who were sub-
sisting on young shoots of willows while waiting for the salmon run. Their
husbands were away in the mountains hunting caribou.
Two more fishing villages were established between Shungnak and
the mouth of the Maniilaq (Mauneluk River) sometime after Cantwell
passed on his way upstream on July 1 1 and before he returned downstream
at the month's end. One of these settlements, which he visited on July 30,
was near Qala (Kalla) if not at Qala itself. The other was a fish camp
probably located a few miles below the Maniilaq River mouth. In it were
eight women, ten children, and one elderly man:
The husbands of the women were away in the mountains
hunting deer, and the solitary representative of the sterner
sex, a decrepit old fellow, sixty or seventy years of age,
seemed to have some difficulty in holding his own against
such odds.
The fishing season being at its height, the women were
busy all day and until it became too dark at night, hauling
their seines. A large fire was kept up in which round stones,
two and a half to four inches in diameter, were heated red
hot, and when a meal was desired they were thrown into a
tub of water, rapidly raising its temperature to the boiling
point. A half-dozen fish were then put in and in a few
moments the natives gathered round the fire, and after the
woman who superintended the cooking had removed the
fish from the tub and placed them in a large wooden tray,
they fell to without ceremony and ate until the supply was
exhausted. In a short while another haul of the seine would
be made and another feast inaugurated, so that one some-
times wonders if it is possible to appease their appetites.
The Indians of my party took an active part in eating the
fish after they had been cooked: but I never saw one assist
in their capture by so much as helping the women shove
M *»
'%3> THE HISTORIC ERA
their boats off the beach. They would squat lazily down
on their haunches and look on with ludicrous impassive-
ness while the women loaded their boats with the seine or
hauled it in heavily weighted with fish.
The children assist the women, and the scene when a big
haul is made is picturesque in the extreme. A half dozen
little naked savages, up to their waists in the water and
struggling frantically with refractory salmon and white-
fish, almost as large as themselves, was an event of fre-
quent occurrence.
The fish which were not immediately eaten are cut open
and the entrails removed, and are then hung up to dry on
long poles placed horizontally on upright supports along
the beach. The head is removed and the roe is dried sepa-
rately. Fish are sometimes, though not commonly, buried
without having been previously cleaned, and allowed to
become putrid before eating. This form of diet is esteemed
a luxury, but owing to the trouble of transporting it when
traveling it is not so common as the dried fish. I attempted
to eat some of the buried fish, but in spite of the fact that I
was very hungry at the time, I could not retain it on my
stomach, and I am satisfied that a white man would starve
before his stomach could be educated up, or down, to this
repulsive diet. In addition to the drying-poles, each fish-
ing village contains a square house, ten or twelve feet high,
made of piles and covered by small poles. When a suffi-
cient number offish have been dried on the poles, they are
put in this house and thoroughly smoked, and are then ready
for storing away for winter use.
The seines are cleverly made from the inside bark of the
willow and range from thirty to sixty feet in length by four
to six feet in width. Pieces of deer antlers are commonly
used as sinkers for the seines. In many places along the
river the banks are filled with a tough fibrous root, from
which is manufactured a most admirable substitute for
twine. Seines made of this material are accounted supe-
rior to any others, and from my experience with one which
we had brought from the ship I do not think a comparison
with the native article would show that civilization had
made any improvement in this direction, except perhaps
in point of weight. (Cantwell 1887:42)
Cantwell saw many deserted winter settlements above the mouth of
the Qugluqtuq (Kogoluktuk River). He also noted other signs of human
activity in the area: "now and then we catch sight of a tall pole, bearing a
fluttering pennant of some gaily colored cloth, marking the grave of some
^S3s> 12
THE HISTORIC ERA <$£2
departed brave" (Cantwell 1887:30). On July 1 1, the party observed fresh
signs of bear, porcupine, and caribou along the upper Kobuk. The Natives
told him, "those animals were very plentiful in the mountains in this re-
gion. During the colder weather of the winter months the deer migrate
farther to the northeast" (Cantwell 1 887:30).
At the mouth of the Sagvaqsigiaq (Pah River), Cantwell was told that
people used to follow this tributary to reach the Koyukuk River, but that
now another easier route was used (Cantwell 1 887:3 1 ). Opposite the mouth
of the Anauligvik (Selby River) was a group of summer houses occupied
by some half-dozen persons waiting for the salmon. When Stoney had been
there in 1884, he noted many deserted winter houses, "but no natives, as
they are either in the mountains hunting deer or at the fishing villages"
(Cantwell 1887:32). This was apparently the farthest upriver village
Cantwell encountered along the Kobuk.
Information from Kotzebue Sound and Kobuk River expeditions be-
tween 1 88 1 and 1 885, together with that from the diaries of early mission-
aries and the late period archaeological data, reveals many aspects of nine-
teenth century Kuuvaijmiul life. During that century, as during the preced-
ing four centuries, large groups of Kobuk people spent up to two months
each year at the coast hunting seals and beluga, fishing, and conducting
trade. Most of them were from the lower half of the river. By 1899, when
caribou had declined in the upper region and the flow of western goods to
Kotzebue Sound had expanded, increasing numbers of upriver Kuuvarjmiut
also began coming by boat to the coast each year.
A few families from the lower Kobuk remained on the river all sum-
mer. For example, some people with winter homes in the delta also estab-
lished summer camps there, presumably to fish and to hunt waterfowl and
muskrat. Other families from the lower Kobuk would travel to the coast
before breakup and establish hunting camps a little east of Sealing Point at
Cape Krusenstem. Still others would wait until the ice left Hotham Inlet,
usually after July first, then travel by boat to Sisualik. Those who had reached
the coast before breakup would also join the other groups at Sisualik to fish
and, more importantly, to participate in the trading.
Lower Kobuk families would return to the river in late July, laden
with seals and sea mammal products, reindeer furs, and other exotic items
they had traded for pelts of small fur bearers. Back on the Kobuk, they
would establish camps and seine for whitefish and salmon along the main
channel between the mouth of the Siksrikpak( Squirrel River) and Paatitaaq.
Accounts from the 1 880s expeditions do not tell us when people from the
upper Kobuk area would customarily return from the coast. However, sto-
ries told by village elders today recall that some people would come back
just before freeze-up, traveling as far as possible upstream before the ice
blocked them. Here they built houses and remained at least through early
winter. One such village is said to have been located near Paatitaaq.
13
E@2S> THE HISTORIC ERA
Neither Cantwell nor Stoney reported winter houses or settlements in
the lower river area, but they might have been concealed by extensive wil-
low thickets in the Aksik (Oksik) and Squirrel River mouth areas, where
winter house ruins of undetermined age are still concentrated.
In the 1880s, there were many more all-women fish camps in the
upper Kobuk than in the downriver area. Apparently, men from lower Kobuk
families usually went to the coast in summer, which prevented their travel-
ing to the Noatak headwaters to hunt caribou. To make this trek, they would
have to head north in June, which they could not do if they were on the
coast. Both lower and upper Kobuk people established their fish camps in
latter July; but among upriver people the men only remained with the women
until this was accomplished. Then they went off to hunt in the mountains.
Perhaps a few lower Kobuk men hunted in the interior during sum-
mer, but more often they went north to hunt along the Noatak River drain-
age in the winter. Ethnographic evidence indicates that fish camps existed
along the Squirrel River as far upstream as the Auriviuraq (Omar River).
The Ihupiat name of the latter river means "summer camps,11 so there must
have been fish camps along it as well. The Omar is the major travel route
to the Noatak from downriver Kobuk areas, and families may have set up
fish camps there so the men could reach the Noatak country for summer
hunting. There is no firm evidence of this, however.
Between 1881 and 1884, Qikiqlaurak (Kotzebue) replaced Sisualik
as the coastal trading center. Western traders and whalers called this place
the Summer Rendezvous, or simply Rendezvous. It probably became im-
portant because of its closeness to the ship anchorage off Cape Blossom
and because the channel into Hotham Inlet runs near shore from the an-
chorage to Kotzebue. Thus, goods could be transported to and from ships
more easily here than at Sisualik.
Lack of caribou in the lower Kobuk valley during the 1 890s undoubt-
edly gave the downriver people an additional incentive to visit the coast
each summer, so they could trade furs for Siberian reindeer skins to use for
clothing. According to the naturalist C. H. Townsend, who was on the
1 885 expedition of the Corwin:
Reindeer skin appears to be the principal material used for
clothing by the natives of the Kowak [Kobuk] River re-
gion, but judging from the number of "piebald" garments
we saw, the stock is derived chiefly from the domesticated
variety, which is herded in great numbers on the Asiatic
side of Bering Straits, and obtained by means of exchanges
carried on in summer. The wild Alaskan variety of a rein-
deer is probably not very numerous in the Kowak region,
although Mr. Cantwell saw a few small herds among the
hills at the headwaters of the river, to which they migrate
in summer. (Townsend, in Cantwell 1887:87)
;, 14
THE HISTORIC ERA <gg|i
Settlement Locations: 1884 and 1885
Occupied Summer Camps
Winter Settlements
1884
1885
1884
1885
Kobuk River Delta to
Nuna (Hunt River)
2
2
0
0
Ivisaaq (Redstone/Ambler
River area) to below
Imagluktuq (Black River)
4
1
0
1
Imagluktuq to Anauligvik
(Lake Selby)
2*
5
0*
0**
* Below Shungnak
** Many deserted villages
Because caribou hides taken in the winter and spring are poor cloth-
ing material, the lower Kobuk people would have lacked necessary skins
even if they did make forays into the upper Noatak area during these sea-
sons. The upriver Kuuvanmiut, on the other hand, were able to hunt cari-
bou in the summer when the hides were good.
Most downriver people conducted their own coastal trade, whereas
the upper Kobuk people relied on certain individuals to do their trading for
them. These few upriver traders became quite important and traveled great
distances to trade with Koyukon Indians and with coastal Inupiat both north
along the Arctic Coast and west at Kotzebue Sound. Their pivotal posi-
tion— between Inupiat sea mammal hunters, foreign traders at the coastal
trading fairs, and Indian trappers on the Koyukuk River — gave them an
ideal opportunity to become middlemen.
In contrast to earlier times, the highest density of Kuuvanmiut popu-
lation during the 1 880s was apparently in the upper Kobuk area, perhaps
due to the greater abundance of caribou there. This population shift was
undoubtedly caused because people left much of the lower Kobuk area in
favor of the coast. Some may also have moved upriver, but we have no
evidence of it. Differences in population between lower and upper parts of
the river in the 1880s are indicated in the table below (compiled from
Cantwell 1887, 1889; Stoney 1900).
Little is known of changes in subsistence and settlement during the
decade following 1886, except that Kobuk people traveled to the coast
annually to hunt and to trade at Kotzebue, which remained the regional
trading center. Certainly the Kuuvanmiut were well aware of changes tak-
ing place among coastal groups, such as the introduction of reindeer herd-
ing on the Seward Peninsula in 1892. This must have sparked their imagi-
nation, because they were much affected by the caribou population decline
which now affected upriver areas as well as the lower Kobuk.
15
In addition, news of schools at Cape Prince of Wales and elsewhere
along the coast must have made the Kobuk people aware that schools, and
perhaps missions, brought the benefits of new goods and services offered
by the U. S. government. Their first direct encounter with missionaries
probably came during this period. In 1 896, David Johnson, of the Swedish
Evangelical Mission Covenant, traveled from Unalakleet to Kotzebue
Sound. He was accompanied by the Native evangelist lyarok, or Mr. Rock,
who had previously made a trading expedition to the Kobuk and Noatak
rivers. Looking at possibilities for setting up a mission, the two men spent
that summer and fall visiting settlements along Kotzebue Sound and up the
Kobuk and Noatak rivers. Mr. Rock, who had relatives in the region, re-
turned to the Selawik-Kotzebue Sound area early in 1 897 to carry out mis-
sionary activities {Svenska Missionsforbundet i Amerika 1897:121-41;
Karlson n.d.).
Establishment of the mission and school at Kotzebue would eventu-
ally bring great changes to the Kuuvanmiui. Despite the Swedish Evan-
gelical effort, Sheldon Jackson, Commissioner of Education in Alaska,
gave the Friends Church jurisdiction to missionize and educate Natives of
the Kotzebue Sound area.
The task of establishing the first mission in interior northwestern
Alaska fell to the newly formed California Yearly Meeting of Friends. In
August of 1897, Carrie and Robert Samms arrived at Cape Blossom and
were met by Mr. Rock, who acted as interpreter. They had intended to
establish a mission and school up the Kobuk River, but instead decided to
stay at the Summer Rendezvous. The settlement apparently had just two
winter households then, but later it grew and the Samms decided to remain
there. The Rendezvous settlement was renamed Kotzebue in 1900.
Besides educating residents of the Kotzebue vicinity, Mr. and Mrs.
Samms took in pupils from the Kobuk and other river systems during the
summers. This practice continued until upriver schools were established in
1907 and 1908. The Kotzebue school was popular and most of the chil-
dren attended. This meant that children who spent their summers in school
were not learning about summer activities from their families at home. It
began the process of transferring part of the traditional family role in edu-
cation to white teachers.
The summer of 1898 brought what must have been one of the most
dramatic events in Kuuvanmiui history. During July and August, as many
as 1,200 gold seekers from California and elsewhere made their way up
the Kobuk. They scattered along the entire river and remained for about a
year. The magnitude of this influx of outsiders has never been equalled in
any year since, notwithstanding the rising number of tourists, sports fish-
ermen, hunters, and government administrators who now visit the area.
However, the prospectors probably had less impact on Kobuk valley
resources and cultural traditions than one might expect. First of all, contact
with foreigners was already an established way of life, although it now
16
THE HISTORIC ERA <fffis
occurred in their own territory rather than on the coast. Secondly, most of
the prospectors brought in more supplies than they could use, so they did
not rely on local game except for ptarmigan, hare, and waterfowl. On rare
occasions they purchased food such as bear meat from the Kuuvarjmiut.
Thirty-two prospecting camps were spread out along the Kobuk, the first
one 40 miles above the mouth and the last at the junction of the Reed River
(Grinnell 1 90 1:31 -32). In some areas the camps were only one-half to three
miles apart. One of these camps was apparently at the present site of Kiana.
The distribution of Kobuk people during the winter of 1 898-99 was
recorded by Carrie and Robert Samms, who made a government-spon-
sored trip to ascertain conditions and take a census of the Natives. One of
two major settlements was at the mouth of the Nuna (Hunt River), where
80 Kuuvarjmiut were living. The other was the Paa settlement, at the mouth
of the Sagvaqsiugiaq (Pah River), where 280 people, over half of the river's
entire Native population, were residing (U. S. Dept. of the Interior
1900:1400-1401). The remainder, about 140 in all, were apparently dis-
persed along the rest of the river.
The Paa settlement must have been the most populous in interior
northwestern Alaska at the time, apparently even exceeding the size of
Kotzebue. At the request of the people living at Paa village, Samms rec-
ommended that a school and mission be established there. The people at
Nuna had intense contact with prospectors in several nearby camps and
were the first Kuuvarjmiut to participate in regular church services con-
ducted by some of the prospectors.
In the spring and summer of 1 899, prospectors abandoned the Kobuk
as fast as they had entered. Some followed up reports of the Nome gold
strike and many returned to their homes outside. Several prospectors stayed
in the Shungnak area, however, and some others arrived in 1900.
Kuuvarjmiut settlements were apparently more dispersed in 1 90 1 than
in previous years, and Mendenhall (1902) recorded only 250 Natives liv-
ing in the valley, as compared to 500 in 1 898. The farthest upriver settle-
ment was at Anauligvik (the outlet of Lake Selby), and there was appar-
ently another at Qala. According to Mendenhall, the Kuuvarjmiut went
through one or two years of starvation after the 1 898 gold rush. Contrary to
the evidence from miners' accounts, he attributed their plight to the "dis-
rupting effect of the prospectors."
During the winter of 1901, several Kobuk people died of starvation,
and others died of influenza, which reached an epidemic level in the region
that year (Hadley 1 969: 1 03). To compound the problem, there were again
no caribou in the Kobuk valley; the few that remained were in the Noatak
or near the headwaters of the Totsenbet (John River). Moose had appar-
ently entered the Kobuk area some years earlier, but were also absent in
1901. Because of the scarcity, many upriver people migrated to Nome or
the Yukon Territory, where they could work to buy foreign foods and west-
ern clothing (Mendenhall 1902:56).
17
h*ii
&•■&> THE HISTORIC ERA
Life in the upper Kobuk remained difficult through the first few years
of the twentieth century, apparently because caribou were still declining
and moving farther to the north and east. Conditions were even worse in
the lower Kobuk, where residents had to travel far up the Noatak River to
find caribou in winter, and during summer they were totally out of reach.
Also, traveling such distances in winter meant that the dogs ate so much of
the meat that little remained to bring back to the village. As a result, settle-
ments were small and dispersed in the lower and middle Kobuk areas. In
December 1 905, a woman now living in Kiana traveled from Shungnak to
Kotzebue. She recalls seeing just one house in the middle region, at
Qalugraitchiaq, one house at the mouth of the Squirrel River, between
three and seven houses at Aksik (Oksik), and only a few others in the delta
area. The people were subsisting primarily on fish, hare, and ptarmigan.
In the upriver area, prospectors who stayed around Shungnak man-
aged to obtain enough gold to attract more miners back to the area. In
1903, the present site of Kobuk village became a depot for supplies hauled
upriver by launch from the coast. The "Shungnak Post Office" was set up
at Kobuk village, and by 1905 mail was delivered by dog team from
Kotzebue five times a winter. Two trading posts were listed for Shungnak
in Polk's 1907-8 Alaska-Yukon Gazetteer, and during the same years sys-
tematic development of gold mining began (Brooks 1925:51). By 1909,
sixteen white miners took about $16,000 worth of gold out of the district
(Brooks etal. 1910:46).
The first Kobuk River mission and school was established by the
California Yearly Meeting of Friends in 1905 near the Shungnak Post Of-
fice {Annual Report of the California Yearly Meeting of Friends 1 906:84).
The settlement immediately attracted people from the region and grew
almost overnight to 150 residents. James V. Geary, the first teacher-mis-
sionary, christened the village Long Beach after the California city, but the
name never took. Within a year, even the missionary reports refer to the
village as Shungnak. The school had an initial enrollment of 63, but lasted
only a year until Geary's transfer to the Kotzebue mission. However, be-
cause the village now existed, the U. S. government reopened the school in
1907 (Brown 1907:2). Its 1908-09 enrollment was 61, with an average
attendance of 40. This was nearly identical to the enrollment of 65 and
average attendance of 33 for Kotzebue that year (U. S. Dept. of the Interior
1910:1031).
To provide a source of meat and skins for residents of the Shungnak
region, the government established a reindeer herd there in 1907, bringing
animals from Unalakleet. This was the first interior northwestern Alaskan
herd, and shortly afterward another was set up in the Selawik River valley.
Game remained scarce in the region for many years. According to the 1911
U. S. Geological Survey report on mineral resources in Alaska:
There are but few game animals now [in 1910] in the
Shungnak region except bear. These are found mostly back
in the hills or along the unfrequented streams. Both black
■®SB» 18
and brown bears are reported. Caribou have been shot at
several places within the region, but they are not numer-
ous and the natives have to travel far to obtain their sup-
ply. There is, however, a herd of reindeer in the
Sheklukshuk Hills and strays from this herd have prob-
ably been taken for wild caribou. Small fur-bearing ani-
mals, such as fox, mink, and marten, are occasionally
caught, but they are found in no great numbers and are
becoming scarcer each year. (Smith and Eakin 191 1:279)
In the downriver area, the population was still dispersed except at
Aksik and at the mouth of the Squirrel River. A depot had been established
at the Squirrel River mouth by 1908 to supply the few prospectors in the
region. It apparently also attracted Kuuvarjmiul, who set up households in
their traditional settlement nearby. In 1908 or 1909, placer gold was dis-
covered at Klery Creek, a tributary of the Squirrel River, and there was a
mild stampede to the area. The depot, known as Squirrel City, was trans-
formed to a village of 20 or more log houses, a store, and a restaurant. The
following year, Squirrel City was renamed Kiana, and two more stores
were established, along with the government recording office for the Noatak-
Kobuk mining district (Smith 191 1 :307).
Physically, Kiana was two separate villages. The Native settlement
was at the base of the bluff facing the Squirrel River. It was called "Old
Village," or Katyaaq, a name indicating the lower end of many channels
(two of the Kobuk River and one of the Squirrel River). The miners' vil-
lage, along the eroding bluff facing the Kobuk, was called Kiana, from the
Kuuvarjmiut name for the point of land across the river. Remnants of the
old village, including several caches and two large abandoned log cabins,
could still be seen in the 1970s. Many of the original miners' houses and
one or two stores along the Kiana bluff have washed out.
Fish were the main resource available to the lower Kobuk people
around 1910. According to P. S. Smith who studied the area for the United
States Geological Survey:
Undoubtedly, in the more remote parts of the Squirrel River
basin large game, such as bear and caribou, may be found,
but in the parts near the placer diggings [Klery Creek] this
is not the case, and there are few indications that there has
been much game in the region in the recent past. Ptarmi-
gan and water birds, however, are abundant, and may be
approached sufficiently close to obtain a considerable num-
ber, but it is believed that they are not to be entirely de-
pended upon for food. Fish are numerous in all the streams.
Salmon by the hundreds are caught in dragnets in the Kobuk
and lower Squirrel River, and grayling may be had in al-
most all the smaller streams. So abundant are the fish that
they may be safely counted on for food. (Smith 191 1 :3 10)
19 <$&
Wage labor and store supplies became available to the residents of
Katyaak shortly after mining operations began. This attracted more people
from the upriver region; most mining was conducted by single individuals
or pairs working their own small claims. Opportunities for mining em-
ployment around Katyaak developed slowly, however. In 1910, presum-
ably all workers were white, and P. S. Smith wrote:
At the time the region was visited by the Survey Geologist
there were not over 50 men in the whole region and about
a third of this number were employed on one claim. Capi-
tal had not taken hold of the region, and there were few
opportunities to work for wages; consequently the camps
were run on a partnership basis and few of the men were
equipped with the necessary supplies to carry them for a
year or so of unproductive labor in building drains, etc.,
preparatory to opening a property. Wages were said to be
$7.50 a day and board for ordinary miners, but as there
was only one company employing men and as that com-
pany was able to obtain all the help it needed at $5.00 a
day, the above figures are more or less fictitious. (Smith
1911:312)
According to one Kiana resident, people from Katyaaq were hired at
the mines shortly after 1910, but at a wage of $2.50 for a ten-hour day.
Most of the jobs were transporting supplies to the mining camps, and pay-
ment was largely in foodstuffs and other store items.
The next event that profoundly affected population and economic
conditions for downriver Kuuvarjmiut was a government decision to estab-
lish the Noorvik Reservation. In 1914, the schoolteacher at Deering re-
ported that the Native residents were experiencing economic difficulties:
The [Deering] Eskimo hunter finds his vocation greatly
hampered since the advent of the white hunter and trap-
per, who has made it necessary for the Eskimo to go on
longer journeys than formerly for the game birds on which
he depends for his summer supply of food to a great ex-
tent. The seal is plentiful, the natives going about 80 miles
for it. The supply of salmon has, however, greatly dimin-
ished. Owing to the extension of mining operations, the
river water is muddy and saturated with gasoline. More
salmon were shipped in from Kotzebue this year than was
taken in Deering waters. (U. S. Dept. of the Interior
1915:31-32).
In response, the federal government established a reservation around
Putu on the lower Kobuk River. The place was renamed Noorvik (from
Nurvik, meaning "moving place"), and many Deering families resettled
there, anticipating a plentiful supply of salmon and abundant trees for build-
ing. But the area was not as desirable as people had expected, and before
-- :< 20
THE HISTORIC ERA <
<>7te
long some families returned to Deering. In fact, the bleak picture of condi-
tions in Deering may have been somewhat overstated. According to recent
information from some persons who took part in the move:
Food was no problem at any time. They [the residents of
Deering] always went to their traditional hunting places
for the seal and oogrook, salmon fishing was even better
when the mining started because the sluice muddied the
water and the fish couldn't see the nets. The white people
and the Natives personally had no problem with each other,
but the BIA was discouraging mixing company. Both
Kugruk and Inmachuk Rivers were used for subsistence
hunting and fishing. Fish, fowl, sea mammals, greens and
berry picking were taken in season. The only problem they
had was heating. The only fuel they had was drift wood
and alder. (Craig 1976)
The government intended that Noorvik would become a major settle-
ment in the Kotzebue-Kobuk-Noatak area. Soon after its founding, a tele-
graph system was installed for direct communication to Nome, the first
hospital in the region was built, and electricity was provided. The hospital
remained until the next decade, when it was removed to the faster growing
community of Kotzebue. Another potential asset of Noorvik was a herd of
reindeer, which were brought from Deering in 1915 and grazed in the area
for several years.
Once Noorvik was established, people from the lower Kobuk also
moved there, including some from Kiana and nearly everyone from Aksik.
Only two years earlier the first government school in the lower area had
been established at Aksik, and the residents' departure effectively shut down
the school. Lumber and supplies intended for a new Aksik schoolhouse
were therefore diverted to Noorvik, and the school was built there.
Kiana continued to grow during the 1920s, through a continuing in-
flux of miners and upriver families. The upper Kobuk people were attracted
by foreign goods from Kiana's three stores, work on mining-related activi-
ties, and the chance to hunt and trap muskrats for furs. Because the
Kuuvarjmiut had little money, furs began to serve as the standard medium
of exchange at the trading posts.
Summary of Kuuvaqmiut Economic History
Looking over the Kobuk valley's economic history, we observe that
the area's major subsistence resources have experienced a constant ebb
and flow. Although each important innovation in harvesting and storage
techniques has cushioned the effect of scarcity, periodic absence of game
animals has required major adjustments in way of life. There has also been
a constant interaction between Kobuk River people and their coastal Inupial
relatives, on the one hand, and their Indian neighbors along the Koyukuk
21 <g*
B&iE* THE HISTORIC ERA
River on the other. This interaction has played a vital role in maintaining the well-being of each
group and in keeping options open during the constant shifts of animal ranges and populations.
During the past 10,000 years, the most important technological influence on human suc-
cess and survival in the Kobuk valley was acquisition of the means to hunt caribou during the
winter. Presumably, the critical implement was the bow and arrow, although the earliest inhab-
itants of the valley may have possessed this weapon already. The development of fishing tech-
nology, such as spears and traps, presumably came later and may have been modeled after the
use of hunting and trapping devices. These technological advances allowed early Kobuk River
people to occupy the valley year round, relying on caribou hunting and fishing for their subsis-
tence.
Over the long course of millennia, Kobuk people maintained access to the coast, either
through trade or travel, and in this way they obtained sea mammal products. When caribou were
scarce, fish trapping, which was done primarily in the fall and early winter, would not have been
productive enough to sustain the population. Therefore, each time the caribou dwindled, failed
to migrate through the valley, or wintered outside the area, people were hard pressed to make a
living. We envision that periods of starvation became increasingly frequent during the last thou-
sand years or more, and so a growing number of families moved to coastal settlements where
they had relatives. This was especially pronounced in downriver areas, where people were more
familiar with the coast. It gradually led to abandonment of the valley during winters. This pat-
tern of movement, together with a decline in the Eskimo population at any time of year, would
have allowed Koyukuk Indian hunters freer access to the upper Kobuk.
After the development of gill nets and seines, great quantities offish could be taken. Now
people had a food base to see them through all but the most severe caribou population declines.
Perhaps because of this, the valley seems to have been continuously occupied by Kuuvarjmiut
after 1 000 A.D. As long as enough caribou were available, people could maintain a few sizable
winter settlements despite lacking a means of rapid transportation such as dog teams. When
caribou declined, the Kobuk people had to disperse for the winter to sustain themselves on small
game and early season fish catches.
After dog traction developed — initially with teams of no more than three to five dogs —
people were able to live year-round in their villages. This was even possible when caribou were
in short supply, as during the late nineteenth century. It was about that time that a heavy demand
for imported goods developed. Furs were the major trade item that Kobuk people possessed,
and since these could not be intensively trapped from large settlements, people again scattered
into separate household groups.
As exposure to western culture, schools, and trading posts increased, the Kobuk people
again became concentrated in settlements. Greater mobility was needed for successful trapping
and hunting, so larger dog teams were developed. This led to teams numbering from 1 8 to 24
dogs, and some families owned as many as 40 animals. Large dog teams required enormous
amounts of fish, and luckily the salmon harvests were plentiful. With the coming of the
snowmachine, dog teams are apparently becoming obsolete, and the number of dogs per family
has declined. This has of course reduced the need for salmon, but in its place is the demand for
a sizable and steady cash income to pay for snowmachines and their upkeep.
Life along the Kobuk River has clearly been cyclical throughout the centuries. There is no
reason to doubt that cycles of abundance and of scarcity will continue into the foreseeable
future.
«si>22
Part 2
The Environment
THE ENVIRONMENT «c^
Chapter 3
The Environment
The Kuuvaijmiut inhabit a vast area of pristine forest and tundra just
above the Arctic Circle in northwestern Alaska. This is a land of
singular beauty, with great sweeps of open country bounded on all
sides by mountains. To the north, the Baird and Schwatka mountains rise
abruptly, dominating the view from all parts of the Kobuk River valley.
They form a southerly extension of the Brooks Range, a chain of rugged
mountains stretched in a broad arc across the north quarter of Alaska. South
of the Kobuk valley are the lower and more weathered slopes of the Kiana
Hills, Waring Mountains, and Zane Hills.
The mountains are not large by Alaskan standards; elevations vary
from 1 ,000 to 4,500 feet. However, their closeness to the river and to the
villages gives an impression of greater size. Narrow valleys and low passes
that cut through the mountains create natural pathways for overland travel.
For many generations, the Kobuk people have traversed these passes, north-
ward into the Noatak valley and the Brooks Range beyond, or southward
into the Koyukuk valley and Selawik lowlands.
For the most part, however, they have utilized their traditional home-
land within the Kobuk River valley. This is a broad expanse of flat and
low-rolling terrain, 1 5 to 25 miles wide and some 350 miles long, oriented
roughly east to west. The valley floor is covered by a complex pattern of
tundra and forest interspersed with streams, river channels, lakes, and
sloughs. Vegetation and drainage patterns are heavily influenced by the
depth of permafrost, which underlies all of the valley except some areas
close to the river.
The dominant feature of the landscape is the Kobuk River and its
tributaries. From headwaters in the southern Brooks Range near Walker
Lake, the Kobuk flows generally westward, never more than a few miles
south of the mountain flanks. The upper river is swift, shallow, and clear
until a point below the villages of Kobuk and Shungnak. There the channel
deepens and the flow becomes sluggish. Fifty miles above its mouth, the
river divides into a broad delta with many channels that empty into Hotham
Inlet near Kotzebue.
Along most of its course, the Kobuk meanders widely over its flood
plain. Lakes, sloughs, and timbered ridges mark the river's past wander-
ings and create a rich, diversified environment along its entire length. Dur-
ing annual periods of high water, old banks collapse into the current and
new deposits enlarge sand bars in other parts of the channel. The river's
banks are quite low, except in a few areas where bluffs rise 50 to 1 00 feet
above the water.
fi@i> THE ENVIRONMENT
The Kobuk River is fed by innumerable small tributary streams and by
several sizable rivers. Important tributaries flowing into the Kobuk from the
south are the Pah, Pick, and Black rivers. These contain dark, sluggish waters
derived from hundreds of small ponds and lakes in huge forested or tundra-
covered flats. Tributaries north of the Kobuk, which drain mountain areas,
include the Squirrel, Mauneluk, Shungnak, Ambler, and Hunt rivers. These
rivers are all swift-flowing and clear.
It is difficult to overestimate the role that the river plays in Kuuvarjmiut
life. Its waters provide a rich harvest offish every year, and along its course
the hunters take waterfowl, caribou, moose, bears, and many smaller ani-
mals. It is an avenue for travel, by boat in summer and by dog sled or
snowmachine on the frozen surface in winter. Without the river and its con-
centrated resources, it is doubtful that people could live in the Kobuk River
valley.
Climate
The climate of the Kobuk region is predominantly continental, with very
cold winters and warm summers, but maritime influences from the nearby
Chukchi Sea help to moderate the temperature extremes. This is especially
noticeable along the lower river, where cloudiness is more prevalent and the
temperature range is less pronounced.
Winter is the Kobuk valley's dominant season, encompassing roughly
five months of the year, November through March. During most of this pe-
riod, temperatures remain consistently near or below zero (all temperatures
are in Fahrenheit). Seasonal lows of -60° to -70" are the rule, and cold spells
with -40° to -50° weather commonly last from one to three weeks. These peri-
ods are frequently interrupted by storms that sweep inland from the coast,
bringing snow, gale winds, and temperatures ranging from 0° to 20° or higher.
Climatic Data for Villages of Kobuk and Kotzebue
Period
Kobuk Village
Kotzebue
January
mean maximum temperature
0.5° F.
1.3° F.
mean minimum temperature
-20.2°
-12.7°
mean minimum temperature
-10.4°
-3.7°
July
mean maximum temperature
68.4°
58.6°
mean minimum temperature
45.1°
46.8°
mean minimum temperature
57.1°
52.9°
annual mean temperature
22.1°
20.7°
highest recorded temperature
90.0°
85.0°
lowest recorded temperature
-64.0°
-52.0°
average annual precipitation
18.0"
8.0"
average annual snowfall
63.6"
46.0"
■$&> 26
THE ENVIRONMENT <C2®2
At the other extreme are the three months of summer — June, July,
and August — which bring mild weather and occasional hot spells. Tem-
peratures average from 50°to 60°, and range from the upper thirties to about
90°. The spring and fall transitions only last from six to eight weeks. On
the upper river, freeze-up comes in mid-October, and breakup occurs in
mid-May; on the lower river, freeze-up and breakup are delayed one or
two weeks.
There is surprisingly little precipitation here, but evaporation is very
low and permafrost makes for poor drainage. So instead of looking like a
desert, the Kobuk country is covered with lakes, streams, and wetlands.
Summer months bring the heaviest precipitation, especially near the moun-
tains, where convective showers are common. Long, soaking rainfalls also
occur, especially during July and August. Snowfall amounts are not large,
but the long uninterrupted cold of winter allows considerable accumula-
tion. Total snowfall varies from about 45 inches at low elevations to about
100 inches in the mountains.
Wind is also an important element of climate in the Kobuk region,
because the valley is a natural channel for air flowing between the inland
and coastal areas. As a result, moderate winds blow much of the time, and
powerful gales are not uncommon. East and west winds predominate, but
north winds often blow near passes through the Brooks Range.
The daylight period changes drastically from summer to winter, and
it exerts a powerful influence on people's activities. During the months
from May to August there is no real darkness. The sun circles monoto-
nously above the horizon, dropping behind mountains to the north for only
a few hours each "night." The spring and fall transitions are very rapid —
the period of light changes by six or seven minutes each day. For several
weeks in midwinter the sun never climbs above the horizon. Even at this
time, however, there are five or six hours of twilight, enough to allow
extensive outdoor activity. Also, the long nights are often brightened by
moonlight and the aurora.
Flora
The vegetation of the Kobuk River valley is strikingly diverse for an
area so far north. Over 360 plant species have been recorded in the region.
Boreal forest, tundra, and coastal plant communities intertwine in com-
plex patterns, their designs differing according to elevation, drainage, soil,
climate, and fire history. Viewed from a high vantage, broad tundra prai-
ries dominate the terrain. Scattered over these open plains are copses of
birch, usually on low knolls or hillsides. Depressions, gulleys, creek beds,
and lake shores are generally covered by thickets of low willow and alder.
Along the Kobuk River, on rolling uplands, and in mountain valleys, there
are large areas of spruce forest.
Tundra vegetation consists of a low mat of mosses, lichens, sedges,
and cotton grass. In many areas, especially in very wet or alpine areas, no
27 <$$
^B> THE ENVIRONMENT
plants taller than these are found. Elsewhere, isolated thickets of low shrubs —
dwarf birch, willow, cranberry, blueberry, and Labrador tea — dot the tundra.
These shrubs are rarely more than waist high. Tundra is an extremely impor-
tant element of the Kobuk valley ecosystem. It supports herds of caribou
which are a vital resource in the subsistence economy; and it is ideal terrain
for spotting and hunting these and other animals. It also permits easy travel
on snow packed hard by strong winds.
Continuous shrub thickets of close-growing willow, alder, and birch
are also found throughout the non-tundra areas of the Kobuk region. The best
developed thickets, with shrubs reaching 10 to 30 feet high, occur on gravel
bars and alluvial deposits along the river and its tributaries. Dense brushy
thickets of alder and willow also grow on the mountains near the tree line and
in sheltered hollows on the tundra. The shrubs in these thickets rarely stand
over 1 0 feet tall, yet they create pockets of shelter for humans and animals in
the otherwise open country.
Kobuk valley forests are dominated by small to medium-sized white
spruce, aspen, paper birch, and balsam poplar trees. Because these forests are
located on the tundra's edge, they tend to have a fairly open character. The
largest and most dense growth is found along the river and its flood plain
(where permafrost is poorly developed) and on warm, dry, south-facing slopes.
Many timbered areas have been burned in the past, creating successional
communities of willows, aspen, birch, and sapling white or black spruce. In
poorly drained areas or on north-facing slopes, forest succession leads to
stands of black spruce underlain by a thick boggy mat of mosses, grasses,
sedges, and prostrate shrubs.
The forests are very important to the Kobuk people, because they pro-
vide wood for construction and heating as well as game and fur-bearing ani-
mals different from those found on the nearby tundra. The Kiuivarjmiut are
unusual among the Eskimo groups, for nearly all Eskimo peoples are ori-
ented exclusively to the resources of water and tundra environments. But
people of the Kobuk valley have added to this an adaptation to life in tim-
bered country and the special array of resources it provides.
Fauna
The Kobuk valley fauna, like the flora, is a mixture of species found in
the boreal forest and tundra. It is made more diverse by the presence of moun-
tains and, in the lower valley, the nearness of the seacoast.
For the Kuuvaqmiut, the most important tundra animal is the caribou.
Thousands of caribou migrate into the Kobuk region each fall, scatter widely
for the winter, then move north through the valley again in spring. During all
of these seasons the people hunt them intensively.
Another tundra animal of importance to Kobuk villagers is the grizzly
bear, which is regularly hunted for its meat and hide. Red fox, wolf, and
B>28
THE ENVIRONMENT <%S
wolverine frequent both open and timbered country, but are usually hunted or
trapped on the tundra. In tundra-covered mountains or hills, there are Dall
sheep, hoary marmot, arctic ground squirrel, and arctic hare.
Boreal forest, which includes both the timber and the flood plain shrub
thickets, supports a rich fauna of its own. Moose are common in forested
areas along the entire Kobuk River. These very large animals are newcomers
to the valley, having appeared toward the end of the nineteenth century; but
they have become quite important in the local economy. The black bear is
another frequently hunted animal that favors the timbered country.
Forests and thickets are also inhabited by important small game, in-
cluding the snowshoe hare, porcupine, and red squirrel. Lakes and streams in
these same areas provide the habitat for muskrat and beaver, which are both
used extensively for meat and fur. Other fur species of the timber include
marten, mink, otter, and weasel.
About 1 00 species of birds have been recorded in the Kobuk valley. The
most important are waterfowl, including six species of loons and grebes, four
species of geese, and 1 3 species of ducks. Kobuk people hunt geese and ducks
during the annual migrations and regard them highly as food. Ptarmigan and
grouse are the only other birds that rank high in village economies. Ptarmi-
gan snaring is an important winter activity for women in the villages today.
The Kobuk River, its tributaries, and the nearby lakes and sloughs are
very productive environments for fish. In the summer, salmon and sheefish
provide a relatively stable foundation for the local economy. These are aug-
mented by rich catches of humpback and broad whitefish, least cisco, gray-
ling, trout, northern pike, sucker, and burbot. In terms of resource volume
and long-term reliability, fish are the economic mainstay of Kuuvarjmiut so-
ciety.
Flora and Fauna Used by Kuuvarjmiut Eskimos
Number of Species Utilized
Upper River
Lower River
Mammals
26
26
Birds
42
42
Fish
13
14
Plants
34
37
Total
115
119
The table above lists the number of plant and animal species utilized for
subsistence by modern Kobuk villagers. Certainly the actual number of spe-
cies taken varies from one time period to another; and the tally includes spe-
cies that are rarely taken. A list of Inupiat names for utilized species is found
in Appendix 2.
29<c@2
Chapter 4
Kuuvarjmiut Subsistence Cycles
In the subarctic environment of the Kobuk valley, the changing seasons
have importance beyond all other natural events. Every plant and animal
species must respond in its own way to the seasonal transformations of
warmth and cold, light and darkness, rain and snow, water and ice. Each year
is marked by a regular cycle of growth, reproduction, fruition, migration, and
dormancy or death. This sequence of changes also governs the patterning of
human life, and from it the Kuuvarjmiut have developed an annual cycle of
subsistence activities. Because there are important environmental differences
between the upper and lower Kobuk regions, the annual subsistence cycle for
each area is discussed separately. In both cases, there are also separate sec-
tions detailing patterns followed during the last century and during modern
times.
The timing of seasonal changes varies from year to year, and no season
is ever perfectly typical or "normal." The discussions that follow mask these
variations but give a sense for general yearly patterns of Kobuk River life.
The seasons are defined as follows:
Spring late March to mid-May
Summer mid-May through August
Fall September and October
Winter November into March
Upper Kobuk Region
The Traditional Subsistence Cycle
J. L. Giddings' ethnographic study of the upper Kobuk Eskimos (1956)
describes the annual subsistence cycle followed by these people during the
early 1880s, before the first European explorers ascended the river. His ac-
count, which provides the basis for this section, is taken from recollections of
elders who were adults before they had contact with whites.
Spring. In former times, as today, spring was a season for traveling. As
early as February the lengthening days made people restless to move, anxious
to leave their permanent winter dwellings. So the sleds were loaded and a
period of wandering began. Families of upper Kobuk people sometimes made
their camps beside caches of food left during the previous fall. They might
also camp near lakes where fish could be hooked, in willow stands with abun-
dant ptarmigan or snowshoe hares, or in areas where scattered caribou bands
could be found. Often, times were lean, especially during March, when people
were forced to rely heavily on stored foods.
SUBSISTENCE CYCLES <£§£»
Spring camping lasted for several months while the weather steadily
moderated. People lived comfortably in hemispherical, caribou-skin-covered
tents heated by wood fires. When the days became warmer, they built tipi-
like structures of spruce saplings, or they lived outdoors.
As the season progressed, new resources became available. Bears were
sometimes taken from their dens, beavers were dug out from their houses,
muskrats were shot with arrows, and migrating waterfowl were hunted. Dur-
ing this time, too, the snow melted, lakes and creeks became clear of ice, and
finally the river ice broke up and churned its way downstream. When the
river was clear, the people made large rafts and drifted down to their
summer camping places.
Annual Activity of the Upper Kobuk River Communities
APR-MAY-JUN-JUL-AIIG-SEP-OCT-NOV-DEC-JAN-FEB-MAR
31 «®
B©j» SUBSISTENCE CYCLES
Annual Activity of the Lower Kobuk R iver Communities
APR-MA Y-JUN-JUL-AUG-SEP-OCT-NOV-DEC-JAN-FEB-MAR
Caribou Hunting
Bear Hunting
Fur-animal hunting
and trapping
Waterfowl hunting
Hare snaring and
hunting
Ptarmigan snaring
and hunting
Gill-netting
Seining
Fish hooking
Berry picking
Edible plant
gathering
Wood cutting
Wage labor and
commercial fishing
Summer. Hemispherical shelters covered with spruce bark were built
each year at summer fishing camps along the upper Kobuk. After this was
done, usually in early June, the men joined together in small groups and walked
northward into the Brooks Range. They moved high up through the moun-
tains, hunting and snaring sheep, caribou, marmot, and occasionally bear.
The men hunted all summer, accumulating valuable hides and sinew that the
women would later use to make clothing, tents, and sleeping bags. Antlers
were saved for making a variety of tools. The meat was largely consumed in
the mountains, and very little was saved to be taken home. The men's sum-
mer hunt was thus directed mainly toward acquiring animal products other
than meat.
While the hunters were away, the women, children, and old men
stayed in camps along the river. In early summer they made willow-bark nets,
gathered edible plants such as wild rhubarb and willow leaves, collected birds'
SUBSISTENCE CYCLES <gf£
Kuuvanmiut Subsistence Activities in the Kobuk Valley National Park
Spring Summer
Fall Winter
Eastern Portion of the Park
hunting camp*
fishing camp
fishing camp
hunting camp*
caribou hunting*
caribou hunting
caribou hunting*
caribou hunting*
bear hunting
gill-net fishing
moose hunting
fur-animal hunting and
trapping
waterfowl hunting
hook and line fishing*
bear hunting
ptarmigan hunting
muskrat hunting
edible plant gathering
gill-net fishing
birch wood cutting
hook and line fishing
edible plant gathering
berry picking
Western Portion of the Park
caribou hunting*
fishing camp
fishing camp
caribou hunting*
bear hunting*
caribou hunting
caribou hunting*
fur animal trapping*
waterfowl hunting
seining*
seining*
ptarmigan hunting
hook and line fishing*
moose hunting*
hare hunting
edible plant gathering*
hook and line fishing
edible plant gathering
* denotes activity for which park withdrawal is a key subsistence area
eggs, and did some fishing in small streams and sloughs. Early in July the
salmon began to run, and the women were constantly busy from that time on.
Paddling birchbark canoes, the women would pull long seines out into the
river, encircle schools of salmon and then bring them into shallow water along
the beach. After making a catch, they spent many hours laboriously cutting
the fish and hanging them on racks to dry. When this was finished, the in-
nards were boiled to make fish oil, the vital fuel for light and heat during the
winter months.
Fish runs reached their peak in August, when salmon, whitefish, and
sheefish were caught in great numbers. Lines of racks laden with fish stood
along the bank at every camp, and the people subsisted mainly on their catch.
August was also a time for picking blueberries, cranberries, currants, and
other fruits as they ripened. Some were eaten immediately and the rest were
preserved in oil or dried for use the following winter.
33 <^
eSv> SUBSISTENCE CYCLES
Fall. At summer's end, in late August or early September, the men
trekked down out of the mountains, burdened with great packs. At the head-
waters of the Kobuk tributaries they built log rafts, loaded their goods aboard,
and began the final leg of their homeward journey. Eventually they reached
the main river and the fish camps where their families had been all summer.
For some time thereafter, the Kuuvarjmiut stayed at their summer camps.
People hunted migrating waterfowl, checked the nets each day for several
kinds of late-running fish, gathered berries, and used up the few choice pieces
of sheep and caribou meat brought from the mountains. Then, as colder weather
descended into the valley, the people broke camp and began pulling their
heavily loaded boats upstream.
New camps were established in the upper Kobuk valley, where many
families gathered at known caribou crossings. Skin tents were erected, and
small fires were kept going inside to provide warmth. Somewhere nearby
was a caribou corral. This consisted of two lines of stone cairns, maintained
year after year, that stretched for miles across the tundra and converged upon
a large lake. When herds of southward migrating caribou arrived, they were
driven between these cairns and into the lake, where men in kayaks speared
large numbers of them. Killed animals were butchered immediately, and their
meat was preserved by drying or freezing. Almost all parts of the animal were
utilized — meat, hide, antlers, bones, and internal organs.
Winter. After the fall caribou hunt, people separated into small family
groups, traveled down to where the river was large, and built their winter
houses. These were substantial, half-underground, sod-covered dwellings that
provided shelter against the extreme cold of winter. Heat was supplied by an
open fire set beneath the house's smokehole, and light came from oil lamps
and a gut-skin skylight.
Immediately after freeze-up, the people began making fish traps. These
were of several types, but all consisted offences put down under the ice to
divert fish into trap devices or hand-operated dip nets. Sheefish, burbot, white-
fish, and pike were taken in large numbers during this time. Later on, as the
snow deepened, ptarmigan and snowshoe hares were hunted or snared. Hook
and line fishing was also done through the ice until the fish stopped biting in
midwinter. Caribou and fur-bearing animals were also taken for food and
hides during the winter months.
Subsistence activities slowed considerably during the coldest and dark-
est times of the year. People occupied themselves indoors, however, making
and repairing equipment, telling long narrative tales, joining shamanistic per-
formances, and participating in trading feasts that brought people together
from distant camps. Finally, as the days lengthened, they prepared again for
the travel and camping of early spring.
*&*34
SUBSISTENCE CYCLES ■cffffia
Kuuvarjmiut Calendar
January
Siqihaasrugruk
(new sunshine)
February
Kusrugaqtugvik
(icicle time)
March
Qilgich tatqiat
(Moon of the Goshawk)
April
Tinmirrat tatqiat
(Moon of the Geese)
May
Sikuigvik
(ice breakup time)
June
Ighivik
(birth time)
July
Itchavik
(molting time)
August
Amigaiqsivik
(when caribou lose velvet from antlers)
September
Tinnivik
(bird migration time)
October
Sikkuvik
(freeze-up time)
November
Nippivik
(sunset time)
December
Siqifiaatchiaq
(no sunshine)
(Source: Wt
:bster and Zibell 1970:1 19-20)
The Modern Subsistence Cycle
The years since 1 880 have brought a great many changes in life on
the upper Kobuk River. Much of the traditional technology has been al-
tered, lost, or replaced by new implements from western culture. Log and
lumber houses have supplanted tents and semisubterranean dwellings, rifles
have displaced bows and spears, motorized boats have replaced canoes,
nylon gill nets substitute for nets of willow bark, and snowmachines have
largely superseded dog teams. The life pattern, too, has changed consider-
ably. People are permanently settled in villages, they participate in a wage
economy, and their entire social culture has been altered drastically.
Despite these changes, the Kuuvarjmiut still make their livelihood
primarily from the land. Because they depend on hunting and gathering for
much of their livelihood, they must respond to the yearly cycle of changes
among the plants and animals, just as their predecessors did in the last
century. Although their technology and settlement patterns have changed,
their annual round of hunting, trapping, fishing, and gathering remains
fundamentally intact.
The following descriptions of Kuuvarjmiut life today are based on
observations of upper Kobuk subsistence activities in 1 974-75 and on ver-
bal accounts of the yearly cycle given by Ambler and Shungnak villagers.
Spring. The spring season begins in long, often winter-cold days,
and it ends abruptly after the river ice breaks up in the summery warmth of
middle or late May. This is a time of sudden transition — days lengthen
35 -c»
SUBSISTENCE CYCLES
until there is no night, warm air spreads into the north, caribou pass through
and are gone, waterfowl appear, river ice lifts and is swept away, snow
vanishes, and green vegetation covers the land.
During March and April the days are long, temperatures are moder-
ating, and snow conditions are excellent for dog teams or snowmachines.
People make long and frequent hunting trips, journey to the medicinal hot
springs, and exchange visits with friends and relatives in villages through-
out the region. Overland travel continues until early May, when the snow
becomes slushy and water overflows the ice on tributary streams. People
are then largely immobile until the Kobuk River is ice-free, which begins a
flurry of boat travel.
Spring is also a favored season for camping away from the villages.
Until recent years, family camps were established from early April until
after breakup. These camps were an escape from the mud and crowding of
settlements, and gave people access to local concentrations of game such
as caribou, waterfowl, muskrat, and beaver. Presently, however, children
must remain in school until after breakup, so family spring camps have
become a rarity. Temporary camps are still used by men on prolonged
hunting trips. After breakup, family camps are often established on tradi-
tional sites known for good fishing and hunting.
Spring is second only to fall as a time of intensive caribou hunting. In
April and May, the caribou start fattening, and the quality of their meat
improves. Caribou leg skins are good for making boots, but the hides them-
selves are nearly useless because of shedding fur. Nearly all meat from
spring-killed caribou is cut into strips or slabs, hung on racks to dry, and
kept for summer use. The best weather for drying meat comes in May,
during or just after the northward caribou migration. Primary areas for
spring caribou hunting depend on the animals' movements, but in recent
years the Hunt River country and nearby tundra flats have been favored.
Caribou also tend to frequent the Ambler River valley and the tundra flats
between Shungnak and Ambler villages during the spring.
Hunters on far-ranging spring trips sometimes encounter black or
grizzly bears. These animals are still fat during April, just after emerging
from their dens, but they begin losing their fat in May and are not hunted
much thereafter.
Spring is also a very important season for hunting ducks and geese,
which are fat and have excellent meat at this time. The Eskimos can reach
their long-established hunting places by land or water, depending on the
progress of the season. Waterfowl can be a vital resource in the springtime,
especially during years when other game is scarce or unavailable.
Muskrats are fat and good to eat throughout the spring. They can be
trapped on lake ice from March until May, then hunted after they come out
onto the ice in mid-May. Hunting lasts until the males begin to fight and
perforate their skins with wound-holes. Some excellent muskrat hunting
!$3&»36
and trapping areas are located south of the Kobuk River in the eastern part
of the Kobuk Valley National Park.
The upper river Kuuvaijmiut anxiously await their first chances to
catch fresh fish in the spring. Gill nets can first be set at certain creeks
where water flows out over the ice before breakup. This catch is largely
broad whitefish and some pike.
After breakup, the main spring fishing begins. Gill nets are put in
creeks and sloughs known to have fish at this time, and occasionally at
favored spots in the Kobuk River. Some of the best places used by the
Ambler Kuuvarjmiut are in the Kobuk Valley National Park area. Netting
continues from breakup (middle to late May) until late June, when the
high-water period ends. Species caught include sucker, pike, and broad
whitefish along with some grayling and humpback whitefish.
People also fish through the ice with hook and line during the spring.
Pike and burbot are taken this way from February until breakup, with the
best catches occurring in April and May.
Some gathering of vegetation also takes place in the spring. Fire-
wood is cut, green willows are gathered for basket making, and birches are
cut for making sleds. After the snow melts, people occasionally pick blue-
berries, cranberries, or bearberries that remain from the previous fall.
Summer. This is the most uniform season: there is continuous day-
light, the temperature is never cold, and the only marked resource changes
are the appearance offish and the growth of plants. Sometimes, however,
there is a period of scarcity in early summer, around June and early July.
Caribou are absent (or in poor condition if present), fish are scarce and
difficult to catch, and nearly all other game resources are at a low point of
accessibility. Older Inupiat can recall times when they had "nothing but
coffee to eat" for several weeks, when they ran out of stored foods and
could not replenish their stocks.
In summer, the upriver villagers travel largely by boat, following the
Kobuk River and the streams, sloughs, and lakes that flow into it. This
travel keeps them within the forest zone, since timber usually flanks the
waterways. Overland travel, which must be done afoot in summer, takes
them away from the forest and onto the open tundra. Here they can make
straight traverses, orient themselves easily, and usually find enough wind
to suppress the mosquitos.
Upper Kobuk people may live in camps during the summer, some-
times for only a week or two, sometimes for a month or even more. Most
of these camps are at traditional fishing places and are occupied year after
year by the same families. Some sites are located quite far from any settle-
ment, including several within the Kobuk Valley National Park that are
regularly used by Ambler Eskimos.
Very little caribou hunting takes place during the summer, because
the herds have moved far to the north. There are occasional stragglers,
37<c$£s
g£j> SUBSISTENCE CYCLES
however, especially along the Kobuk River near the Hunt River mouth and
around Onion Portage. These animals are shot for fresh meat whenever
possible. Summer caribou hides are excellent for making fancy skin boots.
Few bears are taken during the summer. They are in poor condition,
with little fat, from May until the end of July, when they start fattening on
berries and fish. However, people may take a bear at any time if food is in
short supply. Ducks also have little fat during this season, and are very
rarely taken. Geese are in good condition, but are not often seen. In the
past, people would hunt for molting and fledged geese at certain lakes and
tributary streams in July. Apparently, this is no longer done.
The most abundant and reliable summer resource is fish. People may
camp for long periods at fishing places, or they may visit their nets daily
by boat from the village. Cutting and drying fish is also a major part of the
task. Both upper and lower Kobuk villagers use three methods for summer
fishing: gill netting, seining, and hooking.
Gill netting begins along the upper river when the salmon appear in
mid-July. Other fish are available before this time, but the weather is too
hot for proper drying. Nets are nearly always placed in eddies, which are
scattered along the river's banks, sometimes many miles from the villages.
Species caught in gill nets include the following: chum salmon are
taken from mid-July to early September, with the largest catches late in the
season. Sheefish are caught from July to September. They are fattest and
best for cooking in July, but are also dried throughout the season. Pike are
netted from July through fall; and broad whitefish are taken from mid-July
through fall.
During June and July, seining is done along sand bars in the Kobuk
and Ambler rivers, in spots where the water is fairly deep and has little
current. Chum salmon are seined in July and August. Early salmon are the
fattest and best for cooking, but they are good for drying all summer. Broad
whitefish are taken mostly in July. Up to 2,000 or 2,500 may be caught in
a single seine haul, and all must be scaled and strung on willow sticks.
Round whitefish are taken only in summer seining, but are never common.
Pike, grayling, and sheefish are caught all summer with rod and reel.
This is a fairly common method of catching fish for subsistence purposes,
especially in the case of sheefish. The best areas for sheefish hooking by
the upper river villagers are located within and just upriver from the Kobuk
Valley National Park. These are specific deepwater places where the fish
school temporarily during their migration, usually in the month of July.
Firewood cutting is not an important summer activity, but trees are
cut for logs used to make houses and platform caches. Other uses of veg-
etation during the summer include peeling birchbark from the trees in June
and early July, when it comes off most easily. Spruce roots are dug in June
and early July, when they are juicy and easy to peel. Young shoots of wild
SUBSISTENCE CYCLES <®S
rhubarb and sourdock are gathered in June and July. And wild chives are
gathered in July (late June in early summers), before they become hard and
strong-tasting.
Summer is also the main season for wage labor and commercial fish-
ing activities. Most of this work takes the men outside their villages — to
Kotzebue, Fairbanks, or along the Alaska pipeline. Wage employment is
always temporary, but it may require absences of a month to four or five
months' duration. This summer work pattern in some ways resembles the
traditional cycle, where men left their families to hunt in the mountains.
Nonetheless, most men strongly prefer to remain in their home villages if
possible.
Fall. Like the spring, fall is a period of rather sudden transitions. The
days become shorter, the temperatures drop rapidly, the snow comes, and
the waters freeze over. Fall usually brings great abundance to the Kobuk
River people; it is a time for intense hunting, fishing, and gathering activi-
ties, when caches are filled for the winter ahead.
Most fall travel stems from the hunting, fishing, and gathering ac-
tivities. Trips are fairly short because harvests are large and made quickly,
and there is little time to waste. Travel may come to a brief standstill be-
tween the time of freeze-up and the first snows, when overland transporta-
tion again becomes possible. Fall camping is done in connection with gill
netting and seining, mostly during September. Men who hunt away from
the villages also make short-term camps, but their stay lasts only from a
few days to a week.
After fishing, perhaps the second most important single subsistence
activity for the Kuuvarjmiut is the fall caribou hunt. This takes place during
August, September, and October, the exact time depending on the south-
ward migration of caribou into the Kobuk valley. Areas where the hunt
takes place also depend on the caprices of the caribou, but the migratory
passage does tend to follow certain predictable patterns.
Favored migration routes in the upper Kobuk area cross passes be-
tween the Noatak valley and the Ambler, Redstone, and Hunt river valleys.
In recent years, the caribou have used the Hunt River route most heavily,
and almost exclusively in some years. After reaching the Kobuk River
area, the animals tend to spread southward across broad stretches of tundra
in the Kobuk, Selawik, and Koyukuk River drainages. Before crossing the
Kobuk River, however, the herds may pause for some time, wandering
east or west. One important route brings them down the Hunt River, then
eastward through the Onion Portage area, and finally southward across the
Kobuk in the Ambler-Shungnak region. The most important area for cari-
bou hunting is in the vicinity of Onion Portage. In many years the heaviest
activity is within the boundaries of the Kobuk Valley National Park.
Caribou are in excellent condition during the fall. Bulls are preferred
in August, because they are fat and their hides and leg skins are prime. But
figy%> SUBSISTENCE CYCLES
they begin to smell with the rut in October and remain foul into November, so
females are taken during this time.
The moose is another important big game species. It is hunted almost
exclusively during the fall, but if people are in need of food they will take it in
other seasons as well. Moose hunting is done before freeze-up, when the ani-
mals congregate along the Kobuk River and its major tributaries. They are in
excellent, fat condition during late August and early September. Hunters pre-
fer two- or three-year-old bulls at this time. After the first part of September
(as soon as the leaves fall), the bulls smell and lose fat from the rut, and so
only cows are taken.
Bears are also hunted during August and September. They reach their
peak condition in September, especially in areas where they feed on berries
and small animals. If they are feeding on spawning fish in the upper tributar-
ies, they are not taken because their taste is poor. Ambler people prefer to
hunt in certain parts of the Redstone and Hunt river drainages, where the
bears tend to be in prime condition.
In recent years the upriver Kuuvarjmiut have seldom made fall hunting
trips to the upper Noatak River valley, where mountain sheep are most abun-
dant. Sheep are found and occasionally hunted in the Kobuk valley, however.
These animals have excellent meat and prime hides in August and Septem-
ber. Males are preferred until they begin smelling with the rut in September,
and after that time the females are hunted.
Ducks and geese are also taken in the fall, when they are fat and excel-
lent tasting. They are enthusiastically hunted by people traveling on the riv-
ers, and by those living in fishing camps away from the villages. Favored
waterfowl hunting areas of the Ambler Kuuvarjmiut are located along the
Kobuk River in the eastern section of the Kobuk Valley National Park.
Fall Fishing, a busy continuation of summer Fishing, produces very siz-
able catches. Gill nets are set primarily in the Kobuk River during the month
of September and until just before freeze-up. Ambler people make their larg-
est catches of sheefish at this time. The highest quality sheefish, ones that are
full of eggs, are taken by Shungnak and Kobuk people in areas upriver from
their villages, beyond the place named Quia. Salmon also run in September,
though the late ones have the least fat. Other species of Fish taken include
humpback whiteFish (just coming upriver at this time), arctic char, pike, and
burbot.
Seine Fishing begins again in mid-September and continues until ice
starts Forming in early or middle October. Ambler people seine primarily
along the Ambler River and Shungnak people use the Kobuk River. Fall and
summer seining are done in the same places, scattered from below the Hunt
River mouth to above the mouth of the Pah River. Species taken include broad
whiteFish, humpback whiteFish, sheefish, and sucker. Very large catches of
least cisco are also made in fall seining.
SUBSISTENCE CYCLES <ffffil
Intensive berry picking activity begins in August and ends with the
October snows. Berries are usually gathered along the Kobuk River and its
main tributaries, but people also walk far back into the flatlands and moun-
tain flanks to some favorite areas. The most important species is bog blue-
berry, which is collected from August into October. The berries become soft
after snow comes, but they are still usable. Lowbush cranberries are also gath-
ered in large quantities during August and September, provided the crop is a
good one. Bearberries and cloudberries, picked in August, are highly desired
as food. The uncommon bearberries are picked almost exclusively in sand
dune areas within the Kobuk Valley National Park. From year to year, the
abundance of each berry species is likely to vary greatly. One other important
fall plant is Eskimo potato, which is dug after the ground freezes in September.
Cutting of spruce for firewood is done along the river banks, especially
when freeze-up approaches. The wood is hauled to the village by boat. In
recent years oil heat has largely supplanted wood in many houses, so there
has been a steady decline in timber cutting.
Winter. This is by far the longest season, encompassing nearly half of
the year. Daylight decreases until there is no direct sunshine at all, tempera-
tures drop to extremes of cold, and the snow deepens and is blown hard by
gale winds. Although it is long and harsh, winter does not necessarily bring
scarcity. Kobuk people remain active throughout the season, utilizing a vari-
ety of game and fish species.
Winter travel is strongly oriented toward the tundra, where the snow is
hard and sleds can be pulled easily. Nearly all regular winter trails follow the
open country, sensibly avoiding the deep powder snow and mazes of forest
along the rivers. The cold season brings freedom for snowmachine and dog
team travelers, who now have easier access to every part of the region. Win-
ter travel sometimes involves camping, either while en route to distant places
or while on long hunting excursions. The upriver people rarely camp for more
than a few days at a time during winter, however, especially since the advent
of rapid mechanized travel.
Winter activities of all sorts are, of course, heavily influenced by the
weather. Except for periods of gale winds and accompanying deep cold, how-
ever, Kobuk villagers are continuously busy outdoors throughout the season.
Notes written in December 1974 illustrate:
Several days after we arrived in Shungnak the temperature abruptly
fell to -30° [F], then to -40°, -50°, and finally to -65°. Despite the
intense cold, there continued to be much activity in and around the
village. Children's voices could be heard at all hours, as they played
outside the houses. Snowmachines ran up and down the river. Chain
saws buzzed in the surrounding forest. On December 3 1 , a group
of men and women traveled 35 miles to Ambler by snowmachine,
in -55° to -65" temperatures.
?;;p> SUBSISTENCE CYCLES
Caribou are taken throughout the winter, but the intensity of hunting
depends on the proximity of herds, the condition of the animals, and the need
for fresh meat. Caribou (regardless of sex) are usually not fat during the cold
season, so unless people are low on food they do not hunt them intensely. If
fat animals are found, however, men will surely go after them. Winter hides
are relatively poor, except for the leg skins, which are very good for boot
making. Caribou taken in the winter are often cached until spring, when they
are cut up to make dried meat.
Hunting caribou in winter depends entirely on the animals' unpredict-
able wanderings. Herds are usually south of the Kobuk, but the distance var-
ies from a few miles to over a hundred. In recent years, wintering herds have
remained on the tundra north of the Waring Mountains.
At the time of this study, Kobuk villagers seldom traveled north to the
Noatak Valley for winter mountain sheep hunting. During the first half of the
century, however, trapping and caribou hunting were frequently done there
during the winter, and sheep were taken at the same time. Winter hunting in
the Noatak region could become common again if caribou remained north of
the Kobuk valley (as happened in the past), forcing the Kuuvarjmiut to travel
farther north to obtain necessary supplies of meat.
Some hunting and trapping of fur-bearing animals takes place in winter.
In the past, when commercial hides provided one of the few sources of in-
come, fur animals were trapped diligently. Today there are other ways of
earning cash, and so very little trapping is done for commercial purposes.
However, the Kobuk villagers take many fur animals for their own use. This
is done largely by hunting, and it constitutes a major winter subsistence pur-
suit for some men.
The principal fur species are the red fox (including cross and silver
phases), wolf, and wolverine. Although these animals are hunted (and some-
times trapped) throughout the tundra regions surrounding upriver villages,
there are favored areas. The Ambler people focus their activities west of the
village, in the Onion Portage area, the Hunt and Nuna river drainages, and in
the tundra-lakes country south of the Hunt River mouth. These areas are es-
pecially known for wolf and wolverine.
The Hux\X-Nuna river drainages have been utilized extensively for fur
hunting and trapping throughout this century. Traplines in this area are noted
for otter, mink, marten, beaver, and lynx, as well as the major species above.
Lakes south of the Hunt River mouth have also been utilized for beaver,
mink, muskrat, and otter trapping during the winter months. Most fur species
are in prime condition from November or December through March. After
this time their fur begins to shed and is bleached by the sun. Beaver and
muskrat remain prime through the spring, however.
During the first half of this century, when moose and caribou were scarce
in the Kobuk valley, snowshoe hare and ptarmigan were often the most im-
portant winter game. Although no longer staples, these animals still provide
important supplementary food during the cold months.
*&'■> 42
SUBSISTENCE CYCLES «$^2
Snowshoe hares inhabit brushy areas throughout the upper Kobuk re-
gion. They undergo drastic population changes, varying over the years from
abundance to scarcity. Hares are hunted and snared year round, but most are
taken from October to May when they are fat and have prime fur.
Ptarmigan move into lower elevations of the Kobuk valley after the
deep snows of early winter. They inhabit the low tundra and stands of wil-
lows along the rivers, usually from November until May. In good years, women
snare large numbers of ptarmigan near the villages. They are also hunted by
school-age boys, and by men who encounter flocks while traveling.
Early winter fishing is done with gill nets, set under the Kobuk River ice
during several weeks immediately after freeze-up. This usually starts in mid-
October and ends with the thickening ice and growing cold of early Novem-
ber. The largest caches are of humpback whitefish, which migrate down the
river at this time. At Ambler, a single family might take between 1,000 and
2,000 of these fish during the few weeks of the season. Other species caught
by gill netting include broad whitefish, sheefish, arctic char, and burbot. Fish
are also hooked through the ice in early winter. Large catches of grayling are
made through holes chopped for the gill nets in October, and burbot are hooked
in known schooling places from October until early December.
Burbot traps are made by Shungnak people shortly after freeze-up, and
they remain in use through December when catches diminish rapidly. These
traps are not presently made or used by the Ambler people. They were in the
past, however, and they could easily be revived, as was the case in Shungnak.
The only significant winter use of vegetation is cutting timber for fire-
wood. Wood-burning stoves are used as primary heat sources in many homes,
and as supplements to oil heat in most others. People also cut low-grade
firewoods such as willow or poplar throughout the winter for outdoor cook-
ing of dog food.
Lower Kobuk Region
The Traditional Subsistence Cycle
Year-round subsistence activities of the lower Kobuk people have never
been described in detail for the 1 880s. This is partly because disappearance of
the caribou by that time forced many families to leave the lower river and
move elsewhere. The most complete account of downriver subsistence ac-
tivities is by Giddings (1961), who recorded the reminiscences of Uilaq, a
man who spent his childhood around the Salmon River and much of his adult
life near present-day Kiana. In his description of a typical year's subsistence
activities, men of the family spent the summer hunting in the interior. Many
other lower river Kuuvarjmiut of the late nineteenth century traveled each
summer to Kotzebue Sound, where they hunted sea mammals or traded for
sea mammal products and foreign items.
43<?#s
SiS'v.'f.-.-,
y£» SUBSISTENCE CYCLES
Spring. In late April or early May, downriver families set up spring
camps for hunting and trapping at the mouths of sloughs entering the Kobuk.
These were either between the Squirrel River and the Kobuk delta or along
the narrow winding channels of the delta itself People lived in lean-tos of
spruce saplings (with branches left on) stacked against a large spruce tree.
Scarcity of caribou made the winters lean, so the move to spring camp was a
welcome chance to get fresh meat as well as furs.
Small game and fur-bearing animals were abundant, and the men hunted
constantly in the uninterrupted daylight. Muskrats emerging from their win-
ter quarters fell easy prey to skilled male archers, and hares were caught in
snares set by the women and boys. Occasionally a lynx was also taken.
Most lower delta families also traveled to Hotham Inlet and Selawik
Lake to hook sheefish through the ice. Using ivory lures shaped like tiny fish,
they could catch a large number of fat sheefish in a week or two. One of the
favorite settlements for sheefish hooking was at the mouth of Makkaksragiaq
Channel at Selawik Lake. Because breakup occurred later there than upriver,
people could continue fishing through the ice when other families were al-
ready preparing for summer. Ducks and geese were also plentiful in the delta
by mid-May. They were caught in snares made of twisted strips of salmon
skin, placed on sand bars. While the women fished, men who were not hunt-
ing collected spruce bark for making houses and boats at the spring camp.
Summer. During the period of ice breakup, families were confined to
their separate camp areas, unable to travel on the unsafe ice or walk through
the swampy, often flooded landscape. They were plentifully stocked with
geese and half-dried muskrat, however, and suffered no particular hardship
while waiting. Once the flood waters began to recede, women set gill nets for
whitefish, first at the mouths of streams draining the shallow lakes, and later
in the deeper sloughs. They also set nets at selected spots along the Kobuk
River. The fragile nets of twisted willow bark had to be taken out constantly
or reset as water levels changed. Otherwise, they could be damaged by drift-
wood or buried in the mud. In some of the smaller sloughs, dip nets were also
used for whitefish (Wells 1974:36).
Muskrat skins were used for clothing when caribou hides were unavail-
able. These animals were hunted along the edges of sloughs and lakes. High
water made the hunting especially productive because it flushed muskrats
from their homes. Skinned muskrat carcasses were either partially dried and
then boiled for eating, or they were roasted fresh over a spit.
The whitefish run continued through June and, depending on the amount
of rain, a woman could net as many as 100 or 200 fish a day. During the first
or second week of June, smelt began their annual run up the river to spawn.
Traveling in long lines near shore, they were easily caught with small-mesh
dip nets or with seines. Smelt fishing lasted more than a week in the Kobuk
delta, but from the upper delta to just below the mouth of the Squirrel River it
lasted only one to three days.
■> 44
SUBSISTENCE CYCLES <ggs
Some families that were particularly anxious to obtain coastal prod-
ucts— such as bearded seal skins for ropes, boot soles, and boat cover-
ings— went to the coast in April, a month before breakup. They took their
skin umiaks (broad, open boats) on sleds pulled by dog teams, and stayed
in camps east of Sealing Point. They lived in these camps until middle or
late June, hunting ugruk and ringed seals among the ice pans. Other
Kuuvarjmiut families, who had remained in spring camps along the Kobuk
River, moved to the coast in the third or fourth week of June. They crossed
Hotham Inlet by boat and then went to Sisualik, where they hunted ugruk
and beluga, and fished. They were soon joined by their relatives who had
gone to the coast earlier. Occasionally a whaling ship on its way north took
the trouble to stop, and then they had the opportunity to trade.
Some lower Kobuk families chose to remain inland, fishing all sum-
mer. When the daily catch of whitefish declined and the pike catch in-
creased, it was time to move to the main summer camp. This was generally
along a broad bend of the main channel such as at Qalugraitchiaq, or on a
long, flat sandy stretch, as at Puivlich. Here salmon or whitefish could be
seined easily.
Unlike the scattered spring camps, summer camps were often quite
close together. For example, several might be located within fifty yards of
each other along a particular stretch of river bank. Caches of dried fish
were established at the summer camps, and people would come periodi-
cally during the winter to obtain supplies from them.
The summer house was erected by the man of the family. A hemi-
spherical frame was made of branches tied together at the top, then sided
with spruce bark collected during late spring. Blocks of moss were used to
cover the entire structure, except for the opening where smoke from the
cooking fire could escape. If the family returned to camp at the same place
year after year, the man built a permanent drying rack with four or six
large posts. Otherwise, he erected a rack with tripod supports. Racks could
be placed near the water's edge, where mosquitos were less numerous and
the fish could be handled easily. Then, at the season's end, the small poles
were easily disassembled and piled on the high bank above flood level.
Normally, two women and their children would fish together, as in
the upriver area. The work of making a seine was time-consuming, so each
woman contributed a section of the net. Sinkers were made by the men,
preferably from sections of caribou antler or from elongated waterwom
pebbles that could be notched for ties. Seining was done with open boats
that were larger than the hunting kayaks and covered with spruce bark.
Although some families owned skin-covered umiaks, these were normally
used for traveling on the river and moving from camp to camp, rather than
for fishing.
The women seined nearly every day, hauling in large catches of salmon
or whitefish, cutting them up, and hanging them to dry. Then they would
wait for the next run offish and start the process all over. Seining methods
were identical to those used in the upriver area.
After a man had set up the fish camp for his family, he was ready to
head north to hunt in the mountains. Hunting groups were small, often made
up of brothers, brothers-in-law, and their older children. The men carried
only one or two pairs of boots, some extra clothing, and their weapons. Men
from fishing camps near the Salmon River (Qalugruaq) trekked north on high
ground west of that river, while those who started farther down the Kobuk
went up the Squirrel River valley or smaller valleys to the west of it. Once in
the Noatak drainage they hunted sheep and bear in the mountains or contin-
ued up the Noatak River until they found caribou. Bears were abundant, and
occasionally the hunters got as many bear hides as they did hides of sheep or
caribou.
Summer was a time of constant walking and camping within a fairly
well-defined area. Small groups of hunters would often meet, and if possible
they would camp together for a while; but the emphasis was on hunting in the
small family group that started out together. It was during these trips that the
young men learned much about hunting techniques and hunting lore from the
older men.
People who had gone to the coast for summer trade returned to the Kobuk
fish camps around early August. Although coastal products were vital, they
did not furnish a major part of the winter food supply. Despite the large size
of the boats, they could only carry limited amounts of food in addition to the
skins, kettles, pots, seal oil, and other items brought from the coast. The bulk
of the winter food supply had to be obtained from the river, so it was impor-
tant to establish fish camps in time for the peak runs of salmon and whitefish.
On their way upriver, people stopped in the delta to pick salmonberries,
which they stored for winter in sealskin pokes. Salmonberries were less plen-
tiful on the drier inland terrain, so this was the only opportunity to harvest
them.
When these families reached their fish camp sites, the men set up drying
racks and erected the conical skin teepees they had used on the coast. Because
the season was so far advanced, the men remained in camp rather than hunt-
ing in the Noatak headwaters. There is no record of camp activities, but men
probably did not participate in salmon fishing because camps throughout the
Kobuk were principally the women's domain.
Fall. As the willow and alder leaves turned brilliant colors, men who
had gone to the mountains started back with their game. They carried burdens
of caribou and sheep hides for clothing, bear skins for mats and door cover-
ings, and caribou sinew for thread. Sheep horns were also brought back for
fine utensils. In addition, the men carried as much fat as possible without
leaving other, more important, items behind. They had feasted on meat all
summer, but even when dried it was too heavy and bulky to carry back in any
quantity.
^S> 46
SUBSISTENCE CYCLES <ffffis
Upon reaching the headwaters of Kobuk tributaries, the hunters built
rafts and floated down to their families' fish camps. By this time the bountiful
salmon and whitefish seining was near an end, and the families moved to fall
fishing camps such as at Alallauraq and Qalugraitchiaq. There they seined
for qalusraaq (least cisco) which are exceptionally plentiful in September.
Winter. Just before freeze-up, around the middle of October, the fami-
lies moved back to their traditional winter locales. These were situated along
main channels of the delta or at the mouths of the major tributaries. They
were also near timber for firewood and houseposts, willow thickets for snar-
ing hares and ptarmigan, and fishing places where grayling and burbot would
be plentiful through much of the winter. In the earlier years, when caribou
were numerous, people could winter in sizable settlements; but in the 1880s,
families usually lived in single, isolated households.
The old house was not repaired and used again; rather, a new one was
built each year. Its shape and size depended on whether married children and
their offspring were also going to live there. The winter house was basically
the same everywhere in the Kobuk region — a flat topped, log frame structure
covered with planks and sod. A pair of ridge poles was for the combination
skylight and smoke hole. It was best to dig the pit for the house just after
freeze-up, when the sod was frozen to a depth equaling the thickness of the
sod blocks to be removed.
Because caribou were absent in the lower river area, winter was precari-
ous. Even with the summer's catch successfully stored away, the early winter
fishing was extremely important. We have no evidence that gill nets were set
under the ice in the 1880s, as was done later on. The major late fall-early
winter fishing involved trapping whitefish in weirs just after freeze-up, when
they migrated downstream in the greatest numbers.
Fish weirs used by the lower Kobuk people were huge in comparison to
those in the upriver area. They were built across the entire channel at specific
places, such as Sapusrigaitchiaq, just above the mouth of the Squirrel River.
These weirs were too much for a man and woman to build, so they were made
by communal groups. The number of whitefish caught in these traps was
more than enough for one family, so all families in the area were welcome to
use them. The fish were probably divided equally among the families who
worked in concert to harvest them.
Weirs were used throughout the whitefish run during October and early
November. During the day, they mainly caught whitefish, and at night they
caught burbot. Because so many burbot were taken at these weirs, burbot
traps were less common in the lower river than in the upper river area. A
smaller trap, set along the edge of the channel, was also used for burbot. This
trap could be built by a single family, so it was popular with people living in
isolated areas. It could keep a family supplied with fish until mid-winter.
In the absence of caribou, ptarmigan and hares were the main source of
fresh meat during winter. Fences of willow stakes and brush were made, then
47<®«
E®j» SUBSISTENCE CYCLES
snares were set in narrow openings where the animals would try to pass through.
Either men or women would check and reset the snares each day. The men
also set traps for fox, ermine, mink, and wolverine, whose furs were needed
for clothing. By the 1880s, steel traps were already one of the major trade
items brought from the coast to the interior of northwestern Alaska.
Another important winter activity, particularly for women and children,
was collecting firewood. Women also devoted much time to making nets for
the next summer's fishing. With the returning sun, the downriver Kuuvarjmiut
began to prepare for spring camp and the start of another year.
The Modern Subsistence Cycle
The major difference between lower Kobuk seasonal subsistence rounds
in the 1 880s and in modern times is the presence and economic significance
of caribou. For many village families, caribou are now at least as important a
food resource as fish.
Spring. People of the lower Kobuk villages look forward to the long
days of spring and the chance for extended family trips by snowmachine and
sled. Many special events take place in the Kobuk region during March and
April. First of these is the quarterly meeting of the Friends Church, held in
Selawik, Noatak, or one of the five Kobuk villages. As many as 700 people
from these villages, as well as Buckland, Kivalina, Point Hope, Barrow, and
Kotzebue, travel to the host village by snowmachine or airplane for a week of
services and visiting.
This gathering of so many different Inupiat groups has taken on impor-
tant economic functions. Residents of the host village must begin planning in
the previous summer to accumulate enough food for the guests. They need
plenty of fresh and frozen fish, plus enough dried fish to give to visitors or
trade with them. Before spring comes, the men make extra caribou hunting
trips so that the village will not run out of meat.
The visitors have also brought along special foods from their own areas.
People who come from coastal villages bring items like seal oil and beluga or
bowhead whale muktuk. If they are from interior villages, they bring extra
caribou meat or frozen fish. The visitors stay in village homes and provide
this food to help their hosts with the meals. There is constant visiting back
and forth between houses, usually with meals served each time, so great
amounts of food are needed. For many Kobuk River people this is a rare
opportunity to eat as much coastal food as they like. Similarly, it is a chance
for the coastal residents to eat salmon, frozen fish, and dried fish, which they
are unable to get in their own villages.
This is also a time when partnerships are made between people from
different regions, and when relatives and established partners exchange goods
from their own areas. In 1975, Kiana was the host village, and three months
after the meeting nearly half of the households were still enjoying coastal
foods brought in for the meeting.
SUBSISTENCE CYCLES <>ffis
Other events held each spring are carnivals, scheduled on alternate
weekends so that people from different villages can attend. Groups of young
people often travel together on snowmachines to the host village. The spring
carnivals give them a chance to watch and participate in races and other
events, and to meet others their age. Although the carnivals have little
economic impact on the villages, they play a role in establishing and
strengthening social ties that later may have economic ramifications, as
through marriages.
Spring is also an important time for caribou hunting, which is done
by the men. If a hunter returns with a sled-load of fat caribou, he lets others
know where he found them, and the next morning several other hunters
will probably go out. In 1975, many Kiana residents traveled to the Hunt
River area, because the caribou in that area were fat. Some hunters were
unable to go that far, however, because they had jobs in the villages or
were short of fuel for their snowmachines. These people went to the moun-
tains between the Salmon and Squirrel rivers, where the caribou were leaner
and less prized. In 1 975, Noorvik hunters concentrated on hunting caribou
in the area between Noorvik and Selawik.
During April and May, many families remain in the villages. When
the weather is calm, however, some people from Kiana travel to Hotham
Inlet or Selawik Lake to hook sheefish through the ice. Occasionally, pike
are also caught, but these are less prized than the larger and fatter sheefish.
Because they can make the trip quickly with snowmachines, Kiana people
are usually gone less than a day on these trips. As soon as the sled is filled
with fish the family returns. Often several couples or families will travel
together, and the trip doubles as a pleasant family outing, especially for the
wives, who travel much less often than the men.
Noorvik families tend to spend more time away from the village catch-
ing sheefish, often staying in camps for a week. Although they live closer
to the lakes, Noorvik people have had a chronic gasoline shortage in spring
and thus tend to travel less than they would like. Schools of sheefish con-
stantly roam the lakes searching for least cisco, so the fishermen usually
test a wide area for schools by chipping holes in the ice. Once fish are
located, other fishermen move in and make holes for themselves. Some
fishermen use ice augers to make this job easier, but others say that it
scares the fish and is less productive than chipping with an ice pick. When
they travel to and from the fishing areas, people are alert for game such as
geese or muskrats, and often they are successful with hunting as well as
fishing.
When they are not fishing, men from downriver villages are often
busy with their other major spring subsistence activity-waterfowl hunting.
After a winter of living primarily on caribou and fish, goose or duck soup
is a welcome change of diet. They hunt primarily at places along the lakes
and rivers where waterfowl are known to return each year. Some of these
are located near the villages, so schoolboys can walk to them and hunt late
49<$i
$$$> SUBSISTENCE CYCLES
at night or early in the morning. This is also a time when fathers take their
young sons out, often for their earliest hunting experiences.
If spring breakup is late and the northward migrating caribou come any-
where near the village, the men make a special effort to hunt them. Because
late spring brings ideal drying conditions, free from insects, every opportu-
nity is taken to lay in a supply of dried meat. Also, if a hunter should spot a
wolf or wolverine, he will do everything he can to take it. The furs are used as
ruffs and trimming on cloth and down parkas, the everyday winter garments.
Spring is also the time when people clean up the entire village, store
winter equipment, and prepare other equipment for the season ahead. One
important job is overhauling boats that have just emerged from the melting
snow. Boats are first pulled to spots that are protected from the spring flood
and drifting ice. Then they are recaulked, their rotten boards are replaced, and
they are repainted. Once the boat is in summer use, only an urgent need for
repairs will prompt a person to lay it up for extended work. Women are also
busy at this time, retrieving whitefish gill nets from storage and repairing any
torn meshes. Usually several women have bought new nets, and they must fit
them with sinkers and floats.
Finally, breakup begins in the upper Kobuk and people are informed of
its downriver progress through radio reports or information from pilots who
land in the village. Some impatient men launch their boats and follow the
narrow lane of open water along the banks to reach waterfowl hunting areas.
Of course, they can only go short distances and must secure their boats again
when breakup comes. During breaks from their busy work schedules, people
gather at vantage points to talk and watch the progress of the disappearing
ice. The Squirrel River opens before the Kobuk itself, allowing people to hunt
along that tributary while ice still blocks the main channel.
Muskrats have been scarce in the lower Kobuk area during the 1 970s, so
people devote little time to hunting them. Muskrat skins are used locally for
making parkas and are sold commercially when an excess is available. At the
time of this study they were occasionally traded between individuals, a few
were sold to Kotzebue stores (where in 1 975 they sold for four dollars a skin),
and some were used for tithes to the church. But the number was economi-
cally insignificant.
Summer. At the end of breakup, the men watch for large drifting logs,
which they collect among the ice floes and drag to shore. These logs are used
as posts for the permanent fish racks and for various other purposes. When
the amount of driftwood and debris increases, people say that the passing ice
is from the upper Kobuk, a sign that breakup is almost over.
As soon as there is no danger of running into ice jams, groups of men, or
husbands and wives, take off for the Salmon River, Hunt River, or Onion
Portage. They hope to intercept whatever few caribou stragglers are still fording
the river at those spots, and they watch for waterfowl along the banks. If the
parties go as far as Onion Portage, they usually continue on to visit friends or
50
SUBSISTENCE CYCLES <gg
WPv
relatives in Ambler. Meat obtained on the trip is either dried or stored in
freezers. When the ice breaks below Noorvik, men from both Kiana and
Noorvik boat down to the delta to hunt muskrats, hook sheefish and pike, and
hunt waterfowl. Two or three friends may spend the entire night in the boat,
fishing at various places and hunting waterfowl as they move from one spot
to another.
Several Noorvik families spend much of the early summer at their white-
fish camps in the delta, such as the popular campsite at Makkaksraq. Couples
work together setting gill nets across the mouths of sloughs, and the racks
they have set up quickly fill with cut whitefish. The husband often helps his
wife in removing fish from the net, handling the heavy tub-loads, and hang-
ing the catch to dry; but women alone do the cutting. If gasoline is available,
men will also take their boats out to fish with hook and line, and to hunt
muskrats and waterfowl. Kayaks are not used.
In the Kiana area, most families set nets for whitefish across small streams
draining lakes or along the Kobuk banks within two miles of the village. \n
1975, no families moved to fish camps for the season. Those whose camps
are within five or ten miles of the village will spend the day there, check the
net twice, cut the fish, and hang it on drying racks. Then they return to the
village for the night. If the camp is farther away, they spend two or three days
at a time there and return to the village with a boat-load of partially dried fish.
They string these at home, eight to a string, and hang them to dry further.
During the 1970s, whitefish have been a more important food resource
than salmon for residents of the lower Kobuk area. The duration and intensity
of early summer whitefishing depends on weather conditions. If the usually
dry month of June is rainy, the river rises and essentially eliminates the take.
Therefore, every effort is made to get the nets in early and to utilize them
fully for as long as good weather holds. Trout, pike, and grayling are also
caught in the nets.
Shortly after breakup, sheefish reach the vicinity of Noorvik on their
way upriver. Men and boys go out in boats, often all night, to catch them at
favored spots. Usually each person keeps his own fish, but the catch will be
divided if someone takes far more or less than the others. At the village,
children spend long hours casting from shore for grayling, trout, and white-
fish. This is the best season for catching trout, although they are always rare.
When a child lands one, he or she usually takes it home immediately and it is
cooked for the evening meal. The child is praised for this contribution to the
family's larder. Later in the summer, fish caught by the children are not so
readily consumed by the family.
By mid-June the women are ready to set gill nets for sheefish. They are
placed in eddies along the Kobuk, where sheefish congregate in the evening
before continuing upriver. Three to five sheefish, averaging 20 to 30 pounds
apiece, are usually caught each day. It is not unusual to make a daily catch
totalling 150 pounds. Fish not consumed immediately are cut and dried for
later eating. If wet weather prevents the fish from drying properly they are
used for dog food.
51
^'V> SUBSISTENCE CYCLES
During the second week of June, smelt begin their run up the river,
reaching as far as a point just below Kiana village. The few women who
own small-mesh seines have them ready, and as soon as the smelt arrive,
boatloads of people go to catch them at the fishing sites below Kiana. Some
people may catch smelt with dip nets, but this method is not much used if
someone has a seine. Smelt seines are emptied directly into tubs or, if too
few tubs are available, into a trough dug in the beach.
People who help with the seining can take as many fish as they want.
When members of a helping family feel that a good catch has been assured
and want to go home, they either set their empty tub in front of the net to be
filled or they dip fish out of the common pile. The fish are eaten fried,
stored in home freezers, or hung to dry. Frozen smelt are also eaten during
the winter or are used as bait for sheefish the following spring.
Whitefish nets are usually pulled out during the second week of July
if the catch has been satisfactory. Pike begin to outnumber whitefish at that
time, and although they are good eating they also damage the nets with
their teeth. The women next concentrate their attention on preparing gill
nets for sheefish and large salmon, and seines for whitefish and smaller
salmon. These nets represent a large investment of time and money. A
fully outfitted seine would cost around $450 in Kiana or Noorvik in 1 975,
the exact price depending on length, weight of the twine, and kind of floats
used.
Before using her nets, a woman must check every inch of mesh and
repair any that is torn, and she must see that all weights and floats are in
place. If the old parts of the net show signs of weakness, they are taken out
and new sections put in. New sections are usually put on the offshore end,
which gets considerable strain as fish fight with the net.
To select a seining place, women boat to where the fish are expected
and look for telltale ripples or jumping fish. The crew will not wait for fish
at a potential spot, but travel from one to another until they find a school.
Seining trips from Kiana often last all day, depending on how successful
they are. Usually two women fish together, along with some of their chil-
dren or other helpers. Women who seine together contribute sections of
the net, share expenses such as gasoline, and alternate use of their own
boats and motors. In the last few years, couples and their children have
also seined together. On returning to the village, women cut the fish and
hang it to dry on racks near the river's edge.
In recent years most of the seining has been for whitefish, because
downriver people now prefer to catch their salmon with gill nets. Since the
number of sled dogs has declined, gill nets can now supply enough salmon
for a family as long as conditions are favorable all summer.
Many of the men go to Fairbanks or other parts of Alaska for summer
construction jobs, and several men have gone to Kotzebue in recent years
■©• 52
SUBSISTENCE CYCLES <g^B
for the commercial fishery. Wage earning is crucial to the villagers, for
without money they could not buy the equipment needed for subsistence
hunting and fishing. The most constant summer employment for both Kiana
and Noorvik people has been fire fighting, and crews of men and women
are organized before summer to be ready at a moment's call.
Fall. Lower Kobuk villagers continue to seine and to set nets for
salmon and whitefish in the fall, but the intensity of their activities de-
pends on how successful the summer fishing has been. If the summer has
been rainy and the catch small, they take every opportunity to build up
their winter supply by seining. For families who have gone to the coast to
fish commercially, this is a crucial time of year. By the last of August their
fish camps must be set up, and they work long hours to catch and dry
enough salmon before the run is over. Despite their earnings from com-
mercial fishing, these families need to obtain enough subsistence foods to
satisfy their own needs. Most families are willing to share their food sup-
ply during the winter, especially with relatives, but people would feel un-
comfortable burdening others with constant requests for traditional foods.
As soon as the legal season opens, most men go out by boat to hunt
for moose. Animals are often spotted several weeks earlier, but the men
wait until they have fattened before hunting them. With freezers in nearly
all homes now, moose meat can be stored fresh and has taken on an impor-
tant role in the lower Kobuk subsistence economy. Most people regard the
moose as insurance against the possibility that caribou will not show up or
will arrive late.
Winter. After freeze-up, people prepare for the changeover to winter
living. Women in Kiana and Noorvik set gill nets under the river ice as
soon as it is strong enough to walk on. The best net sites are those in front
of the villages, or at least as close as possible. Variations in the river bank,
the bottom, and the weather conditions mean that netting locations change
from year to year. In the fall of 1974, for example, a favored site near
Kiana was unusable because rough ice jammed there during freeze-up.
This made it difficult to set and check nets, so people had to use other spots
that year. Gill netting continues until the ice thickens and threatens to freeze
the nets into it. This usually happens in November.
As soon as the streams are frozen thick enough for travel, men take
their snowmachines to search for any caribou in the vicinity. The herds
should be nearby at this time, and until they are spotted there is some anxi-
ety for the coming winter. The amount brought in during the early season
determines how much effort must go into caribou hunting during the cold-
est months.
Trapping is carried on from December or January into the spring. It
has been a minor activity during the last few years, however. Each trapper
53 -c^s
SUBSISTENCE CYCLES
has a trapline, separated by several miles or more from that of the next
man, and this is often where he obtains his winter supply of caribou.
During the coldest months, few people make long journeys in pursuit
of game. One reason is the busy cycle of village activities connected with
Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day. Another reason is that
snowmachines do not function well in the extreme cold of January and
early February, and in temperatures of fifty to sixty degrees below zero
they sometimes break down. If this happens the hunter needs help, and if he
is far from home he may be in real danger.
By late February and early March the men begin traveling farther for
caribou hunting. By this time the locations of winter herds are well known
and people keep careful track of their movements. Caribou hunting in late
winter is considered enjoyable as well as necessary. When late March fi-
nally comes, everyone in the village is eager to travel, and all look forward
to the spring events that give people an excuse to visit neighboring vil-
lages.
f@>54
/T
^\
Part 3
The Village and Its People
MODERN VILLAGE LIFE <gj£g
Chapter 5
Modern Village Life
Prospectors and members of government expeditions who visited the
Kobuk River at the end of the nineteenth century noted that
Kuuvarjmiut camps and settlements were located in the best places
for fishing, hunting, and gathering (Stoney 1899; Cantwell 1887;
Mendenhall 1902; Grinnell 1901). Later on, trading posts, churches, and
schools were built, employment opportunities developed, and subsistence
resources changed. Kobuk River people were drawn together into larger
settlements, and the five modern villages were founded.
Populations of the Kobuk River villages in the 1970 census were as
follows:
Noorvik
462
Kiana
278
Ambler
169
Shungnak
165
Kobuk
56
Population Dynamics
The following is an analysis of population patterns in two of the Kobuk
River villages, Kiana and Noorvik, from the late nineteenth century to 1975.
Information on these communities shows the strong influence of changing
subsistence opportunities on their patterns of development, and it describes
the network of social ties that exists within and between Kuuvanmiut com-
munities.
Kiana: Turn-of-the-Century Population
Before the first influx of white prospectors into the Kobuk valley in
1 898, the only settlement near present-day Kiana was at Kurriaq Slough at
the mouth of the Squirrel River. There lived Aaquaksrauraq, his wife
Miiyuuraq, their son Iknautak, and later their adopted son Arthur Barr. The
third and fourth generations of Aaquaksrauraq and Miiyuuraq' s descen-
dants live in Kiana today. According to the 1900 census figures, 45 Na-
tives lived in the Squirrel River country that surrounds and includes the
modern site of Kiana.
By 1909, gold mining operations were underway at Klery Creek, on
the Squirrel River. The chance to find work here, plus access to newly-
established trading posts, attracted individuals and families from the upper
Kobuk country. Some of these people settled here and became the founders
57 <g£s
B@S» MODERN VILLAGE LIFE
of Katyaaq, or "Old Village." The Eskimos settled on the bank at the mouth
of the Squirrel River, and the white miners settled on the hill, the site of the
present Kiana village. They first called their settlement Squirrel City and later
Kiana, but among themselves they simply called it "Downtown." The two
settlements were within a ten-minute walk of each other. The white miners
were of diverse ethnic origin, with Polish, Greek, and Japanese family names
among them. Some present-day Kiana families are descendants of miners
who married Kuuvanmiut women.
Kiana: 1975 Population
In 1 975, the population of Kiana included 280 Native residents and 1 7
white residents. Among the latter were school teachers and their families, a
school maintenance man, two store operators, and an air service pilot. Also
included were Kiana residents temporarily away from the village for work or
school. Students from other villages currently attending school in Kiana were
not counted.
Age Distribution by Sex of Kiana Residents in 1975
Male Female
60+
50-59
40-^9
30-39
20-29
10-19
0-9
Number 40 30 20 10 0 10 20 30 40
The Kiana population of 1975 had 146 men and 134 women, so males
represented 52% of the population and females 48%. This village has in-
creased in size from 253 in 1960 to 280 in 1975. Over the same 15 year
period, Shungnak's population grew from 1 35 to 165 (Source: Mauneluk As-
sociation). In the mid- 1800s, Kuuvarjmiut households averaged seven per-
sons, often including not only parents and their children but also other rela-
tives. By 1965, there was a shift away from these extended families toward
nuclear families, and the average household had six persons (Foote 1 966:46).
In 1975, the number in an average Kiana household was 5.6. The largest
Kiana family had 13 members, of whom nine comprised the nuclear family
(parents and children).
058
MODERN VILLAGE LIFE <@3
Number and Percentage of Kiana Residents
by Age Group and Sex in 1975
Age Group
0-9
10-19
20-29
30-39
40-49
50-59
60 & over
Total
Number of Persons
Male
Female
Total
33
28
61
40
46
86
26
18
44
15
13
28
12
7
19
15
10
25
5
12
17
146
134
280
Percentage
Male
Female
Total
22.6
20.9
21.8
27.4
34.3
30.7
17.8
13.4
15.7
10.3
9.7
10.0
8.2
5.2
6.8
10.3
7.5
8.9
3.4
9.0
6.1
100.0
100.0
100.0
More people of Kiana were in the 10-19 age group than in any other.
The number in the 0-9 age group was unexpectedly small, perhaps because
effective birth control methods had come into use (U.S. Dept. of the Interior
1 973 :92). A recent movement of people in their early childbearing years away
from Kiana may also have contributed to the low number in the youngest age
group. For example, between 1972 and 1975 five women moved out of Kiana
to live elsewhere with their spouses and young children. There is a recent
tendency for more girls to meet and marry spouses outside the village. These
factors help to explain why there are fewer women than men in the 20-29 age
group.
Life expectancy in Kiana follows the universal tendency for females to
live longer than males. Among Kiana residents 60 or more years old, 1 2 were
females and five were males.
Kiana: Marriage and Residence After Marriage
Some couples live together without formal marriage, even with chil-
dren. But in most cases the expectation or birth of a child leads to marriage
and/or establishment of a separate household. If a relationship is dissolved,
the children are often adopted, usually by grandparents.
The highest percentage of Kiana marriages, 32.1%, are with persons
originally from Noorvik. This is the closest village to Kiana, about 45 min-
utes away by snowmachine during winter and an hour by boat in summer.
Not surprisingly, the two villages have close social and economic relation-
ships. For example, the largest number of visitors attending the Spring Carni-
val and snowmachine race at Kiana in 1975 were from Noorvik. The second
largest were from Selawik, and others came from all of the Kobuk River vil-
lages as well as from Kotzebue. Closer geographical proximity leads to closer
social interaction, which in turn results in a higher frequency of marriage.
59 <^
8@£> MODERN VILLAGE LIFE
Marriage Patterns of Kiana Residents in 1975
Premarital Residence
of Husband or Wife
Premarital Residence
of Spouse
Number
of Couples
Percentage
of Couples
Kiana
Kiana
10
17.9
Kiana
Noorvik
18
32.1
Kiana
Selawik
3
5.4
Kiana
Ambler, Shungnak, or
Kobuk
6
10.7
Kiana
Elsewhere in Alaska
5
8.9
Kiana
Lower 48 states
3
5.4
non- Kiana
non- Kiana
11
19.6
Total
56
100.0
In nearly one-fifth of Kiana marriages both spouses were non-Kiana
residents, but this is because five schoolteacher couples were part of the com-
puted data. Not many marriages occur between Kiana residents and people
from elsewhere in Alaska or from the other states. The majority of Kiana
marriages are exogamous, that is, between a resident and non-resident. Among
all the couples residing in Kiana, nearly half (44.6%) involve a woman from
another community married to a man from Kiana (patrilocal residence). By
contrast, only 1 7.9% of marriages involve a woman from Kiana residing there
with a non-Kiana man (matrilocal residence). Of the 11 couples involving
two spouses from outside Kiana, only six are Inupiat and the other five are
school teachers.
Ratio of Kiana Residents Married to Non-Kiana Residents in 1975
Premarital
Residence of
Husband or Wife
Premarital
Residence of
Spouse
Number of Kiana Residents
Percentage
Male
Female
Total
Male
Female
Total
Kiana
Noorvik
16
2
18
64.0
20.0
51.4
Kiana
Selawik
3
0
3
12.0
0.0
8.6
Kiana
Ambler,
Shungnak or
Kobuk
5
1
6
20.0
10.0
17.1
Kiana
Elsewhere in
Alaska
1
4
5
4.0
40.0
14.3
Kiana
Lower 48
states
0
3
3
0.0
30.0
8.6
Total
25
10
35
100.0
100.0
100.0
<@25»60
MODERN VILLAGE LIFE <@B
Marital Residence Pattern in Kiana in 1975
Marital Residence
Number of
Couples
Percentage
of Couples
Patrilocal. wife from elsewhere; lives with Kiana
husband in Kiana
25
44.6
Matrilocal: husband from elsewhere; lives with Kiana
wife in Kiana
10
17.9
Common: both spouses from Kiana
10
17.9
Neolocal: neither spouse from Kiana
11
19.6
Total
56
100.0
Noorvik: 1975 Population
While the majority of Kiana mar-
riages are exogamous, Noorvik's mar-
riages are predominantly endogamous,
that is, between two Noorvik residents
(57.8 %). The low percentage of
Noorvik-Kiana couples residing in
Noorvik after marriage (6.0%) contrasts
sharply with the 32.1% of Kiana-
Noorvik couples who settled in Kiana.
The percentage of Noorvik-Selawik
couples settling in Noorvik is slightly
higher (9.6%).
More spouses from the upper
Kobuk villages settled in Kiana than in
Noorvik, partly because Noorvik is far-
ther away than Kiana. As with Kiana,
the percentage of neolocal
couples is high because of
schoolteachers (7 couples)
from outside.
When a husband and
wife are both from the same
village, the couple usually
stays in their home commu-
nity after marriage. Also, in
Noorvik as in Kiana, more
married couples settled in the
husband's village than in the
wife's village.
Marriage Patterns of Noorvik Residents in 1975
Premarital Residence
of Husband or Wife
Premarital Residence
of Spouse
Number
of Couples
Percentage
of Couples
Noorvik
Noorvik
48
57.8
Noorvik
Kiana
5
6.0
Noorvik
Selawik
8
9.6
Noorvik
Ambler, Shungnak, or
Kobuk
1
1.2
Noorvik
Elsewhere in Alaska
8
9.6
Noorvik
Lower 48 states
2
2.4
non- Noorvik
non- Noorvik
11
13.3
Total
83
99.0
Marital Residence Pattern in Noorvik in 1975
Marital Residence
Number of
Couples
Percentage
of Couples
Patrilocal: wife from elsewhere; lives with Noorvik
husband in Noorvik
12
14.5
Matrilocal: husband from elsewhere; lives with
Noorvik wife in Noorvik
11
13.3
Common: both spouses from Noorvik
48
57.8
Neolocal: neither spouse from Noorvik
12
14.5
Total
83
100.0
61 <gs
fi£BS» MODERN VILLAGE LIFE
The Social Network
Movement Between Villages
Kobuk people have a variety of reasons for choosing to live in a particu-
lar village. For example, a number of social and economic factors discussed
below were mentioned by Kiana residents who explained their preference for
this community.
1. Job opportunities. It was the chance for employment in gold mining
operations that first drew settlers to Kiana. When these activities diminished,
many people stayed on and adapted to an evolving subsistence-wage economy.
At present, employment in other areas attracts a number of residents away
from Kiana, but most such employment is temporary.
2. Subsistence resources. According to a Kiana resident whose parents
were among the first group to settle there, some of the original residents chose
to stay because of the area's abundant food resources and fur-bearing ani-
mals. A journalist who visited Kiana in 1938 wrote that the settlement of
about 20 white and 125 Natives had an ideal environment for subsistence
living. During all of the Depression, he wrote, the people needed no outside
relief:
They have their reindeer herds, their hunting and fishing, to all of
which industries they give good heed. There is abundant supply of
spruce for the making of their simple one room homes and for fuel
and the dogs still satisfy their need for speed and for transporta-
tion.
The muskrat hunting in and around the delta of the Kobuk is one
of the chief resources of income from furs. One fifteen year old
boy got ninety-nine with a .22 rifle. One of the local traders told
me that from forty to fifty thousand were taken last season ( 1 937)
alone in or near the delta of this Kobuk River.
In addition to muskrats, there are in their season, foxes, both red
and silver gray; mink of exceptionally fine quality, land otter, er-
mine, and wolves... Duck and geese are common in spring and
fall. Rabbits and ptarmigan often caught by the women in snares
during the winter add much to the family supply of food. (The
Fairbanks News Miner, 1938:2-3)
Access to subsistence resources, particularly fish, is still one of the rea-
sons people give for selecting Kiana as a place to live. Kiana is also strategi-
cally located for hunting caribou, which can often be found near the Hunt
River if there are no herds in the village area itself.
3. Population. Many people originally from Noorvik chose to settle in
Kiana because this small community had ample land available for homesites,
and its lower population meant less competition for subsistence resources.
Some Noorvik families who moved to Kiana had no relatives there to lend
assistance or support.
62
MODERN VILLAGE LIFE <M
4. Kiana relatives. A few Noorvik families who moved to Kiana had
relatives there already — a parent, sibling, or more distant kin. Their pres-
ence, plus the subsistence resources or other opportunities, attracted more
members of the family to Kiana.
5. Access to imported goods. The stores in Kiana have more com-
plete stocks, compared with stores in the other Kobuk villages. Residents
of Noorvik or even Kotzebue sometimes buy merchandise from Kiana stores
because it is unavailable in their own community.
6. Marriage. As discussed earlier, many men and some women from
Kiana bring spouses here from other communities. Factors like those men-
tioned above may influence the couple to live in Kiana, in addition to the
common pattern for a wife to move to her husband's village.
Obviously the Kuuvarjmiut are a mobile people. Kin and marriage
factors aside, they are willing to move within the region to find employ-
ment, access to subsistence resources, and the best overall quality of life.
Many present-day Kiana residents moved from place to place along the
Kobuk and Selawik rivers before eventually settling in Kiana. Indeed, should
conditions worsen in Kiana and better opportunities arise elsewhere in the
region, many Kiana residents might well move again. As it is, a few Kiana
families spend part of the year away with the other spouse's family or
move to another village for part of the year for employment. Added to this
is the mobility caused by fluctuations in subsistence resources. People feel
a strong dependence on these traditional resources, and access to fish and
game is a major consideration in where they choose to live. Mobility is
basic to the Kuuvar/miut way of life, and it is likely to remain so in the
foreseeable future.
Linking the Villages
The population of each village is a composite of people who were
born there and people who came from elsewhere. This means that each
family in a particular village will have relatives by blood or marriage in the
neighboring communities. This network of kinship relations throughout
the region has pervasive effects on subsistence.
An inland village like Kiana still makes use of marine products as
part of its subsistence economy, depending on contacts with coastal people.
For example, members of one family said they were very fortunate to have
in-laws in Kotzebue who provide their yearly supply of seal oil. Those
without coastal kin try to establish formal trading partnerships, as their
ancestors did in the past. Several people from Kiana went to the 1 975 spring
whaling feast at Point Hope, stayed there with relatives or trading partners,
and returned home with maktak, whale meat, and other choice parts of the
whale they had received. In anticipation, they had worked hard to put up a
good supply of dried and half-dried fish, dried meat, and frozen berries to
take along for their Point Hope partners. Similar exchanges take place among
inland villagers.
63
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MODERN VILLAGE LIFE
Without a relative or trading partner to provide them, subsistence prod-
ucts are sometimes purchased, but even here friendship or a quasi-kin rela-
tionship is important. In the early spring of 1975, the caribou in the moun-
tains around Kiana were lean, but near Selawik they were very fat. A Selawik
man brought several of these caribou to Kiana in his sled. He sold them to
families who were originally from Selawik and to an elderly lady for whom a
member of his family was named. Whenever people acquire subsistence prod-
ucts from other villages, they go about it through some preexisting kin rela-
tionship, partnership, or other social tie.
These relationships are involved in a whole range of social and eco-
nomic interactions between villages. Residents of any Kobuk River village
have relatives in one or more of the other communities. Whenever they come
to another village for a church meeting, spring carnival, holiday celebration,
marriage, funeral or simply a social visit, people can count on hospitality in
the homes of relatives, friends, or partners. These contacts strengthen and
increase the number of bonds between community members throughout the
region. The all-important marriage bonds are often based on relationships
that begin when young people visit relatives in another village.
Within a village, everyone interacts with everyone else, but there are
closer and more frequent interactions between relatives and friends who origi-
nally came from the same home community. A person's identity with his or
her home village is strong. This is emphasized by the fact that even when
someone moves to a spouse's village at marriage, that person continues to be
identified as a native of his or her community of birth. For example, a resi-
dent of Kiana who came from Noorvik several decades back may still be
referred to as a Noorvik woman.
If a person has no relatives in an adopted village, he or she will usually
turn to someone else with the same home village for aid or moral support.
Thus, a widowed woman might become formal partners with another woman
from her home village. If she had no transportation, her partner could invite
her along on fishing and berry picking trips; and she could receive meat from
game brought in by her partner's husband. In Kiana, when activities such as
hunting, seining, gill netting, and berry picking are not done jointly by rela-
tives, they are done by partners from the same home village. Also, the people
who most often visit one another socially from day to day are either close
relatives or home village friends.
The Partnership
Kobuk villagers often express a sentiment that it is good to have chil-
dren. Their families are generally large, not only because the Kuuvarjmiut
love children but also because they need them. Each mother hopes for a daugh-
ter to help her with the housework, gathering, and fishing. And it is important
to have a son who can join the father in activities such as hunting and main-
taining equipment. Thus, a family with only daughters will probably adopt a
son, and vice versa. Natural and adopted children usually have a close rela-
MODERN VILLAGE LIFE <g^a
tionship and give solid support to their family. When parents become eld-
erly and inactive, they often depend heavily on their children. For example,
a widowed woman in one village is supplied with firewood by the husband
of her adopted daughter, while her son and daughter-in-law provide her
with fish and meat.
Within the village, people who join together for subsistence activi-
ties are generally relatives. In seining, gill netting, and berry picking, the
working team is usually a mother and her daughters or a team of sisters,
sisters-in-law, or cousins. Among the men, brothers and brothers-in-law
sometimes hunt together. Relatives who do things together sometimes re-
fer to each other as "partner," using the English word, but they are not
partners in the traditional sense of the word.
People who become partners within a village are generally close school
friends or friends who come from the same home village. Sometimes a
partnership is formed between widows who come from different home
villages, but have neither blood relatives in the village where they now live
nor a home village friend to establish a partnership with. The following
types of partnerships make up a formal non-kin network that is an impor-
tant element of Kuuvarjmiut subsistence living.
Kuvraqatigiik — fishing partners. The name for this partnership de-
rives from kuvraq, or fishing net, and -qatigiik(the dual form) which means
together or each other. It is a partnership between two women who own a
seining net and use it together. In the old days, they both contributed mate-
rials for a willow bark net and worked long, hard hours together to make it.
Nowadays, they jointly purchase the expensive net, rope, and floats. One
village woman told us that her partner already had the sections of a net, so
she contributed by joining these sections and by supplying the rope and
floats. The partners seine and cut fish together, and later divide the catch
equally between them. At least three or four people are needed for seining,
so the partners usually take along one of their children or a husband to
help. The kuvraqatigiik partnership is exclusively for seining, because most
women own their own gill nets and use them independently.
Suuraqatigiik — real partners. This word derives from suuraq which
means things, wealth, or treasure, and -qatigiik meaning together or each
other. This partnership is between two women who "do everything together"
as well as "have things together." They own a seine and go seining to-
gether, as fishing partners do, and sometimes they do gill netting together
as well. They also go berry picking and plant gathering together, but in
berrying each partner keeps whatever she has picked. When the husband
of one of the partners gets a game animal, part of it will be shared with his
wife's partner. The fact that these partners share and cooperate in all joint
subsistence activities makes them "real partners."
Piqatigiik — two persons who help each other. This is a transitory type
of partnership between either men or women. Two women who sometimes
MODERN VILLAGE LIFE
set and check gill nets together become piqatigiik. Since the nets are not jointly
owned, the catch is not divided in halves. Men can become piqatigiik when
they travel together, as when one provides the boat and the outboard motor
and the other provides the gas.
Arjuqatigiik — hunting partners of the same sex, either male or female.
In the latter case, it is usually for small game hunting, but it may be for hunt-
ing large game if the women are widows who must obtain meat for their
families.
Tuyuqtuutiruk (plural) — partners who send things to each other. This is
the trading partnership, which is often between inland and coastal people but
may also involve inland partners who trade for the local resources each would
like to have. In this type of relationship the partners can be of the same sex or
opposite sexes.
Nuliaqatigiik — a traditional partnership of two men who exchanged
wives.
Niuviq (singular), niuvigiich (plural) — general term for partners who
help each other in various ways and do not have to "pay" for it. One Kuuvarjmiut
villager stated that niuviq is a term used by Inupiat who live on the coast.
According to Burch (1970:52-53), the term is used by Inupiat between the
mouth of the Colville River and the southern coast of Seward Peninsula. Three
additional terms used to refer to partners in general are paatnaq, ilagiik, and
ikayuqtigiik.
Although a partnership usually involves joint activities between two
people, a third person such as a husband may help his wife and her partner.
Groups who work together in subsistence activities are not always exclu-
sively kin or partners, but may be a combination of both. For example, two
women who were "real partners," or suuraqatigiik, were joined in fishing by
a daughter of one partner. In a smelt-seining operation we observed, the larg-
est group consisted of five families plus the non-kin partner of a woman from
one of the families.
Although work groups are important in Kuuvarjmiut subsistence activi-
ties, this is not their only function. Both the kin work group and the non-kin
partnership spring from close social interactions, and long-term cooperation
helps to strengthen the bonds between families.
Division of Labor
Subsistence activities profoundly affect the economic and social struc-
tures of Kobuk villagers. This is not only true of large social groups like the
extended family, but also of the smallest group — the husband and wife. A
Kobuk River wife cooks, keeps the house, makes and mends clothing, raises
the children, and, in some cases, works outside the home as a wage earner,
just as an urban wife does. But beyond this, she is her husband's most impor-
tant partner in traditional subsistence pursuits.
The Kuuvarjmiut woman's day is usually long and arduous. Her burden
of work varies, depending on how many children she has to care for and how
MODERN VILLAGE LIFE <ffffii
many are grown enough to take on some of the responsibilities. In years
past, the wife was expected to make clothing for everyone in the family.
Nowadays, the availability of mail-order clothing lessens this duty, but
many women still make skin boots, parkas, and other traditional items.
Those who have sewing machines also make calico and corduroy parkas
for everyday wear. And some women knit woolen mittens, socks,
headbands, and baby booties for family members, relatives, or friends.
Although fishing is less vital to Kobuk village economics than it was
before caribou and moose became readily available, it remains a signifi-
cant activity during much of the year. Men focus on hook-and-Iine fishing
and on the process of making and using traps, while women are mainly
responsible for the seining and gill netting. Women cut and dry the large
proportion offish catches that must be stored for later use. Husbands some-
times help with seining and with gill netting if no one else is available and
they are not working away from the village.
Big game hunting and trapping are considered men's responsibili-
ties. Caribou, moose, and other large animals are gutted and quartered where
they are hunted, but once animals are brought home the women are re-
sponsible for cutting the meat and preparing it for use or storage. Both men
and women hunt small game such as hares and ptarmigan; when they ac-
company their husbands on muskrat hunting trips, women also help in tak-
ing muskrats.
Berry picking and wild plant gathering are done more by women
than by men, but they have become family activities. Often everyone joins
together for an outing that may last only one day or involve some camping.
A joint activity in former times was building a birchbark kayak. Men col-
lected the bark and women collected spruce pitch needed for the boat. Then
it was men who made the frame and stitched the birchbark together with
spruce roots, while women prepared the pitch and put it on the stitched
seams (Giddings 1961:38).
In the upper Kobuk villages, birchbark baskets are made primarily by
the women today, and most are sold for cash. Handmade skin boots, par-
kas, and other clothing are also a home industry for some Kuuvarjmiut
women.
A small number of Kobuk villagers are employed outside their homes
in part time or full time jobs. These include women who become teacher's
aides, health aides, secretaries to Native organizations, and cooks in the
schools. The Kiana magistrate in 1974 and 1975 was a woman. Women
also work on forest fire fighting squads during the summer. Those who are
wage earners continue their subsistence activities outside of working hours
and during vacations. They fish and go gathering to the same extent that
unemployed housewives do, because the kind of food they can buy does
not adequately replace the traditional food they prefer for their families.
With the approach of old age, men and women gradually shift away
from intense participation in subsistence activities, but they take an in-
67 <ggi
fl^S» MODERN VILLAGE LIFE
creasingly important role as advisors. For example, a group of people was
seining smelt on the lower Kobuk River, apparently with good success. But
after the elderly woman who owned the net looked on for a while, she gave a
few instructions. When the crew followed her advice their catch immediately
increased. Some women continue gill netting and fish cutting until their late
seventies. One Kiana woman in her seventies not only does the gill netting
and gathering with her husband, but also goes with him to hunt large and
small game; and she collects and chops firewood. Babysitting their grand-
children is another important occupation for most older women, and it is a
task they gladly accept.
The partnership of husband and wife is essential for subsistence living.
One woman remarked that when her first husband passed away her children
were still very young, and she had to do all the hunting, fishing, gathering of
firewood, and other subsistence activities by herself. If a widow is not al-
ready living in her home village, she will usually move back, so that her male
relatives can provide her with meat and others can give her whatever help she
and her children need. The widowed husband has an even harder time, be-
cause he has to maintain the housework and care for the children while con-
tinuing his hunting activities. Thus, economic necessity as well as the need
for companionship and love are strong motives for widows and widowers to
remarry whenever they can.
Sex roles and the division of labor are not rigidly defined in Kuuvaijmiut
communities. If a husband is disabled, the wife often becomes the hunter of
the family, unless they have a son who can assume this responsibility or they
can afford to buy meat from others. An unmarried woman with children will
often hunt to feed her family. A husband takes on the responsibilities of cook-
ing and caring for the children when his wife leaves the village temporarily.
The attitude is that one does what needs to be done, and people respect a
family that makes a living for itself without requiring the help of others.
Child Training
Self-reliance and readiness to help others are among the values empha-
sized in Inupial culture. Early in their childhood the Kuuvarjmiut learn these
values and the roles that are expected of them. This is illustrated by the com-
ment of an eight-year-old girl: "You should have children; they can help you
work." Small children are trained to be helpful by running errands for their
families, such as carrying messages to other houses or getting things from the
store. Adults from outside the family also ask children to do errands for them
and contribute in this way to their training. The children always comply, and
they are rewarded with praise. People feel that the earlier a child is trained the
better he or she will be as a worker.
By the time the children are eight or nine years old, this helpful attitude
extends beyond their own homes to the old people in the village, particularly
those who live alone. The boys help with hauling water, getting firewood,
and running other errands; the girls do similar jobs and help with the house-
work. They are rewarded with gifts, food, and sometimes money to buy treats
at the store.
®» 68
MODERN VILLAGE LIFE <gffia
An eight-year-old daughter can relieve her mother of a great deal of
housework, such as cooking simply dishes, cleaning the house, helping
with the laundry, and caring for younger siblings. By this age, she has also
participated in berry picking and knows where some of the rich picking
spots are located. Girls as young as six or seven start learning the first
stages offish cutting and scaling. For example, a little girl who tired of
playing while some women were cutting fish asked her mother if she could
try scaling. She was given a dull knife and a small fish, and then she simply
imitated the way the adults were doing it.
In another fish-cutting session, an older girl had her first try at cutting
after she saw a friend have fun at it. The adults kept an eye on her, but gave
no verbal instruction unless she asked for it or made a serious mistake.
They ignored small mistakes so she would not be discouraged. The fish
was pretty well mangled and she felt embarrassed by it; but a woman con-
soled her, saying, "It's O.K. It's your first fish!" Kuuvaijmiut stress obser-
vation and imitation as the best ways to learn, and they rarely give verbal
instruction.
Boys' training is also done by this learning-through-doing method.
For example, a boy helps his father with spring maintenance and repairs on
the family's boat and outboard motor. If he is 14 or 15 years of age, his
parents might give him an old boat that he and his friends can fix up before
the river opens in spring. Should they be lucky enough to have an outboard
motor, they can use the boat for muskrat and ptarmigan hunting once the
ice is gone. A boy usually begins learning how to make a sled or repair a
snowmachine in his late teens or early twenties. Also, the village school
may teach these skills as part of a workshop program.
Since hooking fish is part of a man's job, the father usually takes his
sons along whenever he goes out. Learning to hunt for big game begins at
11 or 12 years of age, when a son starts accompanying his father on hunt-
ing trips. Later, as an older teenager, the son will hunt with friends of the
same age. Some older, unmarried girls also learn how to hunt, and they
generally go out with another girl or with the family.
Children's play often parallels the adults' activities and in this way
helps them to learn practical skills. Girls play at cooking and keeping house.
When small boys go around with slingshots in the spring, they learn preci-
sion aiming. During the spring and summer, small children can often be
found on the river bank with their fishing rods, and sometimes they are
rewarded with a catch.
Children's seasonal round of imitative play closely parallels the adults'
subsistence activities. In spring, when the adults are intent on bird hunting,
the children are also busy trying to get small birds with slingshots. When
the adults are traveling the river in boats, children can be found at the river
bank playing with toy boats made from a flat piece of wood with a string
attached. During the fishing season the children fish too. And when the
adults begin to drive snowmachines on the fall snow, little boys go around
pushing toy sleds their fathers have made for them.
69 *&
I^f&3> MODERN VILLAGE LIFE
Noorvik Village Life
While life in a Kobuk River village is a blend of both Kuuvarjmiut and
western traditions, it is also a single, coherent, and largely consistent flow of
activities. The following is Nita Sheldon Towarak's description of life in her
home village of Noorvik, as she experienced it in the early 1970s.
The yearly activities and special occasions that she describes are typical
of those in all Kobuk communities.
Early Spring
In spring the river ice is rotten and unsafe, so the villagers must do a lot
of walking on land. There is constant daylight, and men leave the village in
late afternoon to spend the "night" hours hunting ducks along the lakes and
streams. Because so much walking is involved, it is mostly the younger people
who hunt in this season.
Memorial Day. On Memorial Day everyone in the village who can
walk and who has relatives buried in the cemetery goes to the graveyard.
Since the ice is still rotten, people may have to walk as much as three miles.
They spend a good part of the day at the graves, cleaning and changing the
artificial flowers, sitting around eating, and enjoying the springtime. Although
some people may cry a little, they accept the fact that their mother, father,
husband, or wife has died and they just sit at the grave site, feeling once again
close to the dead person.
Funerals. When someone in a village dies, everyone stops whatever he
or she is doing. They stop fishing or working, even if they are employed by a
company. They become very solemn, and the sense of death can be felt through
the stillness that descends on the village. If a husband dies, for example, the
wife and other close relatives will show a lot of emotion. No one holds back,
and all cry and stay close to her.
In preparation for burial, people first clean the body and then dress it in
new clothes. The body is kept in the village for at least two days. Meanwhile
all the men and some of the women go to the Friends Church where the men
work all day and late into the night building a coffin. The women make coffee
or serve food for men who do not go home for lunch or supper. Usually ev-
eryone in the village helps at one time or another. After they put a sheet or
some other white material into the coffin, they bring the body to the church
and put it in the coffin. If the person has died while away in the city, the body
is returned to the village in a commercial coffin.
Relatives come from all the Kobuk River villages, no matter how dis-
tant the relationship might be, and even if they never knew the one who died.
In the western world, a cousin (for example) who did not know the person
that died is under no obligation to attend the funeral. But in the Kobuk vil-
lages, there is such a strong blood tie that everyone shows up for the funeral,
even the dead person's atiuns (namesakes) from other villages.
When the funeral service begins, close relatives sit in front in the church
by the coffin, and more distant relatives sit behind them. After the minister
B@>70
MODERN VILLAGE LIFE «@B
says a prayer the mourners join in singing hymns, usually somber ones.
Then the minister talks a little, people say prayers, and finally they walk up
to view the body for the last time. The last persons to see the deceased are
the closest relatives. People who have seen the body then leave the church
and wait outside. Usually six men help to put the cover on the coffin and
carry it outside.
Noorvik has two grave sites, one three miles away by trail or a half-
mile away by boat, the other about two miles south of the village. Nowa-
days burials are often made closer to the village so that the trip to the grave
will not be so far. For instance, a woman whose husband was buried near
the village goes to his burial spot about once a week, taking along her
small children because they miss their father. The youngest child does not
understand where his father is and expects to see him, which makes these
visits more emotional.
Marriage. In the Kobuk River villages, marriage is much less formal
than it is in the city or the lower 48 states. Long ago the Kuuvarjmiut did
not have formal marriages. If a man liked a woman, he went to stay with
the woman's parents and helped them however he could. If her parents
accepted him, they gave their daughter to him. Nowadays a couple usually
first lives together, and most women have a child before marriage. When
the couple decides to marry, they go to Kotzebue for blood tests and then
to the judge for the marriage. The marriage is simple. There is usually no
white dress and no tuxedo — the couple gets married in jeans. When they
come back to the village they pass out big cans of candy to everybody, or
they may pass out soda pop or have a big party.
Late Spring
When the ice breaks up, everyone stays by the river bank and watches
it go. With high water on the river and throughout the lowlands, the people
are eager for boating. Many villagers hunt for muskrats, then dry the meat
or boil it for eating. For dried muskrat the animals are gutted and then two
carcasses are tied together by the tails and hung up in the open air. The
skins are saved for making parkas. After the ice is gone, some people travel
to spring camps and set nets for whitefish and pike. They also hunt ducks
that are flying north at the beginning of summer, and everyone looks for-
ward to adding this favorite food to their menu.
A Spring Camp Diary. In the early summer of 1975, Nita Sheldon
went to a traditional camp with others from her home village of Noorvik.
The following are slightly edited excerpts from a diary she kept and con-
tributed as part of her work on this volume.
Makkaksraq Camp
Monday, 6/2/75, 1:30 AM
Left Noorvik at 7:30 PM and arrived at Makkaksraq Camp about
1 1 :30 PM. In our party were Billy, Aggie, Valeria, Tilmer, and
71 «»
B^2> MODERN VILLAGE LIFE
I along with one dog and many things necessary for one week of
camp. We left Noorvik with a full boatload and made our first stop
one river bend away from the village, where Billy shot two ducks.
Because the ducks are just beginning to arrive, they shoot any they
see just as long as it's in shooting range. After about an hour's
traveling we stopped on a bluff and had coffee, tea, dried meat,
homemade doughnuts, and crackers. Angie and Gordon stopped
and joined us. They have been down near Makkaksraq, where they
set up a tent and stove. They will be heading back down to their
camp tomorrow. We stayed there about a half hour. There was still
snow around.
After snacking and sharing a few words we were on our way again.
It was a slow trip, and we made another stop where Billy again
shot a duck. About 1 Vi hours before we got to Makkaksraq, fog
started to roll in, making visibility very poor. The wind was blow-
ing and we were being splashed, but we were kept dry by plastic
sheeting. Our driver Billy didn't have a raincoat on, so by the time
we got to Makkaksraq he was soaked right down to his skin. We
saw a lot of ducks on the way but they were too far to shoot at. We
also passed Milugiuvik, Doug Brown's camp, and Snell's camp.
We finally got to Makkaksraq some four hours after leaving
Noorvik. When we got there we met Maggie, her nephew, her four
kids, Ruth and Raymond George and their two kids, and Fred and
Alta Jack and their son. We got here to the most welcome, warm
tent of the Georges. Their tent has been here all year, but luckily it
didn't flood much during this year's breakup or else it would have
been wiped out. Also, if snow had gotten in the tent it would have
been very wet.
We had hot coffee and tea, and Ruth had caribou meat boiling on a
red-hot wood stove. All of the other families were in there, so it
was a little crowded but very warm and the atmosphere was friendly.
For dinner we had boiled duck meat, tuttu (caribou) meat and dried
caribou with seal oil; after that we had tea with crackers. After
sitting around talking for some time each family went back to their
tents. During the time when dinner was being cooked, Billy and
the other men pitched up our tent.
Everyone is finally in bed now, but conversations can still be heard
from the other two tents.
Makkaksraq Camp
Tuesday, 6/3/75, 1:20 AM
Weather: Foggy, windy, and cold, similar to yesterday's weather.
Today we ate big meals. Val, Tilmer, and I woke up at 10 AM and
ate hot cakes for breakfast in our own tents, but ten minutes later
we were called to the Georges' tent for a big meal. Two big pots of
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MODERN VILLAGE LIFE <@B
duck soup were cooked. Aggie and Billy had gotten up at 6:30
this morning and went hunting while us kids were asleep. There
were about 12 people in the tent, and it was a very good meal.
After lunch Maggie, Aggie, and I went to put their nets out,
right across from the camp. About three hours later we went
and checked them. Six or ten pike and whitefish were caught in
each net, and Maggie had put out two nets. Maggie's net caught
a big siulik (pike), so Aggie boiled it in a pot outside on a camp-
fire. Then we had another big meal at Ruth's tent. We also had
boiled siulik intestines. Then for dessert we had blueberries that
Maggie had brought from Noorvik. There were conversations
during the meal but mainly joking around.
All day there has been scolding of the kids for various reasons.
One main reason is that the children should not go in the boat or
near the water because it is very murky and cold, and the cur-
rent is swift. No one would have a chance to survive in it. There
would be chaos if a kid were to fall in. Although some of the
parents let their frustrations out on their children by scolding
them, the parents tend to get more lovable toward the evening.
This is probably because their strenuous work has been done,
and the only thing they have to worry about is going to bed.
One cannot help but notice the most popular tent in this camp.
It's Ruth's tent, which is the center one, although the position
hardly has anything to do with popularity. The tent has a wood
stove which is usually kept burning continuously, whereas the
other tents have Coleman stoves. These are usually on only when
necessary because gasoline costs so much; it has to be rationed
out according to how many days they will stay at camp. The
Georges' tent is somewhat like a house; it has a wood frame,
plyboard walls, and wood flooring. Because of its continuous
heat and comforts of a house, it drew us when we were cold and
hungry.
Our meals are like a potluck, where everyone contributes food
at one time or another. I could tell that the Makkaksraq Channel
has abundance of various game and fish, mainly sheefish, pike,
and whitefish. We have ducks of all kinds, and tuttu (caribou)
that was brought from Noorvik. Everyone eats like we haven't
eaten in a long time. They mention that once we go back to
Noorvik we will just go hungry, because when you're at camp,
food is kayumik (it always tastes so good).
After lunch Donna (age 10), Val (age 10), Yogi (age 1 1), and I
went for a walk up in the higher grounds. We ate cranberries
and blackberries left over from last year. Now and then we would
find a bunch that birds hadn't already feasted on. I also picked
tilaaqqiuq (Labrador tea) and brought it back to camp with me.
13 ^<U-X
®f> MODERN VILLAGE LIFE
Then Maggie and I went to check nets. Aggie's net caught five
whitefish while Maggie's two nets caught 25 whitefish and pike.
This time our dinner was a little small. We ate leftovers: a whole
potful of untouched duck soup that we didn't eat at lunch time.
After all dishes were done we settled to a game of Pit — Ray, Ruth,
Maggie, Aggie, Billy, and I. It was foggy and cold so we couldn't
do much.
Makkaksraq Camp
Wednesday, 6/4/75, 1 1 :00 PM
Today has been a similar day, weatherwise. As usual it was foggy,
windy, and cold. After breakfast Aggie, Maggie, and I went to
check nets. Aggie got half a tub and Maggie got almost a tubful.
Women tend to go check nets alone when more than one woman is
in camp. Maggie's outboard motor wasn't running so she has been
going with Aggie. Ruth checks her net with her husband.
For lunch we had roasted whitefish and two whitefish that I tinfoiled
separately and cooked in an outside fire. Also Billy made qauraq
with one pike and two whitefish. Qauraq is an Eskimo way of
cooking fish, the only method that was used long ago when there
were no pots and pans. You poke a sturdy willow through the fish
without taking the insides out and bore the stick into the ground by
the fire, continually turning it from side to side as long as the heat
will permit it. You do not let the fire flame up or it will burn the
fish; get green willow wood and let it burn until it turns to hot
coals. Then it will gradually cook the fish.
After a big dinner at the Georges' again, Aggie and I plucked three
ducks and she roasted them over the open fire outside. There wasn't
much to do, so I made a fish rack four feet high for Valeria to hang
her fish eggs on. I put three forked willows on each end so they
can hold up and then put a center willow to hang eggs on.
There was another big meal but I wasn't hungry. My stomach has
been giving problems from overeating, so I resigned from supper.
There is a graveyard here with Raymond's namesake grandfather
and his two brothers buried in it.
NoorvikSaturday, 6/7/75, 12:30 PM
Haven't been writing for couple of days. I'm recuperating from a
head cold I got from the foggy Makkaksraq. I came back here to
Noorvik with Valeria and Bobby S. on Thursday night 1 :00 AM,
after we left the camp at 1 1:30 PM. It was a little faster coming
home because Bobby bought a new motor; I think it was a 55-
horse, and he also bought a used speed boat from Willard.
It is a little different coming back. Time had little meaning at camp,
and work and eat and sleep were the main activities. Now I find
74
MODERN VILLAGE LIFE <ffffiB
that it is a little lonely coming back to all the luxury of material
objects. Although all these comforts make life easy, I also seem
to lose my identity in one way or another. At camp everyone
was expected to help at one time or another, but when you come
back here you don't have to lift a finger if you don't want to.
Although we came back late there were still 15 to 25 people
walking around having really nothing to do. Most of these young
people easily fall into a late-to-bed and late-to-rise pattern, so
most of them don't go to bed until one or three in the morning.
Summer
During summer the people gather sourdock and wild rhubarb. Sourdock
is eaten cooked and eaten by itself, cooked with whitefish liver, or put in
barrels and saved for winter. Later on the salmonberries and blueberries
begin to ripen, and it is usually the women who pick them. Women who are
related or who are best friends go out together on all-day excursions, and
sometimes men go, too. People try to go every afternoon if they can.
Usually the women check their fish nets in the morning, and around
Noorvik they might average about 15 salmon a day each. Salmon first
come up the river around the middle of June and run heavier in July. Women
also get whitefish and pike. Villagers get smelt in the springtime, too, but
not so many since a little girl was drowned by the bluff across from Noorvik.
While her parents were catching smelt the bank caved in and she fell in the
water and drowned. Smelt fishing has declined since then.
In summertime the women go to the beach, check their nets, cut the
salmon, and then go home for lunch after they finish. They also build smudge
fires under the fish, using rotten wood that makes a lot of smoke and keeps
the flies away. At this season the women are kept busy from morning to
late afternoon.
A Summer Camp Diary. In early summer the villagers try to spend
some time living in fish camps. One of these camps is A maanmunaaq, and
when Nita Sheldon stayed there with her family she kept a diary. The fol-
lowing are slightly edited excerpts from it.
Amaamnunaaq Camp
Friday, 6/27/75, 11:00 PM
Dad, Mom, Allen, Sharon, and I left Noorvik at 6:30 PM, after
Dad finished work at the post office. We got here to
Amaamnunaaq at 8:00 tonight. This is my mother's parents'
camp; they've been coming here ever since I remember, and
my mother was practically brought up here.
Viola (Mom's sister) and Lee Barr were camping here last week,
and they left their tent up so we stayed in it. There is a lookout
tower here that was built about 25 years ago, and a cache that is
75 <$*!
B@» MODERN VILLAGE LIFE
about the same age. The tower is very useful, because it gives a
view of the surrounding area. There are a lot of lakes, so if some-
one spots a moose from the tower they can pinpoint the exact po-
sition. There is also an underground storage place at this camp that
is used in summer to keep food cool or refrigerated. Lee B. and
Mom's youngest brother Leo are building a new log cabin here.
The walls are done but it has no roof yet. I guess their work will
resume this fall.
We didn't eat supper, so when we arrived here Mom fried some
caribou meat we had brought from our freezer in Noorvik. We
also had homemade doughnuts that Mom made this morning, as
well as cookies and tea. After eating, we went to the slough across
from our camp and put out a net. Pike are still running. According
to Mom, whitefish should also start running in about a week —
about the Fourth of July.
While Mom and Dad were putting a net out a pike got caught, so
we decided to wait around a bit. Dad hooked up a rod and reel, and
he caught two pike with it in about 1 0 minutes. We didn't stay too
long, but we checked the net before leaving and it had caught four
more pike. When we got back Dad listened to Eskimo story on the
radio and 1 checked out the tower. It's a little shaky but it's still
sturdy, and it gives a good view of the camp surroundings.
Amaamnunaaq Camp
Saturday, 6/28/75, 12 midnight
Woke up at 8:00 this morning. It was cloudy today and it looks
like it will rain. Yesterday was a nice day, sunny.
Mom and Dad went to check the net at 8:30 this morning, when
Allen and I were just getting up and Sharon was still asleep. Mom
had already cooked when I woke up, and we had sourdough hot
cakes for breakfast. They came back with their catch — 1-1/2 tubs
of pike and whitefish — so 1 went and helped Mom scale (kavisiiqsi)
and then she cut the fish herself. When lunch time came around,
Mom roasted three choice whitefish along with some potatoes. It
was a good and delicious lunch because the fish were fresh.
After lying around for a couple of hours after lunch, we went across to
the lakes that can be reached from the slough where our net is set. We
went to the farthest lake and landed on the other side, and there Dad
got some old dried-up trees for wood. I picked tilaaqqiuq (Labrador
tea) and we ate some cranberries that were still there from last fall.
They were fresh and juicy because the snow had just melted. Looks
like there will be a lot of cranberries this year, and there are a lot of
aqpiqutaq (salmonberry flowers that will eventually turn to berries).
On the way out of the second lake we stopped and picked a whole
armload of quagaq (sourdock). We also stopped at the net and
checked it again. We got another 1 14 tubs, all pike and whitefish.
®>76
MODERN VILLAGE LIFE «
$£
When we got back to camp at 4:00 PM, we started working on
the fish. Dad scaled the pike because they are harder to scale
than whitefish. And Allen, who is nine years old, scaled the
whitefish. Mom and I did the cutting. I'm really learning how to
cut fish.
When we finished with the process of cutting, washing, and
hanging the fish, Mom started cooking dinner. We had aqiaguq
(intestines) and quagaq for dinner. Mom boiled the quagaq and
put cooked liver and a little sugar in with it. Really delicious.
After supper Allen, Sharon, and I paddled across to the slough,
and we caught two pike in no time. The fish were biting but we
couldn't hook them. Allen got the prize fish. We stayed for only
half an hour because it started to sprinkle a bit. The dark, black
clouds had been threatening us all day. Everyone is asleep now
and I can hear birds beginning to chirp.
This morning Dad fell into the slough when he was putting the
support stick of the net back into the water. What they do is
stick the pole into the underwater mud so it can keep the net
even and straight. To check the net they untie one end, pull the
net into the river bank, take all the fish out, and then pull the net
back out again. The slough is not very long but it is deep.
Amaamnunaaq Camp
Sunday, 6/29/75, 10:30 PM
Everyone else is in bed now. Mom is drinking tea in bed, I'm
sitting near the wood stove drinking tea with tilaaqqiuq, Dad is
reading, and Sharon and Allen are asleep. I can hear the wind
blowing and there is a light rain shower, but it's getting clearer.
This morning we woke up late. I woke up at 10:30 AM, after
everyone else had already gotten up. For lunch we had a choice
of wieners, intestines, doughnuts, and tea. We just laid around
until about 1:30 this afternoon and then we took off to visit
Daniel Sheldon and his family (Mom's brother).
On the way, we were so busy looking at someone's camp that no
one noticed the moose to our left. I saw a movement, and there was
a bull moose running along the side of the river; then it took off
into the willows. Dad ran after it to see where it was going, and he
said it was slowly walking in the opposite direction. He also said
that moose sleep in the afternoon, so we must have awakened it.
He told us that this is the best time of year to get them, and since it
wasn't an old moose it must have been the right type. We went to
Daniel's camp through Narvagruuraq, which is a big lake, and
then there is a slough leading to their camp. When we arrived there
was only an empty tent, so we went on to Aquppak's (Louie
Commack's) camp about two bends away.
g^'p- MODERN VILLAGE LIFE
When we got to their camp Nauyaq, his wife, was cooking caribou
soup on the wood stove that she placed outside the tent. Annie (her
granddaughter) was putting wood in the stove. Aquppak and Arthur,
his grandson, were watching curiously to see who was coming.
The sun was shining so we all sat around outside, but there were a
lot of mosquitos. They didn't seem to bother the older people but
they were really beginning to bug me.
Arthur, Allen, and Sharon started playing. Annie told me she found
a bird nest (pikiut), and this morning she was feeding the feather-
less babies with worms. She showed me where they were and they
were really tiny. Then we sat around until the soup was done and
we ate outside on the ground. The soup was made with meat, maca-
roni, potatoes, rice, and chopped onion, and we also had crackers,
bread, intestines, canned fruit, and tea. It was a delicious meal.
Annie and I did dishes while the others lazed around and the chil-
dren resumed their playing. After doing dishes Annie told me I could
go read in her tent, so I did, because I couldn't stand the mosquitos.
Meanwhile the older people were talking and telling stories.
About 6:00 this evening we decided to head back because the wind
was beginning to blow and the clouds were gathering. On the way
back we saw a flock of geese, at least 10 of them. They were just
beautiful. And we picked three or four armloads of quagaq from
Mom's Native Allotment. When we finally got back to the camp it
was starting to rain.
Then Mom started cooking again. Seems like all we do is eat, but
once we go home to Noorvik it will be different. Yesterday Mom
put aqiaguq (intestines) in cold storage and tonight she cooked
them. She also cooked quagaq, and we had dried whitefish. After
eating we burned trash, because someone left a mess here. We
waited around until midnight because no one does anything on
Sundays.
Allen and Mom got up after midnight, and then we paddled across
to put the net in. But the water had risen and Mom thought it might
get tangled with drifting sticks and wood, so we decided not to put
our net out. Allen and I hooked for a little while, and then we went
home to bed.
Noorvik
Monday, 6/30/75
Got up late today because it was raining. We knew it was going to
be cloudy and rainy so we decided to come back to Noorvik. Also,
we couldn't set the net because the water was still high. So this
afternoon Allen and I did most of the packing, and we loaded the
boat around 3:00 PM, then left for Noorvik.
MODERN VILLAGE LIFE <@B
Coming back, the wind was blowing and we got rained on at a
couple of places along the river. It was really cold, so we stopped
for about 10 minutes to warm up about halfway home. Allen
shot at a couple of ducks but he didn't get them. When we were
a couple of bends away from Noorvik on the Nazurak Channel
the waves were big. We were getting sprayed, so Dad slowed
down and that helped us from getting too wet.
When we got to Noorvik my grandmother Aetna, Ramona, and
Sarah were on the beach. Ramona and Sarah were going to go
put a net out, but it was windy and it looked like it was going to
rain so they changed their minds.
Fourth of July. On this holiday people of the Kobuk River villages
have foot races for all age groups, from the small children to the older
women. There are also boat races for different-sized outboards, paddling
races across the river with six or eight men in a boat, and women's teams
competing with each other in paddling contests.
Late Summer. During the last part of the summer, villagers are busy
picking berries and catching salmon. This is also when supplies they have
ordered arrive from the lower states. After the North Star anchors at Kot-
zebue, goods are transferred to a tug which brings them to the village store
in late August. Some of the men earn money for a couple of days as long-
shoremen, taking the food to the Native Store by truck. Candy bars, pop,
and Cracker Jack abound. When people visit one another they all enjoy the
new supplies. Although the Kuuvarjmiut depend on Eskimo foods, they
have also become accustomed to naluagmiu (white man's) food. This is a
feast time and a happy time.
Fall
On many nights in the fall people have nothing special to do, so they
visit friends and relatives. Visitors are always welcome for dinner without
any formal invitation. They usually arrive at about 8:00 or 9:00 in the
evening, and eat an hour or two later. Villagers eat about four times a day,
usually whenever they feel hungry rather than at any special time. When
visiting, people tell stories, talk about what is going on in the village, or
play a variety of card or board games — unless their Christian beliefs forbid
this entertainment.
During the fall women make mukluks and parkas for their children.
Commercial clothes are not warm enough. There are also nights when fami-
lies enjoy staying at home to listen to the Kotzebue radio station where
Eskimo stories are told. People send tapes from different villages to the
radio station, and two times a week the tapes are played on the radio. These
are very popular programs. Even though it is cold in the fall, Kobuk villag-
ers also enjoy traveling out somewhere to see the country and have a pic-
nic. This is done especially by the younger people.
"«45t*
S@g» MODERN VILLAGE LIFE
Sometimes people travel by the scheduled mail planes to visit friends
and relatives in neighboring villages. Some also fly to the hot springs near
Buckland, mostly for healing in the medicinal waters. Villagers always ea-
gerly await the plane to see who arrives on it and to hear the news from other
places. They are also anxious to see the mail. Noorvik's post office is a one-
room building, where the postmaster sorts mail, passes it out, and issues money
orders. People come to the post office not only to pick up their mail but also
to sit outside the building and visit while they are waiting. There is now a new
post office with individual mailboxes in Noorvik.
Before there is snow in the fall, villagers dig masru (Eskimo potato) and
pick frozen cranberries, blackberries, and blueberries to put away. The men
go out to hunt for moose when the season opens in August. Unless they have
meat stored in their freezers, moose will be the only meat until caribou come.
Women also catch fish, which they string to dry and put in their caches to
freeze. Fall is the busiest time of the year because everyone is storing away
food for the winter.
Birthdays. Village people have different birthday celebrations than those
in the city. When a child has a birthday, the mother or sisters bake a cake, and
they make Jello and sometimes soup. Often they invite 1 0 or 15 of the child's
schoolmates and all of his or her atiutit (namesakes) for an afternoon party;
and then in the evening they may have a party for the older relatives and
friends. They serve akutuq (Eskimo ice cream), quaq (frozen raw meat), uqsruq
(seal oil), paniqtuq (dried fish), caribou or moose soup, and caribou tongue.
Most of the birthday presents given to any person are money. Usually the
amount is one dollar, though an atiun (namesake) who especially likes a child
may give a present of about twenty dollars.
Winter
In winter the men go off to hunt caribou, the main meat for subsistence.
Caribou meat is usually frozen with the skin on, and then it is taken off when
the meat is to be eaten. The hide and leg skins are saved to make mukluks.
When people eat meat from the long bones, they also crack the bones and eat
the marrow inside. Many parts of the caribou are used, including the head and
intestines. People also shoot snowshoe hares and ptarmigan with .22 rifles,
and they catch them with snares as well. Ptarmigan are a delicacy for the
older people, who even eat the insides, slightly cooked. Villagers also fish
through the ice in winter, and some of the men go out trapping.
The colder it gets, the fewer activities there are. Bingo is a main winter
entertainment for some Noorvik residents. Every Tuesday and Saturday night
around 9:00 PM the hall where Bingo is played draws 15 to 20 villagers.
Sometimes as many as 50 people come, or even more if a carnival or dog race
is going on. The bingo players are regarded as non-Christians by the church-
goers. The prize per game is eight or ten dollars, except for the jackpot prize,
which can be much bigger.
MODERN VILLAGE LIFE
<®a
Thanksgiving. Kobuk River people celebrate Thanksgiving in church,
and it takes the place of the potlatches held long ago. Everybody brings
food: soup, frozen fish, berries, Eskimo ice cream, rice, crackers, cookies,
and fruit. The first bell calling everyone to the church is rung at 5:30 in the
evening. After the people have gathered they have a prayer, and then the
women help to set the food in the middle of the room. The women cut the
meat and various people help to serve things. Chairs are set up so that people
will face each other across the church. Families ordinarily sit together.
Servers go between the rows passing out the food, giving everybody
the same amount. If there is not enough of one kind of food to go around, it
is given to the older people. Because the elders are respected in the vil-
lages, they are given first choice. Each family brings its own plates, cups,
and spoons, plus extra containers to carry additional food home. Finally a
big box of candy is passed around, and this is the time to visit. Thanksgiv-
ing is regarded as a big, happy family occasion.
Christmas. The church is decorated about a week before Christmas.
Men go out and get the best tree they can find for the church, and the older
people help to decorate it with popcorn on strings, lights, and candies.
There is just this one tree for everybody. People either order their presents
from catalogues or pick them out at the store. Since the village store stocks
mainly food and supplies, it does not offer many things to choose from.
The Christmas feast is held in the church, and many people come
dressed in new clothes. The long program starts with a prayer around 6:00
PM. Each age group from the village has a part in the evening of songs,
scripture, and other readings. Groups and individuals take part, and the
older they are the longer the pieces they do. There are also short plays or
skits. The old people give texts or testimonies, and they sing translated
songs in Eskimo. Then there is prayer.
Popcorn, candy, raisins, and candy bars are passed out to each family
afterward. Every person gets a bag of mixed goodies, and even those fam-
ily members who are away are sent a bag, wherever they are. By this time
people are visiting back and forth as they enjoy their sweets. All of the
gifts were taken to the church before the celebration began, and finally the
big moment comes to pass them out. Presents are given to a person's best
friends, to his or her atiun, and to relatives. It is estimated that the people
of Noorvik spent a total of $2,000 to $4,000 on Christmas gifts in 1974.
New Year's Eve. Everyone in the villages stays up New Year's Eve.
The normal curfew for school-age and younger kids is not observed that
night, so all of the children play out. Until a few years ago, the adults used to
play Eskimo games on New Year's Eve, like arm wrestling and the ear pull
with string. But now, if the church allows it, the young people try to have a
big dance. There has been some disagreement about this in the village.
Carnivals. Like the other villages, Noorvik has dog team races each
year in March and sometimes also at Christmas. There are men's and
81
*£9> MODERN VILLAGE LIFE
women's races, and competitors are invited from other villages. Children's
dog races were once held, but are not any longer. There is a daily prize for the
musher who finishes with the fastest time, and then a grand prize for the
fastest combined time. In 1975, only five men and three women competed
with their teams, so each of them had a good chance to win money.
During this same time there are also foot races. In 1975 the men's race
at Noorvik was four miles long and the women's was less than a mile. While
the races are taking place the villagers have a tent set up where they sell
coffee and doughnuts, and after the races they have a carnival with all kinds
of activities. Carnivals are held in all of the Kobuk villages at different times
during late winter, and these are a good chance for people to visit neighboring
communities.
Subsistence and the Cash Economy
Every Kobuk River person sees himself or herself as basically oriented
to a subsistence way of life. For the man especially, self-esteem is firmly tied
to the ability to hunt and cope with his environment. He finds a great deal of
satisfaction in his success, such as bringing a sled-load of caribou back to his
village. Even men who have lived away at dormitory schools for many years
feel their identity to be with their own lands and resources. Among the women,
it is most often those who are middle-aged or older who highly value the
traditional subsistence activities.
Younger girls, especially those who have been outside to school, often
downplay the value of their traditional subsistence roles. For example, they
do not express the same satisfaction from cutting, catching, and hanging a
rackful offish as boys do from hunting and traveling on the land. Not until the
girl matures, becomes a mother, and assumes responsibility as the joint head
of a family does her emotional attachment to subsistence activities deepen.
Despite their primary orientation toward traditional subsistence values,
the lives of the modern Kuuvarjmiut are also strongly tied to wage earning.
Virtually every hunting, fishing, and trapping activity involves the use of
manufactured items that have to be purchased with money. Necessary equip-
ment includes snowmachines, rifles, ammunition, traps, motors, boats, tents,
nets, camp stoves, and many other items. There are also increasing demands
for money to pay for the myriad new items and services being introduced into
the villages. Within the last five years, for example, residents of some Kobuk
River villages have bought new houses, which has indebted each family for a
period of 10 or more years. There are also expenses such as electricity, run-
ning water, and sewage which help to create a steady demand for cash.
The villagers are being drawn into an ever-tightening web of money
encumbrances that they would have great difficulty removing themselves from,
even if they wanted to. Undeniably, many of these developments are improv-
ing their way of life. Electrification, for example, has permitted the use of
home freezers, and these have allowed much more effective use of traditional
MODERN VILLAGE LIFE <$&&
resources. But the new items also reduce the amount of choice each person
has in allocating time between subsistence and wage-earning activities.
Cash was extremely scarce in the villages until the early 1950s. Before
then, transactions took place at trading posts in Kobuk, Shungnak, Kiana, and
Noorvik, primarily on a barter-credit basis. Muskrat pelts were the usual me-
dium of exchange. Furs such as mink, beaver, otter, and marten were not
usually bartered — at least not during the last 40 years — because they were
sold to fur exchanges outside the village. Normally, families built up a small
debt at the trading post during the winter, then a large debt for camping equip-
ment and food in the spring just before going out to spring camp. When they
returned with their take of muskrat skins they used them to pay it all off.
Before the widespread use of outboard motors, the greatest flurry of
business was conducted when the trader went to the individual spring camps
to collect pelts in exchange for a large quantity of goods. After outboard mo-
tors came into general use about 1 950, an increasing number of trappers trav-
eled in their own boats to the trading posts for their goods. The value of
annual fur transactions in the Kobuk valley was considerable. For example,
in Kiana 10,000 muskrat furs, valued at one dollar per skin, were traded in
1953. As cash became increasingly available during the 1950s, muskrat pelts
ceased to be the standard exchange medium in the village stores. By the early
1970s, total cash income within the Kobuk villages had increased greatly. In
1971, for example, gross receipts at village stores totalled $283,000 at Kiana,
$60,000 at Noorvik, and $62,000 at Ambler (Mauneluk 1 974: 1 1 0).
Most of the cash available in the Kobuk River villages comes from wage
employment. In 1969, the median income for all NANA region Native fami-
lies was $5,742, and nearly 90 percent of all families had some wage and
salary income. Between 1970 and 1972 about 15 percent of the total cash
income came from some form of public assistance (lb id : $3, \ 54).
By far the majority of job opportunities are for temporary wage labor
away from the village. In 1975, only eight Kiana residents (about nine per-
cent of the labor force) had steady jobs in their village, filling about 50 per-
cent of the steady jobs, excluding those in trading posts. Whites from outside
the Kobuk region filled the other 50 percent. From the labor force of 100
people (16 years of age or older), 13 earned $5,000 or more; 34 earned less
than $5,000; and 53 were not employed.
Employment conditions between 1974 and 1976 were exceptionally fa-
vorable because of year-round work available on the Alaska Pipeline project.
Other employment is available only during the summer, such as fire fighting,
river and coastal freighting, commercial fishing in Kotzebue Sound, and lo-
cal construction jobs. In the upper portions of the river, some mining jobs are
also available. Each village has at least one family with income from a small
store in the home.
One major problem confronting all Kobuk valley residents is how to
reconcile the need to earn a wage with the desire to make a living off the land.
83 <!&
*33B» MODERN VILLAGE LIFE
Simply stated, money has become an essential adjunct to living the tradi-
tional subsistence way of life. A man's decision about taking a job is there-
fore based on the amount of work he must do in order to live the way he wants
to, believes he should, and feels he has a right to. A balance between wage
earning and subsistence is often difficult to achieve because of constant changes
in the wage economy, the types of jobs available, and the amount of money a
person needs. Since most of the available jobs are away from the village, far
from family, friends, and familiar surroundings, employment is regarded as a
necessary evil.
Villagers usually do not feel that they receive important rewards from
the jobs themselves. Jobs are regarded as a way to spend the rest of the year at
home and living off the country. Paradoxically, the fact that Kobuk villagers
take jobs reflects their dedication to pursuit of a traditional lifeway in the
modern world. Those who most avidly seek jobs are often the most dedicated
to subsistence living.
Certain types of jobs are more compatible than others with traditional
pursuits. For example, commercial fishing in Kotzebue Sound is favored by
many, who point out: "We have handled salmon all our lives, so it comes
natural to us to fish salmon commercially." Reindeer herding is another tradi-
tion-oriented job. Although it entails a hard and lonely existence, which few
Kuuvarjmiut enjoy, it also provides traditional rewards of meat and skins while
also producing a cash income. Guiding sport fishermen may someday be-
come another favored type of employment, although it requires a business
orientation, long-range planning, and advertising, and it limits a person's other
activities during the summers.
Fire fighting, one of the oldest kinds of reliable summer employment, is
exceptionally compatible with traditional Kuuvarjmiut living. It conforms to
the old pattern in which men and boys go out away from the village in sum-
mers. It is a village-coordinated activity, and each community has developed
a pride in the effectiveness of its own crews. It also permits closeness be-
tween the older and younger persons. Significantly, teenage boys tend to speak
English in the village, but while fire fighting they often speak Eskimo among
themselves and with the older men. Beginning in 1974-75, fire fighting crews
included both men and women, a situation that pleased everyone.
The following figures for 1971 through 1973 indicate the impact of fire
fighting jobs in the Kobuk River villages:
Number of Fire Fighters
1971
1972
1973
Dollars Earned
Ambler
4
1
13
$6,596
Kiana
5
101
59
24,657
Kobuk
0
0
0
0
Noorvik
0
119
59
21,349
Shungnak
0
32
2
384
Source: Mauneluk 1974:108
sS>84
The constant attempt of each Kuuvarjmiut to strike a balance between
wage earning and subsistence is illustrated by the following example:
In the summer of 1974, a Kobuk villager went to Kotzebue to help a
relative with his commercial salmon fishing. The fish run was exceptionally
large and the boat owner earned over $20,000 during the two-month season,
sometimes making as much as $2,000 in a single day.
Having seen this, the Kobuk River man decided to buy lumber with his
share of the earnings, and he built his own boat to use the following season.
Before freeze-up he returned to his village with the boat and spent the fall
hunting caribou. His wife, who spent the summer with him in Kotzebue, fished
intensively for their own winter fish supply.
After freeze-up the man registered for work on the Alaska Pipeline.
Then he began hunting daily to get a supply of meat for his family, since he
would have to leave on a moment's notice and would be away for most of the
winter months. When his work call was announced on the Kotzebue radio
station, he left along with some other men on the next commercial flight. He
worked nine weeks on the North Slope, returned to the village for two weeks,
then went back to work for another nine weeks.
After he came home for good in April, he threw a party for friends and
everyone else in the village, then settled down to intense hunting again. He
had to make up for the "poor diet" of store bought foods his family had been
forced to eat in his absence, and he had to repay his relatives for sharing
subsistence foods with his family during that time. He also took fishing trips
with his wife to Selawik Lake. After breakup he fixed up things around his
home and got the boat ready for commercial fishing. In mid-July he and his
family went down to Kotzebue to begin fishing with his new boat.
In recent years construction jobs have opened in the villages, allowing
more people to earn wages at home. These jobs include building new houses,
installing sewage systems and water pipes, and constructing new school build-
ings. Wages in 1975 were in the range of $8.50 to $9.00 an hour. Village
youths were employed during that year by the government-sponsored Neigh-
borhood Youth Corps, which paid $1.75 an hour for work such as cleaning
the village and repairing roads. Whenever work is available in the village,
men will pass up jobs elsewhere even if they offer higher pay.
People use their earnings to meet living expenses and buy equipment
such as snowmachines. Although no statistics are available, probably less
than a quarter of Kuuvarjmiut families have checking accounts at the Kotze-
bue bank, and fewer than a dozen have savings accounts.
The Settlers
Some non-Native people live in each of the Kobuk River villages. Most
of them are associated with the schools and churches, and they stay in the
area for only a few years before moving elsewhere. Although few settle here
permanently, they do participate to varying degrees in community social life
and subsistence activities.
85<©S
B©> MODERN VILLAGE LIFE
Over the past two decades, however, a permanent subcommunity of non-
Natives has developed in the upper Kobuk valley, particularly in the village
of Ambler. About 15 years ago, a small group of white settlers (less than 10
people) established homes near the Hunt River, 17 miles west of Ambler.
These people relied heavily on subsistence resources, and they began assimi-
lating the life style of the nearby Eskimos, with whom they had frequent and
amiable contact. Some of the original settlers eventually left the area, but
they were replaced by others who stayed. Within the last 1 0 years, all of them
have built houses in Ambler, except for one family that remains in the origi-
nal settlement.
The move to Ambler allowed very close interactions between these new
community members and the Kuuvamniut villagers. Drawing on their deep
respect and admiration for the Eskimos, the settlers quickly absorbed subsis-
tence skills, knowledge of the land, food preferences, social patterns, and a
general Native living style. In a sense, these people became culturally hybrid-
ized, as they added an overlay of lnupiat culture to their own backgrounds. At
the same time, they influenced the Kuuvarjmiut and helped them in their deal-
ings with the outside world. They gave assistance with the growing burden of
paper work that confronted both individuals and the village as a whole. And
they helped people to make decisions that would influence the general direc-
tion their community would move.
This relationship worked to the benefit of all concerned, but in recent
years the need for it has diminished. The Native people have developed the
skills to deal effectively with the outside world, and the non-Native people
have learned to subsist successfully on their own. Both groups are character-
istically very individualistic and independent, so they have come to rely less
on one another. Their open, friendly social interaction continues as before
(some have married into local families), and strong feelings of mutual respect
appear to be maintained.
It is important to note that the non-Natives have taken a very low profile
in village affairs. Nearly all have little involvement with local political mat-
ters and social factions, and none have established themselves in business
enterprises. This unaggressive attitude, which is unusual for non-Natives in
rural Alaska, has probably been the key to maintaining a harmonious mixed
community.
In 1975, there were 29 permanent non-Native residents in the upper
Kobuk region. Of these, 16 were living in Ambler and another family of four
was planning to settle there; a family of three was temporarily residing in
Shungnak; and another family of four was living permanently (for the past 15
years) near the mouth of the Hunt River. One single non-Native person lived
in Shungnak and another in Kobuk. Not included here, because of their isola-
tion, are scattered recent settlers in the upper Ambler River and far reaches of
the upper Kobuk River.
All of the settlers obtain most of their staple foods by subsistence hunt-
ing, fishing, and gathering. Their involvement with a cash economy varies
86
MODERN VILLAGE LIFE <£&
considerably, as it does among the Native people. One of the settlers, who
lives almost exclusively on food from the land, requires only a few hundred
dollars per year to purchase clothing, ammunition, and other incidentals. About
half of the non-Natives follow an economic pattern nearly identical to that of
the typical Native householders. Subsistence is their basic livelihood, and
intermittent employment provides enough cash to purchase supplemental food
and other basic necessities.
The Thompsons (a pseudonym) are typical of the subsistence-oriented
settlers. They live with their children near the edge of Ambler, in a small and
simple home with fewer luxuries than most Native households have. They do
not own a snowmachine, wood furnishes their only heat, they have no elec-
tricity, and they almost never travel beyond Kotzebue. Their life revolves
entirely around subsistence, and much of their food is prepared Eskimo fash-
ion. Each summer Mr. Thompson is temporarily employed in the region, but
he earns barely enough cash to bring his family through the year. Still, the
family is healthy and obviously contented. Like some of the other settlers, the
Thompsons still follow patterns that have otherwise become rare. For ex-
ample, they go to spring camp far from the village for about six weeks each
year to put up a supply of meat for the summer.
A few of the other non-Native families have kept stronger ties to the
wage economy. For example, three families support themselves by employ-
ment as teachers or maintenance personnel in local schools, and another fam-
ily owns an air charter service. Most or all of these people do not plan to
continue full-time employment permanently. In fact, the majority have spent
periods of years in the area without more than temporary work.
The non-Native settlers in the Kobuk valley represent a unique and in-
teresting phenomenon. Like modern pioneers elsewhere in Alaska, they have
adopted a subsistence lifeway in a remote area of the state. But they differ
greatly from most others in having partially assimilated to the Native com-
munity and its cultural traditions. In this sense they are most akin to some
early American pioneers, who lived among the Indians and became very much
like them. Opportunities for this kind of cultural hybridization have been
pushed to the northern fringe of the North American continent, where the last
living indigenous cultures are to be found. The Kobuk settlers thus represent
a final remnant of the American pioneer tradition.
87 <$*a
6£V> REMINISCENCES
Chapter 6
Reminiscences of Kuuvaymiut Villagers
Part of this study in the Kobuk River villages was devoted to recording
oral histories and reminiscences from elderly Kuuvarjmiut about their
way of life as children and about their parents' stories of life still ear-
lier. Most of these reminiscences depict life along the Kobuk River in the late
1800s and the early 1900s. Some of the early ways they describe continue
today, while others have changed considerably. The following remembrances
were taped in Inupiat, transcribed, and then translated as closely as possible
to the narrator's original words. These reminiscences give a sense for the way
Kuuvar/miul people feel toward their land and cultural heritage, the events
that have shaped their lives, the values they hold, and the times that have
brought them happiness or disappointment.
Lucy Foster (Aqugluk) Remembers
Lucy Foster was born in Kivalina. She and her father lived in various
places along the lower Kobuk River before finally settling in Noorvik, where
she lived when she gave the following recollection.
My name is Lucy Foster Aqugluk. I was born in Kivalina, and I
don't even know my mother. My father raised me. Whenever
someone was nice to me, 1 called them "mama"; I even called
my grandmother "mama." My father brought us to the Kobuk,
and we started living here on the Kobuk. I didn't have a mother,
but I had my father.
Back at Siksriktuuq we spent some years with Pcmikpiak's and
Qur) is ik's family. I don't know how many years we lived there, but
then we moved to Qaggugruaq near Kiana. My father started mak-
ing a living for us, ...he got us a mother first, and we started living
at Qaggugruaq. That was where Uluggaq and his family lived.
The couple were just getting old, and Joe Carter was their baby. I
always packed him and took care of him although he had a sister
named Belle. But like a man, she [Belle] would take a shotgun, go
out, and bring back a rabbit. After spending a year there, my father
and I moved to Aksik to find a place to live with Nalikkalkalnun,
my father's father. I schooled for half a year in Aksik.
After 1 went to school there for a year, Noorvik started having
people. They said, "There are people from Deering who are going
to move to Putu [original name for Noorvik]." When they said
that, my father wanted to go to that place, Noorvik. I don't know
how old I was when Noorvik was built — maybe 12 years old. My
®S*>88
REMINISCENCES ■clffffi
father built a house when 1 was about 14 or when I turned 13. Then
my father said, "These two people have only one child, and they
are going to send him away for good." When they were going to
send him, my father gave me away. Sometimes 1 asked my father,
'Top, why did you give me away?" He just always laughed at my
stupidity.
I was an orphan, and when someone was nice to me, I called them
sister and brother. 1 remember when Putruq and her family first
came. Their father always told me his kids were my sisters and
brothers. "They are your sisters and brothers," he always said to
me. Then they started calling me sister, and Putruq also became
my mother. There were lots in the family, and I added more to
their family.
The missionary, Replogle, told the Deering people to move to
Noorvik so they wouldn't have a shortage of food. But, some of
the people moved back to Deering when they started to crave for
seal oil. When they spent another year without seal oil, they moved
back. How many of them came here? There were the Wells, the
Newlins; I don't know the rest of the people. The Wells and Newlins
are the only ones now in Noorvik. Then, there were only few people
living, and they ate fish and their food. When there were no cari-
bou, they ate ptarmigan and rabbit.
It was said that at that time people cooked their fish by skewering
them with willows. After running the stick through the fish, they
were put near the fire and constantly turned around to let them cook.
When they wanted boiled fish or meat, they got the rocks and put
them into the fire till they were red hot. Then the rocks were put
into a wooden pot that had water and cut-up fish or meat. They let
the rock boil it — that was how they cooked. I don't know how
many rocks they always put in. It had to be about three, probably,
that were about this big [gesturing], or maybe they used about two
rocks. And then they started eating the cooked meat [fish] that the
rock had cooked.
Long ago when they had no matches, they used flintstone and got
white cotton from the willows. This white cotton they put... in an
old fireplace where there was charcoal or soot. ..and they smeared
the cotton with this, then stretched the cotton out so that it would
burn easy. They got two flintstones and hit the rocks in opposite
directions, and when the fire sparked and it started burning, they
put it where the fire would burn. They had to blow at it, and this
was how they made fire.
One time my grandmother, Iyagak, and I followed the people that were going
berry picking. With Ayaalchiatkut while they were still alive, we followed
them for blackberry picking. There were people dipping qalupiat [whitefish]
89 <?£a
down there at a little river or creek. They made a ditch, and they shared the
fish with Iyagak and I. They gave us part of the fish in the ditch near the area
where we went berry picking. And then Akpagialuk, in the wintertime, would
go and get some fish from there. He did not give me anything. He probably
gave some to Iyagak because she might become his mate [laugh]. That was
the way people went places — by storing and taking everything.
People went to get wild rhubarb, sourdock, and berries when they were ripe.
By going barefoot or without boots into an undulating tundra, you found no
pain even if you stepped on twigs that were going to turn to berries. But now
when you go without shoes and when you are going to walk, it hurts.
When my father and I lived alone, he made a rope, stretched it, and put it on
a pole. I guess he made it because he saw how lonely I was. For this type of
bird, when they landed, you pulled the rope. The bird tried to go up, he did not
know what happened. When it fell, you ran to it real fast and killed it. After
getting a few, I would pluck them and cook them because I was a big girl then.
When the seal bones had worms or larvae on them, the baby birds always
tried to eat the worms, and you could hit them with a stick. They are the type
that goes way up and when they start coming down, they always make a
sound — the snipe [kuukukiaq or putukiuiuich].
Also, [there were] birds that were a little bigger and looked like a robin. They
had quite a lot of meat on them, and we always went nest-hunting for them.
When we found a nest, we put a snare out, made of hair. When we put out a
snare, they always got strangled. And when a bird did not want to go into her
nest, we sang for it and tried to persuade it to come to her nest. "Your nest,
your children. Take the nest and take the children away." That was how we
always sang for them, and they always came to their nests. That's how we
sang for them down there [probably Kivalina].
Long ago down there [Kivalina?], people went seal hunting. One time our
dogs, I don't know how many, could not pull when the wind was from the
inside. My father put up something so we could sail. We always just rode, we
always sailed. It always got really slippery, and the wind always blew us
along. And those people, Panikpiaq 's and Qurjisiq 's family, we always were
together. And then his kids, like John Stalker, and I were like sisters and
brothers. I didn't have a mother, so I always stayed with them. When my two
grandmothers died, my father's mother and mother's mother, I stayed with
people like that. But when these two Selawik people, Nauyaq and Tarjrjaq,
wanted to adopt me, my father did not say yes to them. I would have been a
Selawik person now had my father given me away [then]. My girl friend
Naagaayiuraq is down there [Kotzebue?]. She is like me, but she is smarter
because she is usually alone. She didn't live by herself, but her husbands
always died. She and I always played toys together. Qatuk usually didn't care
for us, but she did not really hate or despise us. She always said, "Those two
girl friends!" Me, I always pretended and packed a piece of rock as my baby,
and my girl friend packed what I guess was wood (that was why she doesn't
eS> 90
REMINISCENCES <gj$B
have any kids, too). Whenever I moved the rock upward, it would hit my back
and make loud, hard noise and Qatuk always heard it. My friend always led
us into everything even though I was scared because we might get scolded. It
was scary, but we weren't afraid. She led us sourdock picking back there at
the graveyard lake; at that time there were no graves back there. Her friend
had taken her sourdock picking before. There were no houses then because it
was too far away. We filled our calico parkas. We pressed them down and
started packing them. When Qatuk woke up, she didn't scold us. She just
started cooking the sourdocks.
One time when Deering people moved here [Noorvik], they brought along
their reindeer. They brought their reindeer through that big river down there.
And when Noorvik had that big beach down there in front of Noorvik, they
always slaughtered them. Their little reindeer fawns were just cute. While
they were killing them, we always watched them. And then through there,
they would drive the reindeer back afterwards. They don't do that nowadays.
I don't know where they take them now. Maybe they quit because their herds
died off; or maybe they sell them to Nome again.
There were not many people at that time. One time Aktuq transported some of
her things closer to her camp. She let me follow her because she was a big girl
and I was a young girl. She took her stuff down there. I didn't know that was
going to be our river. "It is very far," I thought to myself at the time. [That is
where their camp is now and probably where her Native allotment is, too.] To
the last part, farthest away, she took her belongings.
When we got back, they were playing football on the river. After they had
played a while, a person from over there started hollering; it was Nalikkak
who broke his leg. He broke his leg in the springtime. They always put a
splinter of wood to the broken leg, almost like a cast, wrapped it and tied it,
and it healed like that. Back there in that lake, they always played a lot of
football. We used to play a lot of games a long time ago. When Aktuq and I
got there, they said when a person's leg broke, it made a noise. I did not
follow Aktuq again because it was too far. But, after I had started getting used
to going over there, it was no longer far. When we went muskrat hunting, it
seemed close. We always went muskrat hunting for food.
Long ago people did not have twine nets, but instead they made the ropes for
nets from willow bark. And they also made seining nets. Right now, no one
has any bark nets. In the wintertime, in the springtime, or when the bark was
easily separated from the trunk, they always went to get the willow bark. And
when winter came, they soaked the bark, stripped them, and then braided
them. Some of the twines were always weak. It seems that willow barks have
different strengths. The funny barks always break easily. This was what they
made for catching fish with, willow skins or bark.
When there were no traps, people used wood. One stood up the poles and put
meat on the inside, making it possible for the game animal to touch. When
that wood was touched, it squeezed and trapped the animal. That was how
they tried to catch animals in those days when there were no traps.
91 «»
ff?&a
®$$> REMINISCENCES
People boated and made boats out of skin, caribou skin. One time
Ikkaayutkuk, those two Kotzebue people, had a kayak with fur on
it. They put the skin part on the outside, and it was really good and
warm. But when they used it all the time, the fur probably rotted
and pulled off, especially at the place they sat because it was al-
ways wet from the bottom on the outside. They also used caribou
skin to make houses when they had no other materials [cloth].
Needles were then made of bones. Their thimble was made out of
sealskin, [which was also] used for making mukluk bottoms. This
was before they had iron needles, and before they had any contact
with the Whites. They made thimbles out of the sealskins that were
thick. Their ulus were made of jade. Flint was hard, so they always
used it to make knives and weapons, and also used it to start the fire.
Susie Barr Remembers
Susie Barr was 70 years old and living in Kiana when she gave this
account in 1975. As Kiana's only surviving resident of the abandoned Aksik
settlement between Kiana and Noorvik, her recollection provides glimpses
into the Aksik and Kiana ways of life as she experienced it.
I was born December 25, 1905. Since that time I started living and
am still making my living. I am going to tell about my parents'
way of life. When I became of that age, knowing what was hap-
pening, my parents were making a living. When spring came in
the last part of April, the people always prepared to go to their
muskrat camps. They used dogs, sleds, and brought along their
boats close to the muskrat camps. When they had some food, they
brought their Eskimo food and supplies closer to the muskrat camps
also. They always prepared and gathered their belongings, and
during those days, they had a lot of hardship. I never really under-
stood and realized how much hardship my parents and the Eskimo
people were going through. My brothers, Johnny and Duffy Smith,
were the ones left when all the other brothers died. Now I am the
only one left.
After we settled over there, we began fishing. My mother took her
nets out. They were made of flour-bag cloth and the upper sides of
gloves. When she made the nets by winding and weaving them, I
used to help her after I was through with playing. 1 did not do every-
thing well, but my mother was always working along with me.
After camping, living over there some place, they always returned
to their winter camp called Village. Around June, people always
returned to their homes on their lands. Around that time, the par-
ents got the young men ready — those young men who could keep
up with the trip. Their fathers took them out hunting around
the areas where the caribou were. Kobuk people went out hunting
&■ 92
REMINISCENCES <gffia
by walking. At times they took along the dogs with packs and went
way up towards Noatak. After they had left, their wives always
worked, gathering the fish and the berries. They gathered all they
could for their winter use. Their caches were filled with dried fish.
After they had fished for a length of time, the women went berry
picking. The seal pokes were always filled with berries. Cranber-
ries were hard to bust, so they were put into the flour sacks. The
women picked all kinds of food like rhubarb and sourdock. So,
while the men were out hunting, the women prepared and gathered
the food that they would need for the winter.
In late September the men returned home in the rafts. They re-
turned to their winter camps with half-dried meat that they packed.
When the men returned home, it was called "homecoming." When
the men got close to the village and the villagers could hear them,
they would shoot into the air. On hearing the rifle shot, the villag-
ers would know that the men were coming. The villagers would
return the shot, and the men coming home would know that all in
the village were all right. Another shot was returned by the men to
tell the villagers that all who had gone out hunting were coming
back safely. The home return was a joyous occasion for all. The
men always returned home in the moonlight.
When I understood what was going on, that was the way my people
lived. During those days, people used little of white man's things.
They were very cheap then. At that time not many people worked,
and they did not have the welfare checks either. That was why
they worked hard during those days. They did not have the snow-
travelers or Evinrude motors — only dogs. When they saw a boat
with an engine, they would get excited and say, "Everybody come —
a steam launch." [At this point Susie thanked the Lord for the love
he gave the Eskimo people.]
When fall came, people began fishing through the ice. They had a
different method and equipment for catching the fish. They called
the equipment [a] fish trap. That was how hard people worked in
those days. They used the candles for light. Among those with the
gasoline or kerosene lamps, their homes would be bright. And so
candles were not used as much now that we have a machine that
can brighten the darkness in the homes. We don't live the way our
people used to live in those days.
After working hard fishing during the summer, when winter came,
some men, and possibly a few women, would start making plans
and traveled to the next village, Aksik. During those days people
played football [aqsrautraq] . Men from Village would play against
the men of Aksik and tried to win so that they could return to Vil-
lage with the ball. Then, Aksik men would come to Village to try to
win the ball back.
*g3> REMINISCENCES
1 had witnessed my parents and Mulluk preparing Jack Porter and
my older brother, Johnny Smith, to play the ball game for Village.
If, after playing against Aksik people, the Village people won and
brought the ball back home, they always had a good time. After a
while, the Aksik people would come to play Village to try to win
the ball back. When we saw the Aksik people coming, we would
holler. Lots of people would play in front of Village. The playing
ball was set on the Squirrel River. From Village to the line, for the
Village people, would be about a mile long. The line of the Aksik
people would be about a mile down the river. I witnessed one Aksik
man and three Village people going after the ball. They were fast
runners and they worked hard at it. After playing all day, they
gathered in the evening at a meeting place, at the Atoruks ' home
because they had a big house. They would gather together to have
Eskimo dances. The singers would sit together along with my fa-
ther Qupilgitq, his brother, Matulik, [and] Aaquaksrauraq. The
Aksik people would come in dancing in the middle. They would be
shouting also. I saw Mary Curtis's husband who considered him-
self an Aksik man. So, he would dance. I wish now we could watch
[the] singers and dancers again. I grew up with this knowledge of
my parents and their people. I am going to sing this song even
though I make mistakes:
Those up there are going to welcome me.
Those rich people are going to welcome me.
Aa-yaa-tjaa-naa. Arigaa-yai.
We can't find songs that are good.
Aa-yaa-rjaa-yai.
With something on its chin.
Yai — real good now!
Beatrice Mouse (Anausuk) Remembers
Beatrice Mouse was 74 years old when she talked to us. She is a resident
of Noorvik. Her recollection describes aspects of subsistence living and illus-
trates some traditional Kuuvarjmiut beliefs.
I am going to talk about long ago, and about things I learned while
I was a child. I am going to talk about what 1 learned while I was
growing up.
I remember that in the falltime people made winter houses by dig-
ging into the ground. My mother and brothers got sod blocks for
the house and packed them home. A frame was made and then
covered with sod to make a cozy, warm house. The window was
up on the roof. Inside the house, a log was put by the bedding to
prevent it from sliding. The level of the bed was usually higher
than the floor, and people could sit on it. The entrance of the house
faced the river. They put the flooring on and started to build a fire.
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There was firewood of cut tree trunks [kipniqutat] which were
split in half. When the house became dirty and smelly, the be-
longings were carried out of the house, then my grandmother
would clean the house with hot water. I remember also that there
was no "meal," that is, no soap. There were only grass ends
brought upriver from the coast. My mother used these to scrub
dishes when I first became aware of it.
We lived through the year and the winter without knowing the
cold. In the big sod house, we slept against each other.
I cried when my mother went out to have her baby, the one
before my youngest brother. The weather was then very cold,
so they built a fire and put grass around the edge of the house. I
was told that my mother had that baby with only a caribou skin
as the mattress. In the old days, they built a big snow house for
pregnant women. They had the house ready before the baby
arrived. When we children played, grownups did not like us to
go inside the snow house. The children could not go in because
they did not want the snow house spoiled by the kids since it
was made of snow.
After the baby came, my mother crawled in, taking along her
clothes into the house that was well lighted for her. They put in
there her honey bucket and other things she might need; the en-
trance was closed with ice. There was also an ice window on the
roof. The seal-oil lamp that was put in the house made nice, big
flames since there were no drafts inside. The house was warm from
the seal-oil lamp as if there were a real fire. My father and grandfa-
ther said that my mother always did all right in the snow house.
After four days, she would wash herself and then return home.
She had water. That's how people had babies in the old days.
Young girls were not to eat bear meat when they were getting big
and almost became a woman. It was the devil's law [tunngaq-
originally "divining spirit"— later adopted as the word for devil],
and people believed it. The devil did not want the bear meat
eaten by young girls. That's how we were brought up.
When we went downriver, we always tried to get oil from the
seals and walruses. After we obtained a large quantity of it, we
would go back upriver again to the end of the Kobuk.
Now there are houses way up the Kobuk. The houses nowadays
are half the size of the houses we used to live in in the old days.
Our houses were situated further in.
One time when we went upriver to seine, strangers came to our
camp. My mother, who could not walk, and we children were at
the camp. My father was collecting all the salmon together when
suddenly I heard people.
iip
I called to my mother: "Mother! Father! They are coming!"
"My pretty one, let them come. We will cross to the other side."
I immediately went down to the boat, and when they docked, I told my father,
"Father! Strangers [Indians] are back there! They are making cracking sounds.
They sound as if they are whispering. I heard them."
"Let the food stay there. Get something for your bedding. Pull with rope from
the shoulder, and someone steer the boat. Let Mother crawl to the boat."
She crawled to the boat, and they put her in. We did not know the place we
were going, but the place was there all right. We crossed to the place with a
lot of willows, moored our boat, and made a shelter covered with leaves so
that we would not be seen. We burned the tree fungus that was broken into
pieces. I cannot remember how many tree fungus fires we made to smoke the
place; there were a lot of no-see'ums [black flies] around there. My mother
did not want the children to make any noise. A watch was kept outside. We
saw our fire on the other side of the river tampered with. It burned brighter
and bigger. I started listening because I was scared. My mother asked me to
carry some water, and I heard people from the other side while I got the water.
The whole night, the Indians on the other side did not cross over because they
did not have any boat. When we fled over to this side, we had already started
to fish and had stored the fish in a big cache [ikiggaq]. We were fishing when
the Indians came and frightened us. We spent the whole night on this side of
the river. The Indians did not bother us.
After seeing the Indians' camp, my grandmother said, "Take me across there.
I will go to see them." The Indians [arjuyaich] do not fight with women. My
mother wanted to go with her, but she was not physically strong, so she fol-
lowed her in spirit.
"If the Indians are there, I will cover their mouths," she said. They took my
grandmother to the beach area where she would be able to see the Indians.
She would wave like this [gestures]. If they were gone, she would wave in-
stead of shouting.
They said my grandmother did wave her arms. Afterwards, they got us, and
we were told to take our bedding. The Indians took our food, then left. They
left, following each other up the river.
There was always a lot offish during the seining season. People seined a lot
of them and put them into big boxes when they went downriver. This is where
I will end this part of my life.
Do you want to hear the scary part of my life?
At one time in Kotzebue when I was getting a little bigger, we children were
going to play when my mother stopped us, saying some people were going to
perform a shamanistic ritual [arjatkuaq]. Around there if those people passed
us, they would kill us through their shamanistic act. We started for home fast
because we were very frightened.
Then my mother spoke, "My ataata, let's push off in the boat. People are
killing each other through evil means. They are already possessed
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[ikiliguqtaaniktut] . They don't know that they've already killed some people.
I dreamed so. Let's leave!"
When dusk came, we left for the point of Tikigayugruaq to the other side of
Apqugaagruk and camped when it became too dark to travel. There was a lot
offish around there, also a lot of ducks and berries. We were safe there. We
set our nets, and in the morning I went to pick salmonberries which were ripe
and red. I can't remember how many small buckets I filled while the adults
were preparing to leave, carrying all our belongings to the boat. We went to
the mouth of the Ugrivik and camped. One of us, my mother, got a bad cold.
She started coughing and she should be in a warm place, but we had not
thought about it.
My mother must have looked straight forward when we left, for she said,
"There may be a bearded seal or some sea mammal [niqsaq]. It was on top of
the ground." We went toward it and my younger brother, who had a shotgun,
shot it. It was a bearded seal all right. We cut it up, and while we were cook-
ing, Iraillak and his family arrived coughing. We left the place again.
"Back there, there was food for you. We got a young seal," we told them. We
left because they were sick. We lost sight of them after they went ashore.
[Here the researcher asked, "Why were you afraid of them?" "I don't remem-
ber being afraid," Beatrice answered.]
We camped again at the point or the end of Paalagik where we could set the
nets and catch some fish for our meal. We did catch enough pike. The next day
it rained hard, and the people we left behind did not follow. The following day
the weather improved; the rain would stop once in a while, so we left again.
The wind was at our back when we went across to Kanaaq area and passed
Agvigiuraq to where there were rocks. We camped there about a week. At
that time, we did not know that my brother got a brown bear back there.
Iraillak and his family barely made it; they ate the fat of the bear. My mother
was barely alive then. At the end of our trip, we met another group of people
whom we had not known before.
They told us, "Paniagruk 's adopted child died at Tikigayuatchiaq. At Napaaq-
(usrugruatchiat, Aumatchiaq and Uqummigayauraq also passed away." That
must be the work of the devil as my aaka dreamed. By the two lakes, Maayyuk
also died. At the place called Kiksraq, inside of the Ugrivik on the side of the
Aullingani in Tikigaagruk, Saiiaksraq [Maayyuk's husband] died. When
Saiiaksraq died, Ayuqaaq and them left him there. When they came out of the
Ugrivik, when they went through the two bends, they left Qayaq. After going
through another big bend, they left Qaihapak. Thirteen people altogether died
there because of the devil [evil spirit]. Young people nowadays do not know
about this, so they usually say, "I don't care."
The people who work for God [missionaries] got rid of these frightening things.
However, we can see them still once in a while. Outside anyone can see, for
example, the snakes that crawl on the ground. Long ago people saw a lot of
animals with scales. When the missionaries came to Kotzebue, people wanted
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to pray, but they did not know how. Our missionary used to be the husband of
Carrie Samms. People talked to each other that they would like to do away
with shamanism because it was frightening. They became converts. When a
person is converted, he is washed with the water brought down from up there
[heaven]. When he is sick, he wants a mixture of this water to wash his sick-
ness away. People believed and became converts. Robbie said Christianity is
stronger than shamanism. He started jailing the people who practiced shaman-
ism because he was afraid. Those who practiced shamanism tried to work with
things that do not exist. They made a mistake, and people were frightened by it.
At another time when I was still a girl, my family went downriver to visit an
old man and his wife at their summer camp. I cannot remember how many
people were there. There were Kivvaaluuraq and his wife, Agnaqhauq and
his wife, Pauline. Putyugialuk was married to the old couple's only daughter,
and she died while they were out in the Arctic cold. Her mother cried and
cried when the clothing belonging to her daughter was given back to her.
Then, just when we were about to eat, she put a curse on her son-in-law. She
was angry, so she put a curse on his berries with the intention of killing him.
Although Putyugialuk knew it, he took a spoonful. He thought, "She wants
me to eat the berries, so I'll eat them no matter what will happen to me."
My family was there when it happened. We were about to eat when all of a
sudden we heard the noise. Putyugialuk was possessed! He started taking off
his clothing and his teeth turned into frightening dog's teeth. He bared his
fangs and jumped on top of the fire. Then he smashed the sleds, biting into
them and throwing them around. We could not eat; we were so scared. He
was flowing with red blood and he had no clothing on. Kivvaaluuraq, his
father-in-law, bowed his head to avoid seeing the plight of Putyugialuk. He
did not want that to happen. We were all very frightened but we could do
nothing. Putyugialuk's brother named Kutchuq was also there. He followed
Putyugialuk, taking along his top parka or it could have been another piece of
clothing. My mother took us to our boat and covered us. I cannot remember
how many of us, brothers and sisters, were there then.
It was the devil's stupidity that went into Putyugialuk. They thought my aaka
might get some of the curse, so they wanted us to take her home. In the boat, she
started talking about the devil. "Talk to her calmly. Hopefully, she will go home.
We will not live in peace with shamanism like this." I heard the old woman,
Putyugialuk's mother-in-law, talk. Back there it is said she is still singing and
walking around. She was not afraid to put the curse on her son-in-law.
Nowadays most people have not seen shamanism. Me, I have seen so much
of it in Kotzebue that I am scared of it. When I received Christ, I did not have
even one friend. When they said I was a sinner, I wanted Him to come into
my heart. When I gave myself, even when they threw me out of the church,
something in my heart wanted to go to church. I became very brave, and
when I went to the door, they would open it. All year long, whenever I gave
any offering, they would return it. Another time, in fact a couple of times,
they told me not to go to church, but I still went and they opened the door
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again. A person should not give in. The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, opens
the door for him, lets him come in, and will lead him. A person by himself
does not have the strength, only Jesus can help.
[At this point, Beatrice spoke generally about shamanism.] When a partner
was sick, the other partner used to go to see the shaman with the gift of his
belongings, hoping the shaman would be able to save his partner through
his shamanistic power. If the sick person could not be saved, he would get
his belongings back. [Question: "What did they do to the shaman then?"]
Nothing. People only took back whatever was given as the payment. When
someone was practicing shamanism, one was not supposed to use the curved
knife [ulu], drink water, eat, or become frivolous. Anyone who did, even
during the night, would die. That's why shamanism is dangerous. One
should not even think of attending the shaman's ritual. When you think of
shamanism, it is better to look at it in a different light. I am ashamed of it
and was not going to talk about it. And that poor woman! Her husband
used to give her to the shaman. The shaman used her even though she did
not want it. But the husband who was sick wanted to live; he always got
better after the shaman used his wife. It was frightening to be a woman or
an ignorant person whom the shaman could kill. When a young girl was
disobedient or bad, the shaman killed her. This information is for you to
help you. Old people are not to be talked back at. Old men are not to be
yelled at. Anyone who did that did not go very far; he always died. I know
that as fact.
A lot of people in Kotzebue practiced shamanism. We used to go downriver
to the coast to Kotzebue. People should not be egotistical because the sha-
man would want them through the devil. When a person was prejudiced,
talked back to old people, he or she died. I don't know how many people
were killed by the shamans in Kotzebue. The bodies of the dead were taken
and left without any coffin at the place beside the lagoon where the ground
was high. Sometimes the sealskin was used to wrap the body. Those who were
poor used old blankets. I had seen a lot of unhappy people. At one time when
a woman's husband died, no one gave her any help. The wife had to pull the
body of her husband in a blanket to that high place by the lagoon. Had she
used the sled, it would have to be left with the body. People were afraid of
contamination. It was the same way even if the dead person was a young
child. How sad it was when one had to "throw away" one's own child.
In church 1 always try to be truthful. I am also beginning to understand the
preacher who says things from deep down in his heart. I should be singing
the translated church songs to my grandchildren, nephews, and nieces, but
unfortunately, 1 cannot sing well any more.
People in the old days worried a lot. The person who had no container to
drink with would go to another person's house, and the host or the hostess
would let him drink by holding the container over his mouth so that the
container would not be touched. When food or unaqsiq was given to some-
one whose relative had just passed away, the person who gave the food felt
insecure afterwards because it was believed that relatives of the dead per-
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son were also contaminated. The relatives were even afraid of using their
own clothing; they kept changing, throwing them away, and washing them-
selves with the snow every time they changed. Women did this also during
menstruation. After one had washed, the contamination period was consid-
ered over. Although people had to make a living and did not care for what
they had to go through, they had to do it.
Now when I saw a young girl trying to look pretty, going out in the evening
without much clothing on, I was immediately reminded of the past. Long ago,
the shaman would have wanted to kill the girl or the boy she went to meet.
The arjatkuq or the devil himself would have killed him or her.
When a young man wanted a girl and wanted to get married, he stayed with
her and helped her parents work. If her parents liked him, they gave her to
him. There was no formal marriage; they did not know about it.
We also did not know the English language. When I first saw white people, I
kept looking at them. When I went to school, all year long my parents had to
hold my hand. And I had a pencil like a rock! While we were playing outside,
an Eskimo who understood some English taught me. He said if a white man
said, "Come on," he was saying qaggain. And if he said, "Sit down," he was
saying aquvittin. But, when a white man said, "Come on," I heard something
like "kam-mak," so I drew a picture of mukluk (Eskimo boots). And when he
said, "Sit down," I slid down ["to slide" in Eskimo is sisuuhaaq]. I thought I
understood a lot of English! And when I went back to the Kobuk where no
one knew any English, 1 started to teach them English the way I understood
it! Nowadays children are born into the period when English is spoken. In the
old days people could hardly speak English, but we tried, and barely could
understand each other. We pretended to dance, eat, carry the water, and did
all kinds of things as if we understood each other in English.
When we went upriver and got a lot of fish this last winter, we had a lot of
fresh fish [aiparuq] to eat. When the ground froze and there was no snow, we
went berry picking. Sometimes we even stayed overnight. I am not sure how
many sealskin pokes one filled up with berries. During winter the berries
would be got by sleds. For caribou hunting during the summer, the men would
go to the mountains. Sometimes during summer and fall, they had to go back
and forth four times, backpacking the dried meat, skins, and the fat of the
animals (marmot, sheep, caribou) they got during the summer. They went
back and forth, finally loading them on the raft. We really had a hard time,
always walking all summer. After we dried lots of meat and skins, we would
be secure with our winter food supply. Some men were very good at hunting
marmots. In winter when caribou came, the men would hunt the caribou.
When spring arrived, we started drying the meat. After the meat was half dried,
we cooked it by boiling. People who had seal oil dipped the cooked meat in the
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iV/,o
seal oil. The dried meat was kept, wrapped in the fall caribou skin. We also
cracked the end bones of the caribou and boiled them until the marrow and the
fat settled on top. These were then put into the stomach container, and when
we wanted something to mix with our food, we used this marrow and fat.
When fall came, we began to store the berries in the ground. It's like a freezer;
the berries would not spoil or ferment fast. We always had berries in the
ground cache covered with willow twigs to allow ventilation. The hot air would
go out through the hole. We even had a dried fish storage place [sigluaq, a
ground cache]. We dug a hole in the ground, put a pole in the center of the
cache, and rested other poles around it. When it rained, the water did not leak
through because we put the moss [ivruq] that we gathered from dry lakes on
top. We always made food storage places like these before we had the freezer.
We ate meat or fish cooked over the fire [qauraq]. We ate meat and other
things from the coast. A salmon cooked on a flat, thin rock near a fire cooked
very fast. We could also make biscuits in the same way. We made biscuits
after the flour came in.
Our cooking pot was made of birch bark with split willow on the rim and
sewn with willow roots. Rocks were heated in the fire, and the tongs for pick-
ing the rocks [kigilgutaq] were made from two sticks. The rocks had to be red
hot before they were put into the basket filled with water and meat. The water
and the meat would boil. When the water turned cold, the cold rocks were
taken out and red hot ones put in. When the fish, fish intestines, or the cooked
meat was done, it was taken out. [Here the researcher asked: "Did they put the
rocks in twice?"] Sometimes three times when the meat, fish, caribou, rabbit,
or duck was cut into big pieces. We usually cut the fish in half when we
wanted it to cook fast. When we cooked the meat, we put both the meat and
the bones in.
When we first had the white man's cooking pot, we called it "bucket"
[atausriqsuatuaq] because we did not have another word for it. Other white
man's things like frying pan, kettle were at first called differently. After call-
ing all kettles "teapot," we started calling it uunaqsiivik, meaning a container
used for heating.
The people of Suluppaugaqtuuq never heard of boats. People from around
here [lower Kobuk] used to go upriver to get strings of dried fish. When they
cleaned the boat, they would turn the boat over and hit it to make the dirt drop
off. When upper Kobuk people first heard that lower Kobuk people were arriv-
ing in that boat, they were frightened and ran back into their homes. "Sila
qaaqtuq! Sila qaaqtuq! " they cried. Lower Kobuk visitors had to explain to
them that it was just a boat. Upper Kobuk people only had small boats made
of birch bark. They did not know that boats could be made with walrus skins.
Me, I grew up at the time there [were] hardly any bark boatfs] left, but I
remember having seen a few of them. One should not go into shallow water
with the bark boat, for it would tear. Let me end here.
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Jenny Jackson (Masruana) Remembers
Jenny Jackson was born at Kobuk village in about 1 893. She provides a
detailed account of life on the upper Kobuk River around the turn of the cen-
tury.
My name is Masruana and I am going to talk about my childhood
days with my grandfather and about our lives during spring, sum-
mer, and winter... I was born at Suluppaugaqtuuq in upper Kobuk.
Tom Baldwin told me the year I was born was 1 893. He is one of
the first white men.
After we lived through spring on the back part of our summer place
at Utuayukpak, my grandfather always took us down to the inside
of Mauneluk River to a creek called Avaaragaat after the ice went
away. We stayed there about one month. My grandfather's name
is Sapiqsuaq. He always put a duck snare across the creek or the
slough out there. In his box was his duck trap... We always ate
ducks that were snared from the top of the water. My grandfather
always snared the loons also after springtime.
When a slough had not much water, my grandfather always put in
a fish trap. We then started having the big whitefish and the pike
that he trapped for our meals. The fat, big whitefish that really
jumped was really a good kind offish.
After the men went away to hunt the marmots [siksrikpak], my
grandmother, grandmother's sister, and I were always left alone.
My grandfather always went hunting. Sometimes he took his sons
along to hunt the squirrels. We always spent our summer at
Avaaragaat. After staying there for a while, when the ducks started
molting and salmon were almost there, we would move upriver.
We always moved out of Mauneluk River then. While going
upriver, if we ran into molting ducks, we would catch them and we
had ducks to eat. Even our dogs back there knew how to kill molted
ducks. We ran, trying to catch them while my grandmother would
canoe around. When she speared a duck, she always made a sound
(like a dancing sound "oiui") to indicate she got a duck. We al-
ways hollered or made some noises. After the duck hunt, we usu-
ally camped and cooked the ducks. Then, we would continue on
our trip upriver again.
We traveled past the original place of the Paa people, went around
the bend, then went to Sagvaqsigiaq. There we stopped to spend
our summer like other years. "The salmon will be late in coming,"
they said. Sagvaqsigiaq was the place where the Indians used to
pass through in the summer and in the springtime. We stayed there
with our kayaks and boats. The men would then search for the
bark inside of the Sagvaqsigiaq. They tried to get new bark for the
canoes and boats. The old bark was taken off and new bark put on
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REMINISCENCES «S@S
while we were there. The boats were sewn with willow roots. Wil-
low and tree roots were used as thread, and spruce gum was used
for plugging up the seams. We did not have the corking material.
We melted the pitch, using birchbark as a pot or container. We
melted the pitch slowly in a campfire. We used the spruce pitch on
the seams after putting on new bark. We always put a new bark
cover on the kayak before the salmon fishing.
Snaring Ducks
, Hunters set snares and then circle around the
lake in canoes to drive the ducks to the snares.
- -~L^±
isratchiaq (molting ducks)
Snares set one
inch from the
surface and
spaced one foot
from each other
kuugaaatchiaq (shallow slough)
The snares could be made out of salmon skin or the early spring
willow bark (about June when they have a great deal of sap). At this
time (before the willows have leaves), the bark came off easily. They
stripped the white inner bark off from the outer bark, then let it dry a
little, but not so long that the bark would harden and cut the fingers
when being braided together. They used this bark for making nets and
also rope.
We ate fresh fish and ducks. We also ate rhubarb and sourdock which we
mixed with our food. Sometimes we had no seal oil, but we had oil from the
marmot, and also, the fish oil we made at Avaaragaat. That was the way we
lived, and that was how I was raised with my grandparents. When we wanted
friends, people followed us to Avaaragaat.
Just before the salmon came, we used to go to our original summer camp at
Utuayukpak 's broad river, back there on the side of Anauligvik. When the ice
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broke up, it broke the ground cache and tore apart our summer camps, but we
made them over and stayed there again. We covered our house and ground
cache with tree barks, and it did not drip. Anyone who wanted to come to
spend the summer came with us. At the end of a long stretch of river, there
were my grandparents, and Kituq and his wife. My father's aunt, Qwjuyuk,
was Kituq's wife. Kituq was an Indian. He was adopted from the Indians
when he lost his parents over there [Indian country]. To us he was our Indian.
We knew him as far back as I can remember, back to the days in our original
summer camp. But I did not learn how to speak Indian. My great uncle, Kituq,
said that when he went to the Indian country, he spoke Indian. My grandfa-
ther, Sapiqsuaq, couldn't speak Indian at all, but he probably could under-
stand a little.
After we fixed the boats, the fish came. We worked really hard to catch salmon.
We caught so many that sometimes we didn't have the time to finish them all.
Sometimes they caught sheefish, too. The men went to the headwaters of the
river and then up into the mountains. They went up to hunt mountain sheep,
and if they found caribou they would hunt them too, to get the skins for cloth-
ing [parkas]. They also hunted marmot for their bedding [blankets]. After the
men left, the women that stayed behind worked on catching a lot offish.
In the falltime, which is now known as September, the men who had gone up
the mountains would come back to my grandfather's place, which was a bend
away. They came back to camp with my grandparents, Kituq, and Qurjuyuk\
they came back because they uliqqa- [when one is being annoyed by Indians
or strangers who are thought to be Indians]. The Indians were not seen, but
they could be heard, whistling, making noises in the bushes, and they stole
anything they could without being caught. They tried to avenge the Eskimo-
Indian wars. Another reason they were around was that they wanted to mine
for gold.
We were brought up with having to uliqqa. We were always afraid. We couldn't
play outside even when the day was long. Before the sun set, the adults al-
ways made us return to our summer houses. They didn't want us to shout or
holler because they were afraid that would attract the Indians to come close to
our house. And right as soon as it got dark, the Indians would kill them and
the children that were noisy. Those who didn't watch out or be careful were
always killed in those days. Long ago when they fought, people always said,
"We are scared all the time." After waking up, people were scared and didn't
want us children to be taken by the Indians. When we went berry picking, we
took along old people so we could be protected from being hurt by the bears
or being taken by those people [Itqiliq-\nd\an]. The old people always fol-
lowed.
We were raised to that type of life. We had the type of life in which people
were always afraid or fighting. How scary! The adults didn't want us to die,
and they also didn't want to die. Sometimes all the summer campers were
killed. That's why the summer campers in that area went to Kituq 's camp in
the falltime. When we saw those Indians, my grandfather Kituq always went
104
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and talked to them. Kituq was Louie Commack's grandfather, his real [blood]
grandfather. His mom was Kituq 's daughter.
When fall arrived, we went up the river to the inside part. We always went
there to get fresh fish for the winter. When the cold started coming, the sheefish
were very good. We tried to get all kinds of fresh fish like whitefish (small
sharp-nosed whitefish and big round-nosed whitefish). We also picked ber-
ries from there. It was really cold when we seined. In the falltime, we children
didn't have time to play. When I was lazy, I didn't want to pull the seining
rope. My grandmother would then tie the rope around my waist and make me
pull the rope. That was why right now I can pull the seine. I used to tell my
grandmother that she would not be able to make me pull the seine any more
when I grew up.
We got fresh sheefish, which we didn't bring downriver with us, but we put it
into boxes to prevent the bears from eating it. The men didn't like the women
to be scared of the bear, so the men would go and get the fish. They even
spent the nights where women left the fish. Sometimes the men even caught
or killed some bears there. Even though we had seen bears before, the men
didn't like us to be scared. When we were going upriver or downriver, we
would see them back there on land. They just turned to look at you. They
went around the back part of the camp. Although we were scared, they didn't
bother us. The adults didn't want us to run away, or make any noise. When
adults scolded us, we tried to obey them. The old people, our parents, our
uncles, and people like Aqattuluuraq, were stern. They were even afraid them-
selves, but right now they aren't any more.
We always called the family Iqsihgaich. Kanuaq and some coastal people
who were called Sakmalich, such as Ulugaagruk and his family, always ended
their trip camping downriver from us on the Paa River. They camped at the
Paa at that time when no one went upriver, and before the time people started
going to Aqusriugvik. As far as can be remembered, there have always been
people at the Paa River. People called them "the people of Paa." The mouth
of Sagvaqsigiaq empties into the Paa River. The Paa people lived on the side
of the Paa River. They lived about 15 miles away from where we camped. It
was further away than 10 miles. When they came upriver, after they went
downriver for seal oil, we could hear them. Naatagnaq, uncle of Anausuk
[Beatrice Mouse], always came to us immediately. He also brought us seal
oil. Everyone realized that the people who went to the coast went there to get
seal oil. They took with them dried fish or other things and traded them for
seal oil.
When the river froze up or when it was nearly frozen up, people came home.
Those who went up the mountains to hunt always had a meeting at the beach
of Uqaq. My grandfather and grandmother, those two Indians (they are re-
ferred to as Indians even though she is not, only her husband is), stayed there
at the end of the Ikpik cliff, Saakiihutaana. Kituq gave those two places [Uqaq
and Saakiihutaana] Indian names. Uqaq was the original summer camp of
Kituq and his wife.
There at Uqaq, they dug into [the] packs that the men brought back from the
mountains. After that, people would spend the winter there. They wanted to
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spend the winter where they would not be bothered by the Indians any more.
The men then went to check their summer camps where their food was. They
always went to check on them before it froze up. And while there was no ice in
the river, we gathered fresh fish that would be eaten frozen. We all got ready
for the coming winter. We ate a lot when the men who went up the mountains
came home. When the river froze up, we cleaned our winter houses. Some
made new winter houses. Then winter came, and we again spent our time there.
When the ice was sturdy enough, the men always started making mudshark
[burbot] traps; they made them to catch mudsharks. We ate the mudshark
with other food — their fresh livers are delicious. That was how we were raised,
and that was our way of life before we were really affected by the white
people. That was how the Eskimo people upriver, the ones I grew up with,
lived. We also gathered berries, masru [Eskimo potato], and anything else
that grew. The men also hunted for bears. When they went to the mountains,
they always came home when the river froze up and before it snowed. They
always walked by the side of the river. They always put the food away in the
cache so that in the wintertime they would be sure to have food to eat. When
they wanted the food, they would just go to get it from the cache. That was
how we liv ed.
When winter came, we would catch fish by using fish traps. And then all
winter long, we used the snare to catch ptarmigan, and rabbit if there were
rabbits around. When the days got longer, suitable for going out, the men
went to neighboring areas, pastAllakaket to Naataq and then toward Anaktuvuk
Pass. They always went hunting for caribou. When they had it, they would eat
caribou. They went with the dog sleds, but they didn't take too many dogs. I
went with them about three times on a hunting trip like this. One time was
with my parents. They always went to this side of Anaktuvuk Pass and also to
Barrow because there were no caribou around here at that time. But right now
when the caribou start to [come around] here, people do not go any more.
They used to go to hunt caribou at places far away.
[The interviewer asked: "Why did they stop having caribou?"] I don't know.
The Uqaiiq [the word, or a prophecy] said that long ago, and that was how it
became. ["Who said that?"] It was said that God or Jesus said that in his
Bible, and that was why it became like that. Long ago people had food, but
still there were some who starved when there were no caribou. And when
there were no ptarmigan and no rabbits, they used to starve. Also when they
didn't get enough fish. That was why people worked hard at getting food.
The nets that were used to catch the fish were made of willow bark. We used
the bark for salmon nets and other kinds of net. The seining nets were also
made by braiding the sinew of caribou or seals. The people who went down
the coast to trade got the sinew from the walrus. They tried to get the sinew
for making their nets. We had no nylon nets before the white man brought
theirs. We also made other nets from threads of cloth that came out. But we
were raised with bark or sinew nets for fishing. The sinkers were tied with
spruce roots. We also used sinew or skin to tie the sinkers, but they wore out
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REMINISCENCES <P,
easily. The spruce roots were hard to wear out. We used all these to tie sinkers
when we made the net or the seining net.
In the wintertime, women would go to get willows with good bark. They
packed them on their backs, carried them home, and then took the bark off
and braided it in wintertime. That is what I remember of that type of net.
There was then no place to buy things for nets. They had to make them from
roots and from things that grow. Pitch was also used for corking. The people
worked very hard. Beds were not there, but they had skins for beds, and for
parkas; they had skins they had brought back from out there [to the north].
The men who went out there [to the north] brought back caribou or other
things they traded with the people from Barrow and Anaktuvuk Pass. The
original name for the Anaktuvuk people was Naqsraq. They always called a
place with no mountain naqsraq. Those people lived in that area, but when
the white people came, they named it Anaktuvuk. The place was named
Naqsraq from time immemorial. There were mountain sheep, and people used
to stay there. They started staying there, the people of Naqsraq 's land. This
was a mountain sheep country since time immemorial.
When spring came, we went to the fish camps. But, the people who went
downriver to the coast to get seal oil wanted to catch walrus and seals. They
would load their boats when the ice was gone. These were the Paa people:
Iqsingaich, my uncle and his family, and the family ofAnarraaq. And me, I
was raised with a family that didn't go to the coast. When I got bigger, I
always wanted to go with Kanuaq and his family, but my grandmother did
not like me to go, not even with my uncle Sagliaq and his family, even though
they wanted to take me to AUakaket. So I always ended up staying. One time
when the people that went to the coast left us, I started wanting to go with
Sugunuuquuijuraq and his family. Even though they did not want me to go, I
went. The year 1913 was my first trip downriver to Kotzebue. I was 1 2 or 13,
or maybe I was 1 6 or 1 8 years old. I got married when I was 1 6. 1 went down-
river with Sugunuuquwjuraq and family. The white man came way before
that time, and 1913 was my first trip to the coast.
Kiana in 1909 or 1910 already had white people after they started mining in
Klery Creek. We started going downriver, Sugunuuquuijuraq, his wife, and I.
Uliqik and his son also went with Sugunuuquuijuraq . They were from Laugviik
[Kobuk village]. They took their son, Qauliik, to the doctor; his hand had got
infected and was swollen. We left them in Kiana and our group left. But a
white man joined us. He went downriver. Panalik and Umilgusuk showed us
the way because none of us knew the river. He told us to go through the right
side all the way, following the cliff. He told us to go downriver, and when it
looked like we passed the cliff, we were to watch for a river. It was the mouth
of [the] Ugrivik, and that was our river. Ahead of us were other people who
were also going down to Kotzebue. There were Putyugialuk and his family,
and Kanuaq and his family. ["Who was Kanuaq?"] Your grandfather —
Anausuk's father. Cranes and ducks were flying at the mouth of the Ugrivik.
We traveled down the Ugrivik a little distance and then stopped to camp. We
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started to feel sleepy at the mouth of the Ugrivik for we had been paddling for
some time. There was then no law against hunting cranes or anything else.
On this side of the lake, in Allutunittuq, there was a tent. In it were Nasruk and
others. Nasruk was the father of Agnauqiugaq. Everyone was warm and com-
fortable in his tent. Nasruk had a boat made of wood, and he and his wife had
sheefish drying outside. ["Where were Nasruk and his wife from?"] They
were from the Kobuk and were on their way down to Kotzebue. They told us
there were eggs to be found around there, but we did not have time to look for
them. We wanted to catch up with those who went ahead of us. Nasruk to\d us
that we would catch up with them on the other side of Qalugaagruk where
they were trapped by the still-frozen river ice. There was no opening, the old
man said.
We left after we finished eating. The sun was rising. We found that the people
who went ahead of us were trapped by the ice on this side of Qalugaagruk .
They had pitched up a tent on the river bank and had pulled their boats up. If
the ice had jammed them in, I don't know what would happen to them. Some-
one recognized the danger and therefore decided to camp.
We reached them and camped with them. We did not sleep — simply lay down
for a while. Then we all waited for the ice to open up. The wind started blow-
ing, and the ice began to move. It moved very fast and cracked halfway up
Tikigayuk. With the river ice in that half-cracked condition, we left, and others
left with us. We followed them and boated along the bank all the way down to
Kotzebue. It was far. When you traveled all through the sloughs, it was far.
In Kotzebue we set up camps. There were hardly any people, but the stores
were already there. Tom Peary was there too. Those who came to hunt seals
went to where there were good catches. They went there, those people who
came down from the Kobuk. As for us, Sugunuuquurjuraq let us stay there.
He said in a "it didn't matter" attitude that he didn't have to try to hunt seals.
That was my first trip down, and that was my first time seeing people from
down there. Those who hunted seals at Qallivik had good catches. They also
hunted beluga and other sea animals. But then, they wanted to go back to fish.
They left the ocean, and I got in [with] Putyugialuk and his family.
Sugunuuquurjuraq and wife went up the Kobuk River, too, but I left with
Putyugialuk because I wanted to go with the people that went upriver first.
While in Kotzebue, they wanted me to work for the schoolteachers. I worked
for them for a while, washing clothes. They wanted to take me outside [the
lower forty-eight states]. I really wanted to go, but when I told Kanuaq and
Sailauraagruk's family, Kanuaq did not want me to go. He was afraid that I
wouldn't come back home. He was scared of my grandmother. He said if he
said yes, but my grandmother said anything else, he would be scared of her.
He knew she didn't like me to go anywhere. But I used to stay with them [at
Kanuaq 's ] since I was small.
We started back upriver again in order to fish in the upper Kobuk. They said,
"It always freezes up fast," so we did not want to get caught downriver when
REMINISCENCES <£%>
it froze up. After the people danced all summer in Kotzebue, the
river could freeze up on them. ["What did they do when it froze up
on them?"] They went to the Aksik people. The river was easy to
freeze. They always spent the winter in Aksik or any place else if
the river froze up on them. But sometimes they went by dog sled
and went back home up the Kobuk. ["Did they take their dogs
when they went downriver?"] Yes. They always went up there.
That's the way we lived. But when we went upriver that time, it
didn't freeze up on us.
We worked hard, trying to fish. We worked hard. At that time, I
was older, and my grandmother used to get sick. We went to the
Qala people who put poles in the river and blocked it. They caught
fresh fish to be used as frozen fish. Anausuk, people from Paa
River, and us went to the Qala people's. That's how we lived when
we started living in Laugviik, the present Kobuk village. We went
upriver from Laugviik to fish for fresh sheefish, and we put them
in boxes. The Indians must have worked hard, too, because like us,
they didn't have store-bought food. We started having white man's
food when Kotzebue had a store. In Kiana, the store came in around
1 909 when Klery Creek opened for mining, and people had money.
In 1910 and 1911, even in Isitjnaq [Shungnak] people had money.
People started having an easy life when they ate store-bought food
or white man's food. I grew up at the time people started to use
flour. Because Kuukpak [Yukon River] and Barrow first had white
men, people from Kavraqutaq and other places started to get and
use flour. People started eating white man's food when white men
came in looking for money. But, those of us who lived in the sum-
mer camps had nothing. My uncles from both sides of the family
liked me. They used to give me a little flour.
I am talking about nothing, but I am talking about things I have not
forgotten. I don't want to tell stories. I don't want to miss or skip
any part.
Louie Commack (Aquppak) Remembers
Louie Commack was born in the upper Kobuk area and grew up around
Ambler and the Hunt River. He has been an active hunter and trapper all his
life. His recollections provide descriptions of traditional Kuuvaijmiut hunting
and fishing techniques.
I am going to talk about the way I was raised on the Kobuk. I was
raised in Kobuk village, and also by the headwaters at the end of
the Kobuk River. I ' ve traveled as far as Allakaket. Long ago when
I was small, my grandmother, Ullaaq, my father's mother, used to
always talk about people starving. They had no food, that's how
she always talked. In Qala they used to make a living for us. My
109 <®2
SfSj* REMINISCENCES
grandmother, Ullaaq, always fished for us. When I was small, they
used to fish. The fishing places were Kigvalluat, Tirravak, and
Maniilaq.
Long ago when the weather was bad in the wintertime, and people
didn't get any food, they always starved. When days got longer
and it was stormy and hard to travel, they always starved. I also
was raised at the place called Ivisaappaat [Ambler], and also on
the Hunt River. The people before me hunted; they tried to get
food so that they could eat. When game got scarce or hard to get,
they always suffered on the Kobuk long ago. Even right now when
the fish don't go upriver, or when they are slow in coming, the
Kobuk people — the people of Kobuk, Shungnak, and Ambler —
always get hungry.
But now the white people are going to take hold of the place we
live. Us older people won't be able to live long on it, but the young
people, our grandchildren, nieces and nephews, and our children
are going to live off it right now. When things get hard, they are
going to have to live off it. I want the land that I know to stay open.
There at Maniilaq and Sulukpaugaq are fishing and berry-picking
places. People lived off it; when there was no fish or when the
berries didn't grow much, that's when they starved.
If the white men take hold of the land, we will really suffer. If our
children have no place to hunt, they will suffer. Some of our chil-
dren can hunt, and they know how to live. In this land they hunt in
the spring and fall. From here they go to hunt or fish; they hunt
caribou, bear, or anything else eatable.
Long ago, before the contact with the white people, the Kuuvak
Inupiat [Kuuvanmiut] depended on food they hunted and gath-
ered. In wintertime, when days get longer and the weather is stormy
and unbearable, traveling becomes difficult [and] there is a possi-
bility of famine. Many Inupiat are victims of a harsh environment
when there is lack of food. During starvation periods, when food is
hard to get or out of reach, many people are forced to areas they
don't usually go to. There was a family who lived in the mountains
near Anaktuvuk Pass; when their father passed away, they moved
to the Kobuk area. They fled to safety, to where there was more
abundance of game. Their dogs were dying off one by one from
lack of food.
There are a lot of situations like these that have scared a lot of my
people, but survival was greater. From these experiences of the
elders, even though they themselves may have been spared, the
stories have been passed on to them from their ancestors as to
what happened and can happen when one is hungry. Even if a per-
son literally throws himself away, men travel miles in search of
caribou.
REMINISCENCES <£,
Comment on the Narratives
The following comments are by Nita Sheldon Towarak, who con-
ducted and translated the interviews:
Even today people suffer when fish are late in coming and the
berries do not grow much. That is why village people utilize every-
thing. They don't throw anything away. For instance, caribou: They eat
the meat fresh, frozen, or dried. The bones are used for various tools
such as scrapers, fish scalers, and handles for ulus or anything else. The
stomach is used for a container; the fur is used for clothing, mukluks,
or bedding; the heart, liver, and intestines are eaten. Even the hooves
are stored away and saved for later use. When food is scarce, the hoof is
boiled till the outer black part comes off, and inside there is gelatin sub-
stance. Even today, the hooves are sometimes used when making beans.
In this present day the villagers are just beginning to use only the choic-
est part of the caribou. They do not go to the extent of saving sinew for
later eating for there is no fear of starvation.
Along with the introductions from the western world came canned
food. Although this type of food may be essential, the older people do
not feel like they have quite eaten until they have Eskimo food
[niqipiaq]. Although today the people may not go to the extent of sav-
ing and eating the whole caribou, it is still one of the main foods of the
Kuuvarjmiut.
People who are not familiar with village life might get the im-
pression that the Eskimos are killing all the animals and catching all
the fish. Knowledge of the animals is very important. When hunting,
the men look for only the fattest caribou. The skinny ones and the young
are left alone. No one shoots a pregnant muskrat; only the head and rear
end can be seen when a pregnant muskrat is swimming. A person has to
know what weeks, even days, to go out duck-egg hunting. When sein-
ing, all fish are not taken; they throw the bruised and small fish back
into the water.
Although the elders may not be able to speak English fluently or
do not use modern dress, they have what is most important to them: the
knowledge of their environment. Their laws might not be written, but
they are given in another sense. The taboos that have been passed on
work as well as the laws that are written in books for other societies.
Their knowledge of weather is also vital to the people. One has to know
the conditions of the weather before going out hunting or fishing; oth-
erwise you may never be seen again.
I have learned a great deal from the elders I have talked to in
Noorvik. They were sincere and willing to pass on information about
the type of life they led and what their parents have told them. Many
commented that the young people today are lazy and don't even bother
to find out about their past history. I, too, would have neglected to learn
II
E@S« REMINISCENCES
and gather the information that soon may be dead. From listening to the
people, we learn that life was hard, but they had their identity and sense of
usefulness that we young people are losing our grips on. Although old
people have traveled miles and labored hours for their food, the looks on
their faces when talking about the past life proves how much life meant to
them. They are hard workers, knowledgeable, sincere, strong, stern, pa-
tient, and wise.
This may not sum up all the qualities of all the long-ago Eskimos,
and life may have been hard for them, but they have everything that we
don't have. Yes, we have the stores to ease the starvation, movies to keep
us from boredom, alcohol to take us away from our problems, running
water to save us from many trips to the river, and schools to help us teach
one another about the American heritage which sometimes does us no good
in the village. But most of all, we still have those people to show us how to
fish and hunt and to tell us about our culture if we are only willing to listen.
B®&»112
Part 4
The Harvests
TRAVEL <ffffiz
Chapter 7
Travel
The Kuuvarjmiut homeland is in the transition between boreal forest
and tundra, so they have adapted to both of these environments. As
hunters and gatherers, their livelihood has depended on having mobil-
ity at all seasons, on widely differing surfaces, and under all conditions of
weather and terrain. Available raw materials and technology have also strongly
affected their means of travel and the way travel integrates with their overall
pattern of life. Kuuvarjmiut travel methods fall basically into two seasonal
categories: summer and winter.
Summer (Break-up to Freeze-up)
Foot Travel
Viewing the Kobuk country from a summertime plane flight, one can-
not help being struck by the extensive marshes and countless small lakes that
dot the valleys and lowland tundra. Water glistens in reflected sunlight across
the poorly drained landscape, even on the lower portions of mountain slopes
and atop alpine meadows. Rivers and sloughs fed by mountain streams of the
Brooks Range meander across the low plains and wide valleys.
For centuries, the Kuuvarjmiut have traversed their homeland in sum-
mer by hiking the relatively dry alpine areas or by using watercraft to travel
the maze of waterways. Well into the twentieth century, the men hiked north
into the Brooks Range in early summer to hunt and did not return until just
before freeze-up. With the return of caribou into the Kobuk valley, and with
the advent of social and economic changes, the summer-long hunting on foot
has declined. Most foot travel now takes the men no farther than to nearby
mountain slopes that rim the valley.
Several elders who recalled life early in this century explained that men
used to begin in the spring to get ready for their summer hunts. For each
hunter, the women made several pairs of special sealskin boots (isigagutik)
with perforations in the soles to let the water drain out. In more recent times,
these were replaced by commercially made shoepacks. Other preparations
for the journey included making "saddlebag packs for the dogs and gathering
supplies such as dry meat, seal oil, salt, sugar, tea, and matches. Other items
carried by each man included:
a rifle extra socks
ammunition gloves
a tarp a warm jacket
a slicker a mosquito head-net
15 <&
®@fr TRAVEL
a knife a few nails
an ax a sewing kit
a sharpening stone binoculars
a file a sleeping robe (rabbit skin or wool)
one or two pots a cup
rawhide line eating utensils
To save on ammunition, a few men would take a small hand reloading
tool and a supply of gunpowder, caps, and slugs.
Small parties of hunters usually left their village around July 10, al-
though those who planned to hunt in the Colville River country might leave
in June. Each man had four to six pack dogs to carry his load, and he would
also carry some gear himself. Younger men were sent ahead to forage for
game while the older men and adolescent boys herded the pack dogs along
and established campsites.
All of the major valleys extending northward were used as paths. In the
upper Kobuk area, the Ambler River was the favored route for traveling to the
Noatak River. The Inupiaq name for this river, Natmaktugiaq, literally means
"pack it across. In the lower Kobuk area, the favored route was up the Squir-
rel River and then along the Omar River. Next favored was a trek along the
high ground west of the Salmon River.
According to two elders, hunters from the upper Kobuk villages met
near the divide into the Noatak River valley. Here they discussed where each
man would hunt and which route he would probably take home. Often the
men hunted in pairs. Some men hiked farther north and west to seek caribou
while others went east for sheep and marmot. This system prevented an
overconcentration of hunters in any given area and eliminated conflicts that
might otherwise result.
Once in the mountains, the hunters had to find or make shelters for
themselves. Through many years of using the same territory, they knew of
rock caves (qarjattaaq) along the mountain sides, some large enough to sleep
five or six persons. With the tarps they carried they could also make a lean-to
shelter or an itchalik, a hemispherical frame of willows over which the tarp
was draped to form a tent. The bottom of the tarp was held in place with
chunks of sod. A third style of summer shelter was the augayuk, an elongated
tripod of willows with the longest leg serving as a ridge pole for a tarp. The
two bottom edges were kept in place with rocks.
As the men moved from one site to the next, they made stone-covered
caches to protect the dry meat and other proceeds of the hunt. They picked up
these supplies in the fall on their way back to the Kobuk. It was a difficult
homeward journey, requiring both men and dogs to carry the heavy loads of
dried meat, skins, fat, and other goods. Two or three round trips were usually
needed to move the total load from one campsite to the next. Elderly men told
of carrying burdens so great that they used a staff to keep their balance as they
trudged over the hummocky ground.
*€&* 1 1 6
TRAVEL <gjs
Tarp over bent willow frame
Sod to hold down edges
Hemispherical shelter made with a tarpaulin.
A tripod-type shelter.
Rafting
Raft made with spruce poles.
i«J«v- ~JJ--
Platform for load
16' to 18'
After they reached the headwaters of major tributaries flowing into
the Kobuk River, the men built a special type of raft (umiagluk) to carry
themselves, their dogs, and their loads down to the Kobuk and home. The
first step was to cut down standing dead spruce trees and remove their
limbs, to make logs for the raft. These logs were placed with the tips all
pointing forward, creating a wedge-shaped craft. A single cross brace was
placed atop the bow end and each raft log was lashed to it. Then two poles
were spaced across the top of the raft aft of its middle. Only the outer two
lengthwise poles of the raft were
lashed to these.
A platform of other cross pieces
was built between the two aft poles,
and meat, skins, and other supplies
were placed on it to keep them well
above water. Dogs were tied along
the edges of the raft in such a way
that they could break free easily if
the craft were swamped. The hunter
stood at the narrow bow of the raft
and guided its progress with a long
spruce pole. A spare pole was lashed
to the raft in case the first was lost or
broken.
• Cross pole (bottom) lashed only to outside
Cross pole (bottom) lashed to each log
'Cross pole lashed to raft
T
1
117
*&
E$\;i> TRAVEL
All the major northern tributaries of the Kobuk were used for rafting
home, but each had its own peculiarities that had to be taken into account.
The Omar and Salmon rivers are swift, shallow streams for about half their
courses, and if the water was low the hunters had to pack their loads several
miles downstream before they could begin rafting. The Redstone River
(Ivisaaq) is also shallow, so the loads had to be carried on foot to the first
deep water a few miles downstream. The Ambler River (Natmaktugiaq) is a
swift stream with several dangerous crosscurrents that could capsize a heavily
laden raft. Usually two men worked together on one raft for this river. About
midway down the Ambler it was necessary to cache part of the load for a
winter pickup, because the river fanned out in shallow braids and could not
float a heavy-laden raft.
The Qugluqtaq ("waterfall") River has a rugged canyon with unnavi-
gable rapids seven miles above its mouth. Hunters who used this river had to
unload their supplies at this point and pack them across the mountains to the
village. The Maniilaq River was fairly navigable, but loads had to be por-
taged over rugged terrain to reach water of the necessary depth. The Reed
River was the most popular for returning hunters, and its Inupiaq name,
Arjilgagiaq, means "the going home way." This route offered a relatively
short trek from the Noatak valley to waters of navigable depth, the river was
not particularly turbulent, and there were no obstacles the entire way to the
Kobuk. For the most part, the mountain streams were swift and shallow, so it
was important that the Kuuvarjmiut had developed rafts able to maneuver well,
withstand turbulent water and bumps against rocks, and still carry a heavy load.
Other Watercraft
The Kobuk people used a variety of other watercraft prior to the 1940s.
These included birchbark or skin-covered kayaks, large skin-covered umi-
aks, spruce bark-covered boats, double-ended plank boats, square-sterned plank
boats, and broad shovel-nosed river boats. With the introduction of new boat
building materials and outboard motors, the variety of watercraft has been
reduced to a few basic designs.
The open-decked kayak (or kayak-form canoe) is still used occasionally
on the Kobuk River, but instead of birchbark it is now covered with painted
canvas. This very light, portable boat is used for setting fish nets, hunting in
lakes and sloughs, and crossing areas of open water during breakup. It can be
propelled with a single-bladed paddle or with two rods, one held in each hand,
that are used to push against the bottom along shallow river bars. A Shungnak
elder recalled that it took him a week of paddling and pushing against the
current to travel approximately 95 river miles from his village to the lower
canyon of the Kobuk.
Although most adult men still have the experience necessary to build
and use kayaks, they are disappearing. In 1974, there were about six canvas-
covered kayaks in the upper Kobuk villages, and about the same number in
b@2»118
TRAVEL <®8
the downriver communities. Some aluminum canoes have appeared in recent
years, most of them acquired from non-Natives visiting the area. About five
were in use by upper Kobuk villagers in 1974, mostly for short trips on the
river close to home.
A few shovel-nosed (square bow) boats are used, and short, broad boats
designed primarily for speed have also been adopted since 1960. However,
long river boats are the principal means of water travel on the Kobuk River.
Until the late 1930s, these boats were powered by humans, dogs, or wind
(Foote 1966:21). When traveling against the current, a line was run from the
boat to the dogs or to people who would pull the boats by walking along the
wide gravel bars. At least one person had to be in the boat to steer. Paddles
and long poles were used to propel the boat where pulling from shore was not
possible. When traveling downstream, people simply used poles and paddles
to avoid hazards and to stay in the current. On Hotham Inlet or along rela-
tively straight sections of the river, makeshift sails were often set up, using
poles, paddles, and canvas to exploit a favorable wind.
Although they now use outboard motors, people also carry poles and
paddles in their boats. These are used mainly in crossing short stretches of
water where it is inconvenient to use the motor, or in emergency situations
such as motor failure. Poling and lining are still used to cross riffles or other
water too shallow for an outboard. Outboard-powered boats are used along
the whole length of the Kobuk River from the lower canyon to Hotham Inlet.
Travel for any distance up tributaries is usually difficult except during peri-
ods of high water.
River boats powered by outboard engines range from four to six feet
wide at the midship gunwales and up to 22 feet long; they generally have
square sterns, flat bottoms, and gently rising pointed bows. Most are locally
made and plywood-covered, although a few planked boats are still used. Fi-
berglass and aluminum river craft are coming into more frequent use, but
they accounted for a small percentage of Kobuk River boats in 1975.
In 1940, there was only one outboard engine in the village of Shungnak
(Foote 1 966:34), whereas in 1 975, 34 were counted and an estimated six oth-
ers were on hand. Among all three upper Kobuk River villages, a total of 83
outboard engines were counted. These engines ranged from four to 50 horse-
power; sixty-one percent were in the 15 to 25 horsepower range, nineteen-
plus percent were in the four to ten horsepower range, and nineteen-plus per-
cent were in the 30 to 50 horsepower range. During the same year, 38 motors
were owned by the 26 Noorvik families surveyed, and 56 motors were owned
by the 43 Kiana families.
The fuel consumption for a given outboard varies according to the boat
design, load, speed, current conditions, wind, and condition of motor. At the
time of this study, fuel prices were $1.00 to $1.25 per gallon. A medium-
sized boat with a medium range engine ( 1 5 to 25 horsepower) cost about fifty
cents per mile to operate, and a larger outfit might cost a dollar per mile.
119 "fi^a
SSi&» TRAVEL
Winter (Freeze-up to Break-up)
During the long north Alaskan winter, mobility attains its highest value
as a human survival factor. The land and water solidify as a single unit, snow
coats the surface, and cold temperature predominates. The traveler must have
clothing and shelter that do not compromise mobility. He must also develop
skills in predicting or recognizing significant changes in the weather, varia-
tions in surface conditions, and a host of other variables that will affect not
just mobility but sometimes even survival. Over many generations, the
Kuuvanmiut have amassed a considerable body of skills and knowledge re-
lated to winter travel and survival. The small amount that can be presented
here will serve as a representative sample.
Clothing
Suitable clothing has first priority for the winter traveler. To meet the
needs of both combatting cold and not encumbering one's mobility, the tradi-
tional Kuuvaijmiut made light, loose-fitting fur garments. Today, some of
these garments have been superseded by commercial products that meet the
same standards as traditional furs. Many villagers, particularly the older men,
continue to make heavy use of traditional clothing.
Man's traditional winter garments and contemporary winter clothing.
Wolf ruff
Double caribou
parka
Animal-skin or
commercially made
mittens (cotton gloves
underneath)
Mittens (lynx, wolf
or caribou
Caribou pants (under clothing
made of caribou fawn skins)
Caribou boots (iliqnillak) and
fawn skin socks
— Wolf ruff
Single-layer parka,
usually down filled
Snow machine face
mask
Down-insulated over
pants (cotton or wool
pants beneath)
Commercial or caribou
boots (wool or skin socks)
Traditional
Contemporary
<V> 120
TRAVEL <PJg$
Weather Forecasting
Before starting any extended journey, the Kuuvaijmiut traveler first takes
careful note of weather clues. It is also important to know that weather condi-
tions in the Kobuk valley are often very localized. The temperature, wind,
and precipitation in one area may be very different from that in another area
very close by. Thus, a person who leaves home in apparently ideal traveling
weather may be suddenly engulfed in a howling windstorm or in extremely
cold temperatures. The successful traveler must, therefore, predict and pre-
pare for significant weather changes along the planned route.
The first factor to be noted is sky cover and precipitation. For example,
Kobuk people watch for the cloud formation called "mares' tails" (qayaguq),
which forewarns of strong winds that may strike within 24 hours. Heavy,
dark clouds, especially on the southern or western horizon, are usually a sign
of an approaching storm. High, thin overcast with a light snowfall is a sign of
relatively stable weather, although it may also result in a whiteout.
There is a peculiar form of precipitation which foretells the onset of a
long, intense cold spell. It is not true snow, for it often falls from a cloudless
sky. Rather, it is fine ice crystals caused when a mass of intense cold air
moves into a relatively warm layer of air, so the surface air cools rapidly and
its moisture precipitates out as ice crystals. This falling frost coats the snow
with a very dry, abrasive surface and is often followed by temperatures down
to -60° or -70° F.
The prospective traveler also takes careful note of the wind. He knows
that in certain mountain passes, valleys, and plains there are fierce localized
winds that can obscure visibility, create severe wind-chill, and even sweep
away a man and his equipment. The following are a few such locations known
to the Kuuvaijmiut:
Shungnak flats to Pitqiq Lake — subject to strong easterly gales.
Selawik Pass near the head of Wheeler Creek — subject to extremely
violent easterly gales.
Hunt River mouth — infamous for hurricane-force winds that sweep
out of the north and may blow for several days to several weeks.
Selawik lowlands south of Waring Mountains — subject to chilling
westerly gales.
Kobuk lowlands to Squirrel River mouth — subject to strong west-
erly winds.
Howard Pass south to the Noatak River — known for sudden vio-
lent north winds.
The experienced Kobuk villager carefully notes any signs of swirling
snow being carried aloft from mountain ridges by winds. If the horizon ap-
pears hazy on a clear day, he knows a gale may be building. Also, a light
easterly wind in Shungnak may be expressed as a gale in the upper Selawik
121 <®
fi@fo TRAVEL
River area or a north wind in Ambler may foretell a strong east wind in
Shungnak.
The danger of strong winds cannot be overstressed when considering
traveling conditions. In the winter of 1 974, a small group of men left the calm
shelter of a forested canyon and set out across the broad, shelterless valley of
the upper Selawik River. The valley was calm, although swirling snow could
be seen on a distant mountain ridge. Suddenly, a gale descended on the val-
ley, blotting out visibility and threatening to overturn sleds and dogs. The
chill was extreme, and in crossing snow-free, frozen lakes, the dogs, sleds,
and snowmachines were blown sideways out of control. It was only with
considerable difficulty and a little luck that they reached shelter in the trees
on the far side of the valley.
Temperature is also a major consideration for Kuuvarjmiut travelers.
During the winter, temperatures may range from +35° to -70° F. During peri-
ods of intense cold, outdoor activities are drastically, although not entirely,
curtailed. In early January of 1975, the village of Shungnak experienced 14
consecutive days when the thermometer never registered above the -50° mark.
During this cold snap, travel was generally limited to very short trips for
firewood. As soon as the temperatures moderated to -30°, hunting, trapping,
and general travel greatly increased. At the other extreme, when winter tem-
peratures rise to near freezing, soft, slushy snow conditions prevail and the
ice that covers swift water becomes weak and unsafe. Both dogs and
snowmachines become overheated. A winter temperature range of + 10° to -
20° F is generally ideal for traveling.
Surface Conditions
From an airplane, the Kobuk valley in midwinter appears to be a rela-
tively uniform surface of snow-covered plains, hills, mountains, lakes, and
rivers. But to the traveler on the ground, the land is anything but uniform.
Snow (apun) is the lubricant for winter travel, but it occurs in many varieties,
each with a somewhat different effect on transportation.
Fresh-fallen powder snow (nutagaq) creates difficult traveling condi-
tions, as it does not support weight and causes drag on sled runners. It is
particularly difficult for dog-team travel, but can also be deep enough to bog
down snowmachines. The upper Kobuk country near the Pah River is known
for sudden, deep falls of fresh snow. Villagers tell of snowfalls accumulating
up to three feet of powder in less than 24 hours, wiping out trails and forcing
people to laboriously break new routes on snowshoes. Deep snow gradually
settles and becomes more compact, aided by wind and cold temperatures.
This makes travel easier as the surface becomes more firm and depth of the
snow decreases.
Packed snow (aniu) or hard crusty snow (sitliq) are excellent traveling
surfaces that occur on open, wind-swept terrain or exposed stretches of the
river. The Kuuvarjmiut prefer to travel as much as possible on such snow and
may take an indirect route if it takes them over packed snow areas. Trails are
as* 122
TRAVEL <ffffia
unnecessary across such snow, although markers may be set up for purposes
of navigation.
Rough surface snow (qayuqiak) occurs in wind-packed snow areas and
is caused by strong windstorms. The surface resembles a choppy lake sud-
denly frozen. The drifts tend to align themselves with the prevailing wind and
can help to orient a traveler during periods of limited visibility. The hard,
uneven surface is only a minor discomfort for dog team travelers, but it can
be a great hindrance to snowmachine travel. The shortness and rigidity of a
snowmachine cause a severe pounding of both machine and driver on rough
surface snow.
Granular snow (pukak) is usually found in a thin layer next to the ground,
and because it is overlain with either soft or packed snow it is of little conse-
quence to the traveler. However, in extremely windy passes, the snow crust
can be worn away so that only pukak covers the ground. Because this snow
has no body and will not pack, travel is very difficult in such areas. Dogs,
machines, men, and sleds struggle in a sugary quagmire, slip between frozen
hummocks, and are being constantly thrown off balance. Tundra grasses are
usually exposed, increasing drag on sled runners. Only one who has waded
and stumbled across miles of such terrain can appreciate the difficulty it pre-
sents to travelers.
Deep, soft snow (katiqsrugniq) is found in forested areas, sheltered val-
leys, and along stretches of the river where vegetation or topography breaks
the wind. Although this snow cannot support as much weight as does wind-
packed snow, men on snowshoes or lightly loaded snowmachines can usually
cross it with minimal difficulty. Dog teams and heavily laden machines, how-
ever, are slowed considerably because they sink at least a few inches or more
into it. Once the snow has been disturbed by human or animal travel, it will
firm up into a hard-packed trail allowing easy travel.
Ground drift (natigvik) is a condition caused by steady wind wearing
the snow cover away and blowing fine-grained snow along the surface. It is
beneficial because it helps to fill in depressions, creek beds, and other rough
ground and creates a relatively even surface for travel. However, it may also
build up drifts that cover trails, camps, and equipment. Dogs that travel into
ground drift may develop sore eyes or suffer frostbite where their fur is thin.
Glazed snow (qiqsruqqaq) occurs in the spring, when thawing and freez-
ing form an icy crust on the surface. It is also caused in the rare event of a
midwinter warm spell accompanied by rain. Severe glazed snow can be disas-
trous for animals like moose and caribou. Snowmachines usually ride easily on
top of crusted snow, but it can severely affect dog teams and people using
snowshoes. The icy crust is usually weak and shatters into sharp fragments that
can injure dogs* feet and wear away snowshoes or wooden sled runners.
Frost crystals are a form of cold-weather precipitation. During periods
of calm and intense cold, this frost may accumulate up to several inches deep
on the surface. It creates a very abrasive surface that considerably increases
friction on sled runners, and it packs into the feet of dogs to form hard balls of
12? *•»***
^ti-
e3> travel
ice. Pulling these balls out will also pull hair from the paws, so the team must
be stopped periodically and the dogs allowed to chew them out. If this is not
done the dogs' feet will become frostbitten. Accumulations of frost on the
surface are quickly blown away when the wind comes up.
Snowdrift cornice (mapsaq) is a condition caused by wind carrying drift
over a ledge or steep bluff, so it builds a cliff or overhang of packed snow.
These formations can be hazardous to travelers in steep, confined mountain
valleys or beneath high bluffs and cliffs. When the mass of this formation
increases beyond a certain point or when thawing loosens it, the whole mass
can crash down in an avalanche (sisuuq). The Kuuvaijmiut try to avoid any
area where this potential exists.
Melting or wet snow (auksaiak) occurs mainly in the spring. This soft,
sticky snow slows the pace of a dog team and gives the dogs sore feet. It packs
into the moving track of a snowmachine and can cause it to jam. And it soaks
the rawhide of snowshoes and packs between their webbing, making them heavy
and clumsy. During the spring, villagers usually travel in the evenings and
mornings, when cooler temperatures freeze a thick crust over such snow.
Ice Conditions
Ice (siku) is the winter pavement that transforms waterways into high-
ways. However, this pavement is subject to variations that either help or hinder
the winter traveler. Thin ice (maptukitchuq) is a constant threat to the trav-
eler. It is common in the fall before the new ice (sikuliuraq) is thick enough to
be safe, but it may be encountered throughout the winter. Submerged springs,
hidden riffles, whirlpools, and strong currents can all keep the ice from devel-
oping normally. A heavy snow cover insulates the ice and further slows its
growth or allows it to be eroded. Experienced Kuuvaijmiut travelers know of
many locations where thin ice is caused by water action, and they generally
avoid crossing such areas.
It is also possible to encounter thin ice where there is little water move-
ment. Beaver lodges often have weak ice surrounding them. Blackfish some-
times swarm around small holes in the ice, causing a larger area of weak ice
around them. According to some villagers, salmon spawning sites may also
be covered with thin ice. This apparently is caused by the decomposition of
dead salmon.
With so many things causing weak ice, it is inevitable that persons who
travel extensively will encounter this danger. When they do, the results may
range from uncomfortable to disastrous, depending on the water depth, cur-
rent, air temperature, wind, available shelter, and available fuel for a fire. In
the end, survival usually depends on a person's training and skill in meeting
such emergencies.
Rotten ice (awjniq) is a phenomenon encountered in the spring just be-
fore and during breakup. Once the snow cover disappears, ice on the lakes
and rivers "rots" under direct sunlight. Even if it is several feet thick, the ice
TRAVEL <ff&S
will disintegrate into millions of thin, needle-like slivers when subjected to
pressure. Anyone who falls through has great difficulty getting back out, be-
cause the edges crumble if any weight is put on them.
Hollow ice is often encountered when traveling along rivers, sloughs,
and streams. After freeze-up, the water level drops several inches to several
feet, then stabilizes and freezes as another layer of ice beneath the first. This
leaves an air space beneath ice that is often too thin to support much weight.
Snowmachine drivers are especially vulnerable to injury, because they may
hit the lip of broken ice as they fall through. Mountain streams, such as the
upper Ambler River, are particularly known for such dangers. Also, the swift
water beneath hollow ice may not refreeze, thus compounding the danger.
Glare ice is found where wind sweeps away the snow cover from lakes
and streams, or where overflow water covers the snow and refreezes. This ice
is so smooth that dogs and people easily lose their footing, which can cause
pulled muscles, bruises, or broken bones. Snowmachines and sleds may spin
out of control and crash sideways into rough ice or hard drifts. A light coating
of frost or wet snow transforms glare ice into a superb traveling surface.
Overflow (siiqsinniq) is caused by water being forced up through cracks
or holes and flooding the ice on lakes, rivers, or streams. It happens when ice
freezes down to the stream bottom and dams the water flow, when heavy
snowfall presses the ice down until water runs out over the surface, when the
water level rises due to warm temperatures, when a spring flows out over the
ice, or when a beaver dam breaks and releases its stored water.
Overflow is dangerous to winter travelers because it can occur on any
ice-covered waterway and is often hidden beneath the snow. Most winter
travelers have suddenly found themselves in water and slush from a few inches
to three or four feet deep. Even when temperatures drop to sixty below, there
can still be water beneath a layer of insulating snow.
The greatest danger of overflow is the possibility of soaking boots and
other clothing, which can cause serious frostbite or freezing. Unless the over-
flow is unusually deep, a man on snowshoes can usually extract himself with-
out too much difficulty, as can a dog team. But a snowmachine may quickly
bog down in an overflow. The slushy snow may freeze immediately on con-
tact with the cold metal. The traveler might have to soak his feet and legs
trying to push the machine or to reach dry ground.
The final condition that often affects Kobuk travelers is bare earth (rnma).
Stretches of ground and rock are frequently blown clear of snow by heavy
winds on the exposed tundra plains, gravel bars along the river, and elevated
ridges. The Kuuvarjmiut can usually predict where this will occur, and they
try to avoid it if possible. Bare earth greatly increases the drag, and it may
damage sled runners, bruise the dogs' paws, or ruin snowmachine tracks and
skis. Nevertheless, travelers cross short stretches of bare ground on most trips
in the Kobuk country.
125 <S0£
SQiB* TRAVEL
Snowshoes
There are three basic means of winter surface travel: snowshoe, dog
team, and snowmachine. Until recent years, snowshoeing and dog mushing
were the only means of midwinter surface travel, but today these methods
have been largely superseded by the snowmachine.
An important element of the Kobuk valley environment is deep, soft
snow that accumulates in many areas through the winter months. To have the
mobility which is essential to exploit their surroundings, the Kuuvarjmiut have
long relied on the snowshoe (tagluk). Snowshoes traditionally used by Kobuk
villagers are locally made from seasoned birch wood and caribou rawhide.
There are two basic designs: putyugiaq, the short, sharp-nosed snowshoe used
to break trails for dog teams and to walk behind sleds; and taglupiaq, the
larger, round-tipped snowshoe used for cross-country travel over deep, soft
snow. Both styles are similar to snowshoes used by the neighboring Koyukon
Athabaskan Indians.
Today the art of making snowshoes is slowly disappearing as men find
it easier to buy commercially manufactured types. The sharp-tipped snow-
shoes are no longer used because men seldom need to break trails for dog-
team travel. Nevertheless, about 80 percent of the adult Kuuvarjmiut men still
own a pair of snowshoes. As late as the 1950s, hunters and trappers journeyed
extensively on showshoes. Elderly villagers tell of snowshoeing from Kobuk
village to their trapping camps on the upper Noatak River, a round trip of
over 200 miles. One villager spoke of walking on snowshoes from Purcell
Mountain to the village of Cutoff (now Huslia) on the Koyukuk River, a dis-
tance of 65 air miles, to get tobacco.
Traplines often crossed terrain too rugged for dog teams, so men set and
checked their traps on snowshoes. They usually carried an ax and a small
pack containing traps, matches, dry fish, seal oil, rabbit-skin robe, and other
miscellaneous items, which sustained them for several days of hiking. Two
Shungnak men were flown to Norutak Lake in the 1 950s and spent part of the
winter there trapping on snowshoes. Late in the winter they walked home
through deep, soft snow in temperatures below -50°, carrying no tent or sleep-
ing bags. It took several days of trail breaking to travel the more than 120
mile distance. Neither man considered this an unusual achievement.
Snowshoe travel has diminished since the introduction of the
snowmachine. Snowshoes today are worn primarily when men are opening
trails to woodyards, going short distances to check traps, or making local
hikes for other purposes. Snowmachine travelers usually carry a pair on ex-
tended trips, so they can walk home or reach shelter if the machine breaks
down.
Dog Teams
The term "husky" usually conjures up the picture of a large, heavily-
furred, wolflike dog with pointed ears, curled tail, and masked markings on
TRAVEL <c^2
the face. In reality, this ideal is seen more in dog shows than in Alaskan
villages. Working dogs range in size from 40 to 1 20 pounds and in color from
pure white through rust, piebald, gray, tan, and black. In earlier times, it was
common to find that isolated villages or areas had developed their own strains
of dogs with characteristic body size, weight, or coloration. Most of these
have disappeared through crossbreeding with imported dogs or through se-
lective breeding for traits considered ideal in racing teams.
There are certain characteristics that most working sled dogs share, how-
ever. These include a thick undercoat of wool-like hair, a deep sturdy chest, a
broad forebody tapering to more slim hindquarters, well-muscled shoulders
and haunches, a strong neck, heavy jaws, and narrow eyes. The size and weight
of individual sled dogs vary according to sex, age, care, and breeding. Before
the 1950s, large dogs weighing 50 to 90 pounds were usually preferred, with
an average of 65 or 70 pounds.
Selective breeding was uncommon in earlier days, but isolation and sur-
vival to breeding age helped to maintain the necessary standards for working
dogs. A bitch in heat might attract several males, but competition between
them often weeded out the less desirable ones. When puppies were born they
usually lay without shelter next to their mother and competed with one an-
other for milk. As they began to wander about, some might be killed by older
dogs. The owner might also kill one or more of the smaller pups or might
keep only the larger males, depending on his needs. At six months the pups
were chained to a stake where they were constantly exposed to the weather.
When the owner began training young dogs, he usually destroyed those un-
suited to harness. Thus, through natural and human influences the sled dog
was able to maintain certain broadly defined characteristics.
The practical value of sled dogs is determined by their strength, endur-
ance, and speed. In the Eskimo community of Wainwright in 1963, several
teams of seven dogs each were observed hauling loads of ice that weighed
1,780 pounds for one mile at roughly 2V4 miles per hour. This came to an
average of 254 pounds per dog. However, pulling such loads is possible only
for short distances. Teams of 9 to 1 1 dogs commonly pulled loads of approxi-
mately 550 pounds over a distance of 1 00 miles in two days.
An average sled dog weighing 65 or 70 pounds should be able to pull
100 pounds for a distance of 50 miles in 9 to 12 hours if the trail is relatively
smooth, packed, and level. Therefore, a team of 10 dogs in good condition
should be able to pull a sled load of 1,000 pounds up to 50 miles in one day,
again depending on trail and weather conditions. Accounts by Kobuk River
villagers of their own dog team experiences support these conclusions.
The greatest disadvantage in owning sled dogs is the amount of food
they consume. Dogs are omnivorous and can live on most foods used by
people. Their daily food requirements are determined by such factors as physi-
cal exertion and environmental stress. Kobuk villagers generally do not build
shelters for their sled dogs, so they need plenty of calories to produce suffi-
cient body heat during the winter cold. The energy used pulling a sled signifi-
®fj$5> TRAVEL
cantly increases their need. Several writers have studied the food require-
ments of working sled dogs and have calculated that their intake is from four
to seven pounds of meat per day (Spencer 1959:468; Dovers 1957:22). Es-
kimo dogs are fed as little as one-half pound of food per day in the summer to
as much as six pounds per day in the winter.
A conservative estimate of the food consumed by a sled dog each day of
an average winter is three pounds. The owner of a working team of 12 me-
dium-sized huskies can then expect to feed his dogs 36 pounds of food per
day, 252 pounds per week, and 1,080 pounds per month. These estimates are
for dogs used regularly to pull heavy loads and/or to travel long distances
under arctic or subarctic conditions.
Fish have been the primary food for Kuuvarjmiut sled dogs. Although
all species are utilized, salmon and whitefish are the most important by far.
When dog teams were the principal means of winter transportation, a family
with 10 to 14 dogs would annually catch, cut, and dry from 500 to 1,000
salmon solely for dog food. In the fall, whitefish, salmon, and some sheefish
were piled uncut to freeze for winter use as dog food. One resident of Ambler
estimated that his team of three large dogs and four adolescent pups con-
sumed 1 ,800 frozen whitefish during the winter of 1 973-74.
Caribou are also used for dog food and have occasionally been the pri-
mary source of food for the teams. A working team of 10 to 12 dogs can
consume a large bull caribou in three or four days, or in only two days if the
weather is severe and the work is especially hard.
Earlier in this century, when Kobuk people hunted and trapped in the
upper Noatak valley, they relied heavily on caribou to sustain their dogs.
Hunters usually could haul no more than a week or 10 days' supply of dried
fish from home, so they counted on caribou to feed themselves and their
dogs. According to several elders, it was not unusual to lose one or more dogs
when caribou could not be found. If the food situation became critical, hunt-
ers knew of a few places in the Noatak drainage where the water stayed open
and trout could be caught with lures or spears. There were also spawning sites
where rotted salmon could be obtained as an emergency food. Sheep and
other game, and occasionally vegetable matter, were also used to feed the
dogs in times of crisis.
Although Eskimo groups used dog traction before European contact,
the size of individual teams was quite small until the end of the nineteenth
century. Older Kuuvarjmiut said that when their fathers were young, teams of
two or three dogs per family were the normal size. A number of factors led to
the increase in size of teams: the introduction of firearms, use of cotton fish
nets, improved harnesses and sled styles, development of voice-trained lead
dogs, the shift from nomadic living to village living, and, most important, the
rise of trapping for commercial trade.
It was trapping, more than anything else, that created the need to travel
long distances in relatively short periods. The farther and faster a man could
travel, the greater his chances to take large numbers of furs — and furs meant
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money. According to many villagers, teams of 10 to 16 dogs were common
during the 1920s and early 1930s. Although the fur industry fell off drasti-
cally after the Depression, trapping was still a major source of income until
the early 1940s.
Dog team size did not decline when trapping decreased, however. By
this time virtually all families had abandoned their scattered winter camps in
favor of permanent homes in the five Kobuk River villages. This meant that
large dog teams were necessary for access to resources in the area surround-
ing each community. Then, in the early 1960s, a sudden decline in dog team
use occurred. Snowmachines were gaining wide acceptance, and in an amaz-
ingly brief time, dog teams all but disappeared in northwestern Alaska.
At this writing, the number of sled dogs in the upper Kobuk villages
appears to be slowly increasing, but it is impossible to say whether this trend
will continue. In May of 1975, a total of 320 adult sled dogs belonged to 51
households in the three villages of Ambler, Shungnak, and Kobuk. Although
the average per family was just over six dogs, 14 of the households owned 1Q
or more dogs. The total number these households owned was 2 1 7, or 67 per-
cent of the dogs. Twenty-seven households owned fewer than five dogs each.
In the village of Kiana, the total dog population in 1974-75 was 61.
Most of the 43 families owned two or three dogs and of the two that owned
more, one had five and the other had seven dogs. The 26 families surveyed in
Noorvik owned 146 dogs, of which 38 were owned by one family.
In 1 974-75, dog teams in the Kobuk River villages were used primarily
for racing or for recreational travel. A few people occasionally used dogs to
haul firewood, to travel between villages, or to go fishing, but at least 90
percent of winter-spring travel was by snowmachine. Competitive racing,
especially among younger villagers, has undoubtedly caused the recent resur-
gence in dog teams and is largely responsible for the continuation of dog
mushing in many Alaskan communities. It has also led to changes in the
kinds of dogs that exist today. Villagers say that the dogs have become much
smaller and faster than they were some years ago. This has resulted from the
introduction of light-boned racing huskies into the breeding stock.
Snowmachines
When people talk of winter travel in northern Alaska today, they are
talking about travel by snowmachine. The change from dog teams to
snowmachines can be compared to the shift from horses to automobiles in the
rest of the United States. The first of these machines to reach Alaskan vil-
lages were powered by eight or 1 2 horsepower motors and were rarely able to
travel faster than 10 or 15 miles an hour. Today's machines are streamlined
vehicles powered by engines that may exceed 50 horsepower and are capable
of speeds of over 60 miles per hour.
The snowmachine revolution came suddenly to villages of the Kobuk
River. In 1965, there were only three in Shungnak (Foote 1966:34), and in the
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spring of 1975, there were 26, a ninefold increase in a decade. In all, 63
snowmachines were counted in the 5 1 upper Kobuk households. The 43 Kiana
households owned 62 machines, and 26 surveyed households in Noorvik owned
42 machines.
Snowmachines are used in a wide variety of ways: setting and checking
traps, hunting, visiting friends and relatives in other villages, hauling fuel and
water, carrying garbage to the dump, visiting winter fishing sites, moving
building materials, meeting the mail plane, going to the store, packing a trail
for a dog team race, and so on. Most Kobuk villagers have come to view it as
a necessity rather than a convenience, and few would willingly part with it.
The shift from dog teams to snowmachines has placed a financial bur-
den on village families. In the mid-1970s, a new machine cost from $1,200 to
$2,100, depending on its horsepower. A gallon of mixed gasoline costs as
much as $1.45, and a large machine might average only eight miles per gal-
lon. Spare parts are also very expensive, and with increasing age and use, repair
costs escalate. Few machines survive more than three or four years. Thus
snowmachines have become a major expense for Kobuk village households.
Probably the most frustrating aspect of owning and using a snowmachine
in remote Alaskan villages is the difficulty in obtaining repair parts. It is often
impossible to interchange parts between different makes or models of ma-
chines. Small village stores cannot stock a complete supply of parts, so even
minor parts must often be mail ordered from outlets hundreds of miles away.
Slow service may delay an ordered part for weeks, leaving the owner without
transportation.
In the absence of repair services and sources of parts, Kobuk villagers
have developed mechanical skills to deal with the frequent breakdowns that
occur. Maintenance knowledge and repair innovations are shared with other
owners. Several men have also become skilled welders. When visiting a
snowmachine owner's home in the winter, it is common to find him tearing
down and repairing a machine in the main room.
The machines of even the most skilled mechanics eventually suffer a
breakdown that cannot be repaired on the spot. Usually this only means a
walk home; but in severe weather or on long trips, a failure can be disastrous.
For this reason people often travel in pairs or small groups. Search and rescue
organizations that have been formed in most Kobuk River villages are often
called upon to find overdue travelers. Villagers also keep contact with each
other to be sure that travelers have arrived safely at their destinations.
The use of snowmachines allows the Kuuvarjmiut to make intensive use
of a relatively large area surrounding their home communities. Machines are
fast enough so hunters can cross miles of terrain, find game, and bring it
home all within a few hours. This new means of travel is also a great equal-
izer in subsistence activities. In the past, the man with the best dog team or
the person who could snowshoe the longest distances had the best chance to
find game. Young, inexperienced men or those with substandard teams of
dogs were at a distinct disadvantage. Now all men who own machines are on
an equal footing in the realm of winter transportation.
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Comparison of Dog Teams and Snowmachines: Cost, Upkeep, and Performance
Item
Dog Team
(up to 10 dogs per team)
Snowmachine
(upto40h.p.)
Purchase price
Adult sled dog: $30-$60. Lead
dog: $75-5500. Usually obtained
through breeding
$1200-52100, including freight
Required
accessories
Sled, harnesses, lines, snow hook,
brake, snaps, chains, dog pans
Sled, hitch, spark plugs, drive belts,
tools
Fuel
Fish, tallow, caribou, oats, rice,
commercial dog food
Gasoline and oil
Fuel consumption
2-6 lbs. of food per day per dog.
10 dogs: 20-60 lbs. of food per day
(computed as wet weight, not dry
weight)
5-10 miles per gallon depending
on horsepower, load, trail
conditions, speed; may use 3-8
gallons per day when actively
hunting and traveling
Replacement and
repair parts
Purchased or bred for new pups;
young dogs of minimal use until
one year old
Purchased directly from local or
distant outlets
Average speed
4-9 mph, 5 mph for distances up to
50 miles with medium load and
good trails
15-20 mph with medium load and
good trail
Top speed
15-25 mph with light load; only
racing teams can sustain such
speeds beyond two miles
20-50 mph; can sustain high
speeds for duration of fuel, but
high speeds increase possibility of
machine damage or human injury
Weight pulling
Up to 2,000 lbs. for distances less
than five miles, depending on trail
conditions; deep soft snow
drastically reduces possible loads;
dogs have advantage of excellent
traction
Up to 1,000 lbs. for indefinite
distance providing that the sled can
be started, traction is good, and the
trail is smooth and level;
snowmachines will "spin out" or
wear out belts with extreme loads
in loose snow or on steep hills.
Possible travel dis-
tance in one day at
average speed
50-100 miles with medium to light
loads (long trips usually limited to
less than 70 miles per day)
200-300 miles (long trips usually
limited to less than 150 miles per
day)
Adverse environ-
mental conditions
affecting use
Deep soft, snow, thin crusted snow,
warm temperature, glare ice, high
winds, weak ice
Overflow, white-outs, strong
winds, severe cold, steep hills,
glare ice, weak ice
(continued)
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Item
Dog Team
(up to 10 dogs per team)
Snowmachine
(upto40h.p.)
Care when not in
use
Requires constant feeding and care
Requires little or no care
General
dependability
Generally very dependable within
physical limits
Generally dependable for the first
year and decreasing dependability
thereafter
Average service
life
9-1 1 years
2-4 years
General strong
points
Dependability; may be fed from
local resources; self-reproducing;
long service life; may be eaten or
fed to other dogs in emergency
situations
Fast; not subject to tiring; covers
long distances; requires no care in
summer; handling skills easy to
acquire; highly maneuverable; may
be replace through simple purchase
General weak
points
Subject to diseases and injuries;
may run away; requires care when
not in use; must be trained;
possible fighting; relatively slow;
requires considerable fishing and
hunting to be fed; dogs become
bored and difficult to handle if
continuously driven on the same
trails for a long period of time.
Subject to unpredictable
breakdowns; difficult to handle in
overflow or spin-outs in deep
snow; difficult to obtain spare
parts; expensive to purchase and
operate; relatively short service
life; dependence upon n on-local
sources for materials and fuel;
relatively high occurrence of
human injuries.
The extensive use of snowmachines is causing a loss of certain tradi-
tional environmental skills. Before the advent of the machine, adolescent
boys and young men learned subsistence and survival skills by traveling
with adult men by dog team.
The relative quiet and slow pace of travel encouraged communica-
tion between the two generations. Physical features could be pointed out
and memorized, and the youths could listen to whatever information the
elder hunter passed along. This included training in the spiritual relation-
ships with the natural world.
This "traveling school" has been substantially changed by the use of
snowmachines. Speed, noise, and physical distance isolate a driver from
his passenger on the sled. Nevertheless, such skills as shooting and skin-
ning game are still taught. When young men are financially able to pur-
chase a machine of their own, they become independent hunters, although
they continue to rely upon the advice and guidance of older men.
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Sleds
Two basic styles of sleds were used by Kobuk villagers in 1974-75: the
basket sled (qilgich) and the plank sled (urtiat). Sleds are essential for dog
team travel and are necessary for hauling fuel, supplies, and game with a
snowmachine. It would be extremely difficult to carry out normal winter ac-
tivities without using a sled.
According to a Shungnak elder, the
dog sleds of earlier days were low, flat af-
fairs with plank runners. This style appar-
ently disappeared around the turn of the
century, giving way to the more intricate
basket sled, which may have been intro-
duced by miners and prospectors.
Until the 1960s, Kuuvarjmiut basket
sleds were quite long and narrow, with run-
ner lengths of 1 6 feet common, and widths
of 23 to 24 inches to the outsides of the
runners. They were made with locally cut
birch, rawhide lashings, and assorted bolts,
screws, and nails. Runners were often shoed
with strips of green (unseasoned) spruce in
cold weather and with iron or steel for the
wet surface conditions of fall and spring.
There was often a long "gee" pole lashed to the right side of the sled and
projecting upward at a low angle four to five feet ahead of the bow. A man
would often walk on snowshoes or ride on skis attached by a bridle to the tow
line, positioned between the front of the sled and the rear (wheel) dogs. Hold-
ing the gee pole, he could guide the sled around bends and away from ob-
structions, and keep it from slipping off packed trails into the soft snow.
Today basket sleds are shorter and wider, designed to be pulled behind
snowmachines. They are made with imported hardwoods such as hickory or
Side and top views of sled with gee pole.
Eskimos with their sled and dog team.
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Basket sled attached to snowmachine.
oak, and are usually built to be much heavier and stiffer than dog team sleds.
The runners are generally 10 to 12 feet long, occasionally up to 14 feet, and
they are permanently shoed with steel. Sleds are as wide as 27 inches, and the
greatest widths are preferred especially by people who live near the coast.
Foot brakes, gee poles, and brush bows are usually absent. A V-shaped steel
hitch hinged to the bow piece or side stanchions connects the sled to the
snowmachine. A few basket sleds are still made for dog teams, but unlike the
heavy sleds of the past they are now quite small and short, with runners sel-
dom more than 10 feet long and beds up to six feet long.
Plank-type sled
The second type of sled currently used in Kobuk villages, the uniat, is a
low, rigid, plank sled. This type is simply made by nailing a series of boards
across the top of two heavy plank runners. The runners are usually 2x8 inch
pieces, seven or eight feet long. A V-shaped steel hitch is hinged to the front,
and steel shoes are usually screwed or nailed to the bottom of the runners.
Plank sleds are made primarily for hauling heavy loads of wood and other
freight with snowmachines.
During the spring of 1975, 55 basket sleds and 27 plank sleds belonged
to the 5 1 upper Kobuk families surveyed. Only seven households were with-
out sleds. In Kiana, the 41 families owned 27 basket sleds and nine plank
sleds, and in Noorvik the 26 surveyed families owned 22 basket sleds and
four plank sleds. Seventeen of the Kiana families and three of the Noorvik
families did not own sleds. In all villages, most households without sleds
were those of elders, whose children took care of their transportation needs.
Shelters
As part of their adaptation to harsh winter conditions, the Kuuvarjmiut use
shelters that can be quickly made with materials at hand and give good protection
against cold temperature or strong wind. The following descriptions illustrate
some of the shelters used for overnight or emergency camping.
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A temporary shelter may be dug into
deep snow. Called an alluaqsaaq, it has
a bench area and is covered with a skin
or canvas roof.
Tarp
Alluaqsaaq. A temporary
snow shelter.
Tarp
A simpler kind of temporary snow shel-
ter is dug into deep snow and is made
just large enough to sit in and pull a
cover over. This shelter is used in sur-
vival situations.
A temporary snow shelter.
Willow or spruce bough mat
Somewhat more elaborate is a cone-
shaped structure of branches and poles,
with snow packed against the walls. A
smokehole at the top makes it possible
to build a small open fire inside.
A cone-shaped shelter of
branches and poles.
Branches stacked
to form a cone
Packed snow
According to a Shungnak elder, the
Kuuvanmiut snowhouse (aputyaq) was
made until the beginning of this cen-
tury. Men used their snowshoes to
shovel a pile of loose snow, then packed
it down, allowed it to harden in the cold,
and hollowed out a room inside. If rocks
were available, they would build a fire
outside to heat them and then carry
them inside with wooden tongs to pro-
vide warmth.
Piled and packed snow
Skin cover pegged
to form doorway
flap
A snow house.
Heated rocks
Spruce bough floor covering
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■10° to -30° F
Inversion
-40° to -60° F
■:^
Spruce bow bed
Heated earth
Using temperature inversion
as protection from cold.
Snow caves were excavated into the sides of large drifts when wind
made it impossible to set up tents or other shelters. An upper Kobuk man told
of being caught with his wife and small daughter in a mountain pass when a
severe storm broke. He used a shovel to tunnel into a drift so they could wait
it out. It blew so hard that he could not leave the cave to feed his dogs for
three days.
Temperature inversions can also be used as a "shelter" or refuge from
deep cold. Kuuvarjmiut travelers took advantage of winter temperature inver-
sions when they were out with minimal equipment in mountainous or hilly
country. If the weather was intensely cold (-40° to -65° F), a man would climb
a mountain slope until he reached the warm air inversion. He would then find
some fairly level ground, stamp down the snow, and cover the surface with
brush or spruce boughs. Finally, he built a large fire above his position, so
that the evening downdraft carried the heat across his resting spot.
Warmth can also be provided in an open camp by heating the earth. Two
men from Shungnak told of spending several days snowshoeing across for-
ested land during intensely cold weather, when they carried no tent or sleep-
ing bags. At night they would sometimes clear
the snow from an area with their snowshoes,
then build a large fire and allow it to heat the
earth underneath. After clearing away the coals,
they spread a mat of spruce boughs over the
heated ground for their bed. Finally, they built
another fire close by to provide added warmth
through the night.
The willow bough shelter is an innova-
tion a Shungnak resident once made to pro-
vide a quick shelter. He and a companion were
caught by a storm in the Noatak country.
Clumps of willow were the only visible veg-
etation. The two men spread their tent canvas
over one clump and weighted the sides down
with equipment and snow, then cut out the cen-
Thawed warm earth
camping place.
e©M36
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ter of the willow cluster and lay the cut willows on the ground for a floor
mat. A single pole held up the middle of the canvas. After setting up their
lantern and stove and bringing their bedding inside, they spent a com-
fortable night.
Canvas wall tents are now the main shelter used
for winter camping. The floor dimensions are 8 x 10
feet or 10 x 12 feet, with the smaller size most popu-
lar. These tents are usually bought from local stores.
Other equipment needed in winter camps includes:
Willow bough shelter.
a sheet-metal wood-burning stove with stove pipe
caribou hide mats
sleeping bags
cooking equipment, including dishes, cups, and silverware
a kerosene or gasoline lamp
food (usually in a grub box)
an ax and possibly a bow saw
extra fuel for lamps
a sled tarp to throw over tent for added insulation
a small piece of plywood to serve as a table
a shovel, usually broad-bladed
Bag containing
equipment
Caribou
skins Table Wood
Spruce bough floor platform supply
Canvas wall tent furnished for winter camping.
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When traveling, the Kuuvarjmiut prefer to camp in timber stands or heavy
willow thickets, where they are protected from wind and have access to fuel.
In tundra areas they also use sheltered creeks and mountain sides, where camp-
ing can be done in comfort. When they cross new territory the men seek out
timber stands and look for soft snow, which indicates that the site has been
well protected from the wind.
Once a site is selected, loose snow is cleared away from the floor area
and somewhat beyond the intended edge of the tent walls. The tent is set up
with the side walls low enough so their lower edges can be tucked inside and
weighted with equipment. Spruce boughs or freshly cut willows are laid to a
depth of several inches over the floor. The stove is set up and bedding is
arranged. A supply of dry wood is cut, and soon the tent is warm and filled
with the smell of frying caribou meat. Tent camps can be comfortably warm,
even in temperatures of fifty below zero or colder, as long as the ever-hungry
stove is kept well fed with wood.
Trail Systems
The Kuuvarjmiut have historically utilized an impressively large terri-
tory for subsistence pursuits. Their travels have extended from the open wind-
swept plains of the North Slope to the forests of the Koyukuk River. Over the
generations, they have discovered routes that allow them to travel throughout
the surrounding territory with a minimum of difficulty and danger. Most of
these trails follow stream courses or cross flat, open country, so that they
avoid steep traverses and take advantage of wind-packed snow areas. When
possible, trails are on land rather than on rivers, to avoid having to follow
meanders and stay clear of weak ice or overflows.
Some of the major trail systems between villages are marked with wooden
pole tripods. These markers were set up some years ago with state funding,
but many have fallen, leaving gaps of a mile or more. They are especially
useful to persons who travel at night or become caught in a storm. Routes
presently marked with tripods are the Ambler-Shungnak, Ambler-Selawik,
and Shungnak-Selawik trails. This last trail connects with the main Ambler-
Selawik trail near the Kugarak River. In the lower Kobuk area, the Kiana-
Selawik and Noorvik-Selawik trails are staked.
Marked trails are only a few of the winter routes that have been estab-
lished by the Kuuvarjmiut. Some trails are of particular cultural importance.
These include the one that crosses from the upper Kobuk River over Norutak
Lake to the Alatna River. For many generations this has been the line of contact
between the upper Koyukuk Athabaskan Indians and the Kuuvarjmiut Eski-
mos. Early in this century, a group of Kuuvarjmiut established a community
called Alatna on the Koyukuk River, directly across from the Indian village of
Allakaket. This made the route even more important than it had been previously.
The pass dividing the headwaters of the Selawik River from Wheeler
Creek, a tributary of the Koyukuk River, has also been a route of cultural
contact. Both the Kobuk River Eskimos and the Huslia Indians still use this
8@8>138
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trail to reach Selawik Hot Springs, where they camp and bathe each spring. In
the lower Kobuk area, trails that connect Kiana and Noorvik, and Noorvik
and Kotzebue have been the major routes of contact with coastal Eskimos.
These have been used even more heavily since the introduction of
snowmachines.
Trails leading north into and through the Brooks Range allowed Kobuk
River people to utilize resources that were not available in their home valley.
A few of the major routes include the pass leading from the Redstone (Ivisaaq)
River to the Cutler (Anayuk) River, which is known asApqugaagruk, literally
"the old trail." The pass dividing the Ambler River from Nushralutak Creek
takes its name from the Ambler River, Natmaktugiaq, meaning "pack it across."
Only the most hardy hikers attempt its narrow canyons, with a climb so steep
that men used to pack their loads up the pass and then go back to help their
burdened dogs negotiate the slope. Sisuuksinivik Pass, between the Qugluqtuq
and Ipnailivik rivers, is infamous for having once killed a party of Nunamiut
Eskimos in a spring avalanche. Because of this danger, the Kuuvarjmiut stopped
using it, and instead they climbed the steep ridge separating Kutarlak Creek
from Iknin River. Tupilik Pass, between the headwaters of the Reed River
and Tupik Creek, is also very steep, but men and dogs made use of it.
Another pass of importance to Kobuk River Eskimos is Howard Pass
(Akutuq), which means "whipped fat." It acquired its name from the howling
winds and whirling snows that sweep through it. In the pass separating Por-
tage Creek from the Alatna River, Kobuk people long ago fought and van-
quished a now-extinct tribe of Indians known as the Iyagaagmiut, or "people
of the rocks."
Place Names and Use Areas
Like English, the Inupial language has a richly developed vocabulary
which includes general terms to describe landscape features such as rivers,
mountains, lakes, forests, and tundra. It would be a mistake, however, to as-
sume that the Kuuvarjmiut conceptualize their environment primarily accord-
ing to these gross elements of the terrain. Rather, they view their surround-
ings as a complex, interrelated maze of micro-environments existing within
more general macro-environmental zones.
Each bend on the river is special. It has properties that set it apart from
all other bends. Each slough or lake has resources and/or conditions that make
it unique. This uniqueness is often reflected in the use of a name that connotes
the type of place, such as a slough or a ridge, and qualifiers that distinguish it
from similar places, such as a small slough (kuugaatchiaq) as distinct from a
large slough (kuutchauraq) or a rounded ridge (qimigaaq) as distinct from a
stepped ridge (qimugruk) . The large variety of such modifiers has given rise
to an exceptionally rich vocabulary of place names.
Despite the variety of Eskimo place names, a core of names tends to
reappear in each separate area. For example, although nearly every place name
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along the lower Kobuk River is distinctive within that area, many of the same
names are used for similar features in the upper Kobuk area.
Like all aspects of Kuuvarj mint culture, the place names have been trans-
mitted orally from one generation to the next. The Kobuk people are closely
bound to their environment, so it is not surprising that a detailed knowledge
of the land and river has been a vital link in maintaining their cultural conti-
nuity. In this case, "knowledge" entails a complex interconnected web of
topography, weather, vegetation, animal life, subsistence, history, legend, and
a host of other cultural and environmental factors. In other words, to under-
stand the concepts underlying the traditional naming of places, it is necessary
to understand the Kuuvamniut people's relationship to and dependence upon
the land. Also, if Kuuvarjmiut culture is to maintain its continuity, it is im-
perative that traditional concepts about the environment be transmitted from
one generation to the next.
The place names developed by Kobuk Eskimos also designate special
features that are important to the people's past and present life. When an
older woman teaches her daughter the skills of fishing, she refers to named
river bars or eddies where one may set a net or use a seine. When an old
hunter accompanies younger, less experienced hunters on their travels, he
names the places they pass to help them remember these routes in the future.
An old man telling his son how to travel safely from one place to another
names the mountain passes, streams, protected campsites, and places known
for such hazards as avalanches, overflow, and weak ice. At the end of a trip
the travelers often recount the journey to others by naming and describing the
locations they have passed. Finally, when recounting the history and legends
of their culture, Kobuk people often refer to specific, named locations.
The following is a small sample of illustrative place names used by
Kobuk River Eskimos:
I. Historic
Alaqanalik: "Half beaver, half marmot." A site inhabited by a
mythical creature.
Iglukisaaq: "To juggle." A boulder at the river edge that is said to
be one of the two stones juggled by a giant.
Ilupquagruuralik: "Somebody with little old underwear." A creek.
lluvaurat: "Little graveyard." A grave site.
Ifiukilisuq: "Funny-faced man." A place where a white prospector
once lived.
Ipligvik: "Place of drowning." The place where a person died.
Iqsiugvik: A village site, once the scene of a battle.
Kuijigaq: "Caribou corral." A place where caribou were driven into
an enclosure with snares.
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Malgutchiak Saputir/ik: "Twins' fish weir." A stone formation in
the river built by two legendary brothers.
Qargiat: "Their community house." The site of a large shelter built
for a meeting between Koyukon Athabaskans and upper Kobuk
Eskimos.
Tauqsigniagvigruuraq: "Little old store." The site of an old trading
post.
Umiaviuraq: "Little umiak place." An upturned umiak-shaped hill
associated with the legend of three men in a boat who were
turned to stone.
II. Physiographic descriptions:
Aqiat: "Bellies." Rounded foothills.
Auyuukkaaq: "Always frozen." A glacier.
Igliqtiqsiugvigruaq: "Old place where arrows were dodged." The
site of an old settlement.
Imagluktuq: "Dark water." Black River, near Ambler.
Katyaak: "Fork in the river."
Kisimmaluat: "Hill by itself."
Nuilauraq: "Place where the river forks."
Piyuqsraq: "Future knoll." A hill.
Pututchiaq: "Cutoff." A cutoff of a river meander loop.
Qugluqtuq: "Waterfall."
Saiktuurat: "Rocks standing up." A mountain.
Uumman: "Heart." A heart-shaped mountain.
III. Animal, plant, and resource concentrations:
Isiijnaq: "Jade." Jade Creek.
Isruqaglik: "Molting place." A lake used by molting geese.
Oalugniaq: "Salmon." The Salmon River.
Qalukpiliviwaq: "Small place where trout are made."
Qalugriivik: "Salmon spawning place."
Qaluksiugayuat: "Young osprey."
Tulugagnut: "Swallows." A high bluff.
IV. Subsistence activities:
Aullaqsrugaitchiaq: "Way to go pick berries."
&§&> TRAVEL
Itchugvik: "Goose blind place."
Napaqsragniagvik: "Place to obtain birch for sled stanchions."
Pannavik: "Spearing place."
Sallinauraq: "Little seining place."
Siksrikpakturuat: "Place having many marmots."
Uluksraurat: "Little ulu material."
Kapuqqaagvik: "Fish spearing place."
V. Directional or navigational:
Arjilgagiaq: "The way to go home."
Apqugaagruk: "Old pass trail."
Itivliq: "Portage place."
Quggagiaq: "A trail to Noatak."
Sagvaqsiugiaq: "Drifting with the current."
Tunuuraq: "Way around the mountain."
VI. Warnings:
Aniuyaaq: "Wind hits hard on south side."
Chiipuulugaqtigvik: "Place to use a gee pole."
Nigiqpalugruuraq: "Strong north wind."
Siiqsinniq: "Overflow."
Sisuuktat: "Where there was an avalanche."
Tuqunaqtut: "They are poisonous. They cause death."
VII. Person's names (usually grave sites)
Agvigiaq.
Aurruk.
Yaguna. A creek.
Qaihaq.
Sailaq.
Sattu.
Plotting the distribution of place names known by residents of each
Kobuk River village gives a good indication of the area they utilize in their
subsistence pursuits. Resource availability, topography, weather, and tech-
nology strongly influence people's subsistence range, but cultural factors.
^3M42
TRAVEL <£,
such as ideas about territoriality, are also important. For example, upper Kobuk
people know the place names in detail for an area as far downstream as
Tulukkaal. Below this point their knowledge of the names virtually ceases.
This also corresponds to the western limit of their resource utilization, as
recorded in our 1974-75 surveys and as indicated by statements about tradi-
tional harvest areas given by Ambler, Shungnak, and Kobuk residents.
Similarly, the downriver villagers' detailed knowledge of place names
declines sharply for areas above the mouth of the Hunt River, which corre-
sponds to their eastern limits of resource utilization. This is particularly re-
vealing, since most Kiana and many Noorvik residents originally came from
the upper Kobuk area. It indicates that people maintain their remarkably de-
tailed knowledge of place names through constant and intense use of an area.
It is important to stress that the Kobuk people's concept of territory
differs from that familiar in western cultures. To the Kuuvar/miut, a territory
is not strictly bounded and does not confer exclusive rights to use. Instead, it
is a home area, known in detail, which for various ecological, technological,
and social reasons a person tends to utilize more extensively than other areas.
When necessary, the home areas of neighboring Inupiat can be utilized with
few if any constraints imposed by the people who live there. As a matter of
courtesy, someone who wants to use the resources in another group's home
area might let members of that community know about it. This can usually be
done by visiting friends, relatives, or partners in the village during the trip.
But under ordinary circumstances, where only villagers are involved, the for-
mality could be overlooked and few people would give it any special thought.
The southern limit of the upper Kobuk villagers' range of intense utili-
zation, as indicated by knowledge of place names, runs approximately from
the Great Sand Dunes to Purcell Mountain, then east to the middle Hogatza
River. The eastern limits are approximately from the middle Hogatza River
to Norutak Lake and then north to the upper Killik River. This also seems to
be perceived as a border with the upper Koyukuk Indians and, to a lesser
extent, with the Nimamiut Eskimos. From the upper Killik River, the limits
extend down the Itivilik River to its junction with the Colville, then to the
mouth of the Cutler River, and across the pass leading to the Hunt River and
back to Tulukkaat.
The intense utilization zone of the lower river Kuuvamniut includes the
entire lower Kobuk River drainage and the northern part of the Selawik low-
lands. It also includes a portion of the Noatak River across from the headwa-
ters of the Omar River and the coast between the mouth of the Kobuk River
and Cape Krusenstern. It overlaps the upper Kobuk peoples' area between the
Hunt River and Onion Portage.
The list of place names recorded during this study is undoubtedly in-
complete, and as this list grows the outer limits of Kuuvarjmiut place names
may be revised.
143 <£&
FISHING
Chapter 8
Fishing
Introduction
The Kuuvarjmiut Eskimos are, first and foremost, people of the river. It
is the Kobuk River with its interconnecting web of lakes, sloughs, and
streams that provides their most reliable resource: fish. A wide variety
offish species, both migratory and resident, are found in the waters of the
Kobuk valley and may be exploited at various seasons. Were it not for the
availability offish, this would be a much poorer environment for human habi-
tation. Caribou, bear, moose, and other game animals are either not abundant
enough to sustain a resident population as large as that of modern times, or they
are subject to unpredictable migratory shifts and population declines. As a
Shungnak elder put it, "We must have fish to live."
For much of the year, rarely a day passes that the average Kuuvarjmiut
family does not have one or more meals in which fish is the main course. Fish
and parts offish are eaten boiled, fried, baked, frozen, aged, and dried. Fish
oil, obtained from boiling the intestines and eggs of whitefish and sheefish, is
used to supplement a family's supply of seal oil. Fish is food not only for
humans but also for dogs. Until recently, the Kuuvarjmiut depended heavily
on dogs for winter transportation and, to a lesser degree, for summer travel.
Each year these dogs consumed prodigious quantities offish.
Fish and fish products have long served as items of economic exchange
among the Kobuk River people. An example of this system can be seen in fall
fishing practices of the upper Kobuk villagers. During the last week of Sep-
tember, schools of migratory sheefish move into the swift clear waters of the
river above Kobuk village. When they arrive, the female fish are fat and full
of oil-rich eggs ready for spawning. Villagers from Shungnak and Kobuk
catch these fish in gill nets and beach seines, then lay them out on willow
mats to slowly age and freeze as the weather gets colder. Such fish are con-
sidered a delicacy by Eskimos throughout northwestern Alaska. They are used
as a medium of exchange for coastal goods like seal oil, bearded seal skins,
and muktuk, or in direct cash transactions. Fish are also bartered and sold
within the confines of each village.
Traditional dependence on fish has led to an impressive array of indig-
enous methods for the harvest, curing, and storage offish. Well before con-
tact with Europeans, the Kuuvarjmiut had developed a variety of spears, snares,
traps, hooks, lures, nets, and seines used to exploit this rich resource. They
had also discovered efficient methods of preserving and storing their catches
for future use. Although considerable change has occurred in many subsis-
tence practices since contact with Europeans, a wealth of traditional fishing
skills and knowledge remains an important element of local life.
8©S»144
The pervasive influence of fishing extends beyond the economic and
technological spheres into the social aspects of Kuuvarjmiul culture. The
makeup and organization of seining crews, the division of labor associated
with fishing, the systems for sharing of catches, the transfer of knowledge
and skills related to fishing, property rights, and so on — all have ramifica-
tions throughout the social structure of each community.
A common misconception about subsistence activities is that "men hunt
and women fish." On the Kobuk River, women do dominate spring, summer,
and early fall fishing activities. They usually manufacture the seines, hang,
place, and check nets, carry out the seining activities, cut and care for the
drying fish, and do other related tasks. But the men play an important, if less
visible, role in subsistence fishing. Men carve the net floats and sinkers, build
the boats and maintain motors, erect the family dwellings, construct the dry-
ing racks and caches, and make the fish boxes.
Particularly within the last two decades, men have begun to help occa-
sionally with seining efforts and setting of gill nets. Young boys are often
seen taking their mothers or older female relatives in outboard-powered boats
to net or seining sites. Men who are too old for strenuous hunting activities
often fish to remain productive. Construction offish traps is a male-domi-
nated activity, as was fish spearing in the past. Today, males are quite active
in rod and reel fishing during the summer, and they participate to a lesser
extent in ice fishing during the winter.
The focus on fishing as a primary source of subsistence has led to devel-
opment of a very generalized form of territoriality associated with gill net and
fish trap sites. During our research, village people made no overt statements
concerning restricted use of eddies, sloughs, and other fishing sites. But we
observed a tendency toward exclusive use of certain fishing sites by the older
adults of a given village. Rather than "ownership," it would be more accurate
to label this practice "first right" or "preferred" status.
An individual who uses a particular site for a net or fish trap over a
period of several years seems to attain preferred status in the use of that loca-
tion. Others in the village tend to defer to this person when placing their nets
or traps in the same vicinity. Preferred status has derived more from the place-
ment offish camps than from actual fishing activities. When a family has
used a particular site for its fish camp for two or more years, others usually
avoid pitching camp there or setting their nets in nearby eddies without prior
permission from the established user. The use of such sites has often passed
to the offspring of an elderly couple, and preferred rights have been main-
tained through continued use. Although several persons may utilize particu-
larly large and productive eddies, most fishing spots are used individually.
A recent complicating factor in Kobuk subsistence fishing practices,
and undoubtedly in other activities as well, is the sudden change in land status
brought about by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. Under the provi-
sions of this act, most lands along the Kobuk River will become the property
145 *m
B®gfc FISHING
of village corporations, regional corporations, or the State of Alaska, or they
will come under federal control as national parks, monuments, or wildlife
reserves. To protect established fish camps and other subsistence sites, vil-
lagers have been encouraged to file for Native allotments that will give them
exclusive legal claim to such sites. This has the effect of "freezing" the fish-
ing activities in place.
Unfortunately, this act fails to account for the dynamic nature of subsis-
tence fishing. All rivers, and particularly the Kobuk, are constantly eating
away at their banks, cutting new channels, shifting bars, filling in old eddies,
and forming new ones. As the river changes, it becomes necessary for subsis-
tence fishermen to seek out new and more productive fishing sites. This was
a prime reason why private property concepts did not develop in traditional
times. Now, Kobuk people are forced into the rigid complexities of legal
ownership and trespass restrictions; they face increasing difficulty in adjust-
ing to the environment's natural dynamics.
Fishing Equipment
Kuuvaijmiut subsistence fishing requires a broad array of tools — nets,
traps, spears, hooks, and gaffs. Some of these implements are fashioned en-
tirely of local materials, while others are made of imported materials or are
purchased from stores. A partial listing of fishing devices the Kuuvarjmiut
have used over the past 50 years is given below. A few of the items, such as
fish traps, have not been built for several years, so the information is sketchy.
Gill Net (kuvraq)
In early times gill nets were made by the women, using braided willow
bark and split spruce roots. Today the nets are mostly nylon and purchased from
local stores. The popular net types used by modern Kobuk villagers are: (1)
Qalugruaqsiun. Mesh size 4/4" to 5!4" (all mesh sizes are stretched measure-
ments); used for catching salmon and sheefish. (2) Iragulik. Mesh size 4"; used
for catching large whitefish, large pike, small sheefish, and small salmon. (3)
Arjuniugauraq. Mesh size 3"; used for small whitefish and small pike. (4)
lragukisuuraq. Mesh size 2Vi"\ used for catching the smallest whitefish.
Gill net ready for use.
Most village women continue to hang their own nets, using 5/8" polyline
or manila rope for the top and bottom lines. Men carve the oblong net floats
from thick cottonwood (balsam poplar) bark or from dry spruce roots. Sink-
ers are small denim or canvas bags filled with gravel. Wooden spreader bars
are attached to either end of the net, and a weight, usually a large rock weigh-
ing about four pounds, is secured to the bottom of each bar. A shore line and
an anchor line of %" rope are attached to the net before setting.
Seine (qaaktuun)
Before this century, beach seines were made, much like gill nets, of
woven willow bark and split spruce roots. Today village women continue to
manufacture their own seines, but heavy cotton twine
has replaced bark and roots. Tools used in seine manu
facture include a netting shuttle (nuvillaun), carved q
from hardwood or ivory.
The seines consist of three 40-foot sections joined together. Each year a
new section is woven to replace the oldest (three-year-old) section, so the
entire seine never wears out at one time. Seines are made and hung basically
like gill nets. The chief difference between them, other than mesh size, is in
the design of floats and sinkers. Seine floats tend to be elliptical with flat
bottoms so they offer minimal resistance to the water when being pulled in.
Sinkers are usually cylindrical sections of caribou antler. A beach seine mea-
sured at Shungnak in 1974 had 146 floats attached to the top line and 143
sinkers attached to the bottom line.
Seines used in the upper Kobuk usually have a stretched mesh size of
2%", and seines used in the lower Kobuk have a slightly smaller mesh. The
Eskimos of Kiana and Noorvik have a special Least Cisco seine (qalu-
sraaqsiun) with a particularly small mesh, about 1 " stretched. These are also
used for seining small whitefish (qalusraaq) in the fall.
Netting shuttle
Top view
7"
Side view
2.75"
4"
Float and sinker used on seines.
147 S»
'L> fishing
Seine drying rack
30'
Seine Drying Rack (Qaaktuutim Iiinivia)
The Kohuk River people have a special rack for hanging their seines
between uses. It is made of a long, slender spruce pole about 30 feet long,
hewn and bladed smooth in the shape of a rounded triangle. Two permanently
attached legs support the heavy end, and when in use, two forked poles are
used to support the narrow end
Fish Rack (Innisaq)
Four styles of unroofed racks are used for drying summer-caught fish:
(1) innisaq, the most common type, constructed of two tripods spanned by
three or more poles; (2) siaktat, a series of tripods connected by overlapping
poles; (3) paiviich, a semi-permanent rack with four strong corner posts sup-
porting a rectangular frame and a series of poles suspended across the frame;
and (4) uuyuraqagvik, consisting of a single stout pole suspended between
two tripods or pilings. The paiviich is used for hanging particularly large,
heavy fish, and the uuyuraqagvik is used to support several layers offish after
they have become half to two-thirds dry.
Summer fish-drying rack (Type 1).
Innisaq
£» 148
FISHING <$£*
Summer fish-drying rack (Type 2).
Fish-drying rack for fish strung together.
Fishing Pole, Lure
The Kuuvarjiniut have long used the pole and line for fishing. Today
open water fishing is usually done with spinning rods and commercial lures.
However, most winter ice fishing is done with locally made equipment. Ice-
fishing poles (illaqtuun) are generally three feet long. In the past, lines were
made of sinew or fish skin, but now nine feet of heavy monofilament line are
used with a small commercial or handmade lure having a barbless hook. Lures
(niksiuraq) may be hand carved from bone, antler, or bear's tooth, and hooks
may be of animal tooth, ivory, or beaten metal. For example, one metal lure
was made by flattening a brass wood screw into a spoon shape, affixing a
small nail to one end so it projected as the hook, and drilling a tiny hole at the
other end for the line. Grayling hooks are often baited with part or all of a fish
scale or with a small piece offish flesh. To fish for burbot, the Kuuvarjiniut
often use a trot line with a series of baited hooks. This is called a qagruqsaq.
Fish Club (Niaqqin)
When large fish such as salmon, sheefish, and burbot are caught, people
usually dispatch them with a short, stout club. The club is generally rough
hewn from spruce or birch.
h- -2'- —
Gaff (A ki)
Fish club.
The Kobuk River people use gaffs of two basic types: one (akiuruq) is
short handled and used in boats to pull in hooked sheefish or to assist in
removing fish from a net. The other (aki) is long handled and used to hook
fish from traps under the ice.
Gaff.
149 «#/£
Bg$> FISHING
Fish spear.
detachable head
Dip net.
Fish Spear
Several different styles offish spears were used by the Kuuvarjmiut un-
til the early twentieth century, but they have since been replaced by other
fishing implements. One of the spears was the kakiat, or trident. It consisted
of a long rod with a thin center point. In pre-European contact times the point
was bordered on two sides by flexible barbed bone rods, but more recently
the point and barbs have been made of steel. The other was the kapuqqaun, a
long pole tipped with a detachable barbed point connected to the shaft by a
short line. The kakiat was used for sheefish and the kapuqqaun was for salmon.
Dip Net (qalu)
The Kobuk River people formerly used large dip nets to catch fish at
weirs during the fall. These nets (qalu) consisted of a long pole with a wide
fork at one end. Attached to the fork was a long, tapering net funnel. A lighter,
smaller dip net (qaluuraq) is still used on the lower Kobuk for catching smelt
during their brief summer run. This net has a six or seven foot long handle
and an opening 1 8 to 24 inches across.
Fish Weir (saputit)
The Kuuvarjmiut have used a variety of weirs to harvest fall fish runs.
One type, called apaurvich, was a large weir built across the upper Kobuk
River just before freeze-up to harvest sheefish migrating downstream. It con-
sisted of a series of stout tripods extending across the river. Long poles were
laid horizontally along the top and smaller poles leaned vertically against
these on the upstream side. This made a fence (saputit) across the river, block-
ing the downstream movement of large fish.
In the evenings, men in boats would pull up behind the weir and remove
a small section of the fence so the boats could be anchored directly over the
opening. Lanterns were hung on poles from the bows of the boats, and the
men speared sheefish as they swam through the openings. While the men
were spearing, the women were seining along gravel bars above the weir. A
somewhat different version, called taluyaq, was also built on the lower Kobuk
before freeze-up to catch spawning salmon.
E&150
FISHING <$£?
10-15'
m k LL Ui \A__i
UL
Fish weir
Small weirs were built in the fall to block streams, sloughs, and the
outlets to large lakes. These fences were made of close-matted brush and
branches. A "gate" near one end consisted of two stout poles driven firmly
into the river bottom. Split spruce logs were laid on the bottom under the gate
so that fish could be seen passing over the light surface. Then a dip net was
put into the opening, with its frame resting against the upstream sides of the
poles. The fisherman hid in a blind atop the bank holding the net handle, and
when schools offish swam into it, he lifted them out.
Upstream View
Split spruce laid on the
bottom of the gate to reflect
light and to make it possible
to see the fish
151 <g&i
B©&» FISHING
Apparently the most widely used weir was the kuuvaksiun qalu, which
was built as soon as the fall ice was safe to walk on. This weir consisted of an
extensive brush fence which formed a shallow downstream "V." At the point
of the "V," two stout stakes formed an opening, and a large dip net was used
to cover the opening. This type of weir was made on both the upper and lower
Kobuk River, and its use reportedly continued in the villages of Kobuk and
Kiana through the 1 950s. Weirs like these were built cooperatively, and they
were intended to harvest whitefish migrating downstream in large schools
after freeze-up.
Qaluugvik. Hole in the
ice used to spot fish
swimming into the net _gf^
>G9
.0°'
Turvik. Posts framing the
gate. The frame of the dip net
rests against the upper side
of these posts.
Top View
Fish weir constructed under river ice.
Another kind offish weir or trap is that still used by upper Kobuk people
to harvest burbot in the fall. A full description is given at the end of this
chapter.
Blackfish Trap (Ituuqiniqsiun)
Bag tacked to mouth rim of the funnel
Willow funnel
Cutaway view of the burlap hag
Poles used to hold
up the trap
The Kuuvarjmiut use a basket-shaped
trap for blackfish, which consists of a
funnel-shaped willow wicker open at
both ends, set into a large burlap bag
and secured to its opening. The de-
vice is fastened to poles that are laid
on the ice over holes made by black-
fish concentrations. The top of the bag
is just below the surface of the water,
so the fish will swim over the edge and
Blackfish swim up down into it. Those that swim through
and into the hag the willow funnel usually cannot find
their way back out through the narrow
inverted opening, so they are trapped
Blackfish trap (as described by an upper Kobuk villager). in the bag.
The trap is suspended
just under the water
152
FISHING <&£■
A U- '
12'- 15'
Heavy knob on the
top end to act as a
counterbalance
Netting Basket
Willow pole hoot used to help lift the bottom line of the dip net.
Ice 3" to 4" thick
Fence consists of inverted
spruce trees shoved
vertically into the river
bottom so that the broken
branches of the trees mesh
together
Qalu
Hook, dip-net, and fence used for fishing.
Caches
Caches for storing dried fish are an important part of Kuuvanmiut sub-
sistence technology. Among these caches are: (1) the saiyut, a ground-level
cache with walls of vertical poles and usually roofed over; (2) the unalut, a
cache consisting of a small house built on pilings; and (3) a box-like cache
with horizontal log walls, built on low pilings.
Cottonwood iogs
Willow-pole floor
Cache for storing fish
153 <\.
Spring and Early Summer Fishing
Ice Fishing
Starting in early April, sheefish are active under the ice in the Selawik Lake-Hotham
Inlet area, moving around in large schools searching for least cisco (Alt 1969:40). They
remain here until breakup, sometime between mid-May and early June, when they begin to
migrate upstream. The location of sheefish schools is hard to predict, and making a large
catch requires a great deal of searching, hard work, and perseverance.
The areas most commonly fished are off the northern shores of Selawik lake between
Singauraq and the mouth of Makkaksragiaq Channel, and in Hotham Inlet around the vicin-
ity of Imaagvik. Because the Noorvik people live closest, many of them come to the Kobuk
delta area to catch sheefish. They usually pitch family tents on the ice and camp for a week
at a time. Because Kiana people live farther from the delta, fewer of them go down to fish in
the spring, and those who do rarely stay more than a day or two. In 1 975, Kiana people who
caught between 40 and 80 fish were satisfied and did not visit the delta area again. In con-
trast, a Noorvik family will catch more than 200 fish during the season. The upper Kobuk
villagers live too far away to participate in this activity.
People who join this fishing seek out large pressure ridges that form across Selawik
Lake and Hotham Inlet, which seem to attract the sheefish. The ice is also thinner and easier
to chop through along these cracks and ridges, although it is still five to six feet thick. Fish-
ermen use ice chisels to open holes, taking care to keep the sides straight as they chip down-
ward. This way they do not have to clean the fishing hole after water flows up into it, a
difficult and wet job when the water is five feet deep.
When the hole is finished, the fisherman begins jigging his or her lure about three feet
below the bottom edge of the ice. The jigging pole is a curved willow stick 1 Vi to 2 feet long,
notched at one end to hold the line. Every few minutes, depending on the air temperature,
platelets of ice form on the hole and must be removed with an ice scoop. If no fish are caught
after 1 5 minutes or so, the fisherman moves to another spot and chips out a new hole.
Other fishermen, if they have come in a group, spread out and likewise test for fish.
Men usually make the holes, although women will take up the task when they fish by them-
selves. If the fishermen are unsuccessful they keep making more holes, fanning out over a
larger and larger area. Occasionally they return to previous holes and test them again. With
perseverance, someone will eventually find a school and will begin pulling in fish as fast as
he can remove them and throw the hook back again. Other fishermen will then move near the
lucky one. When the fish are biting, one person can catch up to 60 fish in three hours. Often,
however, someone fishing only a dozen or so yards from a successful fisherman will catch
nothing. At other times several fishermen will make a good haul fishing close together.
When sheefish are removed from the hook they are thrown on the ice to freeze, so they
can be stacked like cordwood and hauled back to the village at leisure. Often, a teenage boy
will drive down by snowmachine after school to watch the fishing and take back a load of
fish. Frequently, full sled loads offish are returned to the village. Many of these fish will
weigh up to 30 pounds.
By mid-May, temperatures in the Kobuk region stay above freezing throughout the
day. Many of the sheefish caught at this time are taken to the villages, cut, and hung on
<8i»154
FISHING <gjfes
racks. The air is cool, dry, and free of insects — ideal for drying meat or fish.
Before the introduction of commercial hooks, downriver Kobuk people
caught sheefish with a special lure carved in the shape of a fish. These have
been found archaeologically as early as the fifteenth century, and they have
continued with only slight stylistic modifications. A few of them are still used
today, but because they are prized possessions people are reluctant to risk
losing them. These hooks were usually made of walrus ivory, which is very
hard and durable, even when it is soaked for hours. Federal trade restrictions
now make it difficult to obtain ivory, and this has been an important factor in
the demise of these homemade hooks. People who have used them say they
are superior to commercial hooks.
Nowadays the most popular sheefish lure has a triple hook attached to a
large {2Vi" long) red and white spoon. The drawback of these lures is the time
it takes to unhook them, an important consideration when the fish are biting.
In the last year or so, some Kiana fishermen have tried lures with single hooks,
which apparently catch fish well, are much easier to remove. These hooks do
less damage to undersized fish that are thrown back. In this respect, the single
hook is similar to the traditional hook.
Early Summer Fish Camps
The Kobuk River ice usually starts breaking up and moving seaward
sometime between mid-May and early June. This event may vary by two weeks
or more from one year to the next, depending on variables like snow cover, ice
thickness, and spring weather. Breakup is a progressive affair, beginning first
in the swift headwaters and then extending downstream to the mouth. The last
flush of ice may pass the upriver village of Kobuk two weeks before it reaches
the downriver village of Noorvik.
During breakup, flood waters back up into sloughs, lowland lakes, and
wetlands. As the water volume increases its oxygen content rises. This allows
whitefish, pike, and other fish to move from deep pools in the main river into
the side streams and sloughs, where they feed on submerged vegetation or
prey on other fish. After the initial flush of melt water has moved through a
given area and the water begins receding, the fish move back into the main
river and side tributaries. The open water fishing season begins at this time.
The Kuuvarjmiut recognize two basic types of slough: kuugaatchiaq, the
shallow, higher sloughs, and kuugaatchiavik, the lower, deeper sloughs. Shal-
lower sloughs are the first to be exploited in the late spring because during
high water they are the proper depth (six to eight feet) for gill nets. Later in the
season these sloughs dry up, and the deeper sloughs now drop to the right
depth for nets. Protected river eddies (qasruniq) and outlets to large lakes
(iggiatchicuja) are also used as spring net sites, especially in the Kobuk delta,
where the current is sluggish and deep waterways into lakes are common.
The great majority of early summer fishing sites are located along sloughs
and small, sluggish streams that drain low, marshy terrain dotted with inter-
connecting lakes. Those currently in use extend from the mouth of the Kobuk
155 *'»**
l'*;a
s£y3> FISHING
River delta to above the village of Kobuk. Particularly favored areas include
the Pah River Flats, Black River drainage, Kuugaatchiavak River drainage,
the lower Hunt River and flats to its south, the Squirrel River flats, and the
Kobuk River delta.
The number of people who establish early summer fish camps depends
on many variables, including wage employment, personal health, weather,
and river conditions. Before the 1 950s most Kobuk families moved into camps
at this season. Although the number of participants has declined and some
harvest methods have changed, early summer fish camps continue among the
majority of families in the two uppermost Kobuk River villages. In the three
lower villages, between one-third and one-fifth of the families establish spring
camps, and many use them only during the day or for a few days at a time.
Most of the desirable camp sites along the Kobuk are now being used,
but occasionally someone needs to establish a new camp. A once-productive
eddy may disappear, for example, or a young person may want to set up an
independent camp. In these cases, the criteria used to select a new site include
the following:
1 . Access to productive net sites, such as eddies, sloughs, and lakes.
2. Wind patterns. Windy areas are preferred as fish dry faster and in-
sects are less bothersome.
3. Vegetation cover. Low vegetation is preferred because it does not
block air movement.
4. Surface conditions. High, well-drained ground is desirable.
5. Access to firewood, including driftwood.
6. Distance from the village. The factor of distance is compounded if a
camp is downstream from the village, because boats loaded with fish and
meat have to return against the current.
7. Nearness to other camps. It is considered desirable to camp near rela-
tives, but far enough from other camps to avoid competition for fishing sites.
8. Availability of other resources, such as edible plants, birchbark, wa-
terfowl, beaver, muskrats, and other localized game.
One of the better known fish camp sites on the upper Kobuk is at the
mouth of the Black River (Imagluktuq) . Over the years an array of caches, net
racks, fish racks, tent frames, and other structures have been built here. Dur-
ing the spring of 1974, an elderly Shungnak couple camped at this place, and
an inventory of their supplies and equipment is given below.
wall tent i double mattress & blankets
1 sheet metal wood-burning stove i large mosquito net (handmade)
1 2-bumer gas camp stove i waterproof tarp
1 gallon white gas ] double-bitted ax
1 hand ax
1 56
FISHING
Spring fish camp at Black River.
Current
1 . Open fish rack
2. C. Lee's tent
3 Old tent platform
4. Outhouse
5. Gill net (4-inch mesh)
6. Cache (high)
7. Ground cache
8. Saw rack
9. Log box for green fish
10. River kayak
1 1 . Permanent tent (framed
with slab walls
12. High cache and observa-
tion platform
13. High cache
14. Long pole drying rack
for nets
11
Willow and 12
large single-bitted ax
high-powered rifle with scope &
20 rounds of ammunition
.22 caliber rifle & 3 boxes shells
grub box (made from Blazo box)
drinking cups
metal plates
shallow bowls
sets of eating utensils
large wooden spoon
small cooking pots
large cooking pot
comic books
periodical magazine
large washtub
buckets
plywood river boat
1 25 h.p. outboard motor
15 gallons mixed gas
2 gill nets
I small funnel
I boat paddle
I poling pole
several pieces of cardboard for tent floor
I battery-powered radio & antenna wire
1 box of tools: spare spark plugs, as-
sorted screws, nails, wire, drying
racks, net drying poles, plastic tarps, etc.
1 ulu
I hunting knife
I butcher knife
I sharpening stone
I Bible
Food consumed in such a camp:
fish — the predominant food
pilot bread
seal oil
butter
salt
jam
sugar
powdered orange drink
flour
canned milk
syrup
coffee & tea
fruit (canned and fresh)
noodles
cookies & crackers
bread (homemade)
157
^0i> FISHING
The three basic early summer fishing techniques are gill netting, sein-
ing, and dip netting. Hook and line fishing is also done, but on a smaller scale.
Gill Netting
Gill netting is the most common and productive means of spring fishing
used by the modern Kuuvaymiut. Methods are basically the same in the lower
and the upper Kobuk areas, although species and amounts taken vary some-
what. Once the spring flood waters begin to recede, people begin setting their
gill nets in sloughs and lake outlets, where fish are coming out into the main
river. These nets usually have a three- to four-inch mesh, although larger
mesh nets (qalugruaqsiun) are often set in sheltered river eddies to catch the
first sheefish migrating upstream. Net length ranges from 10 to 60 feet de-
pending upon the width of the slough or outlet for which they are designed.
While the river level is high, most nets are placed either at the mouths of
shallow sloughs and outlets or well into the deeper sloughs. As water levels
drop, they are moved to near the mouths of deep sloughs and to deeper waters
of the main river, usually near the mouths of shallow sloughs. When they
block a slough with a gill net, the Kuuvaymiut usually keep close check on it.
As the water drops, the outward current may increase rapidly, washing debris
into the net, or possibly sweeping it onto a sunken snag. Especially along the
lower Kobuk River, the fish runs themselves can be so heavy that they place
a considerable strain on the net. Beavers and otters are very active at this time
of year, and they can damage a net if they become tangled in it.
Sloughs and lake outlets located within a few miles of villages are, of
course, the most heavily used spots. Often those who live at home during the
spring manage to get a supply offish by setting one or two nets relatively near
the village and checking them once or twice daily by outboard-powered river
boats. On June 28, 1974, 14 nets were counted within a two-mile radius of
Shungnak, and several others set in the same area were not observed. In the
spring of 1975, 10 families maintained spring gill nets within two miles of
Kiana, visiting them daily while they continued living in their village homes.
Because of intense competition for available sites near the villages, cer-
tain families prefer moving to a distant camp for their early summer fishing.
It is usually expensive, both in time and fuel, to maintain nets more than three
or four miles from a base. Kobuk River people also place a high value on
spending time in the early summer camp. Virtually all adults questioned ex-
pressed a strong desire to stay in camp at this season and to participate in the
related activities.
The productivity of early summer gill netting varies between different
sites and areas. For example, the middle and lower Kobuk are generally more
productive than the upper Kobuk, and the Kobuk delta can provide excep-
tionally rich catches. On June 29, 1974, a single net across the mouth of the
Black River caught enough whitefish and pike in 1 2 hours to fill three-fourths
of a large washtub. On the same day a single net at the mouth of a slough in
158
FISHING «$&
the delta caught about twice that amount of the same species. In 1 975, the second
week of fishing at Kiana yielded seven tubfuls of whitefish for two families; but
fluctuating water levels the next week reduced the take to nearly nothing. Had
the weather held, high yields could have continued for several weeks.
Other fish species caught with gill nets in early summer include trout
(qalukpik), grayling (sulukpaugaq) , sucker (kaviqsuaq), and sheefish (sii).
Sheefish are especially important because of their size (up to 50 pounds) and
richness. To catch the early sheefish migration, nets with 4/4 and 514 inch
mesh are set in eddies along the river. The best catches of spring sheefish are
usually made in the lower Kobuk area. However, catches in the upper river
generally improve through June and into mid-July.
Fish netted in late spring are dried, frozen, or used for immediate con-
sumption by people and their dogs. Even though most Kobuk families own or
have access to home freezers, drying is the traditional and still most common
way to preserve surplus fish and meat taken during the warm months.
The following steps were taken by a Shungnak woman as she cut and
preserved her catch of whitefish and pike in late June:
(1) Each fish was scraped with a dull table knife to remove scales, then
laid on a grass mat in front of her.
2) When she had finished scaling all of the fish, she held each by the
head with one hand and used her ulu to cut the flesh just behind the head and
gill plate.
(3) She made a lateral cut along one side of the fish's spine from the
base of the head to the base of the tail.
(4) She cut and pulled the flesh back away from either side of the spine,
making a broad filet of boneless flesh joined to the spine at the base of the tail.
(5) If the fish was a pike, she removed its head and threw it in a refuse
pail, but if it was a whitefish she left its head attached to the spine. Internal
organs of the whitefish were discarded; pike guts were placed in a separate
container, then later hung on sticks for drying.
After she finished cutting her fish, the woman readied them for the pre-
serving process, as follows:
(1) She tossed the fish in a tub of water and scrubbed them clean of
slime.
(2) She hung each fish on seasoned poles suspended between two tri-
pods, turning them inside out for the first day of drying.
(3) She lit smudge pots and placed them so that smoke drifted over the
fish racks to repel flies. On windy days and during the nights the pots were
not lit, and once the fish developed a dry crust smoke was no longer required.
(4) The drying fish were checked each day and turned so each side re-
ceived equal exposure to the air.
159
FISHING
(5) When they were fully cured (5 to 8 days in dry, breezy weather), the
woman took her fish from the racks, tied them in loose bundles, and stored
them in weather-tight caches for later use.
In an early summer fish camp, two people (a man and his wife) required
between 45 and 55 minutes to remove 9 to 15 pike and 3 to 10 whitefish, from
the time they arrived at their net until they left. The woman averaged one
minute and 20 seconds to scale, cut, and wash each fish. It took about 20
minutes to hang 25 cut fish on poles. Other camp activities, such as gathering
firewood, maintaining smudge fires, constructing drying racks, checking and
turning fish, repairing equipment, gathering edible plants, and preparing meals,
occupied the camp residents throughout the day. They usually started around
7:00 A.M. and ended between 10:00 and 1 1 :00 P.M. Late evening hours were
usually devoted to conversation and relaxation.
Seining and Dip Netting
Lower Kobuk people use seines and dip nets to catch smelt (Hhuagniq)
after the spring breakup. These small fish winter in salt water and migrate up
the Kobuk in early June, moving as far as Kilik, a calcium carbonate outcrop
that extends into the river a mile below Kiana. They spawn for two days —
although no one in Kiana has actually observed this — and then go back down.
Only twice in the last 10 years have smelt reportedly come as far as the vil-
lage itself. There is a saying that smelt come uprivcr to fetch kilik, the Inupiaq
word for calcium carbonate rock (limestone), and then they go back to the
coast. The saying is likely based on the fact that people from the coast used to
travel to the outcropping to fetch limestone that was once used for tanning.
People also say that smelt always arrive during a wet, stormy period of west
winds, and when the run finishes summer weather arrives. This, in fact, is
generally true. After the ice goes out at Kiana, but before it is out in Hotham
Inlet, there is usually a strong west or southwest wind that is chilled as it
blows across the ice. Meeting the warmer interior temperatures, it creates an
uncomfortably cold, wet fog that comes in daily until the ice recedes.
Around the tlrst week in June, people start preparing their dip nets and
seines. They keep track of the migrating fish by listening to local reports on
the radio or by word of mouth. Villagers can estimate how long it will take
the smelt to arrive once they start up the delta, and when they get close people
boat down periodically to check at Kilik. The one who fust sees fish there will
go to the village to let people know. Within an hour several families will set
off to fish at Kilik or places downstream as far as Uqaq Point.
Slightly fewer than half of the Kiana families own dip nets, although not
all are used each year. The net handle is about 10 feet long, and a small-
meshed (about one inch) conical net 18 to 24 inches in diameter and about
three feet long is attached to one end. Any larger opening would diminish the
net's effectiveness by slowing its sweep through the water and causing it to
drag on the bottom.
s?V> 160
FISHING <g&B
Smelt seine
o*
<&=.
<=> O
Only the men use dip nets. The fisherman stands beside the water hold-
ing his net roughly parallel to the shoreline, so the smelt will not see it hang-
ing over the water. When a large school swims nearby the fisherman quickly
sweeps his net downstream into its path. After making a catch he turns and
flips the net inside out, spilling the fish onto the ground. Men ordinarily use
the full length of their dip nets to dump the fish well back from the water so
they will not flip back in.
The most popular way to catch smelt is with a seine.
Smelt seines (iihuagniqsiun), which are also used for least cisco
(qalusraaq), measure about five to six feet deep and 30 to 40 feet long. The
floats are like those used on other seines, and the sinkers are either rock-filled
canvas sacks or (in one case) rectangular rocks about 6x3x2 inches in size,
collected on the beach at the seining site. Mesh in the seines and dip nets
measures 7/8-inch to one inch. Both ends of the net have four-foot spreader
bars (ayaupiq), like those used for gill nets and other seines.
To begin seining, people first tie the net's shoreward end to a rock just
above the water line. A spruce pole ( 1 6 feet long) is fastened to the top of the
net about a third of the way out, and a second pole (about 20 feet long) is tied
to the top of the outermost end. This is done while the net lies along the shore
with its free (outer) end downstream. A long rope is also tied to the bottom of
the outer end, so that the top and bottom can be pulled in evenly.
Once the seine is ready, two people wade into the river, pushing the net
out with the poles. When the net is fully extended, they pull the outer end far
enough upstream to form a shallow cup. The person handling the upriver pole
stands in the water watching for schools of smelt entering the net. Small schools
are allowed to follow the net's curve, circle in its pocket, and eventually es-
cape around the shoreward end. But when a large school swims in, the spotter
gives a signal and both poles are pulled toward shore. A third person hauls the
rope in, to keep the outer end vertical. As the net reaches shallow water, one
person holds its lower edge against the bottom and lifts the top edge, so that
no fish escape over or under it. Then the catch is jostled into the center of the
net and dumped into a tub on shore.
161 «®
As soon as the net is dumped, it is set again to wait for another good
bunch of smelt. If the seiners have no tubs or fill all of those available, they
dig a shallow basin by the shore and line it with plastic. Rocks are piled along
the edge so that no fish will slip back into the water. A basin like this can hold
as much as four or five tubs offish.
Seines are owned, made, and repaired by the women, but both men and
women participate in smelt seining. After the net's owner has chosen where
to anchor it and how far to push it out, anyone is welcome to help with the
actual seining. A minimum of three people are required. Only the more knowl-
edgeable persons act as spotters, however. When anyone working the net
wants a break, he or she can simply go to the campfire for coffee or food, and
someone else steps in as a replacement.
In 1975, members of several families worked with each of the two seines
being used. After three or four seine loads were emptied into a family's tub, it
was taken to their boat. Sometimes additional smelt were taken from the plas-
tic-lined basin on the shore. The 1975 smelt run was considered relatively
light, and it took from three to five seine loads to fill a tub. In other years one
seine load would nearly fill a wash tub. The total smelt catch for Kiana in
1975 was the equivalent of seven tubfuls for each of the two seines in opera-
tion, plus about another two tub loads caught by dip netting. Although only
two of the five smelt seines in Kiana were used, they satisfied the needs of the
whole village.
Residents of Noorvik did little smelt fishing near their village in 1974
and 1975, partly out of regard for a family that suffered an accident while
seining a year or so earlier. Ordinarily they seine smelt just across the river or
at the upper end of the village. In previous decades, families camping at
Makkaksraq caught smelt there with dip nets and seines.
People enjoy smelt fishing as a special outing. Families who participate
bring food, tea, and coffee for all to eat. Smelt are a rich food, and the first ones
caught are fried over a driftwood campfire to eat on the spot. A large number
are also fried at home, and people might eat them for several meals in a row.
Smelt are traditionally dried by stringing them on young willow shoots,
which are tied into rings about a foot in diameter. To dry properly, they are
strung evenly along the loop, all facing in the same direction. Drying takes
about a week in good weather. Partially dried smelt can be boiled and eaten.
Fully dried ones are stored and eaten as is. Nowadays, smelt are also kept in
freezers, then eaten fresh during the winter or used as bait for hooking burbot
through the ice. Fishing for smelt is strictly a downriver activity. Many upriver
villagers have never tasted smelt.
Summer Fishing
July is normally a warm month in northwestern Alaska. The snow cover
is gone except for a few sheltered drifts in the high mountains and near the
coast. The river levels are low because of reduced runoff. Heavy showers
O 162
may cause sudden rises, especially in the headwaters; but the streams usually
return to seasonal lows in a short time. August, on the other hand, often brings
spells of wet and cool weather. The prolonged rains cause higher water lev-
els, and may even result in brief flooding.
As the river level drops in early summer, pike and whitefish move from
the flooded marshes and lakes back into the deeper waters of large tributaries
and the main river. Sheefish that pass the winter in Hotham Inlet and Selawik
Lake begin migrating up the Kobuk in June. They arrive in the upper river in
late June or early July. Salmon reach the mouth of the Kobuk any time be-
tween the first and third week of July, after the ice has left Kotzebue Sound.
They normally begin arriving near the lower Kobuk villages four days to a
week later and near the upriver villages one to two weeks later — toward the
end of July. Salmon continue to pass the upriver villages through August and
into the first or second week of September.
Both the sheefish and salmon migrations are affected by environmental
variables. A late breakup of the ice in Kotzebue Sound or Hotham Inlet will
delay their arrival in the Kobuk River. Low water can also retard their move-
ment. Kobuk people also say that an extended period of west wind will hasten
the arrival offish migrations.
The Kuuvarjmiut use three methods for harvesting fish during the sum-
mer months: gill nets are first in order of productivity, seines are second, and
rod and reel fishing is a distant third.
Rod and Reel Fishing
Fishing with spin casting gear is a relatively new development in subsis-
tence fishing. However, the Kobuk River people have traditionally used a pole,
line, and artificial lure to harvest fish. In the past, hooking was done primarily
through the ice and by men and women. Today spin fishing gear is used in
open water, and mostly by men and boys. Rod and reel fishing was apparently
introduced to the Kobuk people around the 1 950s, when sport fishermen began
coming into the area. They often chartered boats from villagers and hired them
as guides. Teachers, clergymen, and traders living in the villages also used
sport fishing gear and hastened its adoption. Today, spinning rods and as-
sorted artificial lures are found in most village homes. This kind of gear is
used to catch pike, grayling, char, and trout, but the primary target is sheefish.
These large fish travel in schools and often strike eagerly at spoon lures.
Kobuk villagers have learned to predict the movements of sheefish with
considerable accuracy and are able to harvest significant numbers by rod and
reel. Over a three-year period, 26 households in the upriver village of Ambler
took an estimated 3,200 sheefish, or an average of 41 sheefish per family
each year. The great majority were taken by rod and reel. During 1 974, the 43
families of Kiana took about 1,600 sheefish, for a year's average of 37 per
family. In this area, however, most were taken by net.
Sheefish tend to school up during the evenings in deep pools, often just
below a riffle in the river. Villagers have pinpointed the best of these loca-
163 <®2
BCSV^'frftj
FISHING
tions, and when conditions are favorable they travel to them by boat late in
the day. One evening, 20 persons were observed casting for sheefish in a pool
several miles below the village of Shungnak. Most were men and women in
their teens and twenties, but persons as young as ten and as old as 50 are
known to be ardent and skillful fishermen.
Summer sheefishing by hand lasts from just after breakup to the end of
July on the lower Kobuk River and from late June through August on the
upper river. Some fall fishing is done on the upper Kobuk in September as the
fish prepare to spawn and make their downstream migration. Sheefish taken
by rod and reel are often distributed freely throughout the village, particularly
to elderly people and relatives. Fish not immediately consumed or placed in
home freezers are cut and hung to dry on open fish racks.
Seining
Seining activities begin on the lower Kobuk River in late June or early
July; and on the upper Kobuk they begin in mid-July and extend through the
fall. During July and early August the target is primarily whitefish, and in
mid-August it is salmon as their migration reaches its peak.
Seining crews tend to be relatively fixed, usually a core of two or three
related adult women and their younger daughters as auxiliary members. Oc-
casionally, husbands or a young son may join a crew, but women are domi-
nant in seining. Crew members coordinate their efforts and perforin their tasks
with a minimum of confusion and waste of energy. They also have an estab-
lished, efficient system for sharing both the labors and the rewards.
In the upper Kobuk, seining is done mostly during late morning and
early afternoon. Shungnak people explain that fish (particularly whitefish)
travel in the evenings and mornings. During mid-day they stop to rest in ed-
dies and at the mouths of Stillwater sloughs, and this is when they can best be
caught. Downriver at Kiana, people say that fish seem to disperse when the
sun shines directly above the river, and so their catches drop off sharply dur-
ing mid-day. Thus, in Kiana seining is concentrated during early morning or
late afternoon.
The following is a description of seining activities carried out by a
Shungnak crew one day in the summer of 1974:
The crew, consisting of three adult women and one adult man, gathered
in front of the village at 9:45 A.M. They first removed the seine from its
drying rack and put it in the water. This was done so the caribou-bone sinkers
would absorb water for added weight and so the net would be less prone to
tangling. One of the older women then loaded the seine into a flat-bottomed
river boat. To do this she first pulled in several floats, then lifted the net,
made a half-twist of the bundle, and deposited it on the boat floor, repeating
this procedure until the entire seine was piled in layers of connected bundles.
She then placed a tarp over the seine to keep it from drying.
164
FISHING <ffffs
ffifeB
Other items carried in the boat included two heavy butcher knives, three
large washtubs, a large plastic tarp, three paddles, two long poling poles, six
gallons of mixed gas, and a light lunch consisting of dry fish, seal oil, a ther-
mos of coffee, and other snacks. The boat was a 21 -foot flat-bottomed scow
powered by an 1 8-horsepower outboard motor. Clothing worn by the women
included cloth parkas, shirts, trousers, and hip boots.
The first seining attempt was at Umittaq, about two miles above
Shungnak. The boat was slowed considerably as it came abreast of the site,
and it was kept well offshore until just above the intended landing. The motor
was then stopped and tilted out of the water while the crew quietly paddled to
the beach. These precautions were taken to avoid creating waves and noise
that might frighten the fish in the eddy.
Fish camp [TJ ".
Current
". ..' , Anchorman
a
•• • ' Weather Bureau
(deserted)
Seine set in eddy of Kobuk River.
The man and one woman stayed on the beach to handle the seine's shore-
ward line while the other two women paddled the boat toward midstream. At
about 20 yards offshore, one of the women began to feed the seine into the
water while the other paddled the boat downstream in a broad shallow "U"
with its opening toward the beach. The last of the seine went overboard as the
boat began its turn into the beach. An end line was played out for about 20
feet and then tied with a slipknot to a seat of the boat. Both women then
paddled the remaining distance to shore.
On reaching shore, one of the women released the slipknot, jumped from
the boat, and ran up the beach holding the seine line. She and the woman who
had stayed ashore pulled at one line while the man pulled at the other, draw-
ing the seine inward. The other woman poled the boat along the outer edge of
165 <t\>
I®* FISHING
the moving seine, using her pole to lift the bottom line over hidden snags and
to slap the water at either end of the seine to prevent fish from swimming
around its edges.
As the ends of the seine touched shore, everyone rushed forward to grab
the ends of the sinker line. They held this line underwater and close to the
river bottom while they kept pulling in the seine. The slack top line was gath-
ered periodically and pulled onto the beach. The workers spread out along the
net, about 20 feet from each other, then grasped both the top and bottom lines
to form a pocket in the net. Finally they hauled the thrashing fish up onto the
beach and held the lines until the struggles of the fish subsided. The catch was
then loaded into the washtubs for transporting back home. Afterward, the
seine was pulled back into the water, picked clean of debris, rinsed, and re-
loaded into the boat. From the time the net began to be played out until it was
reloaded required approximately 45 minutes.
One other highly successful seining operation was carried out that day by
the same crew, at the mouth of a slough named Isntqlauraq, about three miles
downstream from Kobuk village. As the boat was being loaded at the last place,
several small Fish were thrown onto the bank. These were meant for the always-
present ravens. It is a Kuuvaymiut custom to share one's luck with the raven,
because this bird is a prominent figure in traditional belief and folklore.
The total day's catch was 876 whitefish and two small pike. Roughly
700 of these Fish were taken at the second spot. Inside the boat, a loose mat oF
Freshly cut willows was placed over the Fish to shade them From the sun and
to prevent their drying during the ride back to the village.
Salmon seining follows roughly the same procedure as that described
for whitefish, with a few exceptions. It is generally done along broad gravel
bars rather than in slack water eddies, and it involves considerably more drift-
ing of the net and lateral movement along the beach. Salmon are much more
powerful than whitefish, so the work can be considerably harder.
Before starting to seine for salmon, the crew must select a suitable bar.
Over the years specific bars have gained a reputation for being especially
productive, but certain criteria are followed when people look for new sein-
ing places:
(1) The bar must be fairly long with a relatively gentle curve;
(2) the slope must not be so steep that salmon can swim under the net
or so shallow that the net will drag on the bottom and roll up around the
sinkers;
(3) the bottom must be free of snags and large rocks (this is often
checked by drifting over the site and looking at the bottom);
(4) the current must not be so strong that it is difficult to control the
boat or so weak that the boat will not drift; and
(5) salmon must pass the bar in enough numbers to justify the efforts.
One of the principal ways of determining the potential of a given bar is
to check for "fish trails." River water, even when apparently clear, carries a
®S>166
FISHING <g[|£
certain amount of suspended silt. This silt is deposited in fine layers over
submerged gravel, giving it a slightly gray cast. Schools of salmon moving
through shallow water create enough disturbance to clean the silt from the
path they follow, and schools of salmon tend to follow "trails" created by
preceding schools. When the water is clear, people can see these trails and
know the paths that salmon take.
After a promising bar is chosen, the crew positions itself at the upstream
end with the seine ready for use in the boat. Crew members wait on shore,
while a lookout stands downstream at a place that affords a good view. When
a large school of salmon approaches, it will create telltale ripples as it moves
through the shallow water. Seeing this, the lookout hurries to alert the crew.
The crew rushes to the boat, paddles out, and sets the seine as previ-
ously described. As the seine is set out, the person holding the anchor line
must move along the beach at the same speed as the current so the extended
net holds its proper shape. Unlike whitefish seining, the "U" is not completed
until the extended net has drifted around the salmon school. Then the boat
crew turns shoreward, poling and paddling quickly to the beach. The com-
bined force of the current and struggling salmon can make it difficult to con-
trol and pull in the seine.
Gill Netting
Gill netting methods used in the summer are the same as those described
earlier for the spring. Whitefish netting, which is done exclusively by the
women, is the most productive subsistence activity for downriver people in
early summer. The weather is just right for drying fish, and the blowflies and
other insects are not yet bothersome. A woman can set one or two gill nets and
recover one or two tubfuls offish per day. She can cut and hang this amount in
a few hours, leaving her enough time for other daily chores. The fish take
about four days to dry, and once the operation is underway a woman will
rotate her catch daily — taking down and stringing the dried fish and replacing
them with fresh ones.
Current
Salmon seine in position.
0)
167 <£&a
Gill netting is practiced by all but a very few Kobuk River families.
Whitefish netting continues well into July, particularly along the upper Kobuk.
Nets with larger mesh are set as soon as sheefish arrive; but sheefish tend to
stay in deep water and travel well out in the channels, so people catch more
with hooks than with nets (at least in the upper river). Along the lower Kobuk,
gill net catches range up to five or six large sheefish per day during early July.
In upriver villages, it is the annual salmon migration that makes gill
netting an important summer subsistence activity. At Shungnak, the first
salmon of the 1974 season were caught on July 22, and at that time less than
five households had set their gill nets. By August 10, however, 27 nets were
counted within two miles on either side of Shungnak.
Competition for net sites near each village in the summer (as in the
spring) induces some families to move to distant fish camps. Some of these
are in the same places as the early summer camps and others are at different
locations. At one time or another, virtually all Kobuk families have occupied
a fish camp, and many continue to use their camps, if only for brief periods
during the summer. For various reasons (such as weather conditions and wage
employment) a camp may be unoccupied for one or more summers; but a
productive site is never abandoned.
Fish camps are located at scattered points along the river. One of these,
visited in mid-August of 1974, was a well established camp that belonged to
an Ambler family. It was located on the Kobuk River about 75 yards below
the Hunt River mouth. Two canvas wall tents were set up, one atop the low
cutbank and the other at the upper edge of the gravel bar. The larger tent
contained a wood stove (made from an oil drum), bedding, mosquito netting,
cooking utensils, battery-powered radio, clothing, several books and maga-
zines, a box of food, and other miscellaneous items. There were also several
rolls of birchbark, being used to make baskets. The smaller tent was used for
extra sleeping space and storage.
Three large fish racks were built along the beach and all were filled with
drying salmon. The supports for these racks were drift logs implanted in the
gravel. Several other large drift logs had been pulled ashore and secured by a
line. These were to be used later for building a more permanent shelter.
Seven grown huskies and one pup were tied to nearby willows. Occu-
pants of the camp included a man and his wife, a teenage daughter, three
preschool daughters, and a preschool grandson. At the time of the visit, the
husband was out hunting in his boat, and the mother and older daughter were
making birchbark baskets. High water had temporarily interrupted their fish-
ing activities.
Successful gill netting requires special knowledge of river eddies and
currents. Eddies are formed in various ways, including obstruction of the river
current, uneven river-bottom configuration, and the joining of two streams.
Each type of eddy has its own peculiarities, but all share certain basic features
that are well known to the Kobuk people. Types of eddies and currents
include:
^•V> 168
FISHING
( 1 ) sagvaq, the main river current;
(2) argumuksaaq, the reverse current of an eddy that flows along the
shore;
(3) qasrunik, the "eddy line," a discernible, undulating line in the
water dividing the outer edge of an eddy from the main current;
(4) ilutmuk, the upstream current of the Kobuk River estuary or of
small tributary streams of the Kobuk River caused by winds
or floods;
(5) tilainiq, the current that undercuts a bank; and
(6) itinmiq, a shallow area where riffles occur.
The potential salmon catch on a particular eddy is determined by several
things. Certain eddies are productive in relatively high water but become iso-
lated from the main channel in low water, causing fish to bypass them. An
ideal salmon fishing eddy should be connected by relatively deep water to the
main channel, should be six to ten feet deep at normal water level, should
have no sunken drift or snags, and should be large enough to accommodate
one or more long nets (40 feet or more).
Kuuk
River
■ Qasnmiq
Such ideal eddies are rare, especially in
the shallower and swifter waters of the upper
Kobuk River. Some of the more common ad-
aptations to eddy peculiarities include using
shorter nets, angling the nets to cover the
greatest area possible, using long shore lines
to reach the deepest parts of shallow eddies,
and moving the nets to other locations as the
water level fluctuates.
The way a gill net is positioned in an •'
eddy can strongly affect how many salmon
are caught. Following the villagers* advice, a
project researcher placed a gill net in an eddy several miles from Shungnak.
His catch averaged 35 fish for three days. Then a resident suggested that it be
moved just inside the eddy line, a shift of less than two feet. The next day's
catch increased to 67, and catches remained high for the rest of the season.
As noted earlier, the potential catch at different eddies varies consider-
ably, even at sites within a few yards of one another. Also, when the river
rises enough to carry drift or to submerge eddies, all gill nets are removed to
await the return of normal water levels.
In August 1974, river conditions near Shungnak prevented any use of
gill nets for a total of eight days. Villagers asserted that the lost days and
generally damp weather substantially reduced their total catch of salmon. The
average number of salmon taken that month was 34 per net per day. Some
nets caught as many as 95 in a single day, while others took as few as 1 5. Of
course, catches rose at the peak of the migration and fell when the peak was
Water flow in a river eddy.
Sagvaq
169
<£&
Eff?> FISHING
Positioning of several gill nets for salmon in the Kobuk River, 1974.
Submerged
c^ Q rocks
<?&0
/
X
past. Three families in Shungnak estimated their total 1974 salmon catches at
well over 1 ,000 each, while others estimated theirs to be between 50 and 600.
In 1974, the total take for 25 Kiana families who reported having en-
gaged in salmon fishing was approximately 4,000, or an average of about 1 60
salmon per family. Field counts taken in Kiana between July 21 and August
15 totaled 1,21 5, or approximately 120 fish per family. The gill nets were not
set every day, and the average take per set was 1 8.5 fish. Whitefish seining is
also done sporadically throughout the summer, and some salmon are taken at
the same time. However, of the 1,215 salmon taken, more than 1,000 were
obtained by gill netting. Each Kiana family tried to seine for whitefish at least
once. The take per trip was between 400 and 500 fish, occasionally from just
one set of the net.
Salmon fishing was much more important in former years than it is at
present. For example, reduced dependence upon dog teams has undoubtedly
diminished the need for salmon and therefore reduced the harvests. The re-
surgence in use of dog teams presently occurring in some Native communi-
ties should bring with it a greater effort to harvest salmon.
170
FISHING <%S
Women cutting and drying whitefish
Processing the Catch
Catching fish is, in a way, the easiest part of summer fishing. It is the
cutting and drying that requires the greatest time and effort.
During July and August, whitefish seining usually produces an abun-
dant harvest of small, rich fish that can spoil rapidly in warm weather. The
Kuuvarjmiut have developed an efficient system of coordinating teams of sev-
eral people to process these large catches. For example, on July 26, 1974, a
seining crew from Kobuk village caught a large load of humpback whitefish
(qaalgiq or amaqtuq). The fish were put in washtubs, carried to the top of the
bank, and placed in a low rectangular box with sides made from driftwood
logs and a plastic tarp lining. After the entire load had been transferred, the
owner of the seine provided the crew with lunch and coffee at her home in the
village.
Actual processing began at 3:10 P.M. when the workers assembled at
the fish pile. The work crew of eight consisted of the net owner (female, age
approximately 38), her three unmarried daughters (ages 16, 17, and 23), a
second woman (age approximately 44), and her three daughters (two married
and one approximately 1 7, unmarried). Two small boys (ages 6 and 7, related
to the net owner) helped by carrying pails of water from the river.
The crew efficiently divided their labors. Four of the younger girls sat on one
side of the pile and scaled the fish with dull table knives while the two older women
and one of the younger ones sat together and worked as cutters. Another young
girl had the task of washing the cut fish and hanging them on open fish racks.
The scalers rapidly scraped the fish and tossed them into piles for the
cutters. The cutters, with deft strokes of their ulus, made three incisions in the
fish and peeled the flesh free of the spine. The spine and head were left at-
tached to the flesh near the base of the tail. Fish eggs were tossed into one
pan, stomachs into another, and intestines, bladders, and hearts were depos-
ited into a dog pail. It took an average of 20 seconds to scale each fish and 30
seconds to cut it.
171 <*
^p> FISHING
Cuts made to process
whitefish.
■First cut
Second cut
Third cut
Finished cut
jAJJLAlAttAw^
Cut fish were rinsed clean of blood and slime in a washtub partially
filled with water. Then they were hung over seasoned poles with skin toward
the inside and flesh exposed to the air. Six hundred small whitefish were
processed during this work session. A sample of 25 fish ranged from 1 3 to 15
inches long and weighed between two and three pounds. After cutting and
cleaning, the average weight was 1 % pounds.
Working at a steady, unhurried
pace, the crew required seven hours
to finish. Throughout this time the
women talked and laughed while the
children played nearby. Hot tea was
kept on hand for refreshment. The
older women each took several of the
fattest whitefish from the scaled piles
to cook at home for their families.
These were male fish, as female
whitefish containing eggs are lean in
the summer.
Once the fish were hung, smudge
pots (puyuq) were placed so the
breeze carried smoke to the racks and
repelled the flies. Smudge fires had
to be maintained each day and the fish
checked for fly eggs. As they dried,
the fish were periodically turned to
give both sides equal exposure to the
sun and air.
If a crew is lucky and the
weather remains dry and breezy, the
fish will take four to six days to dry.
The fully dried whitefish, weighing
four ounces apiece on the average, are
attached together to form "strings." A
hole is punched with a pointed tool in
each fish between its gills and tail. The
spine, except for a small section near
the tail, is removed and later used as dog food. The remaining vertebrae sec-
tion is inserted into the hole of another dry fish. This is done to four fish, and
then two bunches of four are joined to form an inverted "V"-shaped string.
These strings are tied together in bundles and hung inside a covered shelter
for storage. A slightly different way of making fish strings is to insert the tails
into slits cut into body flaps, turning the tail to "toggle" and joining eight fish
into an inverted "V" string.
Caring for fish is a seemingly endless chore: Nets must be checked daily.
Fish must be removed from the tangled mesh, hauled home, cut and cleaned,
washed, and hung to dry. Drying racks must be built and expanded. Fish
Sides peeled off and joined at the belly
^3>172
FISHING <gjjfe
intestines and heads are cooked for dog food. Smudge fires must be lit and
checked (they never stay lit). Drying fish must be checked for fly eggs and
turned to facilitate drying. All this and related activities consume entire days.
The method of cutting salmon caught during summer is as follows: A
woman sits at the edge of a shallow depression lined with willows, grass, or a
plastic tarp and filled with freshly caught salmon. She grasps the head of a
salmon, flips it onto its back, and with her ulu she cuts down behind its lower
jaw. Turning the fish as she works, she cuts around it just behind the head and
in front of the pectoral fins. Then with a firm downward chop, she severs the
head from the body. Her next cut is along the back, on one side of the spine,
from the head end to the base of the tail. She inserts one thumb into this
incision and pries back the flesh as her ulu slices down along the ribs. Then
she cuts down from the other side, until the two filets (joined at the belly) lay
open as a single unit joined with the spine at the base of the tail. She takes out
the organs and throws them into a nearby tub, often keeping the eggs to hang
for drying. The filets are slashed crosswise to expose their thick flesh to the
air. Before they are hung on racks, the cut fish are rinsed clean of slime and
blood in a tub of water.
On one August day, an elderly Kunvarjmiut woman in her seventies and her
adult daughter cut and cleaned 100 salmon. It took them 2'/2 to 3 minutes to
cut and clean each
fish, depending on /Fit
its size and sex.
Cut salmon
are hung on open
pole racks along the
beach and tended
much the same way
as drying whitefish.
Other parts of
salmon kept for
drying include tes-
tes, egg clusters,
and heads. Testes
and eggs are simply
draped over poles.
Heads are split from the bottom so that the thin skin at the top holds the two
sections together. Several heads may be strung together by passing a willow
rod through the gill openings.
The Kuuvarjmiut often excavate "fish holes" for the purpose of burying
fish heads and fish eggs. One such pit, lined with grass, measured four feet
deep and three feet across. Fish heads were placed in the pit and then covered
with grass and cardboard. A board was laid over the top and covered with a
pile of earth to keep the flies out. These heads slowly decomposed into "head
cheese," to be eaten during the winter. Fish eggs were also buried in open
five-gallon gas cans. Aged eggs make excellent dog food.
A string of whitefish.
Cuts to expose
the fresh fish to
the air
Cuts made to process salmon.
17:
^;j> FISHING
Devices used to ward off birds.
Nuyuaqsaun
The three major forces that work against the efforts of the subsistence
fisherwoman are birds, rain, and blowflies. Birds are the least destructive, but
they can cause considerable loss if care is not taken. The most common of-
fenders are gulls, ravens, and gray jays. Gulls, particularly, can cause prob-
lems if fish are left exposed and unattended on the beach, but usually they are
satisfied to feast on guts and heads dumped on river bars below the village.
Ravens, too, can quickly consume large amounts of unprotected fish. How-
ever, they are relatively shy and easy to frighten off. Gray jays, or "camp
robbers," as they are commonly known in Alaska, are bold, intelligent birds
and are persistent when attacking a rack of drying fish.
The principal way to ward off birds is with devices called nuyuaqsaun.
These consist of mock bows with attached arrows, willow loops, and sharp-
ened willow stakes attached to or suspended from a long pole that leans over
a rack full of drying fish. A modern variation is to suspend shiny can lids
from poles so they turn in the wind. These seem to
be effective in keeping ravens away, but they have
limited success with gray jays.
Blowflies (nuviuvak) are a constant and often
very destructive pest to the fisherwomen. In the sum-
mer months, they quickly swarm around any exposed
fish, and the females deposit clusters containing hun-
dreds of tiny white eggs. Depending on conditions
of heat and moisture, fly eggs hatch within a few hours
or several days. Then the larvae (maggots) quickly bore
into the exposed flesh and begin consuming their host from
the inside out.
The Kobuk Eskimos rely on two deterrents to the blowfly prob-
lem: dry, breezy weather and smoke. As soon as fish are cut and
hung, smudge fires (puyuq) must be kept going to produce insect-
repelling smoke. These may be built directly on the ground near the
fish racks or in metal cans so they may be repositioned as the winds
shift. They must also be "cool" fires that will not heat the fish and cause
spoilage. Green or dry-rotted balsam poplar is often used for smudges.
At times, even with the best of efforts, blowflies lay their eggs on ex-
posed fish. If these eggs are found before they can hatch, they may be care-
fully flicked off with a knife point. Villagers are careful not to accidentally
push eggs into the flesh. If maggots are found, the affected fish are hung
directly over a smudge fire so they will drop off. The drying flesh may also be
broken open to expose any hidden larvae to air and smoke. Fish become safe
from maggots when they reach a certain dryness and a protective crust has
formed over the exposed surface.
The element over which the Kobuk fisherwomen have no control, of
course, is the weather. Rain or damp weather for a period of several days can
ruin for human consumption hundreds or even thousands of drying fish.
-::>
74
FISHING <fl*B
On days when rain threatens, villagers hurry about fas-
tening canvas or plastic tarps over their fish racks. These
will protect the fish from short rainstorms, but they will
not prevent spoilage if wet weather continues for three
days or more. During the last week of July 1974, over
1,500 drying whitefish in the village of Shungnak
spoiled due to rain. Wet weather continued
through August and caused considerable spoil-
age of hanging salmon. Many people simply
pull up their nets during a wet spell and
await better conditions. Fish that have be-
come spoiled for human consumption are
usually kept for dog food. This may be one
reason that most households keep a few
dogs even if they are not used to pull sleds. Cottonwood logs used to make smudges.
As the fish dry, they lose approximately two-thirds of their wet bulk and
three-fourths of their fresh weight. The shrinkage is especially noticeable in
drying salmon. When fish become nearly dry, the women begin piling them
loosely on top of one another on single stout poles. This frees space on drying
racks for freshly cut fish. The partially dried fish continue to dry as the air
circulates through their loose mass, and the bundles are easier to cover in case
of rain. Some salmon are taken off the racks and put in an enclosed shelter
before drying is complete. These "half dry" salmon (igamaaqhik) are particu-
larly valued for human consumption. Fully dried salmon are also removed
and placed in sheltered storage.
Dried fish other than whitefish are stacked flat and pressed down for
long-term storage. Stacks are kept separate according to fish species and type
of drying. Two villagers stated that in the past, dry salmon were sometimes
placed into tightly wired bundles of 25 Fish for carrying. Apparently this is
seldom done today.
Early Fall Fishing
As September approaches, the weather cools appreciably. Frost can occur
any time after mid- August, and freezing temperatures become more frequent
near the end of September. Ice may form in the upper Kobuk River any time after
mid-September, although it normally does not begin to run thickly with the cur-
rent until the end of September. Running ice usually begins a few days later
along the lower Kobuk. The water level also drops as the weather cools, al-
though sudden or prolonged rain showers can cause it to rise temporarily.
The main body of migrating salmon has passed the upper Kobuk vil-
lages by late August, but diminishing numbers are caught in gill nets into
mid-September. Aerial surveys and surface observations made in September
1 974 indicated that the major salmon spawning grounds for the upper Kobuk
River are above the Mauneluk River, with the heaviest concentrations at the
mouths of the Selby, Beaver, and Reed rivers. Lower Kobuk salmon spawn-
175 <©S
e£v&5> FISHING
ing areas are along the Squirrel, Salmon, and Hunt rivers. No salmon were
spotted above the Lower Canyon of the upper Kobuk River. The highly pro-
ductive salmon spawning areas play a vital role in the Kobuk people's eco-
nomic well-being and in the overall ecological balance of the region.
Grayish-white spots appear on the skin of spawned-out salmon, as they
literally begin to decay before they die. At this stage they are called tuqurjaraaq.
Eventually the salmon become weak and start to drift with the current. A
Shungnak villager said that after spawning the salmon begin to grow sleepy.
They appear to die a very peaceful death as they drift downstream. By early
September, dead and dying salmon are common in the waters and along the
beaches of the entire main river.
Sheefish migrate to the upper Kobuk River during July, August, and
early September to prepare for spawning. In late September they move from
the deep waters into the swift, clear waters to carry out spawning activities.
Spawning sheefish were observed in late September of 1974 from the mouth
of the Quglugtaq River to the mouth of the Pah. According to Kobuk villag-
ers, they also spawn above the Pah. Spawning takes place in the relatively
swift main current near cut banks and in mid-channel where the current swings
toward an opposite shore (Alt 1969:45). Unlike salmon, sheefish do not die
after spawning. They return downstream in late September or early October
and winter in the brackish waters of Hotham Inlet.
Whitefish react to the fall drop in temperature and water level by moving
from the shallower lakes, sloughs, and streams into the deeper waters of the main
river. Large schools of broad whitefish congregate along the Kobuk headwaters
and upper tributaries during September, then move downstream as the fall
progresses. This downstream migration continues until well after freeze-up.
Other fish found in the Kobuk during early fall include grayling
(sulukpaugaq) , sucker (kaviqsuaq), trout (qalukpik), burbot (tittaaliq), and
pike (siulik). These fish have only minor importance for Kobuk villagers at
this season.
Through generations of experience, the Kuuvarjmiut have learned where
fish congregate during each season. One such place is Suluppaugaqtuuq, at
the mouth of the Selby River, where great numbers of salmon gather in the
fall. From the accounts of older villagers, it seems that men often traveled
here during the latter part of September to secure a supply of salmon, prima-
rily for dog food. They walked to spawning pools in the Selby River or along
the nearby sloughs, where they took salmon with long-handled salmon spears
and sometimes with long-handled gaffs. Both of these methods were used as
late as the 1920s, and salmon spearing may have survived into the 1940s.
Salmon taken in these ways were usually cached nearby. Each man would
build a log fish box to hold his catch and then cover it with heavy logs and
large rocks. Scavenging bears were always a threat to such caches. Later in
the winter the cached fish were either hauled back to the village or used as
dog food by men trapping in the area.
176
FISHING «23j
XiiAr
The Kuuvarjmiut also made use of a large weir that crossed the entire
width of the river at a site a few miles above Qala. Several families worked
together to build it each fall. The weir would block sheefish from migrating
downstream, then gates could be opened by removing some of the poles that
formed the barricade. Men used three-pronged spears to take fish at the gates,
and women used seines in the open water above the weir. One man reportedly
speared 80 sheefish in an evening at such a weir. The weir's useful life was
limited, because the first run of slush ice would destroy it.
In the upper Kobuk villages today, people's attention shifts to whitefish
and sheefish as soon as the main salmon run has passed. Large-mesh gill nets
are set in eddies near the villages, especially Shungnak and Kobuk, in the
hope of catching sheefish on their way upriver. The last of the salmon are also
harvested at this time. It is easier to process these fish because there are fewer
blowflies in the cooler, drier weather. A few smaller-mesh nets are again set
near the mouths of tributaries and sloughs to catch the first migrating white-
fish and trout. Sheefish are also taken with rod and reel, especially near the
village of Kobuk.
Prior to the 1960s, most upper Kobuk families spent early fall in fish
camps scattered from the Hunt River to the Selby River. The majority of
these camps were above the village of Kobuk. Families would move upriver
during August, after the peak run of salmon, and they would remain in camp
seining and checking gill nets until just before freeze-up. Lower Kobuk people
spent early fall in fish camps scattered along the main channel all the way
from the delta to the Salmon River.
Establishing Camp
Moving to a fall fish camp is still customary, but the number of people who
do so is significantly less than in times past, particularly in the lower river area.
Factors in the reduction include decline in the number of sled dogs, increased
emphasis on school attendance, growth of wage employment, and a shift toward
dependence on the presently-abundant caribou. Changes in one or more of
these factors would undoubtedly affect future levels of fall fishing activity.
In 1974, a Shungnak family established their fall fish camp at Qala on
September 9. Two other families moved to camps afterward — one at
Qalugriivik and the other at the Black River mouth. One family from Kobuk
moved to Qala. At least one Ambler family camped along the middle Ambler
River, and other families from that village may also have established fall
camps. At least six other families expressed a strong desire to set up fall
camps, but were prevented from doing so by health problems, family emer-
gencies, or other circumstances. Women were the main occupants of fall fish
camps during 1974, although men were also involved to some degree. The
composition of each camp varied from time to time. Residents of the Qala camp
usually included two adult women (mother and daughter) and two young men in
their early twenties (sons). Other relatives also spent brief times at the camp.
177
^p> FISHING
Establishing a fall fish camp is no small matter, considering the neces-
sary investment in equipment and supplies, plus the cost of fuel and parts for
outboard engines. The following is an inventory of equipment used in a camp
occupied by two adult women and one adult man:
10' x 12' wall tent
wood-burning stove
Coleman stove
gas lamp and extra mantles
2 flashlights and extra batteries
ax
Swede (bow) saw
maul
sharp-nosed shovel
chain saw
double mattress and other bedding
2 sleeping bags and air mattresses
assorted pots, pans, and large spoons
assorted dishes, bowls, cups, and silverware
2 water buckets
4 washtubs
I battery-powered portable radio
1 battery-operated tape recorder
several bags of clothing
3 large cardboard boxes of food supplies
(includes seal oil, cooking oil, dry meat,
dry fish, rice, oats, salt and pepper, canned
fruit, raisins, condensed milk, coffee, tea,
powdered orange drink, soup mix, canned
vegetables, etc.)
1 Bible
assorted magazines and pocket books
2 wash towels
2 bars of soap
1 thermos bottle
3 large ulus
2 butcher knives
2 hunting knives
several rolls of toilet paper
3 rolls of paper towels
5 gallons of Blazo (white gas)
50 gallons of mixed gas and several gas cans
2 tubes of lubricating oil
1 can of gun oil
1 pair of 7 x 50 binoculars
2 high-powered rifles and 3 boxes of shells
1 shotgun and 3 boxes of shells
1 .22 rifle and 5 boxes of shells
1 revolver and 2 boxes of shells
1 tool kit
assorted nails, wire, screws, and bolts
I roll of plastic sheeting
1 canvas tarp (12' x 14')
1 sewing kit
2 net shuttles and 1 ball of net twine
several pairs of canvas gloves
3 rain jackets
several boxes of matches
assorted toiletry items (combs, brushes, etc.)
3 pairs hip boots
several hundred feet of 1/4" and 5/8" rope
3 gill nets, 5-1/4" mesh
I gill net, 4" mesh
I beach seine
1 river boat with outboard, poles, and paddles
The Kuuvarjmiut, like most village Alaskans, tend to establish comfortable
camps for long-term occupancy. After a day out in the wet, cold wind checking
nets, hauling in seines, and cutting fish, one soon learns to appreciate comforts
of a warm, well-equipped camp.
Fall fish camps that are not presently used can be seen at many places
along the upper Kobuk River. Some of these have dry poles stacked nearby for
fish racks, drift logs and stakes indicating tent sites, the frame for a windbreak
(akivik), and usually a tent ridge pole leaned up against a tree. Minor debris,
such as discarded magazines or tin cans, is also scattered about. At least four
sites not used in the fall of 1974 showed evidence of usage within the past one to
three years. According to several villagers, fall fish camps above the mouth of
the Selby River were used as late as the 1940s and early 1950s.
«»178
FISHING <g&
Fall fish camp along the upper Kobuk River.
Daisy 's tent
Vera 's tent — -,
...i>tl*^6i(((il.Wi(i*j«|H(l/i.
m
Drying rack
"^J» a
N
Windbreak
Uqquutaq
Drying rack
Storage pit
The following is a summary of a typical day's activities in a fall fish
camp:
7:00 A.M. The adult women rise, start the fire, and prepare breakfast.
7:45 A.M. The adult men and younger members arise.
7:50 A.M. Everyone eats, then relaxes and talks.
8:30 A.M. The adult women begin cutting fish taken the previous day
(up to September 1 5, after which most fish are left uncut).
1 0:30 A.M. Men drive the women in boats to check and empty the gill
nets. The catch is deposited in a storage pit.
1 1 :45 A.M. The women prepare the noon meal and everyone eats.
1 :30 P.M. The crew loads a seine net into boat and drives to seining
sites. Depending on the distance traveled, weather, and num-
ber offish caught, the seining activities take from three to
six hours.
5:30 P.M. The crew returns and deposits their fish on the beach.
6:00 P.M. If the fish run is heavy, gill nets are checked again.
6:30 P.M. The fish are deposited in cache pits and the women start
preparing the evening meal. Men may collect firewood.
7:30 P.M. The evening meal is eaten, and the remaining time is spent
relaxing, doing odd chores, and talking.
1 0:00 P.M. Everyone goes to bed.
The weather, water level, numbers offish, and other activities such as
hunting and gathering can significantly alter the day's activities. It should be
emphasized that rigid schedules are unknown in these camps.
179 <&£b
FISHING
The upper Kobuk people have many favorite bars and eddies for fall
fishing. Those located closest to the villages receive the heaviest use, particu-
larly for gill nets. However, both village-based and camp-based crews often
travel 1 0 or 1 5 miles to reach the best places for seining. Crew members from
the camp at Qala boated 22 miles upstream to the Pah River to use their seine.
Seining and Gill Netting
Seining is the most productive method of early fall fishing, because the
fish gather into large, densely packed schools, and river conditions are gener-
ally favorable. The following is an account of one day's seining with a
Shungnak crew based at Qalugriivik.
We arrived at Magdaline's camp at 8:45 A.M. Magdaline
made a pot of coffee and provided a snack of pilot bread and jam.
When Magdaline began pulling on her hip boots everyone took it
as a signal to begin getting ready.
The seine had been spread out on the gravel bar to dry. We
pulled it into the water. Magdaline stood in the boat and began
drawing in the seine. Such a seine requires a fairly strong person
to manage it.
We poled the boat up the bar into the dead water of the slough.
Magdaline directed two men to pole and paddle while she set the
net. Magdaline's son and one of the women held the anchor line on
shore, while Magdaline's elderly mother stood by and gave advice.
Our catch was a mass of churning small whitefish. As soon
as the net was ashore, the men returned to the tent for coffee while
the women placed the fish on long willow rods.
Laura had cut several long pliable willow rods for stringers.
These rods were rarely more than '/(-inch thick at their base, 1 8 to
30 inches long, and stripped of leaves. To insert a rod, the fish was
flipped on its back with the hand holding the head and thumb de-
pressing its gill plate. The thick, sharpened end of the rod was
pushed through the top of the gill, emerging on the opposite side.
An average of 20 fish fit on each rod. Once full, the ends of the rod
were drawn together and the thin pliable end was wrapped twice
around the butt and inserted in the wraps to form a half-hitch. The
fish were lifted by picking up the stringer from two sides. A wil-
low shoot full of 20 fish is referred to as a "stick" (nuviraq).
We filled a total of 25 sticks for an estimated catch of 500
whitefish. The sticks were piled together on the bar and covered
with freshly cut willows (leaves on). We then shared a light snack
of dry fish and coffee.
The second attempt was carried out 1 V2 miles above the camp.
Our catch consisted of 20 sticks (400) whitefish, 4 large sheefish,
and several suckers. Very small whitefish and suckers were thrown
s^iso
FISHING <$*3
back into the river. Again the catch was piled on the beach and
covered with willows.
We drove our boats upriver to a large eddy known as Tuvaasaq
above the mouth of the Mauneluk River. Before seining we built a
campfire on the bank and boiled up fresh tea. We had a snack of
dried fish, dried moose meat, seal oil, and cookies. Roughly one
hour was spent eating and resting.
Our third attempt followed the same procedure as the first.
The catch consisted of 42 sticks of whitefish, roughly 840 fish.
These fish were loaded onto a plastic tarp in the center of the boat.
The other two fish piles were retrieved on the way home.
Each sweep of the seine, stringing offish, and reloading of
the seine required between one and two hours. Approximately two
hours were spent having snacks, and one hour was spent in boat
travel. We began seining at 10 a.m. and ended at 2:30 p.m.
As it was late September, none of the fish taken were to be
cut and dried.
In the lower Kobuk area, fall seining for least cisco (qalusraaq) is the
major subsistence activity before freeze-up. Here, the best seining areas are
close enough to the villages so people can make seining trips from home
rather than needing to establish camps. For Kiana residents the best seining
sites for least cisco are at Qalugraitchiaq and Alallauraq. The fish are laden
with eggs at this time and are highly prized. Using small-meshed seines, the
lower river people can completely fill their boats with fish in a fairly short time.
Several villagers recalled with obvious pleasure times when their boats were so
full of fish that they had to take care on the way home to avoid swamping.
Toward the end of September, crews based above the village of Kobuk
concentrate on seining sheefish. Late evening is best, because at this time the
fish gather along the bars, usually just below a swirling and rolling in the water,
and a crew may catch well over 1 00 in a single sweep if conditions are right.
According to an elderly woman, people can predict the downstream mi-
gration of sheefish by finding sheefish eggs in the stomachs of grayling. The
grayling feed on sheefish spawn and tend to move ahead of them as the mi-
gration progresses.
In the fall of 1974, the sheefish migration was late, and rain with result-
ant high water prevented seining at the prime time. According to upper Kobuk
villagers, sheefish "hire" the semipalmated plover to produce bad weather
when it comes time for the downstream migration. This prevents the Eskimos
from catching them in their seines. The sheefish pay the plover with bright
beads. Kobuk River people watch for these birds during the fall, make coun-
teroffers to them, and present them with gifts, hoping to induce them to ig-
nore the sheefish.
The larger eddies near all five Kobuk River villages are usually quite
crowded with gill nets during the fall. For example, seven long nets were set
181 <S1P
fgfB* FISHING
Siulaitchiaq
./I
Aanaalik (female carrying
eggs. Fish is hung with
belly left in)
Igri (Male. Fish is hung
after belly is pulled out.)
Cuts of fall-caught whitefish.
Fall cut of salmon.
in the large eddy in front of Kobuk village on September 7, 1974, and eddies
as far upstream as the Kogoluktuk Channel (Qugluqtuq) contained nets. People
reported that many salmon and sheefish were being caught. On September
21, seven gill nets were being tended by three unmarried women near the
Qala fish camp.
Using gill nets at the mouth of the Mauneluk River, project researcher
Ray Bane caught a total of 506 salmon, 1 55 sheefish, and 35 whitefish during
the last two weeks of September, 1974. Daily salmon catches ranged from 96
on September 15 to only five on September 30. Upper Kobuk villagers often
keep a close tabulation of their sheefish catches but make little effort to main-
tain counts on salmon. This is perhaps because Alaska state researchers have
done sheefish studies on the Kobuk River and made local people more aware of
the importance of this species. Sheefish taken in the fall are also a highly prized
food, and this is undoubtedly a further incentive to keep count of the take.
Enclosure for unprocessed fish.
Processing the Catch
Fish taken in the first half of Septem-
ber are cut and hung to dry on open racks.
Because of the cooler fall weather, a dif-
ferent cutting method is used, and this pro-
vides a special type of food for the
Kuuvarjmiut. Whitefish are cut in two dis-
tinct ways:
The siraatchiaq method involves lay-
ing open the side and belly flesh while not
disturbing the strip of flesh across the back.
The head and internal organs are not removed.
> 1 82
FISHING <Sgp
Fish raft used to tow salmon back to village
*4' *'"'*
The amatchiaq technique is done by cutting the flesh over the back open
without disturbing the side and belly sections.
Salmon are cut by one basic pattern, with minor differences for males
and females. Both sexes have the heads removed and the top flap of flesh
peeled back. In males the milt is pulled so it hangs exposed to the air while
still attached to the fish. The milt is called igri. Female salmon carrying eggs
do not have their stomachs pulled forward. These are called aanaalik. Each
method allows the viscera to ripen slightly, creating a flavor that Kobuk people
desire. In one upper Kobuk fish camp, the racks contained a total of 1,059
drying fish, which included 1 46 siraatchiaq, 687 amatchiaq, and 226 aanaalik
and igri.
After September 15, the Kuuvanmiut usually stop making dry fish and
simply begin stacking them on the beach or atop the bank, often inside a
three-sided crib roughly constructed of driftwood. Occasionally only a single,
braced log wall is used. After a willow mat is laid on the ground, the fish are
placed inside, usually in rows with the heads pointing in one direction.
These fish slowly sour and take on a flavor that is much appreciated by
Kobuk villagers, especially in the case of sheefish. Sour salmon are also consid-
ered excellent for dog food. The fish are left in piles until after freeze-up, then
broken free, placed in raised log boxes, and covered with tarps for winter storage.
With the first run of slush ice, everyone rushes about pulling their nets
and moving goods to safe ground. Kobuk River people are alerted to the im-
pending freeze-up when they begin to catch whitefish with thick, rough scales.
10 *> ■ ■ ?\f*,(tan
8 J Ht1
*g2> FISHING
This is called atigirut, or "putting on the parka," and it is usually discovered
a few days before ice begins to form.
Before the ice flows people must bring their fish catches and camping
equipment back to the village. Today this is done by making several round
trips between the camp and village with an outboard-powered boat. In the
past, families often made large rafts of dry wood and floated their goods and
fish home on these. The wood was used as winter fuel.
A unique method of transporting undried salmon was described by two
Shungnak men, who referred to it as a "fish raft." One to three dry, smooth
spruce trees with limbs removed were fastened together in a wedge shape and
secured with spiked or lashed poles. Salmon strung on willow rods or line
were hung across the sides of each pole with loops of supporting line. Each
pole is said to carry up to 30 sticks of salmon (600 fish). The raft was then
towed by a power boat back to the village.
Late Fall and Early Winter Fishing
Freeze-up may begin along the Kobuk any time from late September
through mid-October, depending on air temperature, water temperature, and
water levels. If the river is high and muddy it tends to resist freezing, but if it
is low and clear, freeze-up can occur with startling suddenness. Falling snow
can quickly chill the water and lower the surface temperature to the freezing
mark. A cold wind will also hasten the process. The river can be completely
free of ice one evening, and clogged with pans of slush ice grinding their way
downstream the next morning.
Both whitefish and sheefish continue moving down the Kobuk River
through freeze-up and well into November. Humpback whitefish are spawn-
ing as they move down the Kobuk, and so other predatory fish such as gray-
ling follow along with them. Apparently, whitefish spend the winter months
in deep, quiet pools along the lower river, while the sheefish winter in Hotham
Inlet and Selawik Lake (Alt 1969:40). Immediately after freeze-up, large num-
bers of burbot move upstream from the mouth of the Kobuk to its headwaters.
They reach the upper Kobuk from late October into January. By midwinter
the females are full of eggs, which indicates that spawning may take place
somewhere along the upper river.
Hooking through Ice
Hooking, or jigging (niksiksuq-), is the most widely practiced method
of ice fishing among the present-day Kuuvarjmiut. Villagers of both sexes
and all ages do some jigging at one time or another, although the majority are
adult females. Elderly women and a few older men are especially active in ice
fishing. Hooking begins as soon as a shelf of solid ice extends a few feet out
from the river bank, and it continues through mid-November. After this time,
severe cold and thickening ice make this activity increasingly difficult.
The first target for jigging is grayling, which congregate in large num-
bers near the mouths of clear tributaries and in the upper Kobuk itself imme-
^V>184
FISHING <&
diately after freeze-up. They are especially plentiful and active around gill
nets set under the ice to catch whitefish. A hole (alluaq) is chopped through
the ice with a long-handled ice pick (tuuq). Then it is cleared of loose ice with
a shovel or hand scoop. This done, the woman or man can start to jig for fish.
A Shungnak man was observed fishing for grayling in mid-October,
using the hole at one end of a fishnet set under the ice. After lowering the
hook he would give the pole occasional short jerks. When he felt a strike he
would smoothly lift the struggling fish clear of the hole, swing it to one side,
and let it flop off the barbless hook. Sometimes he would club a particularly
large grayling with a stout willow rod, but most died quickly of freezing. He
caught 27 grayling in an hour and twenty minutes.
The primary target of fall ice fishing is burbot, favored by Kobuk people
for its oil-rich liver, as well as its flesh, eggs, and other parts. Jigging for
burbot begins along the lower Kobuk as soon as the ice is firm enough for
walking, and somewhat later in the three upper Kobuk villages. By mid-Octo-
ber, people in all five villages are catching these fish. This continues into No-
vember and may go on to early December, depending on the length of the fish
run, weather conditions, ice thickness, and availability of other food sources.
The equipment used for burbot fishing is the same as that used to jig for
grayling, except for the hook. Burbot hooks are usually relatively large spoons
with barbless hooks. In the past, such hooks were made of bone, ivory, or
beaten metal, but today most people use large, commercially made, spoon
lures. These are usually four inches long and may be brightly painted or stud-
ded with flashy glass. A piece offish flesh is usually attached to the hook.
Burbot fishing begins after dark and may last until midnight. The best
places to fish are along gravel bars that slope off steadily to a depth of four to
six feet and are swept by a gentle current. At such spots the villagers chip
holes through the ice and use a lantern or flashlight to see if the film of silt on
the gravel has been disturbed by passing fish. If the site looks promising, the
person puts down a piece of caribou hide to stand or kneel on, then lowers a
hook until it is just above the gravel bottom. Short, light jerks on the pole
attract burbot to the lure.
While the ice is still under eight inches thick, people may build a short
fence to direct burbot toward a fishing hole. The fence is made of boards or
sticks, runs out from the beach at an upstream angle, and ends at the fishing
hole. This will guide burbot toward the hole as they swim upstream. For the
same reason, people also fish at sites where burbot traps are being constructed,
using holes at the end of finished segments of the main wall.
Another variation in burbot fishing is the trot line (qagruqsaq), a string
of baited hooks placed in a fishing hole overnight. The end hook is usually
larger than the others and the belly flesh of a burbot is inverted over it and
sewn on to resemble a small whitefish. The barb of the hook projects from the
rear of this lure.
In the fall of 1974, the number of persons from Shungnak hooking bur-
bot through the ice varied from only two to more than ten, depending on the
185 <?£a
FISHING
Trot line set under the ice for burbot.
Large hook covered with
belly skin of a burbot
weather and fish run. Catches per person ranged from zero
to 20 per night. In Ambler, members of 1 9 households fished
for burbot. Total catches averaged just under 40 fish per
household, with a high of 1 80 and a low of three.
Gill Netting
In all five Kobuk villages, gill netting under the ice
for sheefish and whitefish begins as soon as the ice is safe
enough to walk on and continues through late October or
early November, when thickening ice and reduced fish
movements make it unprofitable. Some people know of
places along the Kobuk River where springs keep the ice thin and allow fish-
ing throughout the winter.
Sites for gill netting under the ice are usually large, deep eddies, often
formed at the confluence of two streams or channels. The mouths of large
tributaries, or of streams that drain a series of lakes, are particularly favored,
because they often disgorge large schools of whitefish during the late fall.
One such site is located at the confluence of the Ambler and Kobuk rivers in
front of Ambler village. Each fall the people fill this large eddy with their nets
to harvest the seasonal run of whitefish. Another site is at the confluence of
the Squirrel River and the two channels of the Kobuk River at Kiana.
Most late fall netting is done within a few miles of the villages, although
in the recent past it was not unusual for families to establish fall fishing camps
farther away. As with other subsistence activities, changes in village eco-
nomic or social conditions could revive these camps. A decline in moose or
caribou could also cause an overall expansion of winter fishing.
One of the long-established winter fish camps on the Kobuk presently
in use is Paniyavik, located eight river miles or six air miles southwest of
Shungnak village. Use of this site extends back past the father of Joe Sun, a
75-year-old Shungnak resident. In the second week of October, 1974, Joe
Sun returned to set up his tent camp on the river bank at Paniyavik, and two
other elders moved into a small cabin across the river. Sons, daughters, and
other relatives often came to visit or to stay overnight. Other Shungnak fami-
lies also maintained nets at this site and visited them with snowmachines.
Gill nets used under the ice are basically the same as those used in sum-
mer fishing. However, winter gill nets are often longer, occasionally over 1 50
feet; they also have fewer floats and heavier weights, so they will not float up
against the ice and freeze in. The following excerpt from fieldnotes describes
gillnet setting by five persons in mid-October, 1974:
The first step in setting the net was the chopping of a series
of holes through the ice. Ernest would use a pick to chip out a hole
roughly 1 V2 feet long by 10 inches wide. He would stop just short
of breaking through the ice and move on to the next excavation,
&' '■'■■'■ '■'•> 1 86
FISHING <T!;^
Fall fishing site of Paniyavik
Fish box
Willow and alder
Spruce and birch
while I followed and completed each hole with the long ice chisel
(tuuq). Pansy followed me with a sharp-nosed shovel, clearing the
floating ice from each hole. A large oval-shaped hole was opened
at the upstream end of the series. The series of holes extended 1 50
feet, which was the length of the net being set.
When the holes were complete, the net was piled at the edge
of the oval excavation. A rawhide line ofugntk skin (ammun) with
a weight attached was lowered through the oval hole. Another per-
son stood at the second hole and reached under the ice with a long
pole tipped with a caribou antler hook (illaqtuun), which was used
to snag the ugruk line. He then drew the line to him. The other
person then came forward and held the line. The hook man moved
to the next hole, and the operation was repeated until the line had
been passed under the entire length of the holes.
The net line was then attached to the rawhide line. Ernest
stood at the far end of the holes and pulled the line slowly toward
him while Pansy and Charlie fed the net into the oval hole at the
opposite end. When the entire net had been pulled under the ice,
87 <^s
sf&5> FISHING
15'-18'-
Illaqtuun
Ice pick and hooked pole used to set gill under ice.
Tuuq (Ice pick)
Head made from pick
^s= ^==^=?£zmmft^z=== =>
6.5'-
two poles were placed and frozen into the ice at either end of the
holes. The poles leaned over each end hole, and the end lines of
the net were tied to them so they would not freeze against the sides
of the holes.
Nets are usually checked by pulling them out at least once daily. The
large oval hole and the far end hole are carefully chopped open to avoid cut-
ting the rope, and then ice debris is shoveled clear. The attached line origi-
nally used to pull the net under the ice is now untied from the pole, except that
its very end is secured to the stake so it won't slip entirely into the hole. This
line uncoils as the net is pulled up from the other end. Any fish are taken from
the net, which is piled on the ice beside the hole. The workers occasionally
lift and shake it to prevent it from freezing into a solid mass. After all the fish
are removed, the net is pulled back under the ice. The fish freeze and are put
in piles to be hauled back to the village or stored in fish boxes for later pickup.
Under-the-ice gill netting is not always possible at traditional netting
sites. In certain years the main river will freeze, then break loose and freeze
again in a mass of irregular ice. This makes it impossible to set gill nets, as
they will snag on rough ice projecting downward.
The productivity of ice gill netting can be seen in records kept over a
three-year period for 25 households in Ambler, a particularly active ice fish-
ing community. In 1974, the total harvest of surveyed households was 24,357
whitefish caught in fall netting. This compares to 16,539 fish in 1973, and
19,728 fish in 1972. The average catch for each of the 17 households partici-
pating in the 1974 harvest was 1,433 whitefish. In other villages, catches by
those who are active in fall gill netting likely average between 500 and 1 ,000.
3'
u
3-4'
G
LJ
50'-
OOOOO O OOOOO O
Holes in ice through which a gill net is set.
FISHING «5j©@
The Burbot Trap
Pulling a line under the ice.
The net line was then attached to the rawhide line. Ernest stood at
the far end of the holes and pulled the line slowly toward him while
Pansy and Charlie fed the net into the oval hole at the opposite
end. When the entire net had been pulled under the ice, two poles
were placed and frozen into the ice at either end of the holes. The
poles leaned over each end hole. The end lines of the net were tied
to them so they would not freeze against the side of the holes.
The Kuuvanmiut have built traps for burbot since a time beyond the
memory of the oldest living people. Construction of the trap is usually under-
taken by the immediate or extended family of a particular household, some-
times with help from close friends. The process of building is mostly carried
out and supervised by men, although women may assist. Older men in their
sixties and seventies often direct the work or advise on procedures.
According to several knowledgeable villagers, every major household
on the upper Kobuk River used to build a burbot trap each year. Persons who
spent the late fall in camps usually set out a trap to obtain food for themselves
and their dogs. Trap sites were located from the Pah River to below the Hunt
Anchor made
of a bag of
gravel
,LSinkers made of bags of gravel '
189 <,;>
*5S> fishing
Placement of burbot
traps upriver from
Shungnak village.
River. Apparently, these traps were not as commonly used by the lower Kobuk
villagers, although two Kiana families indicated that in the past they had built
them on the Squirrel River.
The use of burbot traps declined considerably during the 1 950s and 1 960s,
and had all but disappeared by the early 1970s. This was a period when both
caribou and moose were relatively plentiful in the Kobuk valley. But in 1974
the fall caribou hunting was poor near the villages of Shungnak and Kobuk,
and much of the summer fish catch was spoiled by wet weather. This, to-
gether with a recent increase in the number of sled dogs, undoubtedly led to the
resurgence offish trap construction during 1974. It is an excellent example of
how villagers adapt to the unpredictable nature of their environment.
qj C. Cleveland 's Summer
Fish Camp
<j& ^J^'As Willow and aldei
o
The first order of business in building a fish trap is to locate a proper
site. Suitable places are generally well known within a few miles of each
village, but the Kuuvanmiut also have ways to assess new sites or to deter-
mine whether old sites are still usable. Sometime before freeze-up, the men
look for smooth, gradually sloped gravel bars where relatively deep water
with good current swings close to the beach. Snags, large rocks, and areas of
uneven bottom must be avoided. Sites should also be reasonably close to a
supply of poplar and willow trees for building materials.
When a man has chosen a fish trap site he waits until freeze-up to indi-
cate where it will be placed. Then he visits the site and sets a pole in the ice to
mark his selection. Others, seeing the pole, know the site has been reserved
and will not use it. Construction does not begin until the season and ice thick-
ness are properly advanced.
s©>190
FISHING <gj&l
Current indicator and throat poles set into river bed.
Side view
Hole chopped
through the ice
Current
marker
Top view (showing the method of
aligning the wings of the trap)
After freeze-up, the river level drops slowly until it stabilizes some time
in late October or early November. If trap supports are placed too soon, the
weight of the sinking ice may break them or throw them out of alignment.
The builder and his assistants start gathering tools and building materi-
als a week or more before they start construction. Raw materials include 20
or 30 straight poplar logs from five to nine inches in diameter, several dozen
straight poplar or willow poles averaging three inches in diameter, and hun-
dreds of long, slender willow saplings or branches from Vi to 3A inch in diam-
eter at the base. Additional materials include twine, small nails, and several
yards of chicken wire (one trap made limited use of this material). Tools
include axes, ice picks, mauls, sharp-nosed shovels, knives, hammers, and
saws. Today, chain saws are also used to cut the ice.
Before starting to build, it is important to determine the correct placement
of the trap box. The water must be six to seven feet deep, so thickening ice will
not block the entrance or limit the capacity of the box. Once the location of the
box has been decided, a large hole is cut through the ice and a rod with a ribbon
near its lower end is set into the river bed for a current marker (nagruk). Two
gate or "throat" poles (split poplar logs with the inside surfaces hewn flat) are
next set vertically into the river bottom at what will be the narrow entrance to
the trap box. This opening must be aligned exactly across the current.
A burbot trap consists of several elements. Except for the meticulously
made funnel that prevents the fish from escaping, all elements are built in
place; that is, they are set through trenches made in the ice and anchored in
the river bottom. The four main parts are:
A. The trap box. The left and right walls (tupirjich) are made of
split logs set flush against each other. The back wall (qithuq),
also made of split logs, is set close together but not flush. Placed
at the front of the box, between the throat poles (mitlirjniq) , is
the funnel (see D below).
FISHING
Box outline
(inside area to be f's
Outline of where a burbot trap will be built.
Current
marker
Throat
I poles
Snow sh
OVeled downstream of the working
Wall log of trap braced in place
Brace
B. The long, shoreward fence comprised of the kilullingich and the
patinniq. The kilullingich is a wall made of willow saplings laid
horizontally in a thick mat, held in place between pairs of poles.
Its purpose is to deflect fish toward the trap opening. The patinniq
is a short section of tightly placed split logs at both ends of the
kilullingich.
C. The outer fence (salliniq). This extends downstream from the
outer wall of the trap to prevent the fish from swimming past
the trap box and continuing upstream.
D. The funnel (iggiaq). This is set at the entrance of the trap box,
allowing the fish to enter but not to leave.
After the current marker and poles for the trap throat are in place, the
workers use ice picks to mark the outline of the trap box and the fences. The
curving outline of the trap box is deter-
mined by eyesight and by alignment
with the current. The shoreward fence
outline is determined by stretching a
rope from the throat poles to the shore,
and the outer wing outline is determined
by the direction of the current. Now, the
workers can start cutting the ice. In the
past this was done with bone-tipped
poles, but today metal-tipped ice chis-
els, mining picks, and chain saws are
used. Cuts are made along the marked
lines with a chain saw, then picks are
used to break the ice apart. All snow and
ice debris is shoveled to the downstream
side of the shoreward fence and to the
upstream and outer sides of the trap box
and outer fence, to leave a clear work-
<C£* 192
ing space. By early November the ice may be 1 6 or more inches thick, so the
cutting may take from several days to over a week to complete.
While some helpers concentrate on cutting ice, others cut willows, split
and shape poplar logs, remove limbs from poles, and smooth them. Willows,
shaped poles, and split logs are placed at strategic locations along the opened
areas. One man usually does nothing but prepare the walls of the trap box.
Poplar logs for the sides of the trap box are split in half with an ax, each
half is carefully hewn smooth, and the edges on both sides are lightly smoothed.
One half of each split log is used for the right wall and the other half is used
for the left wall, assuring uniformity in the side walls. The worker dresses
each split log so it will fit flush against neighboring logs.
When the logs are ready, the crew very carefully places them in the
water to form the walls of the trap box, making sure that they are vertical and
snug. One man stands back to direct the alignment as another man sets it in;
and the log setter lays down to peer into the water, checking each log. A maul
is used to drive the shaped logs into the river bottom, stopping when the
upper ends still extend above the ice. Snow is shoveled against each log where
it projects above the ice, and then it is soaked with water which soon freezes.
A brace is placed on each log to keep it firmly set while the water is freezing.
Straight, smooth poles 5 to 5/4 inches in diameter are used to form the
back wall of the trap box. Split logs are used to form the two ends of the
shoreward fence and for the entire outer wing. While care is taken to keep
cracks between these logs to an inch or less, they are not given the same
precise workmanship as the side walls of the trap box.
The exacting task of building the trap's entryway is usually done by the
head of the project or an elderly expert. The following is a description of this
process, as it was carried out by a Shungnak elder in November, 1974:
Before dark, Joe hiked across the river to a willow thicket
beyond the gravel bar. He selected and cut an armload of straight
young willows varying in thickness from 1 to VA inches, and in
length from 3 to 5 feet. These he packed back to the tent and ar-
ranged around the stove to thaw. Some he hung lengthwise from
the ridge pole. Joe had selected these rods because they were straight
and free of knots and branches.
After the evening meal, Joe proceeded to take down the wil-
lows and split them lengthwise. He would insert his knife blade
into the butt end of a willow rod and carefully guide it along the
grain, allowing the blade to act as a wedge. If the rod seemed to be
splitting unevenly, he would pry the sides apart by hand, guiding
the line of cleavage and skillfully bending and twisting the rod.
The shorter, thicker rods would be used as longitudinals for
the trap entrance, while the longer, thinner rods became the wrap-
ping for the entrance. The wrapping required several steps to pre-
pare. After splitting, Joe whittled each half rod to form a thin band
193 <©a
S$&> FISHING
Funnel for trap entrance
Frame
Paarjat
2'-!"-
Throat
Side view of throat in trap.
approximately 3/1 6
of an inch thick.
These bands were
then carefully rol-
led and tied into
small bundles. La-
ter the bands were
untied, spliced into
one continuous strip,
and used to bind
the trap.
The shorter
rods for longitudinals (which
were 27 inches long) required less care and
preparation. Once split, each half was whittled smooth
on the inside only. The narrow end was shaped into a long, taper-
ing point. The butt end was whittled into a round dowel to be fitted
into a hole drilled in the entrance frame.
This work carried out by Joe and an assistant, took approxi-
mately five hours to complete. Joe said that in the old days a man
would place a tarp under him as he whittled. When all parts of the
entryway were complete, he would carry the shavings deep into
the woods to dispose of them.
The next day Joe hewed out wooden pieces for the frame and joined
them with lap joints into an open square. He used a hand drill to bore holes
around the back sides of this frame, tightly fitted in the longitudinal withes,
then lashed on the spiral wrapping with twine. This done, he tacked two long,
slender poles onto the sides of the frame so that each extended three inches
below it and ended in a sharp point.
The trap entryway (paarjat) was fitted snugly between the throat poles
of the box and leaned so the funnel pointed slightly upward. According to
Joe, fish will swim up into the trap entrance, but they do not like to swim
down into it. Short poles (qalusrit) were placed vertically across the top of
the entryway frame, so that the
only opening to the box was
through the trap entrance.
The final phase is to build the
willow-filled fence that extends to
the shore. This job is usually done
on the last day and should be car-
ried all the way to completion, as
it involves overlapping and inter-
twining layers of tightly packed
willows. First, the long trench in
the ice is reopened, and each side
is given a smooth vertical face. The
Entryway
handles
Gravel pushed into the
trap entrance to prevent
fish from hitting sharp
edges of the frame
/■■• 1 94
FISHING <g|fe
Poles set to form long, narrow shoreward wing of trap.
i 8" 1
:'
\-2.5,J-
Ice
Side View
water is cleared of all ice debris, and shallow slots are chipped vertically into
both sides of the ice trench to receive a series of poles. The poles, which have
been smoothed and are sharpened at one end, are set in pairs 214 inches apart,
and each pair is placed three feet from the next. After being pounded into the
river bottom they form the two long walls of the shoreward fence.
Once the poles have been set, workers begin laying willow branches in
the space between the walls of the shoreward wing. First the most slender,
pliable willows are placed horizontally between the poles, as these must con-
form to any small irregularities of the river bed. The first layer of willows is
placed so that all the tips point in the same direction and the butts of one
bunch overlap the tips of those next to it. After laying a loose mat of willows
five or six inches deep between the poles, workers use long forked poles to
shove the mat down and compress it.
A second layer of willow branches is placed like the first, except that
the tips point in the reverse direction. The second mat is then pushed down
and compacted onto the first. This is repeated until the packed willows reach
from the river bed up to the bottom of the ice.
When no more willows can be compacted, toggles are fastened between
each set of stakes to hold down the springy filling. Usually this takes three
men: two who press down on the filling with their forked poles and another
who reaches under the ice to place a stout piece of poplar across the top of the
willows and under the ice on each side of the trench.
By the time the last stage of building is reached, the ice may be so thick
that a man's arm cannot reach far enough to set the wall toggles. In this case
the workers impale each toggle on the end of an ice chisel and lower it into
place. Joe Sun met this problem by constructing a giant pair of wooden pliers
to grip the toggle and maneuver it into place. He used two pieces of alder,
hewn flat on the sides and fastened together with a bolt.
The length of the shoreward wing, the depth of the water, and the per-
sonal preferences of individual builders all help to make each fish trap unique.
End View
Slender pliable willows
with succeeding layers
progressively courser.
Layers of willow saplings
set between the poles of
the trench.
195
<?&■
^%> FISHING
Fastening toggles to keep barrier of willow saplings in place.
Toggles placed across the
willows and beneath the
ice to prevent them from
pushing back out.
Made of alder
hewn flat on the
sides
-'//'bolt
Pliers for setting toggles
over the willow wall.
The time needed to make
a trap depends on the avail-
ability of materials, length
of the shoreward fence, num-
ber of workers available,
weather conditions, ice thick-
ness, and so on. One trap built by a Shungnak family
involved between five and nine persons at various stages. It took nine work
days to complete, beginning on October 29 and ending on November 15.
Several days were lost because of storms and other interruptions such as
hunting activities. Three other traps made the same fall took somewhat
less time to complete because they were built earlier, when the ice was not
so thick.
Building a fish trap requires working on the frozen surface of the
river fully exposed to the elements. During the construction of one such
trap, air temperatures ranged from about freezing to fifty below zero. Even
the warmer days were often accompanied by stiff winds that produced
significantly lower chill factors. A tent equipped with a stove, food, and
bedding was set up near the trap site. Usually a hot breakfast of meat, fish,
seal oil, and hot cakes was prepared for the crew before work began in the
morning. A similar noonday meal was also prepared, often by the wife of a
crew member. One or two coffee breaks were taken during the day to warm
up. Even in the coldest conditions there were no complaints.
Once the burbot trap is finished, a layer of poles, willows, and a tarp
are placed over the trap box to block out the light. Each day one or two
persons who helped to build the trap go to the site and chip out the ice over
the box. After all ice has been shoveled clear, a crew member uses a long-
handled gaff (aki) to snag the burbot swimming inside the box. Snagged
fish are flipped onto the ice and clubbed. Care is taken to avoid snagging
fish in the belly, as this is thought to release an odor that repels other fish.
People are also careful not to hook and damage the trap entrance.
?@M96
FISHING <gj^5
Cutaway and condensed view of a burbot trap.
Ice 10" to 20" thick-
Split J
i Box front 1 cottonwood
'r~?r-r — 3 — / ft*"1:1' ipflF^f^irt")
Willow branch filling
I Willow or cottonwood poles
Toggle
f
J!
mm^0jfhamf
\-2>A'-3'*
Front View
Current
Lawrence Gray's Fish Trap
(not to scale)
N
This view is very condensed.
The actual trap would be
much longer than what is
illustrated here.
/,
• f Depth of box
m i including ice
cover is 5' 10"
After the trap has been emptied, a stout pole is used to stir up the
gravel at the bottom of the box, flushing out offensive odors and pushing
gravel against the walls to cover any openings caused by trapped fish.
Once the fish have been removed, they are carefully divided into equal
piles marked with stakes bearing the names of individual trap workers. No
extra share is taken by those who open and empty the trap. After the piled
fish freeze overnight, they are pried up and leaned against each stake so
they will not be lost under a snowdrift. During the winter of 1974-75, one
burbot trap was checked until January third. By this time, low tempera-
tures were producing thick ice overnight, limited daylight made it difficult
to see and hook the fish, the catch was much below earlier levels, and ice
was slowly blocking the trap entrance.
Burbot Trap
Qargich
Patinniq
Kilullingich
Top view
Qitnuq
H yTupirjich
«.(j°<*>° (5 — Mitlirjnaaq
/ D\
Qalusrit ^ ySallifiiq
197 <g§
FISHING
Catch estimates were kept for a trap located approximately five miles
via trail from Shungnak. Round trip travel time was about 45 minutes by
snowmachine or an hour and twenty minutes by dog team, and the checking
took another one to three hours. Daily catches averaged about 100 fish, and
the total estimated catch for the life of the trap (November 16 to January 3)
was 3,447 burbot. If we estimate the average weight of each fish at three
pounds, the total weight offish caught is 10,341 pounds. This catch was di-
vided into six equal shares, each worker receiving roughly 575 fish, with a
total weight of 1,725 pounds.
Three workers who owned dog teams used one-half to three-quarters of
their shares to feed the dogs. Some fish were sold to other villagers who
needed dog food or wanted burbot liver for personal consumption. All crew
members gave fish away to relatives and friends, some being sent as far as
Kotzebue.
a^^ 198
HUNTING »c^
Chapter 9
Hunting
Just as with fishing, hunting is a vital element in the economy and lifeway
of Kobuk River people. In addition to providing food, it is an important
source of raw materials for traditional clothing and implements, as well
as goods for trade or sale to neighboring Eskimos, Athabaskan Indians, and
non-Natives. Hunting is also the catalyst for organizing cooperative activi-
ties, formal partnerships, sharing patterns, and many other social institutions
whose influence extends through all of Kuuvarjmiut culture. To an important
degree, success in hunting is a standard by which men from the Kobuk vil-
lages can establish their sense of worth and stature.
Dependence upon something as important as hunting also encourages a
continuity in relations between the young and the old, particularly among
males. To succeed or excel in the culturally assigned role of a hunter, young
men must be tutored by older men. Hunting is thus one means by which the
cumulative knowledge and the philosophy of the Eskimo culture is passed
from one generation to the next.
Caribou (tuttu)
The caribou is a large member of the deer family, widely distributed in
circumpolar regions of the northern hemisphere. It is somewhat larger than a
mule deer and smaller than an elk. Its pelt varies from very light to dark
brown depending on the season. A mature bull caribou (paijniq) weighs 150
to 400 pounds, and a mature cow caribou (kulavak) is two-thirds this size
(Palmer 1954:303).
By early fall an adult bull caribou is an impressive animal. His body
fills out with heavy layers of flesh and fat over a thick-set neck and trunk. A
cape of creamy-white fur covers his neck and shoulders. His antlers sweep
back and up into a C-shaped curve over the head and neck, with a total length
of six feet from the bottom palm to the top end point. A layer of fat develops
along the top of the back, often three inches thick over the rump. Cows also
fill out during the fall, but somewhat later than the bulls.
The caribou is physically well adapted to an arctic tundra and taiga en-
vironment. Its coat is made up of long, hollow hairs that provide excellent
insulation against the cold. Its hooves are wide and rounded with a hollow
center and sharp edges. These spreading hooves, together with the animal's
dew claws, give a large supporting surface for travel on snow and soft earth.
The caribou's eyesight is inferior to that of other North American deer, but its
sense of hearing and smell are excellent. The highly specialized diet of the
caribou consists primarily of lichens and mosses, allowing it to thrive in areas
199 <&
HUNTING
where other grazing animals would perish. It will also feed on other vegeta-
tion, such as green willow shoots, cloudberries, and coarse tundra grasses.
Caribou are gregarious animals, usually found with others of their kind.
The size and composition of a caribou herd varies according to the season,
weather, available food, predation, and instinctive drives. Herds ranging from
a dozen to several hundred are common in the Kobuk valley, but the much-
publicized herds numbering countless thousands of animals are, in reality,
very brief and localized occurrences. Migrating herds are made up of many
small bands, numbering between 25 and 150, all moving in the same general
direction and sometimes forced into close concentrations by geographic re-
strictions. In more open areas migrations may spread over an area of 30 to 60
miles, with one or more miles between individual bands of animals.
Except for a few stragglers, caribou are absent from the Kobuk valley
after they move north through the Brooks Range in spring. Then, by mid-
August, small bands begin slowly wandering southward into the Noatak River
valley. By mid-September the pace of migration quickens, and larger num-
bers of caribou move across the northern foothills of the Brooks Range. After
the first scattered forerunners, the main body of the migration seems to liter-
ally burst onto the plains of the central Kobuk valley between late September
and mid-October.
The scene of this event may shift widely from one year to the next,
although in recent years the Hunt and Salmon rivers have been the main routes
into the Kobuk. Archaeological evidence from Onion Portage and other nearby
sites suggests that this general area has been the main passage route for thou-
sands of years. Smaller numbers of caribou filter through valleys east and
west of the central route, usually reaching the Kobuk River somewhat later
than the central part of the herd.
Once through the Brooks Range, the migration pauses briefly as bulls
aggressively assemble cows for the mating season. This may be either before
or after they cross the Kobuk. The bulls are in prime condition, but they quickly
become lean once mating begins. The pause may last for as long as a week,
and then the animals once again move south to scatter out across the vast
Selawik lowlands.
Some of the caribou remain all winter in small bands from Hotham Inlet
to the headwaters of the Kobuk and Selawik rivers. Occasionally loose as-
semblages of a few thousand caribou will gather temporarily where food is
abundant, but widely scattered bands of less than 100 animals are more com-
mon. During this period the caribou are in generally poor condition; their
meat is lean, dark, and stringy and their hides cannot be used. Cows remain in
somewhat better condition than the bulls.
In early spring the mosses and lichens reappear, and caribou start to
build up thin layers of fat. Toward the end of March the bands drift north-
ward, where they merge with other scattered groups. By mid-April, large
numbers of caribou are moving toward the Brooks Range, often forming long,
single-file lines that make deep ruts in the snow. The spring migration does
®S£>200
HUNTING «
not seem to be as localized or as sudden as the fall migration. It continues into
mid-May, when the bands are virtually rushing to cross the mountains. A few
stragglers continue to filter across the Kobuk River into early June. There is
considerable variation in the route and timing of this migration. Factors such
as snow depth, predators (including man), available feed, weather conditions,
and the complex nature of the animal all make caribou one of nature's least
predictable creatures.
A grazing herd of caribou is a study in continuous movement. The sparse
vegetation rarely provides enough food to allow an animal to remain in one
spot, so that with each mouthful of vegetation the caribou takes a step or two
forward. A herd usually moves into the wind as it feeds. During cool late
summer evenings, caribou often lie down to sleep for short periods with their
heads pointing downwind. Eskimo hunters say that this allows the animals to
see any danger approaching from downwind, while they can also smell any
predators that may be upwind. They tend to sleep in short snatches, awaken-
ing every few minutes to search for possible danger; so in a group of resting
caribou at least one is usually awake. Smaller bands of caribou are easier to
approach because there are fewer animals alert at a given time.
Caribou Hunting in the Past
Summer. Extended summer hunting trips were carried out by the
Kuuvarjmiut from at least the late 1800s into the 1940s. Small parties of men
usually traveled and hunted together in the northern mountains, and the gen-
eral area of Howard Pass and the Itivilik River was especially preferred by
upper Kobuk people. Hunters began walking north in mid- July and would
arrive in the hunting area as the first caribou began filtering south in early
August. At this time the hides are prime for clothing and the meat is most
tasty. Before the advent of the snowmachine, summer caribou hunting was
considerably easier than winter hunting. Eskimos say that warm weather makes
the caribou lazy and less alert. Undoubtedly, the movements and odors of the
abundant flora and fauna also help to mask the approach of a hunter.
Caribou taken during summer hunts were skinned so that all parts of the
hide were usable. The hides were turned skin side up and stretched on the
ground to dry in the sun, then rolled together into tight bundles for packing.
The meat was cut into strips and hung from willow bushes to "half dry" so
that a little moisture remained in each piece. Back fat and intestinal fat were
also hung to dry.
The stomach was removed and cleaned, and marrow from the leg bones
was stuffed inside this pouch. Strips of back sinew were removed and dried
for thread. Certain bones and antlers were cut into appropriate lengths for
later use as tools or handles. Everything was bundled into packs that the men
and dogs laboriously carried to the distant Kobuk River. Of these, the fat and
items for manufacture were considered particularly important.
Fall. Two caribou hunting methods formerly used by the Kuuvarjmiut
were large, cooperative drives and snaring at river crossings during the big
201 <$
B$0i- HUNTING
fall migrations. Elderly villagers said that they had never participated in a
caribou drive but that their parents and grandparents had.
The caribou corral consisted of stout sod or rock pillars, or bunches of
willows or grass, set in two converging lines, occasionally stretching for miles.
Sometimes this funnelled the animals into a circular enclosure filled with
snares and hidden hunters; at other times it led them into a large lake or river,
where men in kayaks and larger boats paddled among the swimming caribou
and killed them with spears.
When the corral method was used, women and children hid along the
edges of the funnel until the herd had entered and moved past them. Then
they stood up and frightened the animals deeper into the trap. According to a
Shungnak elder, they would also put dummies of bundled willows across the
funnel behind the caribou to prevent them from escaping. Willow dummies
were also used to quickly assemble an entire funnel at a new location.
In certain areas, caribou follow trails through willow and alder thickets
along river or creek banks. When they reach these areas, the animals tend to
bunch up briefly and then rush through on the trails. In the past the Kuuvarjmiut
would find these paths and hang rawhide nooses across the openings. These
snares were about three feet in diameter, the bottom hung about 30 inches
above the ground, and they were fastened to heavy brush or small trees. To
force the caribou into paths with snares, people would use brush to block the
other trails nearby. Kobuk Eskimos practiced caribou snaring into the early
years of the twentieth century.
Winter. Before the introduction of snowmachines, Kobuk people trav-
eled either on foot or by dog team to obtain caribou during the winter months.
Very little winter hunting is presently done by these means. However, in-
creases in fuel prices, difficulty in maintaining machines, regulatory restric-
tions on hunting, and personal preferences of individuals could bring them
back into use.
Hunting on snowshoes was a standard practice well into the 1950s and
early 1960s. If caribou were within six or seven miles of the village or camp-
site, men often preferred to travel on foot, because dog teams sometimes
frightened away the animals. A man on snowshoes would leave home before
daylight carrying his rifle, a bag of ammunition, a hunting knife, matches,
and binoculars. In a wide bag slung across his back he might carry some dry
meat or fish, tea, sugar, a cup, extra canvas gloves, and perhaps dry socks.
Occasionally two men traveled together, but winter hunting was usually a
solitary pursuit. The hunter would set a steady pace toward an area where cari-
bou had been sighted or where he felt hunting might be promising. As he went
along he was constantly alert for tracks or other signs that might lead to game.
He would often stop at the top of a rise or hill to carefully study the terrain.
If he spotted a band of caribou, the hunter carefully studied their posi-
tion and movements. As in fall hunting, he had to consider the wind direction,
route of approach, concealment, and so on. And during the winter he had to
take other factors into account. For example, deep, soft snow can make it
impossible to approach the animals by crawling, and crusted snow can trans-
>202
HUNTING <£ffii
mit sounds over long distances to the sharp ears of caribou — particularly in
subzero weather.
Hunters on snowshoes were sometimes able to run down a caribou. When
the snow was deep and soft, caribou would quickly tire if chased. Or when a
crust developed over deep snow, the animals could often remain on top only
if they did not run. Some Kobuk hunters recall trotting on snowshoes for
several hours, until the caribou they were chasing floundered. In very cold
weather — 30 to 50 below zero — a hunter who encountered caribou on packed
snow could remove his snowshoes and turn his tuttulik mukluks (skin boots
lined with caribou fur) inside out so he was walking on a cushion of caribou
hair. This allowed him to move very quietly. His stalk might take up to three
hours before he came close enough to shoot at his prey.
When a concealed hunter fires at a group of caribou, he should not shoot
at the closest animals but at others on the far side. This causes the herd to
move away from the stricken animal and toward the hunter. If the herd begins
to run, the hunter tries to shoot the leaders, so the animals will mill around
and perhaps reverse their direction. Skilled hunters can thus selectively bring
down the animals they want. Younger, less trained hunters spend consider-
ably more time, energy, and ammunition, with less return, than do the older,
more knowledgeable men.
When a hunter on foot killed caribou, he opened their bellies and re-
moved the intestines. Sometimes he ate a piece of raw kidney for nourish-
ment. He might also remove the tongues and put them in his pack. All of the
caribou, including the innards, were then dragged to one pile and covered
with brush to ward off ravens and jays. After this the hunter hiked home, to
return the following day by dog team and pick up his kill.
Hunting by dog team of course gave a man more mobility than he had on
foot. He could also carry more gear, but usually kept the load small so there
would be ample room for game. The only additional items he carried were an
ax, sled tarp, tea pot, and perhaps some extra dried fish to feed the dogs.
Sled dogs served for more than just transportation in such hunts. The
dogs could often pick up caribou scent from a mile or more upwind. A hunter
quickly read this by watching their tails, heads, ears, and general body stance.
The usual technique was to drive across open, wind-packed areas and
stop on rises to scan the terrain. If trees, brush, or large rocks were within a
half mile of caribou, the hunter usually took his team there, secured it, and
stalked the animals on foot. Most men trained their dogs to keep quiet while
they were away, but there was always the possibility of a fight or of a dog's
breaking loose to chase nearby caribou.
Occasionally circumstances did not allow tethering the dogs or stalking
on foot, so the man drove his team directly at the herd, hoping to come close
enough for firing. Some teams ran to within 1 50 yards of a herd. Just before
the animals started to run, the hunter would stop his dogs, anchor the sled,
and fire a few shots.
203
i*.
HUNTING
As the caribou ran away, he pulled up the sled anchor and gave chase.
Caribou can easily outdistance a dog team. However, they tend to run away at
an angle and will stop once or twice to look back, so the hunter could guide
his team to intersect their path of flight. The dogs were running wildly by this
time, but when the caribou paused, the driver would again stop his team and
fire. All of this required a well-trained team and a man who was both a skill-
ful driver and an excellent shot.
To transport several caribou on his sled, the hunter butchered his animals
into fairly small pieces. If he had a large load, he could bone out the meat and
leave the bones behind with other non-edible parts. A hunter skilled in this tech-
nique could load a 1 2-foot-long basket sled with the meat and hides of six to eight
caribou. A dog team often pulled two large heavily laden sleds and would
relay loads from one campsite to the next until finally reaching home again.
Before the 1950s, when caribou were scarce or absent from the Kobuk
valley, Kuuvawniut hunters commonly drove their dog teams to the upper
Noatak River valley. Caribou were usually located in the area between the
Cutler River and Howard Pass. Hunting was also done as far east as the head-
waters of the Killik River. Men who planned to trap in this area usually came
here in December. Those interested primarily in caribou might wait until early
February to mush north.
Sometimes the caribou were difficult to locate. Several Kobuk villagers
told of running out of dog food and being low on their own food supplies
before they finally located game. Dogs might become so weak they could not
stand up, and some even died. However, once caribou were found, the dogs
could recover quickly and regain their strength on a rich diet of fresh meat.
Caribou Hunting in the Mid-1970s
Summer. The Kuuvarjmiut no longer need to hike across the mountains
to hunt caribou in the summer. Since the 1950s herds have wintered in the
Kobuk valley, within easy travelling distance of their communities. If their
migration patterns changed again and suitable game substitutes were either
scarce or unavailable, people would likely revive their former summer hunt-
ing practices, although in modified form.
Fall. Each September, Kobuk villagers eagerly await the fall caribou
migration. Pilots who fly through the area are closely questioned as to cari-
bou sightings. People from the villages of Ambler and Kiana make boat trips
to the Hunt River to check on possible caribou movements, and persons stay-
ing in fall camps in the area are alert for signs of the southward migration.
People from other villages also like to travel the river at this time to look for
caribou, but reaching the Hunt River is a longer trip for them and few can
afford to buy this much gas.
When they receive news that caribou have descended the Hunt River,
villagers, particularly from Ambler, travel by boat to intercept the main herd.
Boatloads of hunters from the lower Kobuk villages and occasionally as far
> 204
as Kotzebue travel upstream to harvest the fall caribou. This is the prime
season for hunting caribou, because they are fattest, and therefore best, be-
fore the rut begins in October.
Hunters who come by boat to the main area where caribou are crossing
the river will often establish tent camps on the river banks nearby. From there
they hike into the surrounding terrain to seek their prey. Most hunting is done
within a mile of the Kobuk River. If water levels permit, some villagers boat
up the Hunt or Salmon rivers and set up their camps there.
Equipment carried by each hunter, or accessible to him, includes the
following:
high-powered rifle with scope
ammunition (2-5 boxes, 20 rounds per box)
hunting knife
sharpening stone or small file
cotton work gloves (2 pairs)
rain jacket
small ax
matches
hip boots or rain pants
heavy jacket
parka
insulated pants
pocket knife with a thin sharp blade
thermos for hot coffee or tea
binoculars
Two-to-five men may hunt together, sharing the expense of gas and the
labors of the hunt. After arriving in the general area of the migration, they
climb bluffs or low hills and use binoculars to study the surrounding terrain.
If the migration is in full swing, they will see numerous bands of caribou
scattered across an open plain.
In deciding which group to stalk, they take several factors into consider-
ation:
( 1 ) Size and makeup of the band: very large groups on the move are
usually relatively easy to stalk, as are small groups at rest. Before
the rut, bands of bulls are preferred as they are larger and fatter
than cows and fawns. During and after rut, cows are preferred be-
cause the bulls develop an offensive odor and taste.
(2) Route of travel: Bands moving toward the river or coming in the
general direction of the hunters are preferred.
(3) Behavior of the animals: If the band appears nervous and rushing
along without stopping to eat, it may have recently been fright-
ened by some predator and will be difficult to approach.
205 <g£
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stSfi'rfr.
• HUNTING
(4) Topography: Herds near or moving toward terrain that offers good
concealment are preferred.
(5) Wind direction: The hunter must be able to approach a band with-
out the wind carrying his scent to it.
After taking these factors into consideration, the hunter chooses a band
he wishes to hunt and finds a concealed route of approach. To reach an advan-
tageous spot often requires running in a low crouch for hundreds of yards
over hummocky ground and crawling over marshy areas, always being care-
ful not to move upwind of the animals. If the caribou are resting, the hunter
watches their ears and antlers for any movement that indicates an animal is
awake and about to raise its head. If he sees movement, he lies quietly until the
caribou looks away or sleeps again. He must also watch closely for cows with
fawns (nuggalik), because they are much more alert to danger than are bulls.
If the hunter stalks a moving band of caribou, he finds a suitable posi-
tion along their line of travel and then waits until they come alongside him.
Two or more men who hunt together may separate and wait until the band
comes between them before firing. Skilled Kuuvaymiut hunters do not waste
ammunition and game by firing at random into a band. Rather, they pick out
prime members of the group and try to place their shots selectively in the neck
or shoulder. Neck shots are preferred for quick kills with minimal loss of meat
and hide. As described earlier, a knowledgeable hunter can attempt to control
the movements of a band by shooting leaders or animals on the far side.
When firing into a band of caribou, it is inevitable that some animals
will be wounded. Severely wounded caribou are usually not killed until the
initial firing is over. A wounded animal that is able to walk may be driven
toward the hunter's camp so he will not have to carry it on his back. Downed
caribou are killed either by piercing the heart or by severing the spinal cord at
the base of the skull with a knife.
A severely wounded caribou will often stand upright with its head down.
This presents the silhouette of a peacefully grazing animal and will reassure
other caribou moving nearby (Pruitt 1960:5). Small groups or individual cari-
bou may even be drawn to this animal. A wounded caribou lying with its head
up also acts as a calming influence on other caribou. A hunter may allow
these "decoys" to live until he can dispatch other animals nearby.
Occasionally a hunter sights a stationary group of caribou in an area that
is too open for a concealed stalk. In this case he can take advantage of their
response to certain kinds of silhouettes. A low, stalking profile would re-
semble a wolf or other predator, but the outline of another caribou grazing
peacefully causes no alarm. The hunter may extend his arms or two sticks above
his head to resemble antlers and then copy a caribou's leisurely, zigzag grazing
route as he approaches the herd. If there are two men, one may crouch behind
the first to give the appearance of a single animal. A band of caribou is seldom
deceived by this once the hunter comes within 1 50 to 300 yards, however.
206
HUNTING «$ip
Another ruse can be used to attract single caribou within shooting range,
especially during the rut. A hunter holds his arms above his head and makes
short dashes back and forth, while he also imitates the hoarse coughs of a doe
calling its fawn. Both adult and calf caribou may be drawn close by doing this
odd little dance.
When alarmed, a caribou assumes a stiff stance with its right rear leg
outward and its head turned to face the suspected danger. Seeing this, other
members of the band may assume the same position, so the alarm spreads.
Hunters know that when this happens they should begin firing before the
animals bolt out of range.
The fall migration usually continues well into freeze-up. At the height
of the season caribou may be encountered anywhere from just above Kiana to
the village of Shungnak, a distance of about 65 miles. Usually caribou do not
reach the Shungnak area until several days or a week after they arrive in the
Hunt River area. Ice is often running in the river by this time, so many of the
animals move east into the open country between the mouth of the Ambler
River and Wesley Creek, waiting until the ice is safe enough to cross. Most
caribou in the lower Kobuk area migrate through the Squirrel River valley
and reach the Kobuk River after those in the Hunt River area.
Several older Shungnak hunters stated that the first migrating bands of
caribou should be allowed to pass by the village unmolested, because the
forerunners create trails that the others will follow. With this same consider-
ation in mind, people from all Kobuk villages are also very critical of low-
flying aircraft that may drive herds away from the area.
In late October of 1974, Shungnak hunters refrained from hunting cari-
bou that were gathering west of their village, hoping that the herd would swing
eastward and pass nearby. Unfortunately, the Kobuk River froze and the herd
filed across, then continued southward to the Selawik lowlands. When it be-
came obvious that the migration would miss Shungnak, several men traveled
by snowmachine over rough, virtually snowless tundra to hunt the remaining
caribou. About 70 caribou were taken that month. However, most of them were
quite lean or were rutting, which substantially reduced the value of the meat.
At Ambler the migration was somewhat later than usual, and slush ice
made boat travel on the river impossible. A few hunters tried to reach the
herds by snowmachine, but weak ice and absence of snow made travel both
difficult and dangerous. To solve their dilemma, some Ambler men arranged
to be flown to the general area of migration, where they spent several days
hunting. They took some of the meat home by plane, but cached most of it to
pick up by snowmachine when conditions permitted. While this approach to
fall caribou hunting is unusual, it indicates how important the fall meat sup-
ply is to Kobuk villagers.
After making a caribou kill, hunters quickly and efficiently skin, clean,
and butcher the carcasses for transportation and storage. The effort and length
of time this takes depends on the size and condition of the animals and the
number of workers involved. In the fall, when men often hunt in pairs or
207
small groups, caribou are usually skinned and butchered by two men working
together. Bull caribou are somewhat more difficult to skin than are cows. A
pair of skinners can peel the hide off a bull caribou, remove its internal or-
gans, and quarter it in less than 1 5 minutes. During the winter, this might take
a single hunter about 25 minutes.
To process a fall caribou, the carcass is rolled on its back and pulled
forward so the neck arches back and the antlers brace the body. The legs are
skinned first, beginning with an incision around the edges of the hoof. The
foreleg incisions run from the meeting of the two toes along the front and
over the "knees," to a joining point at the base of the underneck ruff. The hind
leg skins are cut from the rear of the hooves, along the back to a point two
inches below the anus. A cut is next made along the underside from the anus
to the jaw. The hide is then cut free from the lower jaw around back of the
antlers so that the ears are left on the pelt (some skinners prefer to cut further
back and remove the ears).
The leg skins are peeled down and the hide is stripped free from the
belly and neck. One man then inserts his hand between the hide and the flesh
and punches downward to separate the two. The neck skin is then grasped
firmly and vigorously jerked backward to finish peeling the hide from the
back. When the hide is pulled away, it is laid out with the flesh side exposed
and allowed to freeze or dry.
After the hide is removed, an incision is made along the middle of the
abdomen from beneath the anus to the tip of the sternum, being careful not to
puncture the stomach pouch. An incision is then made down the left side of
the abdomen to the backbone. The carcass is tilted to the left while a man
pulls out the stomach and intestines, placing the kidneys to one side where
they will not be lost. The throat is cut lengthwise to expose and loosen the
trachea, the diaphragm is cut away, and then the lungs and trachea are pulled
out of the chest cavity as a unit. The heart is removed, sliced along each ven-
tricle, and allowed to drain of blood. If the head is to be kept, the antlers are
usually chopped off for easier handling. If the head is not kept, an incision is
made under the jaw and the tongue is pulled through to be cut off and saved.
Once the viscera are removed, the carcass is cut apart between the last
rib and the pelvis. The skinner deftly inserts his knife blade between two
vertebrae and twists to complete the division. Each end is propped up so the
blood will drain. Hand holds are made by cutting slits through the back of the
neck and on either side of one middle rib. Incisions through the muscles of
each leg serve as carrying grips for the hind quarters.
After skinning and butchering a caribou, a hunter may open its stomach
and use the contents to clean the blood from his hands and knives. Butchering
knives are filed or honed before starting on the next carcass, and the hunter
might also take a short break to relax and smoke a cigarette. The younger men
of a crew usually carry the meat and skins to the boat. Every two or three
hours the crew will take time off to brew tea and have a snack. The entire
process of butchering 1 5 carcasses and then hauling them to a boat as far as
B®&> 208
HUNTING <ffffii
400 yards away might take about nine hours of hard work for a crew of five
men.
Fall-killed caribou are particularly valued by the Kuuvarjmiut. The prime
meat is excellent as frozen meat eaten uncooked (quaq). It is also delicious
when cooked. The fat is used in many ways, such as making akutuq, a mix-
ture of whipped fat and berries. Fall caribou meat also makes a fine gift to
share with relatives and friends in other villages or distant cities.
Winter. Caribou hunting continues to be an important activity for men
throughout the long winter. It declines somewhat during December and Janu-
ary because of the short days, severe weather, and the fact that caribou are
usually widely scattered. The animals also become lean in midwinter, their
hair becomes brittle and sheds easily, and they seem to be more wary and
difficult to approach.
Today, well over 90 percent of all winter caribou hunting||and winter
traveling as well — is done with snowmachines. Whereas in the past this was
largely an individualistic affair, men now prefer to travel in pairs or small
groups. If a machine breaks down, which often happens, others are at hand to
help repair it or to haul the driver home. Also, under most circumstances, using
two or more machines will greatly increase the chances of success in a hunt.
In open areas, hunters generally spread out as they travel but keep each
other in view, so they can survey the greatest area possible. When game is
spotted the drivers come together and decide the best approach. If the terrain,
number of caribou, and number of machines warrants it, one group of hunters
circles behind the caribou while the other group moves ahead. Usually this
maneuver causes the caribou to run directly across the path of the forward
hunters. Another way to hunt most effectively is by having two men on each
machine, so the driver can concentrate on maneuvering close to the caribou
while the other (who usually rides behind on the sled) can shoot as soon as the
machine stops.
When hunting by snowmachine, it is usually easy to catch a wounded
caribou that would have escaped a man on foot or on a dog sled. Then too, a
hunter traveling on foot or by dog team might have only enough daylight to
locate and approach just one caribou band, while a man on a snowmachine
could make several attempts. The snowmachine hunter also need not worry
about dog fights or the possibility that his team might frighten the caribou away.
Some hunters still go out alone in the winter, but they usually stay within a few
miles of the village unless their machine is new or in good working order.
Most present day caribou hunting is carried out within a one-day round
trip of the village, although tent camps may be used if the caribou are distant
or other conditions warrant it. Focal hunting areas differ from year to year,
depending largely on movements of the caribou, amount of disturbance by
other hunters, and condition of the animals. For example, in 1 974-75, caribou
near the Kobuk Sand Dunes and south of the Sheklukshuk Mountains were in
particularly good shape. Several men explained that these animals were sel-
dom disturbed so they were in good condition. Kiana hunters found that cari-
209 «$B?2
HUNTING
bou near the Hunt River were fatter than those along the Squirrel River, so
they preferred to focus their hunting activities accordingly.
Caribou taken by a group of hunters are shared equally. In one caribou
hunt involving eight men from Shungnak, a total of 18 caribou were taken.
All of them were brought to one spot and gutted without skinning. Before
dividing up the shares, each caribou was cut just over the sternum to check
for fat, so that the prime animals could be shared among all hunters first and
the leaner ones afterward. Caribou taken by a lone hunter belong to him, but
they are often shared with relatives and close friends.
Men with snowmachines usually gut their kills on the spot without skin-
ning, then load them on the sled intact. Several caribou can be placed on the
sled side by side in pairs, with the legs projecting upward. Five or six adult
caribou are the maximum load most snowmachines can pull.
Occasionally a hunter kills more caribou than he can haul home in one
trip, so he piles the surplus carcasses together. To keep ravens from eating the
meat, he may cover the kill with cut brush or hang a mock snare over them.
He might also set traps around the pile to catch any wolves, foxes, or wolver-
ines drawn by the scent. The hunter tries to return as soon as possible to pick
up the carcasses.
The Kuuvarjmiut have developed rules to designate ownership of cari-
bou carcasses. A wounded animal, for example, belongs to anyone who finds
it. A dead caribou with its belly opened is considered private property and
will not be disturbed. A dead caribou that has not been gutted becomes the
property of the person who finds it. When a hunter sets traps near a dead
caribou or its remains, he marks them to warn others. Small traps, such as for
fox or marten, are indicated by a single stick poked into the snow nearby.
Large traps, for a wolf or wolverine, are marked with crossed sticks placed
near the carcass.
The fattest caribou taken in midwinter are used for human consumption
and the poorer ones for dog food. Families with dog teams tend to use consid-
erably more than do those who own just a few dogs or none at all. A team of 10
sled dogs can consume a caribou in from three to five days, depending on the
size of the carcass. If the meat is cooked as "dog soup," it may last up to a week,
as long as the weather is not severe or the dogs are not being worked hard.
Spring. Caribou hunting becomes a major activity during the months of
March, April, and early May. Roughly a third of the year's caribou are taken
during these months. Long hours of daylight, milder weather, and gathering
of migratory herds make this an excellent time to be out hunting, and villag-
ers can cover the full limits of their hunting range. This is also the time when
they make dry meat for the coming summer. Because snow remains on the
ground for most of this period, caribou hunting is done mainly by
snowmachine. Some animals are taken by boat immediately after breakup.
In the spring, caribou are less wary and easier to approach. This may be
related to the warmer weather, which Kobuk people say makes the caribou
iv>210
HUNTING <gj*B
lazy. Both snowmachines and dog teams are able to approach to within 1 00 yards
of caribou during the spring months, which permits relatively easy shooting.
The fattest animals taken in early spring are buried under the snow near
the hunters' homes. In April, women of the household begin digging up these
carcasses. They skin and quarter each one, then cut the meat and hang it to dry
on pole racks near the house. Rib cages are hung with the flesh attached.
Throughout April and into early May, the men haul in caribou and the women
stay busy cutting the meat into thick strips to cure in the sun. The most active
households may process more than 25 caribou during this time.
The hanging meat slowly dries, shrinks, and develops a hard black crust.
Most women lightly salt the meat before hanging it to aid in the curing and to
give it added taste. Before the strips become completely dry and brittle, they
are removed from the racks, placed in clean burlap bags, and stored in cool
dry caches. Dry meat is a staple summer food, particularly among the upper
Kobuk people. Some dried meat is sent to relatives and some is traded or sold
to contacts in other communities such as Kotzebue.
Moose (tiniika)
The moose is the largest species of the North American deer family. It
ranks next to the caribou as a source of meat, although the Kuuvar/miut consider
it far less important. Kobuk people over the age of 55 can remember a time
when there were no moose in the Kobuk valley, and archaeological evidence
confirms the absence of moose for much earlier times. A woman from Kobuk
village said that she was a seven-year-old child when she saw her first moose in
1 927. The recent arrival of this species is indicated by the Kuuvanmiut term for
moose, tiniika, which is borrowed from their Athabaskan Indian neighbors.
Before the 1920s, the Kuuvaijmiut reportedly traveled as far east as the
south fork of the Koyukuk River to hunt moose. Considering the distance and
difficulty of such travel, moose meat was probably a minor element in their
diet. This changed in the 1 940s and 1 950s, when the animals became numer-
ous. Moose are now found along the entire length of the Kobuk River. Their
population has apparently stabilized in the upper valley, but it continues to
increase in the lower valley.
During the summer months, moose tend to move toward higher eleva-
tions, probably to escape the mosquitos. By August, they have filled out with
thick layers of fat and begin to drift down toward the main valley of the Kobuk.
As the air cools in September, mature bulls go into rut and crash about in the
brush eager to mate or fight. When the snow deepens, moose congregate along
willow-covered river bars. In spring, now lean and rangy, the moose again
make their way into the higher hills.
Today, most Kobuk village men hunt moose sometime between mid-
August and early October. Often this is done coincidentally with the search
for bears. Two or three men in one boat travel along the Kobuk and its main
211 <©?
S$i&S> HUNTING
tributaries, watching the bars and banks for signs of moose. If they know of a
shallow lake close to the river's edge, they may walk back to check for a feed-
ing animal. They also climb high bluffs hoping to spot a moose on open ground
or along a shore. All villagers who travel at this season are alert for moose on
the river banks, and many of them are taken in the course of regular travel.
The best moose hunting time is near dusk, when the animals come out
onto the river bars to drink and search for mates. The hunters wait in hiding,
often for several hours, in known areas of moose activity. When a moose is
sighted, it must be shot before it enters the river or lake to avoid dragging
1,500 pounds of dead weight to shore or butchering the animal in the water.
The preferred target is the neck, with a shoulder shot the second choice. Most
men will hesitate to shoot a moose that is walking directly away for fear of
ruining the hindquarter meat.
The following is a description of skinning and butchering a bull moose
killed in September, 1974, near one of the upper Kobuk villages:
Fresh willows were cut and laid about the moose to protect
the meat from sand. The front and hind legs were removed
without skinning. One person would lift a leg while the other
two, using butcher knives, cut away the limb at the upper
joint. The limbs were pulled to one side. As the carcass lay
on its side the skin was peeled away from the top side. The
slab of flesh covering the rib cage was cut away and placed
on a willow mat.
The muscles covering the stomach and intestinal area were
cut away by an incision that followed the outline of the last
rib. The fatty web covering internal organs was gathered and
placed in a separate pile. Internal organs were removed, with
the liver, heart, and kidneys put aside for use. The internal
fatty tissue and fat concentrations were stripped away and
placed in a separate pile. The rib cage on the right side was
removed as one unit from the spine. The head and neck were
cut away. Back-straps were removed from either side of the
spine. The pelvis was separated from the spine and split with
an ax. The left rib cage was removed and cut into several
sections. The backbone was divided into several sections.
When butchering was finished, the meat was divided into four equal
piles. Each of the three hunters received a share, and the fourth share was
given to the village. Most of the meat that hunters gave to the village was
saved for the Thanksgiving feast; the rest was sent around to be shared by
each household. The three hunters also shared their own meat with relatives
and friends.
Much of the moose meat taken in early fall is either dried or frozen for
future use. The drying process is the same as for caribou meat in spring,
except that smudge fires must be used to repel flies. Most Kobuk River house-
holds now have home freezers, and moose meat is often preserved in them.
. :« 2 1 2
HUNTING <gffo
Moose fat is rendered into lard for cooking or used in making akutuq, fat
whipped together with berries. Moose taken in September or early October
are simply butchered and hung in small sheds to slowly age and freeze.
Moose may be taken during the winter months by men on snowshoes or
using snowmachines, but moose hunting is always subsidiary to caribou hunt-
ing. Older Kuuvcujmiut say that the Koyukuk Indians are much better moose
hunters than the Eskimos are, but that Kuuvaijmiut are superior when it comes
to hunting caribou.
Moose Harvest Statistics for the Kobuk River Villages: 1972 to 1975'
1972-1973
1973-1974
1974-1975
Upper Kobuk Villages
40 (56)
34 (56)
31(56)
Lower Kobuk Villages
17(37)**
28 (67)
18(63)
*The figure appearing within parentheses indicates the number of families participating in
moose harvest activities, and from whom answered questionnaires were received.
** Fewer families responded to the questionnaires on the 1972/1973 moose harvest season
than for subsequent years.
From the table above, the number of moose harvested in the upriver
communities for 1974/1975 averaged one-half moose per family. This may
be compared to the total of 1 ,306 caribou taken that year by hunters from the
same three villages, for an average of about 23 caribou per family. In the
downriver villages during the same period, the number of moose harvested
produced an average of one-fourth moose per family. These villages also
harvested 742 caribou, for an average of 12 caribou per family.
Moose hunting is done throughout the entire Kobuk River valley up to
Lower Canyon, which is the limit of boat travel. At least six boat crews went
beyond the Mauneluk River for extended moose and bear hunting forays along
the upper Kobuk during the 1 974 hunting season. Moose are also taken along the
Reed, Pah, Mauneluk, Hunt, Salmon, and Squirrel rivers during the early fall.
Black Bear (iyyaghq) and Grizzly (akiaq)
Both black and grizzly bears inhabit the Kobuk valley and use the same
general range, although grizzlies are more frequent in the higher elevations.
According to knowledgeable Kobuk people, black bears avoid contact with
grizzlies and will desert an area when grizzlies arrive. Grizzlies are known to
kill and eat black bears.
Both bear species spend the long winter in hibernation dens under the
snow. They are usually still fat when they leave their dens in April, but their
physical condition deteriorates rapidly afterward. Bears are also mischievous
and irritable in the spring. Unoccupied cabins, camps, or caches are fair game
213 <sggs
HUNTING
to a spring bear. It may rip a door to pieces or even pull a log from a cabin
wall to gain entry.
During the early summer, bears wander about feeding on roots, carrion,
and whatever game they are fortunate enough to catch. In summer their diet
shifts to berries and fish. Spawning salmon are an important source of food to
bears along the Kobuk River. By September, bears are normally in prime
condition, heavy with fat. In October, when the first snows begin in the val-
ley, a bear may excavate its den into the side of a knoll or slope, or it may
choose a natural cavern beneath overhanging rocks or the upturned roots of a
fallen tree. After lining its den with grass and dry leaves, the bear crawls
inside and plugs the entrance with brush, leaves, and earth.
Bears have long played an important role both in the economy and tra-
ditional beliefs of the Kuuvarjmiut. There are many stories about the super-
natural, physical, and behavioral characteristics of bears. Hunting these ani-
mals is far more than a simple act of acquiring food. It is perhaps the highest
form of hunting, and a successful bear hunter attains prestige among his peers.
Traditionally, men who hunted bears had to be very brave, but they never
bragged about themselves or made offhand remarks about bears. Rather, such
men were careful to be modest and respectful toward these animals.
Most of the following information about bear hunting before the intro-
duction of firearms was provided by the Kuuvaymiut elders Louie Commack,
Joe Sun, and Charlie Lee. The hunter used a special stout spear called apana.
He would hike the hills until he finally located a suitable animal, then he
studied it well before attacking. He knew that there are three types of griz-
zlies: akiaq, the regular bear; the two-humped bear; and milak, the great over-
sized bear. Only akiaq was considered safe to attack. The hunter also knew
that black bears are dangerous because they can move faster than do grizzlies.
And he avoided being downslope of a bear or in a confined area that would
restrict his movements.
The man would try to get as close as possible before revealing himself,
and then he would rush up to make the bear raise on its hind legs to attack.
Knowing that all bears are left-handed, he always avoided the left paw of a
fighting bear. He had to be careful that the animal didn't grab his spear or
knock it from his grasp. When the angered bear stood up to lunge at its tor-
mentor, the hunter would crouch and brace the butt of his spear against the
ground. He aimed the point at a spot near the bear's collarbone, where bones
would not deflect it. The bear dropped onto the spear, piercing itself as the
man quickly dodged away. Siqiniq, the father of Joe Sun, is renowned for
having fought a bear while bracing the butt of the spear in the crotch of his
right arm. He had to struggle with the bear while holding the spear this way
until it finally died.
In the old days, men cooked and ate bear meat somewhere away from
the village, rather than at home. Neighboring Athabaskan Indians of the
Koyukuk River still practice a similar tradition, in which men gather outside
the community to eat certain parts of the bear.
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HUNTING <@S
Killing a bear with a spear.
Kobuk people have also hunted bears in their dens, although not so much
in recent years. A Shungnak elder described one such hunt that took place in
the upper Noatak River valley. This man was with several others when they
discovered a hibernating grizzly bear. He poked a long rod down into the drift
covering the den until he felt something soft, then let it rest until he saw it
move up and down slightly. One man aimed his rifle alongside the rod and
fired, striking the bear, which thrashed and made noise for a few moments.
A rope was tied around the storyteller's waist and he crawled down into
the den. Two men held his feet while others stood by with ready rifles. Inside,
he found a dead sow bear and three full-grown cubs. He said the cubs did not
bother him because bears usually won't fight in their own dens. He tied the
rope around the neck of the dead bear and signaled to be pulled out; then the
adult bear was hauled out and the cubs were killed afterward.
Today, men travel by snowmachine or boat when they hunt for bears.
As the animals begin to leave their dens in spring, hunters in pairs or small
parties search widely for tracks on the snow. Usually the animals stay around
their dens for a few days, so hunters try to locate and kill them before they
move away.
Bears may be taken at any time during the summer, but no intense effort
is made to hunt them until late August or September. Fall bear hunting is a
major activity among the adult men. In the fall, bears are known to frequent
particular salmon-spawning beds, blueberry patches, and concentrations of
other food sources. The older hunters choose certain of these locations to visit
each fall. Two or three men usually travel together in a single boat, keeping
watch along the shore for any sign of a bear, stopping frequently to climb a
bank and study the terrain with binoculars. Open mountain slopes are viewed
carefully. If a bear is sighted the men will hike several miles to hunt it and
then pack it back to the boat.
215 <$£
;':V> HUNTING
Many fall hunts are extended affairs in which boat crews spend a week
or more traveling, camping, and searching for bears. These hunts often take
the men toward the very headwaters of the Kobuk River, where they must
pole and line their boats over shallow riffles.
All bears are considered potentially dangerous, for they might attack
with or without provocation. In the rare event of an attack, older hunters ad-
vise shooting the bear in the left shoulder or left foreleg. According to
Kuuvarjmiut tradition, bears are unable to fight without the use of their left
arm. They also warn that a head shot may glance off the bear's thick sloping
skull without slowing the animal down.
Although black and grizzly bears normally begin to hibernate in early
October, individual animals occasionally do not enter a den in the fall or may
leave their den during the winter. Upper Kobuk people tell of grizzlies that
spend the winter roaming about. These bears, known as milak, are large, rangy
grizzlies that are so old they no longer develop a thick undercoat of fur. Such
animals pose a real threat because they fear nothing. They will even come
into a village at night to hunt. People still tell of such a bear that terrorized a
Kobuk River village in the mid- 1800s until all the hunters were able to sur-
round and kill it.
In November of 1 974, a large grizzly was spotted several times roaming
near the village of Shungnak. People worried that the bear might enter the
village at night and endanger the children, or that a dog team or snowmachine
traveler might encounter it in some confined area. Finally the men formed a
large hunting party to search for the bear. It was found a few miles from the
village, feeding on a cache of caribou meat near the main trail to Ambler.
The men shot it several times before it fell and appeared dead. Then one
man approached it, leaned over its back, and touched its eye with his gun
barrel to make sure it was lifeless. Bears have been known to fool a man by
pretending to be dead until he comes close. This bear was about 6V2 feet long
and relatively fat, with a well-furred hide that was free of rub spots. Its claws
were long and sound, but its teeth were worn to stubs indicating advanced age.
The animal was called ukiuqtaq, a bear that comes out of its hole in the
winter. One man thought that it might have been forced out when overflow
from a nearby stream flooded its den. Such "winter bears" are often very
difficult to kill because they swim across open places in the river and then roll
in the snow, covering their fur with an icy armor which can deflect bullets.
A bear is skinned by rolling it onto its back and making an incision from
the crotch to the throat. Joining incisions are made along the inside of each
leg. The hide is peeled away with knives as one unit, including the head skin
and the skin of the paws with claws attached.
To dismember the carcass, a cut is made through the abdom inal muscles.
Then the intestines, stomach, and other internal organs are removed and placed
on the ground. The fatty membranes around the intestines are kept, as are the
intestines after being squeezed to empty them. The heart and kidneys are also
^V>216
HUNTING «
v\ ; ,z
kept, but the lungs and liver are discarded. The forelegs and back legs are
removed, each half of the rib cage is separated from the sternum and back-
bone, the pelvis is removed, and the neck is cut free of the backbone. Finally,
all parts are allowed to drain of blood before being loaded for transportation.
A traditional gesture to the bear is made as part of the butchering process, by
cutting out a small bit of cartilage just under its tongue and placing it on a
branch nearby.
During the fall and winter of 1974-75, 29 black and grizzly bears were
taken by hunters from the three upper Kobuk villages and 13 by those of the
two lower Kobuk villages. In 1 973-74, the total was 44 in the upriver area and
1 1 in the lower river area, and in 1 972-73, the total was 40 in the upriver area
and nine in the lower river area. Some villagers say that the numbers of black
and grizzly bears are increasing.
A good example of the importance placed on bear hunting by the
Kuuvarjmiut occurred in September 1974. Two men and a teenage boy were
traveling by boat up a tributary of the Kobuk River when they spotted a bear
on one side of the river and a moose on the other. All three immediately chose
to shoot the bear.
Dall Sheep (ipnaiq)
Dall sheep are widely distributed in the Brooks Range north of the Kobuk
valley. They occur on rugged slopes along several tributaries that flow into
the Kobuk River from the north, but not along the Kobuk itself. According to
old Kuuvarjmiut stories, mountain sheep once ranged as far south as Shungnak
village. Most sheep hunted by upper Kobuk people have been taken near the
Noatak River headwaters.
Dall sheep may reach a height of 40 inches and weigh anywhere from
1 25 to 200 pounds. They were once widely used for meat and hides, but sheep
hunting by the Kuuvarjmiut declined drastically when caribou began migrat-
ing into the Kobuk valley. The last intensive sheep hunting occurred in the
1940s. Only a few men hunt them at present.
Summer sheep hunting in the Noatak valley was done by men on foot.
The meat, fat, and skins were dried and transported much like summer-killed
caribou. It also seems to have coincided with the time of the caribou hunt, and
the techniques used were similar. The number of sheep a given individual
could harvest was determined primarily by the amount he could transport.
Seven to nine sheep, butchered and dried, were probably a maximum load for
a hunter with six packing dogs.
Occasionally sheep were taken in the winter by men who were hunting
and trapping in the upper Noatak area. Sheep were apparently used as an
emergency food when no caribou could be found. In the winter, ewes were
preferred, as rams were too lean at this time. The intestines were fed to the
dogs and the meat and hides were hauled back to the camp or village. Winter
hunting apparently continued for a few years after men stopped hunting sheep
in the summer.
217 <Sg&«
^V> HUNTING
There are many Kuuvatjmiut names for sheep, which denote age, size,
sex, and physical condition such as the following:
ipnaiq mountain sheep (general term)
atjutisrugruk adult male sheep
kulavak female sheep (also female moose and caribou)
ivutuq sheep less than one year old
tamuutailaq yearling sheep
avaliiyaluk two-year-old sheep
navuyaqayak large ram with horns so long it is forced to break
them off so that it can graze
qalutaksraq ram with one-half curl
In recent years a few men have boated up the Ambler and Reed rivers to
search for sheep, but the distance and difficulty of navigating the shallow
braided channels has discouraged most villagers from participating in the
activity. Dependence on sheep by Kobuk people is directly related to the avail-
ability of caribou. If and when caribou become scarce again, the villagers will
likely return to sheep as a source of meat and skins.
Porcupine (iluqutaq)
Porcupines occur throughout the Kobuk River valley, but not in large
enough numbers to make them more than an occasional supplement to the
villagers' diet. They are usually taken when and where encountered, although
they are more valued in the fall than in spring and early summer. They are
very easy to run down and may be killed with a small caliber rifle or a club. In
traditional times, if not today, porcupines were left somewhat alone so they
would be around as an emergency food source in times of scarcity.
After a porcupine has been killed in fall or winter, it is often placed over
an open fire to burn the quills off. It may then be cooked without skinning. In
the spring and summer, the skin is usually removed because of small devel-
oping quills which are not affected by burning.
Snowshoe Hare (ukalliuraq)
During the years when they are plentiful, snowshoe hares are found
throughout the Kobuk flood plain. Early in the twentieth century, when caribou
were scarce, hares were the major source of fresh meat during the winter. To-
day they are especially important in the spring, when other sources of fresh
meat or fish are unavailable. Even in the winter they offer a welcome change of
diet.
During the cold months, hares are snared around the settlements, much
as the Kobuk people have always taken them. In times past, both men and
women set snares made of twisted sinew, salmon-skin strips, or even strips of
218
HUNTING <ffjfe
baleen obtained from the coast. A willow or bird bone tube (tuqhiktaak) was
also used as a slide for the noose, to prevent the hare from biting through the
line. Nowadays, picture hanging wire is used for snares because it is very
flexible, slides easily, and cannot be chewed by the animal. In a good year,
two or three dozen hares may be snared within a given quarter-mile area over
a two-month period.
In former times, Kobuk people sometimes hunted hares by making drives
(urjuraq). During the spring, men and women from a settlement would select
a long, narrow willow thicket bounded by open ground on both sides. Then
they stretched a long net, about three feet high, across one end of the thicket.
Acting as drivers, some of the group walked forward in a row from the oppo-
site end hitting the bushes and making noise. Any hares the drivers saw were
shot, but most ran well ahead and were caught in the net. Since snowshoe
hares normally will not dart out across open areas even when frightened, the
people were able to contain them easily in the ever-narrowing thicket. Other
women hid themselves near the net, and each time a hare was caught they
would rush out, club it, and then hide again to wait for the next one.
Kobuk villagers still make rabbit drives but without using nets or clubs.
Two or more of the best shooters will conceal themselves near the end of a
narrow strip of willows, while others drive the hares toward them. When
fleeing hares emerge from the thicket they are shot. Normally, the drivers do
not use firearms so that no one will be accidentally shot during the drive. A
successful drive can yield as many as 100 hares, which are divided equally
among the participants.
In March of 1973, such a drive took place near the Kiana-Selawik trail.
A group of about eight men drove snowmachines to the narrow, triangular-
shaped wooded section between the western side of Portage Creek and the
tundra. Two hunters were stationed at an advantageous spot and then the hares
were driven from the far end to the spot where the men with guns waited.
Hares are important for both meat and hides. To skin a hare, a slit is
made along the inside of one back leg — often after cutting off the feet — and
then across to the opposite leg. The whole skin is pulled, inside out, toward
the head, then cut away from the carcass at the neck. The most important use
of hare furs in the past was for blankets. The skins were cut into long strips
that were woven together into light, warm blankets. Other uses were for
children's inner garments and boots, and for adults' socks. Nowadays the furs
are used for children's parkas and trimming.
Muskrat (kigvaluk)
Muskrats are especially numerous in the Kobuk River delta and the Pah
River flats, but they are found in shallow lakes and sloughs throughout the
Kobuk valley. Where the banks are steep, muskrats excavate dens with en-
trances below the water level. In lakes with low or marshy banks, they make
mounds of vegetation and hollow them out for dens. After freeze-up they also
make small houses of vegetation atop the ice called "push-ups" (mmaun), which
219
i&3> HUNTING
they enter from below and use as feeding places. In March, muskrats become
active and forage under the ice. When water forms around the edges of the
lakes and sloughs in April, they can be seen swimming in the evening and
morning. They are most abundant immediately after breakup, when spring
floods drive them out of their dens.
Muskrat hunting and trapping was a major occupation of the Kuuvaijmiut
from the early 1 900s to the early 1 960s. Until the 1 920s the meat and fur were
equally important, but then the commercial value of muskrat hide increased
considerably. The fur-trapping era lasted from the 1910s until the 1950s. During
these years most families drove their dog teams to "rat camp" in late March
or early April. The sled was loaded with a skiff and a small open kayak was
carried inside, along with household and camping items. By late April, the
villages were virtually abandoned except for storekeepers and teachers. Men
and women used camps in the delta area or along upper Kobuk lakeshores as
their bases for daily muskrat and waterfowl hunting. The furs were worth
more commercially if the animals had not been shot, so people made some
effort to take them with traps. Most muskrats were shot, however, because far
more could be taken that way.
During a good spring it was not unusual for a single hunter to take 100
muskrats in a night and up to 1,200 for the season. In 1953, a trader took in
10,000 skins from one downriver village alone. Fur prices varied from year to
year depending on fluctuations in the world market. Skins from the Kobuk area
were generally worth less than skins from Canada or the lower United States
because they were thinner and so many had holes from small caliber firearms.
In the last 15 years, muskrat hunting has declined and the skins are
mainly taken for home use. The muskrat parka is a popular article for fancy
dress. From 50 to 60 muskrat backs are used for a man's parka. The lighter-
colored bellies are used for the woman's parka. Muskrat hides are often bar-
tered between families. Prices in the first five years of the 1970s ranged from
$1.00 to $1.75 per skin. In 1974, muskrats were scarce, but a few that were
sent to Kotzebue sold for $4.00 per skin.
Muskrats are skinned by the casing method. First, a slit is made down
the back of one hind leg and across to the other. The skin is then peeled away
from the feet with a knife, pulled inside out over the body to the head, and
finally cut away from the nose. It is stretched inside out on a long, rounded,
triangular stretching board, then placed outdoors to dry. A stick is inserted
between the skin and the board so that when the skin dries it will be somewhat
larger than the board and easy to slip off. If a family has more skins than drying
boards, they put the skins on for only a short while to shape them and allow
them to finish drying unframed. In recent years, wire drying frames have be-
come popular. Skins are also hung to dry on a clothesline. It is a common sight
in the spring to see a whole line of them hanging and swinging in the breeze.
Fat spring muskrats are considered excellent eating. People enjoy roast-
ing freshly-caught animals. Muskrats are also partially dried and then boiled
for eating.
b§0* 220
^U,.
Waterfowl
Approximately 24 species of waterfowl are utilized by the Kuuvarjmiut.
The first spring flights of ducks and geese reach the Kobuk valley in late
April. As the snow vanishes and the lakes thaw, flights increase in frequency,
until by mid-May the calls of geese and ducks are heard day and night. By
mid-June mated pairs have scattered into the marshes and sloughs to begin
nesting. In July, families of ducks, geese, and swans may be spotted in virtu-
ally every lake and marsh.
As the summer draws to a close, young waterfowl are seen in the skies
testing their wings for the approaching fall migration. Flocks begin to gather
along the main river during mid-September, although in smaller concentra-
tions than in the spring. Now the cries of ducks and geese are once again
heard as V-shaped flights begin the southern migration. With the arrival of
freeze-up the land is once again empty of waterfowl.
Waterfowl are an important part of the Kobuk villagers' subsistence
regime. In times past they caught these birds with bolas, bird arrows, and
snares. They also caught flightless birds during the summer molt. The meat
was cooked immediately, hung to dry, or stored in a cool place such as a
snowdrift in early summer or down near the permafrost later in the season.
Today waterfowl are taken primarily with shotguns, although at least one
upper Kobuk woman snared geese during the fall of 1974. People still occa-
sionally preserve waterfowl by drying, but more often they store them in
home freezers.
The Kobuk River Eskimos are very effective waterfowl hunters, partly
because they know the most productive sites. When hunters describe their
waterfowl-hunting activities, many of them list specific places on particular
lakes or river bars. They know the kinds of waterfowl that occur in each, and
they have learned the best time of day to hunt there.
An Eskimo hunter shooting ducks and geese may use the first dead bird
as a decoy. He drives a thin stake down its throat, through the flesh near the
breast, and into the ground. This holds the bird's head erect, so it resembles a
live goose or duck resting in a marsh or on a bar. Other waterfowl flying
overhead are drawn lower by this indication of safety. Young boys and some
men can also draw in waterfowl by making excellent imitations of their calls.
Observations and interviews in the upper Kobuk villages indicate that an av-
erage household consumes approximately 25 ducks and 30 geese each year.
Ptarmigan (aqargiq)
Willow ptarmigan are an important source of fresh meat for the
Kuuvaym hit in the winter, although fluctuations in their population make them
undependable. Rock ptarmigan (niqsaaqtiujiq) are also found locally but pre-
fer mountainous areas where people rarely have access to them. Willow ptar-
migan populations fluctuate in a fairly regular nine-year cycle.
In the fall, ptarmigan are hunted after they have changed to their white
winter plumage but before the first snow has fallen, so they can be seen from
221 <S£b
HUNTING
long distances. They fly and feed in large flocks. In former times, they were hunted with bow and
arrow, but now .22 caliber rifles are used. Ptarmigan taken in the fall are usually targets of opportunity
that occur while hunters are engaged in other activities such as fishing, berry picking, wood cutting, or
hunting of other wildlife. The hunter keeps his rifle handy in the boat, and may kill a dozen or more
birds in the sand bar willows or at the edge of the tundra before the rest of the flock takes off.
From the early snowfalls until late November, ptarmigan remain in large flocks. They stay
together in one vicinity, feeding on the dead willow leaves still clinging to branches. Once they
are depleted, they move on. Kobuk villagers set snares (nigatchiaq, singular) for them in willow
thickets along the stream banks. Formerly, the snares were made of twisted sinew or salmon skin
tied in loops about five inches in diameter. These were set at ground level across openings in the
thickets, where trails in the snow indicated that ptarmigan had passed. Presently snares are made
with pliable picture hanging wire. Willow brush is piled up as a kind offence (saputit) on both sides
of the snare, out to a distance of four feet or more. Ptarmigan encountering the fence follow it until
they see the opening. They are snared as they attempt to dart through.
In the dead of winter, ptarmigan disperse and are rarely seen in large flocks. As during the
fall, men seldom go out expressly to hunt them. Instead, they keep a .22 caliber rifle handy in case
they encounter ptarmigan while engaged in other outdoor activities. However, adolescent and
teenage youngsters often hunt for ptarmigan on the village outskirts during the winter.
In the spring, people frequently hunt ptarmigan and snowshoe hares at the same time, often
coming home with both. Ptarmigan gather into flocks again at this season. In former times the
Kuuvatjmiut caught large numbers of them with nets. James Wells of Noorvik (1974:29) gives this
description of the technique:
The story is told how the ptarmigan are caught with a net. A man would take his sled
and fill it with green willows cut long enough to be used for a net and short willows cut
to be used as feed for the birds. He pulls the sled to a lake where the ptarmigan have
been flying by. In the morning the ptarmigan usually fly around looking for a good place
to feed after the willows have been thawed out by the sun. The man stands up the long
green willows in a line on a snowbank out in the open so the birds can land on them to
feed. The bottoms of the willows are open. The net is hung up with weights on top. The
small willows are then set up on the side where the birds will have a good feed.
The trick the hunter uses is simple. First he hides and watches for the birds to come. He
has with him a wing of the bird hawk tied up to a willow stretched out so the ptarmigan
can see it when he lifts it out from his hiding place. He has a peek hole where he can
watch the birds if they land there. He waits for a good chance to scare them with this
bird hawk wing.
Finally a flock of birds, say twenty-five or thirty, land there. For a while they watch the
area where they land, but they do not see anybody around so they start to feed. At First
they feed on the big willows and then they jump down to feed on the shorter willows.
The hunter watches through a peek hole. Finally when they bunch up close to him he
pushes out with the wing high and makes a motion as if a bird hawk were landing on
them. The ptarmigan get scared and fly under the tall willows to hide away. Then the
weight of the net drops down, the birds are covered, they tangle up their wings in the
net, and they are caught.
^vv> 222
Chapter 10
Trapping
Animals hunted by the Kobuk people are used primarily for food, al
though skins, bones, sinew, and other parts are also utilized. Trapped
animals, on the other hand, are taken principally for their fur, al-
though some are also eaten. Over the centuries the Kuuvarjmiut have devel-
oped a variety of efficient trapping methods. Some of these survived until
recent years when they were replaced by steel traps and snares. Several elder
men recalled using traditional deadfalls and snares to take marten, marmot,
lynx, and other fur bearers well into the 1930s and 1940s.
Kobuk River people, unlike their Koyukuk Indian neighbors, do not
recognize exclusive use or "ownership" of a given trapping area by one indi-
vidual or family. While a person may trap in one area for several years, this
does not prevent others from running traplines through the same area. Because
of this "open use" policy, Kuuvarjmiut trappers tend to be secretive about where
they trap or what success they enjoy, for fear of attracting others to their areas.
The elders say that in earlier times, trappers never told anyone except their
immediate families where they were going when they left the village.
Two natural deterrents to the establishment of established trapping ter-
ritories are the mobility of fur-bearing animals and their relative scarcity. The
Kobuk valley is marginal for trapping when compared to such fur-rich areas
as the Kuskokwim River and the Yukon Flats. The major target species — fox,
wolf, and wolverine — travel widely in this region according to the availabil-
ity of food. Also, the distribution of marten, mink, otter, and lynx is spotty.
Productive trapping is possible over the long run only if the trapper is free to
move around and avoid depleting localized populations.
Oral traditions of the Kobuk people describe a fur trade system between
the inland and coastal Eskimos, extending back well beyond the nineteenth
century. Skins of wolf, wolverine, beaver, lynx, and other fur bearers were
exchanged for such coastal products as seal oil, maktak, sealskin, and ivory.
This trade continues in modified form today.
During the early nineteenth century, western foreign goods began to
arrive in the Kobuk valley. These came through exchange networks that ex-
tended far along the coast and culminated each year in the trading rendezvous
at the mouth of Hotham Inlet (Foote 1965:108-128). Kobuk people trapped
and hunted deep into the Brooks Range, occasionally beyond the Anaktuvuk
River, to acquire items they could exchange for foreign goods. They also served
as middlemen in the transfer of Russian goods into the Koyukuk River valley.
After trading posts were established along the Kobuk River in the early
1900s, trapping was done more for cash than for barter. Fur prices rose and
223 <B*
&$$» TRAPPING
trapping activities increased until the early 1930s. In the mid 1930s the market
for wild pelts was virtually crushed by the Depression and by increased use of
domesticated furs. Trapping remained important to Kobuk village economics
into the 1950s, when other sources of income became increasingly available.
During the peak of commercial trapping in the 1920s, the area utilized
by Kuuvarjmiut trappers expanded dramatically. Traveling with dog teams,
they ranged north to the Colville River, south to the Huslia River, east to the
middle Alatna River, and west beyond the Hunt River. These boundaries were
maintained into the 1940s and early 1950s.
Exploiting the farther limits of the territory required considerable travel.
Trappers found it convenient to journey in small parties with two or three dog
teams. It was far easier to open and maintain trails with two teams than it was
with one. There was also safety in numbers. It was not uncommon for a man
to take his wife and sometimes a child or two with him if he planned to spend
an extended time away from the village.
Trapping is still one of the Kobuk people's subsistence activities, par-
ticularly in the three upriver villages. However, at the present time most trap-
ping is done within a 25-mile radius of the communities and snowmachines
are used for transportation. In the fall of 1 974, one man built a traditional sod
house well upriver from the village of Kobuk so that he could live close to his
trapping area, but he was an exception. A few men continue to set up tent
camps at the far edges of their trapping field to be used in case of bad weather
or snowmachine breakdown.
In trapping there is a risk of losing game even after it has been caught. If
an animal escapes from a trap it can be a substantial loss, especially if it also
carries away a valuable trap. To prevent this, Kobuk people will kill an ani-
mal they see in someone else's trap. They then either notify the owner or
carry the animal back to that person's home. It is customary for the wife of
the trap's owner to return this kindness by making a pair of gloves, skin socks,
or other gift for the assisting person.
A large percentage of the furs taken by village trappers today are used
locally. Some are traded to friends, relatives, or partners in Kotzebue and
other coastal villages. A few are sold to distant fur markets. In this respect,
trapping has come full circle, back to the same role it had in the Kuuvarjmiut
economy before the Europeans arrived.
Red Fox (kayuqtuq)
Red foxes are the animal most often trapped by Kobuk villagers. These
furs are usually sold, but some are kept for such things as parka ruffs, trim,
and mitten linings. Foxes are found throughout the Kobuk valley in all envi-
ronmental zones. However, they occur most frequently in open or lightly for-
ested plains within broad valleys. They are generally well scattered, concen-
trating only temporarily around carrion or in areas with abundance of prey
such as small rodents.
224
TRAPPING <?£s
The Number 2 steel jaw trap is the one most used for foxes. A trap may
be set near the carcass of a caribou, beside a pile of animal intestines, atop a
small knoll, or near some muskrat pushups. When a site is picked, the trap is
put in a small excavation in the snow and covered with a sheet of tissue paper.
A light dusting of loose snow is used to conceal signs of disturbance. The trap
is toggled to a stick of dry wood, which is then buried in the snow to anchor it.
Fish or rotten meat bait may be placed just upwind of such a set.
Wolf (amaguq)
Wolves occur throughout the Kobuk region, although the population is
higher in upriver areas than down toward the delta. They tend to associate in
groups of two to ten animals and range widely in search of food. They are
least mobile from late spring through summer, when they raise litters of pups.
During this period their food is most abundant, and they may be spotted near
river banks, perhaps feeding on small game or spawning salmon. With the
onset of winter, wolves resume their nomadic ways. Caribou, moose, and
sheep become their primary prey, although they also catch small game.
The Kuuvarjmiut regard all wolves as potentially dangerous. A well-fed,
healthy wolf is considered less dangerous than a thin, old animal that has
difficulty capturing natural prey. When traveling or camping, the Eskimos
usually have a firearm handy in case they encounter wolves. Until the late
1950s, a bounty was paid on wolves. Kobuk people checked known den sites
each spring and summer for litters that could be converted into cash. Summer
wolf hunts were also conducted in the upper Noatak valley by men traveling
with pack dogs. Since repeal of the bounty, wolves are rarely shot during the
summer.
Wolf trapping and hunting becomes important in the late fall and through
the winter months, then ceases when the wolves begin to shed in late April.
Wolves are considered intelligent animals and are not easy to trap. Because
of this, hunters or trappers are most likely to take the younger and less expe-
rienced ones.
Wolf trapping is similar to fox trapping except that a much heavier trap
and a larger toggle are used. When partly consumed wolf kills (such as moose
or caribou) are found, they are used as bait. In forested areas with deep snow,
a trapper will often pack down a trail and set a baited wolf trap at its edge.
When wolves follow the trail they will be drawn to the trap. The large wolf
traps are potentially dangerous to men and dogs, so markers are usually set up
nearby to warn of their presence. Wolves are also hunted by snowmachine
during the winter. A few men are quite skilled in predicting the behavior of
wolves and are able to approach them close enough for accurate shooting.
Wolf pelts are prized for locally made parkas, mittens, and other cloth-
ing. From 65 to 70 percent of these hides are used within the village or are
traded and sold to people in neighboring communities; the rest are sold to
commercial fur buyers.
225
,~"v ?.'-„
TRAPPING
Wolf Harvests for the Kobuk River Villages from 1972 to 1975.
1972-1973
1973-1974
1974-1975
Upper Kobuk Villages
65
22
33
Lower Kobuk Villages
6
8
10
Wolverine (qapvik)
Wolverines inhabit basically the same terrain as wolves. They are soli-
tary creatures except for brief mating periods and when caring for their young.
Although highly mobile, they tend to remain in a given area somewhat longer
than wolves do.
Although the wolverine is a relatively small animal, from two to three
feet long and weighing 20 to 30 pounds, it is reputed to be extremely strong
and fierce. Knowledgeable Kuuvarjmiut credit wolverines with killing both
caribou and moose and being able to drive wolves from their kill. Normally,
however, the wolverine lives by scavenging on carrion such as the remains of
human and wolf kills.
Wolverines are taken occasionally in wolf traps. Also, if a trapper finds
fresh wolverine tracks he will usually set baited traps or heavy-gauge snares
nearby. These sets must be checked frequently, because a caught wolverine
will literally chew off its toes in order to escape. Virtually all of the wolver-
ines taken by Kobuk River trappers are used locally or traded to people on the
coast. Their hide is valuable as trim material for parkas, boots, and mittens.
Wolverine Harvests for the Kobuk River Villages from 1972 to 1975.
1972-1973
1973-1974
1974-1975
Upper Kobuk Villages
43
17
18
Lower Kobuk Villages
6
17
9
Lynx (nuutuuyiq)
Lynx are primarily animals of the forest, although they are occasionally
seen well out on the open tundra. In the Kobuk valley, they are found mostly
near willow and alder thickets along the river. They prey primarily on hares,
mice, ptarmigan, and other small game. The lynx population varies consider-
ably, often following the same cycle as that of the snovvshoe hare.
Kobuk people have a variety of methods for trapping lynx. Snowshoe
trails through thick brush are often chosen as good places to bury Number 3
or Number 4 steel traps beneath the snow crust. Sometimes a wire snare is set
in a trail and attached to a sapling or small tree. Cubby sets, small shelters
«*226
TRAPPING <33&i
formed of branches and brush set next to a large tree, are also used to catch Cubby set used to
lynx. A trap is concealed at the front of the cubby, and usually a ptarmigan
wing or a piece of caribou hide is tacked to the tree trunk inside the cubby for
bait. The entrance is partially blocked with short twigs, which leaves an open-
ing directly over the hidden trap, so the lynx will step into it when investigat-
ing the bait. In former times deadfalls were also used for catching lynx.
Unlike other creatures, lynx usually do not fight a trap when caught.
They will sit quietly even when approached by a human. The trapper usually
kills a trapped lynx by attaching a wire loop to the end of a pole, dropping it
over the animal's head, and then pulling it tight. This is a quick operation that
causes the least damage to the pelt. After a lynx is skinned, Kobuk people
may cook and eat its delicious meat.
trap lynx.
Trap buried
here
Lynx Harvests for the Kobuk River Villages from 1972 to 1975.
1972-1973
1973-1974
1974-1975
Upper Kobuk Villages
21
13
12
Lower Kobuk Villages
9
22
13
The diminishing take of lynx in recent years was partially due to a low
in the hare-lynx population cycle. Some of the furs were used locally to make
mittens, but the majority were sold to fur buyers.
Deadfall trap for marten.
Nangutak
Ayagutaq
Nagiugutaq
Aksragaitchialik
Side View
Marten (qapviatchiaq)
The marten is a forest dweller that preys on red squirrels, birds, and
other small game. The Kobuk valley is the northwestern fringe of marten
habitat and so they are not numerous. They were formerly trapped throughout
the Kobuk country, but the region above Kobuk village has been most pro-
ductive. Today marten are trapped in small numbers around Ambler, Shungnak,
and Kobuk. In addition to being sold commercially, their fur is used for mit-
ten linings and caps.
227 <®2
TRAPPING
Marten are relatively easy to trap and their population can be reduced
quickly if the take is excessive. A simple means of taking them is to place a
small steel trap on a leaning pole, with a ptarmigan wing attached just above
the trap. The trap chain is either wired or nailed to the pole. The marten will
run up the pole and step into the trap while trying to reach the bird wing. A
second means of taking these animals is to build a small cubby at the base of
a spruce tree and bait it with a bird wing or rotten fish.
The number of marten taken during the 1974-75 year was small in the
upriver area, and none were reported taken in the downriver area between
1972 and 1975.
Beaver (pahiqtaq or aqu)
Beavers, North America's largest rodents, are found from the headwa-
ters of the Kobuk River to just above the delta. These animals require vegeta-
tion suitable for food and dam building and a stable supply of water. Like the
marten, they reach their most northwestern limits in the Kobuk River valley.
According to upper Kobuk villagers, beavers were uncommon in the
central valley until 30 or 40 years ago, when they began moving down from
the Pah River flats and soon colonized local streams and lakes. Beaver popu-
lations are now diminishing in the upper valley and are increasing in the
Selawik lowlands.
The Kuiivarjmiut view beavers with mixed feelings. While they desire
their pelts and meat, they also resent the beavers' dams that block lake outlets
and small streams. Such dams cut off runs of whitefish and other fish species.
Several Selawik people complained that beavers on the Kugarak River were
reducing the whitefish run in the Selawik River.
Before the early 1900s, beavers were usually taken by chopping open
their houses, shooting them in open water with arrows, or spearing them from
kayaks. Since the introduction of firearms they have been shot from a kayak or
boat. While a limited amount of hunting is still done for immediate subsistence
uses, the small take apparently has little impact on the beaver population.
Winter trapping for beavers became a common practice in the upper
Kobuk area with the introduction of steel traps. At best, it is an arduous un-
dertaking. Holes must be chopped through several feet of ice to set traps and
bait them, and then re-opened each time the traps are checked. A certain amount
of danger is involved because there may be patches of thin ice around an
active beaver lodge. If a person who falls through such a weak spot can pull
himself out, he still must face extremely cold temperatures in soaked clothing.
Most beaver trapping in the past was done with steel traps fastened to
poles and placed near feed piles or runways leading from the lodge. Recently,
heavy-gauge wire snares and double-spring connibear traps have become
popular. Kobuk people use most of their beaver catch to make hats, boots,
and mittens. For the fur market, late winter pelts are desired. Beaver meat is a
welcome addition to the daily fare.
®> 228
TRAPPING •£&
Otter (pamiuqtuuq)
River otters are found in small streams and lakes throughout the Kobuk
region. Kuuvaijmiut Eskimos regard the otter as "the best hunter." They say
that otters kill beavers, mink, muskrats, ducks, and fish, and sometimes blame
them for causing declines in the populations of aquatic animals.
Otters are relatively difficult to catch. Traps may be set along the sides
of narrow streams, where the animals place their paws as they swim along, or
near well-used slides that lead to holes in the ice. Otters are occasionally
taken in beaver sets as they try to enter a lodge. Historically, their fur was an
important trade item, but today people use it primarily for making items such
as boots and mittens.
Marmot (siksrikpak)
The hoary marmot is an alpine dweller that lives above the tree line in
mountains throughout the Kobuk region. This large rodent can weigh up to
20 pounds. Marmots were once used extensively by the Kuuvarjmiut espe-
cially during the 1 920s and 1 930s. This has decreased substantially in recent
years. The primary reason for this change is that marmots are most abundant
in the Noatak River area and were customarily taken there during summer
and fall hunts for caribou. If the caribou should again desert the Kobuk val-
ley, then use of the marmot for food could again increase.
According to a Shungnak elder, marmots are found at the heads of steep
mountain creeks in bowl-shaped drainages. A certain type of meadow grass
(utjugraq) that grows in such locations is a prime food for the marmot. Small
piles of rocks in these high meadows are indicators of den sites. The principal
harvest of marmots was made between mid- August and late September, when
the animals were particularly fat and had prime skins.
Marmots were most commonly taken with a deadfall of large flat rocks
constructed at the den entrances. Men who planned to trap marmots in a given
area would camp some distance away and avoid firing guns or making loud
noises, so the animals would not become wary. If men were simply passing
through an area, they would hunt the marmots with rifles. Another Shungnak
man said that some years ago he and his father trapped 200 marmots in one
summer and sold the skins for a dollar each to a local trader.
When a marmot is killed it is skinned, gutted, and the carcass is hung by
the hind legs for partial drying. A willow rod is pushed down the throat and
into the chest cavity to help drain any remaining blood. The head remains on
the carcass since it too is eaten. The skin is scraped clean of fat and flesh and
hung separately on willows to dry. Marmot skins are highly prized as mate-
rial for parkas and other clothing. In times past, the skins were bartered to
people on the coast.
229 <$&
Mink (tigiaqpak)
Mink, are small, semiaquatic members of the weasel family. They are
found in lowland marshes and along the edges of lakes, sloughs, and small
streams. Their dens are usually in abandoned muskrat holes, and small, well-
used trails radiate outward from them to the nearby terrain. When a mink kills
a muskrat or other small mammal, it caches the carcass somewhere nearby to
eat later.
A trapper is alert for mink tracks and will try to follow them to a den or
cache site. He also tries to locate regularly used trails along the shores of
waterways. Once these locations or trails are discovered, he places a Number
1 1/2 or Number 2 steel trap on the runway or near the cached prey. Bait in the
form of rotten fish eggs or other decomposed flesh is used to draw the mink to
the trap (Nelson 1973:209-15).
In the past, Kobuk people used mink skins for clothing trim. The pelts
were also exchanged with coastal and Siberian traders, and later became part
of the commercial fur trade. The few that are obtained now are used locally.
> 230
GATHERING <ffi
Chapter 11
Gathering
The Kobuk River people have long depended on wild berries, vegetables,
and tubers to supplement their meat and fish diet. These have all come
from plants they gather in the summer and fall and store for use during
the rest of the year. Giddings reported conversations with people of the upper
Kobuk who remembered traditional subsistence living around 1880, and he
summarized their descriptions as follows:
While some members of the family mend nets, others take dig-
ging sticks and hunt for polygonum roots and tubers along the
banks of the river and inland on the margins of ponds. Willow
leaves are gathered for food early in the season, as is also wild
rhubarb and a variety of other green plants. Some greens are eaten
raw with fish oil, while others are boiled into the stew with fish or
meat. (Giddings 1956:10)
August is . . . berry-picking time. The women take every opportu-
nity to go out on the slopes of the hills with birch bark baskets and
beating sticks to secure quantities of blueberries, some of which
can be preserved in oil, some eaten at once, and some allowed to
half dry for winter use. Other berries, such as cranberries, black
and red currants, and yellow cloudberries, are eaten as they ripen
but are seldom kept for any length of time. (Ibid.: 1 7)
The photographer Edward S. Curtis ( 1 930:208), who traveled along the
Kobuk River in 1920, likewise described the gathering of blueberries, cran-
berries, blackberries, salmonberries, and masru (Eskimo potato) as part of
the people's subsistence activities. Masru was crushed and later used "like
butter." Berries and masru were kept in caches with the meat and fish, or
stored in sealskin pokes obtained from the coast.
A Kiana woman born in 1880 remembers the gathering of wild rhu-
barb, sourdock, and berries when she was young. She says that cranberries,
which are not easily crushed, were stored in cloth flour sacks, while the softer
types of berries were kept in sealskin pokes. A Noorvik elder also mentioned
that people who did not have storage containers dug a hole in the ground to
store their berries next to the permafrost. First, the hole was lined with large
leaves, then the berries were put in, more leaves were put on top, and finally
the hole was sealed with mud.
Shungnak people described two other methods formerly used to store
berries. In one, the berries were put into round or oval birchbark baskets
(qallivik), then covered with large leaves or immersed in seal oil. The baskets
were placed in a deep permafrost hole and covered with moss and earth. In a
231 *&
> GATHERING
more recent method, berries and sugar were layered in wooden kegs, which were
then buried in the permafrost. Upper Kobuk people had a good supply of birchbark
and downriver people had ready access to sealskin puut (pokes) from the coast,
so storage methods in the two areas seem to reflect available materials.
Since the mid-twentieth century, canned vegetables and fruits have been
available from trading posts and stores. These items have not replaced wild
plants gathered by the Kuuvarjmiut, but provide variety and assure a supply of
fruits and vegetables throughout the year. Very little fresh produce reaches
the villages, but when it does it is quickly sold out despite very high prices.
All Kobuk families today gather berries and edible plants. As soon as
the willow leaves come out in the spring, children are munching on them.
Cranberries that have clung to the branches all winter are juicier and sweeter
than fresh ripe ones, and the youngsters eat all they can find. Each year the
women eagerly await the time when berries and other plants are ready for
picking. They worry that a cold summer may damage the blueberries, and
they wonder over the occasional poor year for cranberries. When the time
comes, they know and seek the places where yields will be most plentiful.
Berries
Special trips are sometimes made to gather berries or other plants, but
often this is done along with another activity such as fishing. These outings
are anticipated with much pleasure by the whole family. Picking is done mostly
by women and children, sometimes joined by relatives or friends who have
come along. If the father is free he may accompany his family, especially if
the trip involves overnight camping. A young son who has learned how to run
the outboard motor might be at the boat's helm.
If the previous winter was exceptionally cold, and light snow has caused
the ground to freeze deeply, people anticipate that August will be the most prom-
ising blueberry-picking time. Older women take along their birchbark baskets,
often inherited from their mothers. Children may carry plastic buckets, or per-
haps cloth or plastic bags if they will also pick lowbush cranberries. The older
women use wooden ladles to beat blueberries into the baskets, as their mothers
and grandmothers did in the past. Even though many leaves fall in with the ber-
ries, it is the fastest method. Others pick with one or both hands, depending on
their dexterity. Big, ripe, juicy berries are tempting enough so that pickers occa-
sionally pop them into their mouths instead of into the baskets. Every so often
the family takes a break to share dried fish or meat, chat and joke among them-
selves, and compare the amount each person has collected. After the break,
picking continues or they move someplace where other berries can be found.
Each family keeps track of how many barrels of blueberries and sacks of cran-
berries it has picked, and members take real pride in their success.
Of all the berries found along the Kobuk River, blueberries (asriavik)
are the most abundant, followed by lowbush cranberries (kikminnaq) . Plants
with lower yields are salmonberries or cloudberries (ac/pik), Alpine bearber-
> 232
GATHERING <&j£i
ries (kavlaqj, bearberries (tinnik), crowberries (paungaq), and American red
currants (nivirjrjaqutaq). Aiso picked and eaten off the bush are rose hips
(igruynaq).
Some berries are stored in home freezers today. Lowbush cranberries,
which keep well, can simply be put in bags in the family's cache or storm shed.
Some women spread them in the sun to dry before storing them in gunny sacks.
The Kuuvarjmiut of 1 880 served akutuq, a mixture of chopped caribou fat,
berries, and seal oil, as a special treat during the midwinter ceremonies (Giddings
1961:135). Today, it is still served for special occasions like birthday parties
and funerals, and people enjoy it so much that they are inventing new varia-
tions. In one, blueberries are mixed with boiled, flaked fish meat and seal oil,
and in another caribou fat is mixed with seal oil and canned fruit cocktail.
Blueberries are also eaten with canned milk and sugar, or they are cooked
with cornstarch and sugar and then used as pudding or jam. For a tangy varia-
tion, blueberries and/or salmonberries are cooked with wild rhubarb. Kobuk
River villagers prefer bearberries and cranberries mixed with seal oil or fish
oil. Cranberries fried in oil are said to help cure a sore throat.
When people from Shungnak and Kobuk village were traveling to and
from the coast years ago, they would camp at a place called Qaqiikuvik (the
mouth of Kavet Creek). Until a fire burned the area in 1961, villagers on their
way home in the fall would always stay long enough to pick bearberries. In
keeping with tradition, each person should do this only once a year, and should
carry a willow stake about five feet long. A very straight trail followed the
sand dunes along the river's edge, and it was marked by a line of such stakes.
At the end of this long line, each person drove his or her stake into the ground,
thus extending the trail markers.
Everyone remembered his or her own stakes, because it was said whenever
a stake fell the person who put it there would die. So each year people checked
their stakes, and presumably those of relatives and friends who could not go that
year, to make sure they were stuck well in the ground. The functional aspect of
this practice was the automatic maintenance of the trail year after year.
Other Edible and Usable Plants
Although berries are by far the most important edible plants in the Kobuk
country, a number of other plant species are regularly used by Kuuvarjmiut
villagers. For example, within the recent past, people commonly ate the inner
bark of young willows (natalquq). Immature plants, up to three feet in height,
were cut in the early summer; then the outer bark was peeled off and the inner
layer was eaten by pulling it through the teeth. It was used in season only and
no preservation or storage was made. The tips of young willows and spring
willow leaves (sura) were also part of the Kobuk River people's diet, al-
though they were most favored by groups who lived on the coast. The leaves
were picked in the spring and stored in seal oil for later use.
GATHERING
Leaves of the saxifrage plant are eaten with seal oil and sugar, and their
nutty taste is considered a good accompaniment to fish dishes. This low-growing
species is found on bluffs along the river. It is called asriatchiaq, meaning "little
berries," the same term used nowadays for raisins. Sourdock or wild spinach
(quagaq), which grows in marshy spots on the tundra and along the river, is
picked around June for use as a salad. Along the upper Kobuk, where sourdock
is especially plentiful, the leaves are also cooked, covered with a layer of sugar,
and stored in barrels. The capped barrels are then buried in the permafrost.
Use of edible plants differs somewhat between villages. For example,
sourdock is intensively harvested by Noorvik people, while Kiana residents col-
lect more wild rhubarb. In late June, trips to check the fishnets may include
looking for wild rhubarb along the sand bars and back among the willows.
The leaves and stalks of this plant are boiled and then sprinkled with sugar.
People from all Kobuk River villages know of the wild chives (paatitaaq)
that grow along the gravel beach at Onion Portage. The English and Inupiaq
names for this place both derive from this plant. Other areas where wild chives
can be found are near large lakes and along river banks, especially near the
head of the Kobuk River.
Villagers use digging sticks to collect Eskimo potato (masru) after the
ground begins to freeze in September. These tubers are rubbery and tasteless
in the summer, but in fall the cold weather makes them sweet. The plants
grow along the upper edge of gravel bars next to willows. The quickest way
to gather masru is to search for mouse caches, which are often found beneath
stands of poplar. Women look for mouse burrows (sisit) with mud on top,
then test them for masru either with their feet or with their digging sticks. If
the mice have been industrious, a mound as much as one foot square may be
collected from a single cache. Through this labor-saving technique, some
women can gather a barrelful by the end of the season.
Masru taken from a mouse cache is called nivi. After it has been re-
moved, Kobuk people usually replace the nivi with dry fish or pieces of bread,
then put dirt back over the hole. They do not want to starve these hard-work-
ing mice, because next year they would like to depend again on their good
labor. Masru was stored in the past by burying the tubers in permafrost. At
present, they are kept in a tightly covered barrel inside an unheated shed or
hallway, where on occasion the mice steal them back.
A number of other vegetables and plants are used occasionally, including
wild celery (ikuusuk), the young shoots of fireweed (quppiqutaq) , and the roots
of tall cotton grass (pitniq)(Webster and Zibell 1970:99). Sap taken from the
trunk of the spruce tree was said by Stoney (1900:100) to be drinkable.
Several varieties of grass and moss have also been used by the
Kuuvarjmiut in times past. Maniq and ipigaksraq are mosses formerly used as
wicks in stone lamps. Another variety of moss called tunnuuraq, and the silky
tufts of cotton grass, were both used as tinder. Skin boots were formerly insu-
lated with dry grass, and in fall, whitefish taken with fish traps were carried
*&> 234
GATHERING <£ffi
home in braided sacks or baskets made from grass (Giddings 1961:43). Lack-
ing cloth diapers, mothers in the old days lined their babies' caribou-skin
diapers with the sponge moss known as tininniq. Nowadays, log cabins along
the Kobuk River are still chinked with the sphagnum called ivruq.
Willow
Willow has many uses in traditional Kuuvarjmiut technology. For ex-
ample, before cotton nets were introduced, people made fishnets from the
inner bark of willow cut into strips and twisted together. Of all the women's
activities, net making consumed the greatest amount of time. Three strips of
inner bark could also be braided to make a kind of rope. After whites entered
the Kobuk country, people braided rope from two strips of cloth and one of
willow bark. For heavy rope they used spruce roots wrapped with willow bark.
Bows were occasionally made from diamond-leaf willow wood, although
spruce was the most common material and birch was sometimes used as well.
Diamond-leaf willow (kanurjrjiq) is also used for snowshoes, which are still
made by a few Kobuk people. This same species was also used to make dog
collars in earlier times. There were undoubtedly many other specialized ways
to use the versatile willows that grow so abundantly along the Kobuk.
Spruce
Until the first part of the twentieth century, spruce was the most impor-
tant source of raw materials for Kuuvarjmiut equipment and shelters. To build
a house and standing cache at the summer fish camp, men first went to the
hills where good spruce trees could be found. They made two cuts about six
feet apart around the trunks of large trees and then peeled the bark off. For the
house and fish cache, about 1 5 bark sections were needed.
Next, the men gathered moss and long, straight willows to be used as
house frame poles. The poles were set into the ground, then pulled together
and tied at the top, with a small opening for a smoke hole. This frame was
covered with moss and spruce-bark sections collected earlier. Spruce bark
was also put over the cache to protect the fish from rain. Upper Kobuk people
occasionally used birchbark for summer house and cache roofs (Giddings
1961 :35, 48). Other uses of spruce for traditional items, such as drying racks
and fish traps, are discussed in the chapters on fishing, trapping, and hunting.
Permanent houses are still occasionally built at summer fish camps, al-
though canvas tents, with or without a wooden tent frame, are more common.
Houses are built with a frame of spruce logs, then covered with siding of
commercial lumber, sheet metal, tar paper, or plastic sheeting. Fresh cut
("green") spruce or driftwood is still used for making fish racks and caches.
Spruce is also used to build log caches beside people's homes in the
villages. The two most common types are urjaluuraq, a gabled log structure
on pilings, and ikiggat, an elevated platform. The pilings are approximately
235 <g^
^V> GATHERING
six-foot spruce logs, notched on the upper ends to receive two horizontal spruce
poles. Smaller spruce poles span the pilings to form the floor. The irregular
logs are ideal for a cache, because air easily circulates through the unchinked
cracks. Split logs or lumber may also be used for the walls. Access to an
elevated cache is by ladder or ladder-like stairs. Dried fish, frozen meat, furs,
and equipment such as fishnets and outboard motors are typically stored in-
side an enclosed cache, and a platform cache is used for storing large items
such as kayaks and long poles. People often nail cross-poles between the pil-
ings underneath their caches and use these as convenient places to hang items
like caribou hides.
In the early days, Kobuk women often cooked food in a spruce wood pot
or birchbark basket filled with water. Fire-heated rocks were dropped in to
heat the water, and then the meat or fish would be added. Spruce pots (piqtalik
or igavaun) were made from the wood of an appropriately grained tree. A thin
piece of wood was split out from a log, a groove was made along one edge, the
piece was soaked until it became pliable, and then it was bent around a spruce
board base which fit into the groove. Occasionally, deep pots were made by
lashing a second cylinder of bent wood onto the upper edge of the first. Holes
were made with a bow drill where the ends of the bent board overlapped, so it
could be sewn with rawhide line or split spruce roots. Spruce containers were
also used for storing fat rendered from boiled fish and for storing other foods.
Folded spruce bark containers were used to hold the melted pitch used to
join sewn seams on birchbark kayaks (Giddings 1961 :38-39). Other utensils
manufactured from the spruce tree included wooden serving trays or plates.
Older Kobuk people still use wood from natural bends at the base of spruce
stumps to make wooden spoons or ladles for serving food and beating the
bushes for blueberry gathering.
Thin, pliable spruce roots were used in stitching the seams of birchbark
kayaks and lashing the bent spruce pots described above. Split roots are still
widely used in manufacture of birchbark baskets. Ideally, people gather spruce
roots in July, and they begin by looking for trees with long, straight branches.
Roots are easiest to dig if they are in sandy soil, under moss, and close to the
surface. Once a good root of the right size, about a quarter-inch in diameter, is
located, the soil is dug out in the direction the root runs. Roots are collected in
sections about a yard long, cleaned of dirt, folded once over, and tied into a
bundle for easy carrying. Sometimes the bundle is thrashed against a tree
trunk a few times to clean it more thoroughly.
Spruce roots are soaked in water to make them pliable and soft before
splitting. Then two cuts are made into one end of the root with a sharp knife,
so it can be split lengthwise into four quarters. If the root tapers, these cuts are
made in the larger end. The worker now starts splitting the root in half, hold-
ing one side in his or her teeth and the other in a hand, gently working the two
pieces apart. Then the process is repeated for each half. The inner section
containing the root core is discarded today, but formerly it was braided with
willow bark in the manufacture of seining nets.
236
GATHERING cffffia
Birch
Birchbark has been intensely utilized by the Kuuvarjmiut for making such
items as kayaks, baskets for berry picking, drinking cups, and bowls for seal oil.
Lower Kobuk people used to travel far upriver on the ice before breakup to reach
places where they knew of good birch stands. Nowadays people of the upper
Kobuk villages are the principal users of birchbark. They make old style bas-
kets for berry picking and create new, innovative types to sell as folk craft
items that provide a source of cash income. A few villagers still know how to
make traditional birchbark kayaks, which closely resemble the Athabaskan
Indians' open-decked canoe. The last few Kobuk kayaks were made in 1966
and 1967 for museums at Brown University and the University of Alaska.
In former times a man had to make the two or three day trip for bark on
foot, taking little food with him and living on whatever game he could get
with his bow and arrow (Giddings 1961 :36-37). With motor-powered boats,
birchbark collecting has now become a pleasant one day outing for whole
families. Children may come along with their mother and father, especially.if
they are old enough to help.
Also, the season for collecting birchbark now lasts from June through
September. In June and early July, when the sap is running, birchbark peels
off easily and has a light yellow color on the underside. In August and Sep-
tember the bark sticks to the tree and the underside is dark brown. Some
baskets are made to create patterns of light and dark, taking advantage of
these colors and the white outside of the bark.
The size of birch trees increases and the quality of their bark improves
with distance up the Kobuk River. Good birchbark has thin lines on its sur-
face and the white color should not come off when it is rubbed. It must also be
free of knots, cracks, and scars. Bark with thick "eyes'1 tends to be brittle.
It is best to remove bark during the day when it peels off most easily.
People still remove it the same way they have for many years. Two cuts are
made around the tree trunk, three or four feet apart and then joined by a ver-
tical incision. The collector then works around the tree with a bone tool to pry
the bark loose, taking care to cut only the outer layer and not the cambium
layer, as this might kill the tree. If the bark is properly removed the tree remains
healthy, forming a dark-checked "scab" of new bark over the disturbed area.
Kobuk River people take considerable care not to kill the tree from which
they have taken bark, even though this tree will not produce usable bark in the
future. As the demand for birchbark products keeps increasing, it will be-
come more difficult to find good quality bark within a reasonable distance. At
present, two or three persons in Kobuk village and two or three in Shungnak
make baskets for sale. In Ambler, which has a reputation for fine basket mak-
ing, seven households are involved. They sell their products to school teach-
ers, government personnel, occasional tourists, and any other visitors who
pass through the villages. Items are also sent to gift shops throughout Alaska
and to people in distant cities and states who appreciate this type of art. Their
237
GATHERING
repertoire ranges from rectangular and round baskets to model kayaks, sleds,
and picture frames. There is also a local demand for the traditional birchbark
berry-picking baskets. Birchbark products are not presently made in the lower
Kobuk villages.
Firewood
In the nineteenth century, collecting and cutting up firewood was the
single most time-consuming cold weather activity. Few winter days passed
when some people did not go out after sled loads of fuel. Normally, the men
went out several miles by dog team, to cut and haul spruce or alder logs; and
the women, particularly the older ones, went out with hand-drawn sleds to
collect small alder and willow trees near the village.
As the Kuuvatjmiut moved into the villages after the turn of the century,
they continued the old practice of coming downriver on rafts each fall and
then using the logs for firewood. Until the 1950s, most families still cut one
raft of firewood each season. The major upriver sources of rafted logs were
along the main channel of the Kobuk River, up the Pah River, and along the
lower reaches of the northern tributaries. In the downriver area, the major
sources were along the Hunt, Salmon, Tuutaksraq, Napaaqluqtuuq, and Squir-
rel rivers. Apparently much of the rafted wood for Kiana came from the Squirrel
River and for Noorvik much of it came from tributaries farther upriver.
Another source of fuel was driftwood, collected during high water after
the spring breakup. Particularly in the lower Kobuk area, large spruce logs
from the upriver tributaries floated by with the last fragmented ice, and these
could be retrieved by boat and line. The logs were towed to shore and pulled
up above the high-water line, where they could be cut and hauled to the wood
pile at leisure during the summer. Large drift logs are still collected annually
by the villagers, but they are now used primarily for building fish racks.
The two major species of firewood collected in winter were alder and
spruce. Birch, willow, and poplar were secondary. When the villages were
newly established, alder was preferred because it would burn hotter than spruce.
But as the large alders were cut out and chain saws became available, spruce
became the most important firewood. Birch is better in some respects, but it
is far less abundant than spruce.
Most villagers along the Kobuk River and its tributaries are quick to
state that the trees are available to anyone who wants to cut them. In practice,
however, the area surrounding each village is informally divided into a series
of places where certain families have greater rights than others have. This
feeling of use-privilege has been accentuated by the establishment of Native
allotments in private family ownership. Outside the allotment lands, access
to firewood-cutting areas is varied and informal. Trees themselves may be
individually owned only after they are felled. For example, if a person goes to
the effort of ringing a tree to kill it and let it dry. he still might lose it to
another wood cutter until he actually cuts it down. In the case of driftwood.
"•-,s.,V;
GATHERING <g&i
once a log is pulled above the waterline it is considered private property, even
if the owner has not marked the log by notching.
As in the past, the preferred firewoods are dried alder and spruce because
they give a hotter and cleaner fire than other woods. On the other hand, dried
wood burns too fast, so green (fresh-cut) wood is usually burned with it to make
the fire last longer. Green wood burns poorly alone, creates a lot of soot, and is
likely to rust the stove because of its moisture content. Creosote from green
wood tends to collect in stovepipes creating the danger of stack fires. Drift-
wood is also used for heating, as is wood from fire-killed trees in burned areas.
In Shungnak and Kobuk, most houses are equipped with both a wood-
burning and an oil-burning stove. In Ambler, Kiana, and Noorvik, a few homes
presently have dual heating systems, and most are heated only with oil. House-
holders that have both wood and oil stoves generally feel that they are in the
best position, because they can strike a balance between oil (which is expen-
sive) and wood (which is difficult to obtain). Homes heated solely by fuel oil
require from 10 to 18 drums of oil annually. The average is 12 drums, or 660
gallons, which would cost $550 in 1975.
Heating a house solely with wood, on the other hand, requires an aver-
age of two hours of wood collecting per day through the mid-winter months.
Households that depend entirely on wood are mostly those of older villagers,
who often cannot get the wood for themselves. In the past, their adult children
would supply it for them, or if they had no children they could buy sled loads
from others. But now fewer men go wood cutting and even fewer sell it com-
mercially. A cord of wood sold for $50 in 1975, a high price for an elderly
person to pay.
The problem of firewood is compounded by the fact that snowmachines
balk and are difficult to use at very cold temperatures, when the need for fuel
is greatest. Also, hauling heavy loads from woodlots located well away from
the village uses costly fuel and causes heavy wear on the very expensive
snowmachines. Nevertheless, villagers increasingly see a need to at least
supplement oil heat with firewood, and this trend may become more pro-
nounced in the future.
239 m
?V fc
USING THE HARVEST
Chapter 12
Using the Harvest
Subsistence in the Modern Village
People of the upper Kobuk villages still depend on the harvest of wild
resources for a major proportion of their food, for raw materials used
in the manufacture of clothing and equipment, for housing, and for
heat. The only quantitative data on local foods in the diet comes from a sur-
vey of 11 rural Alaskan villages over the five year period from 1956 to 1961.
This study showed that in Shungnak, over 81 percent of the total per capita
intake of protein was from local subsistence foods (Heller and Scott 1961:39).
Carbohydrate sources were more varied, with 46 percent coming from local
sources and the remainder from imported or mixed sources.
More recent studies of this sort are not available, but locally obtained
foods clearly dominate in the upper Kobuk River villagers' diet. In the lower
river communities, the per capita harvest of caribou and fish indicate that
reliance on local foods for protein and carbohydrates is only slightly less.
Imported carbohydrate sources appear to have increased during the past de-
cade, but protein still comes overwhelmingly from subsistence products. In
the majority of households, meals without wild meat or fish are not common.
Many Kuuvarjmiut have a strong conviction that meals are incomplete with-
out "real food" from the land, and they emphasize that they cannot remain
strong, healthy, and contented when they eat only "white man food."
Indeed, preference for Native foods is a recurrent theme in conversa-
tions with Kobuk River villagers. The qualities of various kinds of game are
discussed, people lament the absence of certain foods when they are out of
season, catches of uncommon animals or exceptionally fat ones are events of
real importance, and social visits often center around the availability of spe-
cial foods. Lack of subsistence foods is perceived as one of the greatest hard-
ships in living away from the village. This is why people at home regularly
send frozen and dried meats, dried fish, seal oil, and occasionally delicacies
like maktak (whale skin and blubber, obtained in trade) to their relatives and
friends living away.
Caribou and fish, the most common foods, are valued above all others,
and people often repeat the saying: "You never get tired of eating caribou."
These staples are not only the foods people prefer to live with, they are also
the most difficult ones to live without. This is not to say, however, that the
Kuuvarjmiut do not crave variety in their diet. People anxiously anticipate the
change provided by a new season's animals or plants, and they always make
an effort to diversify their meals. In modern times, the imported foods avail-
able from local stores allow more variety than ever before.
e@S>24Q
USING THE HARVEST <:PjgZ
The strong preference for local staple foods is marked by a provinciality
or perhaps a highly refined sense of taste. There is, for example, a conviction
that Kobuk River fish are superior to any others. People say that Koyukuk
River sheefish "taste funny," and are not very fat. One man who had lived in
Fairbanks said that Lake Minchumina whitefish taste "just like mud" to him.
The Inupiaq diet is very different from that familiar to westerners. Some
of their most preferred foods, such as fermented sheefish or raw caribou meat,
are often shunned by white visitors. This simply illustrates the wide variation
in culturally based food preferences. Kobuk people are often aware of subtle-
ties in the taste of game foods which are beyond the outsider's ability to detect.
Villagers long for certain traditional foods that they value highly, especially
those shared at holiday feasts and other special occasions. It is not unusual to
hear a villager say, "I just wish I could taste some of that animai now."
Foods served at feasts in the Kobuk River villages during 1974-75 in-
cluded the following: stews or soups made with fat caribou or moose meat,
vegetables, rice, noodles, and condiments; bear meat; goose stew; boiled
sheefish; fermented sheefish; cooked wild rhubarb; blueberries; beluga maktak
(skin and blubber); and seal oil. At one feast, strips of whale blubber were
passed out. This traditional delicacy, obtained through trade from the coast,
was so esteemed that the names of those who received it were checked on a
list to assure a fair distribution. Another precious food, saved for small get-
togethers, is the mixture of caribou fat, meat, berries, and sugar called akutuq.
The Kobuk Eskimos' appreciation of traditional foods is marked by their as-
sociation with celebrations and other important social gatherings. Beyond
this, traditional foods help to set the Eskimo person apart from all others in an
era when the distinction has become somewhat blurred. They are an affirma-
tion of Eskimo-ness.
Imported food is an important but clearly secondary element in the diet.
Bread, canned goods, tea, coffee, and sweets have long been a part of the
daily fare. But, although the Kiaivarjmiut enjoy these foods, they do not con-
sider them suitable as a steady diet. There is universal agreement on this
point: "No matter how much white man food you eat, you will never be satis-
fied until you have wild meat or fish." Whites who attempt to live on an exclu-
sive diet of Inupiaq foods find that the same is true in reverse. Whether the
dependence on familiar diet is physical or psychological, it is certainly real.
One elder man explained his reaction to living on white man's food this way:
You see me here, what color my face and my fingers look. Sort of
brown color. One time I went to Fairbanks to work for a few months,
and I eat white man food all the time. Pretty soon my skin was
getting pale, like yours, because I eat too much soft food. It's not
good for me. When I came home, I had strong food again; my
body has to work hard to use it. Then my skin changed color and
I'm back to Eskimo. When I eat strong food, it changes my whole
insides. I'm sure glad to get back home that time.
241
"'?V> USING THE HARVEST
Providing food is the first and most essential use of subsistence resources
today, but there are other uses as well. Many articles of clothing are still made
partially or entirely from products of the land. Animal hides are used for
making parkas, parka ruffs, mittens, neck scarfs, clothing trim, and boots.
Although manufactured or homemade cloth garments are widely used, tradi-
tional designs and the use of fur are valued highly. In fact, wearing Native
clothing has symbolic importance — it is a part of being Eskimo. From a prac-
tical standpoint, some items of Native apparel are far superior to their manu-
factured equivalents. This is especially true of commercially made footgear,
which does not measure up to caribou and sealskin boots for warmth, light-
ness, and overall comfort.
It is important to note that the principal use of animal hides by Kobuk
villagers is for subsistence, not commercial, purposes. Animals such as the
wolf, fox, wolverine, mink, marten, otter, and lynx are taken mainly for use
of their pelts. Muskrat, beaver, bear, moose, sheep, hare, and caribou are
valued for both their hides and meat. Whether these animals are hunted or
trapped, their hides are used locally to make clothing or other goods. Most
sale of furs is to relatives, friends, or trading partners in the area. For ex-
ample, hats made from beaver, fox, and marten pelts are worn locally, and a
few are sold to buyers beyond neighboring villages. In recent years, the women
have begun to make fancy fur parkas, which had nearly gone out of existence,
and these are also mainly for family members or for sale to other local people.
Animals provide the Kuuvanmiut with a wide variety of other useful
items. Hides are used to make camping mattresses, sled pads, thermos bottle
pouches, ammunition bags, snowshoe webbing, sled lashings, and many other
articles. Animal bones, teeth, claws, and antlers also have many uses.
Plants are also used to make everything from pincushions to medicine
to dwellings. They are of course an important complement to animal foods
and they provide wood for houses, caches, sleds, boats, tent frames, poles,
containers, drying racks, and tool handles. Wood also provides heat for hu-
man comfort, for cooking, for smoking meat, for preparing dog food, and for
making the all-important summer mosquito smudges.
The Trade Connection
The upriver Kuuvanmiut depend mostly on local resources for subsis-
tence, but they also make considerable use of marine products such as seal oil
and whale maklak obtained from neighboring coastal peoples. Although they
live only a few days" journey from the sea, and although their culture bears
strong affinity to that of the coast, people of the upper river do not hunt ma-
rine animals themselves.
Exchange networks linking coastal and inland peoples developed long
before Europeans arrived in this region. On an early ascent of the Kobuk
River, Townsend (1887:87) saw many people wearing garments of piebald
reindeer skin, which obviously came from Siberia. Indeed, trading was a fun-
,.; 242
USING THE HARVEST <f%
damental element of Kobuk Eskimo life, with a regular position in the annual
cycle.
At the beginning of summer some families followed the breaking
river ice down stream. They eventually visited Sheshalik [Sisualik],
on Kotzebue Sound, where they traded with Siberian and coastal
Alaskan people. . . .
The Kobukmiut made important trade connections with the
Koyukuk River to the south, Kotzebue Sound to the west and the
Noatak River and central Brooks Range to the north and northeast.
They often acted as middlemen in the exchange of goods through
inland arctic Alaska. (Foote 1966:15,16)
Although this trade network extended beyond the Kobuk-Kotzebue
Sound region, its primary function for the Kuuvarjmiut was clear. It was the
means to obtain precious sea mammal products, which the people felt they
could not do without. This need did not change after Europeans arrived on the
scene, and so the trade continued. The older generation of Kobuk villagers
participated in scores of trading excursions when they drifted down the river,
transacted their business on the coast, and then pulled their motorless boats
slowly back upstream.
An elderly Shungnak man recounted the extent of his travels — to Kot-
zebue Sound, the Selawik Lowlands, the Noatak River valley, the Koyukuk
River, and across the Brooks Range to the North Slope. Most of these jour-
neys involved trade. Before going to Kotzebue, for example, he always tried
to build up a stock of wolf, wolverine, and fox pelts. When he arrived, he
exchanged his goods for seal oil, maktak, and sealskin. Before returning home
he always spent time socializing, and on one trading journey he met the woman
who became his wife.
During these early years, the Kobuk people brought more sea animal
products home than they could use themselves. The excess was traded to the
Koyukuk River Athabaskans, who gave beaver and marten skins in exchange
for seal oil, fish, skin boots, or meat. Some of the Indians' pelts were then
carried to the coast, where they brought a fine return in goods from the sea.
In time, storekeepers on the Kobuk began shipping seal oil and maktak
up the river so people could obtain them without traveling to the coast. Next
came exchanges of subsistence goods by air freight, the terms arranged by
mail if personal visits were not possible. Yet although the mechanics of trade
have changed considerably, its intensity has remained much the same.
The modern Kobuk Eskimos still use a variety of marine products ob-
tained from several different areas. The heaviest trade is with Kotzebue people,
and the primary source of products is the Sisualik-Cape Krusenstern region
(where Kotzebue people hunt seals in spring and summer). Upper Kobuk vil-
lagers also acquire seal and beluga from Buckland and Deering on the Seward
Peninsula, from Noorvik on the lower Kobuk River, from Noatak village on
the lower Noatak River, and from Kivalina and Point Hope on the coast.
242
USING THE HARVEST
The methods of trade vary from time to time and from person to person.
Most upriver people have relatives, friends, or formal trading partners on the
coast who provide a regular supply of trade goods. Some exchanges, espe-
cially those made through traditional partnerships, involve only subsistence
goods. For example, an Ambler man might send a whole caribou to his part-
ner in Point Hope who, in turn, sends ten gallons of seal oil the following
summer. Or, a Shungnak woman might give her Kotzebue partner a pair of
caribou skin boots and receive a bearded seal hide the next year.
Although most trade is still carried on through personal friends or rela-
tives today, it is based primarily on exchange of money rather than goods.
This means that Kobuk people buy marine products, paying prices determined
locally by supply and demand. Some years ago, for example, a fifteen-gallon
puuq (poke, sealskin bag) of seal oil sold for about $25. In 1975, oil was sold
in five-gallon cans for $25 to $30 each.
Seal oil is the most important item of trade, and its price is usually the
same among all sellers. Costs for other goods are more variable: For example,
an Ambler man bought a five-gallon container of seal oil mixed with dried
seal meat and pieces of blubber for $60. A Shungnak woman purchased a
one-gallon container of bowhead whale oil and blubber for $25. Prized whale
maktak may bring extraordinary prices: one man recalled paying $97 for two
chunks, each about 18 inches square.
Trade connections between different inland groups are less active today
than in the past. Kobuk Eskimos maintain their strongest ties with the Koyukuk
Athabaskans, whom they visit sporadically during the winter and spring. Seal-
skin-soled boots traded from the Kobuk River people are fairly common among
the Koyukon. Seal oil is another popular item of exchange. In return, the Eski-
mos receive Indian footgear and tanned moose hide. This trade apparently never
involves money, and it is carried out mainly to solidify friendships.
Seals and Whales
The most important animal involved in coastal-inland trade is the ringed
seal, which is abundant on the Chukchi Sea and Kotzebue Sound coast. Seal
oil (uqsruq), rendered from the animal's blubber, is the focus of this exchange.
Kobuk people use oil with almost every meal, and their per capita consump-
tion seems equal to (if not greater than) that of most coastal groups.
Seal oil is aged until it acquires a fermented smell and tangy flavor.
Coastal people usually discard oil or feed it to their dogs when it becomes too
strong, but the Kobuk River villagers would never do this. They prefer old oil
with a powerful smell and flavor, which has taken on a reddish coloration. As
described by an old Ambler man, good seal oil has "plenty of stink in it, and
you almost cough when you taste it. This is the kind coast people throw away,
but we love it." Seal oil has many uses in food preparation and storage, but it
is used most often as a dip for meat and fish. At meals, every person has a
small saucer of oil, and each small piece of meat or fish is dipped and liber-
al* 244
USING THE HARVEST < fS
?v/te
ally coated before it is eaten. This is done whether the food is eaten raw,
cooked, or dried.
Kobuk people occasionally obtain whole seals, primarily for the blubber
and oil. Strips of blubber, sliced into small pieces and eaten with meat or fish,
are considered a delicacy. Seal meat is not highly regarded, however, nor are
other parts that are relished by coastal people, such as flippers or intestines.
Ringed seal hides are also acquired from the coast and used for mak-
ing the upper parts of boots, boot ties, and clothing trim. The larger and
very tough bearded seal hides are far more valuable. They are used to make
boot soles or cut into strips of thong for snowshoe and sled lashings. Bearded
seal meat is also obtained from time to time, but it is not much sought after.
Kobuk villagers are occasionally able to acquire oil and blubber from
the bowhead whale or the beluga. These are used in the same way as seal oil
and blubber, but they are much harder to get. Maktak from either beluga or
bowhead whale is occasionally bought or traded from the coast. Most bel-
uga products come from Buckland and, to some extent, from the Kotzebue-
Sisualik area. Point Hope is almost the only source of bowhead whale prod-
ucts, which may pass through several hands before reaching the upper Kobuk
villages.
Finished goods such as parkas, mittens, and skin boots are also exchanged
between coastal and inland communities. The upriver people generally trade
clothing made from wolf, wolverine, caribou, or beaver hide, in return for
items of sealskin. Coastal footgear, made from waterproof sealskin, is espe-
cially valued by the Kobuk people. Products such as these are exchanged
mainly between close friends, partners, or relatives, and money is usually not
involved.
It is difficult to measure the economic importance of coastal-inland
trade. Although the volume of materials exchanged is small — a family may
obtain seal oil or hides only once or twice a year — this is no indication of its
significance. For example, waterproof bearded seal hide is an essential ma-
terial for the most popular winter footgear used by upper Kobuk villagers.
And seal oil is a part of every major meal.
Kobuk River people often speak of the hardship they feel when they run
out of seal oil. An Ambler woman said, "No matter how much we eat, we still
feel hungry, and without oil our stomachs are always sour." Commenting on
the high cost of oil, an old man said that he would simply have to pay the price,
regardless of how expensive it might become. "I just have to taste that oil when
I eat," he explained. Not surprisingly, of all the local foods sent to people who
are living away from the villages, seal oil is considered the most important.
Trade with the coast provides the Kobuk River people with food and
other materials that have great value within their culture and community.
Although the volume of goods may not be large, their economic importance
must still be rated very high.
245 «st£
USING THE HARVEST
Traditional Medicines
The modern Kuuvaymiut rely on various western health care facilities
available in the region, but they also follow their own traditional medical
practices. Many of these practices involve the use of plant and animal parts.
The following information was given by Lulu Geary (Tuttugruk) from
Buckland and Lucy Foster (Akugluk) from Noorvik, who was born in Kivalina.
It is presented here as translated and written by Nita Sheldon Towarak, fol-
lowing the original narratives as closely as possible:
Long ago, when people cut themselves they covered the wound
with sargiq (wormwood). When they had chest pains (qatiganrjurut)
or an uncomfortable feeling in the chest, they boiled or cooked it
and drank the liquid. Sargiq is still used, but not as often as before.
They also ate juniper berries (tulukkam asriat, "the raven's ber-
ries") when they had chest pains. It is said that when they ate them
they always got well. They boiled the leaves and stems also.
When a person's blood does not flow right (aurja iglilguinnia-
gaqsipman) they use Hudson's bay tea (tilaaqqiuq) like they drink
regular tea. They always get better when they drink this kind of
tea. Hudson's bay tea can also be used when a person has food
poisoning (niggiqfuktuq) . After the person has vomited he is given
tilaaqqiuq. This is said to cure immediately. Even in the summer,
when tilaaqqiuq is green, it can be used as medicine.
When a person lost his appetite (nigitlaiqsuq) and was having gall
bladder (surjaq) problems, he was given cranberries (kikminnaq) .
First they were boiled and then mixed with seal oil. A person who
lost weight and strength and was not hungry was treated with this
type of medicine to help him crave food. This is what they used to
help a person who had become weak.
A person who had a toothache (kigutinrjuruq) would bite on
sulukpaugaq (grayling) dorsal fin. After biting on the fin for a while
the toothache would go away.
When a person had a sore throat (iggianyuruq) with white patches
and nothing could be done, a long, thin strip of blubber was used
as medicine. It was held so that a person swallowed it in and out.
This was done so he would throw up and get all the dirt out of his
throat. He would feel better afterward.
Before tonsils were ever removed in hospitals, people poked them
when the tonsils got old and soft. This let the fluid come out. The
sick person got well because the tonsil was full of pus before the
treatment. But sometimes people died from this.
When a child has sores (white spots) on his tongue (qangiqsuq),
and when he starts drooling, you can get young or adult swallows
from the nest, kill them, and let them dry after plucking the feath-
R5&'?fM
a£i&* 246
USING THE HARVEST t^
ers. Afterward, whenever someone has a sore tongue you rub the dried
swallow on it, and the child gets well.
When a child has seizures (qiluragaq) , seal oil can be boiled so the
smell is taken away, and then sugar is added to it. After letting the
medicine cool off, it is injected into the rectum of the child (enema),
and he will get well. The child starts burping the seal oil because it
comes up through the intestines. When it goes back down, the child
gets hungry. It is like washing him out. When a child gets sick with
this kind of symptom he looks like he is dead, and the only thing that is
with him is his breath.
A person who has a very bad cold (nuvaksiqpak) and cannot smell
anything can be treated with fermented salmon. Fish that is so decayed
that it is not edible is put on the nose area and the outside part of the
throat. When a person cannot stop a cough and he is coughing con-
stantly (quhiqpauraq, whooping cough), he is given tilaaqqiuq
(Hudson's bay tea) to drink. The only way it can be made is by boiling
it just right, and it is drunk with no other mixtures.
For a person who has a continuous nosebleed (auklittuq) the Inupiaq
nurse uses her fingers to put pressure on the bridge of the patient's
nose. Another method is to press on the nostrils.
For someone who has a very bad headache (niaqunnuruq) , the skin
may be pierced between the eyebrows or on some other part of the
head. But you have to be very careful because there is a muscle like
sinew above the eyes, and if you poke (kapi) it, the skin will fall into
the eyes. You pinch the skin up with your fingers and give the poke
sideways, not into the skull. This is done so that the old blood will go
out. Long ago, people were afraid of going blind so this was practiced
widely. It is said everything will get brighter after bloodletting.
When any part of your body is hurting, you can (kapi) it. For example,
there is a hole in the ankle which is the joint, and you can (kapi) straight
down into it. This is also done in your kneecap. A poke can also be
given on any vertebrae of the back, but it has to be done on the side of
the vertebra because of the sinew.
Although bloodletting can be used on any part of the body, there is
great danger involved. When a poke is given, one has to watch out, and
that is why the thumb plays an important part in bloodletting. It deter-
mines where a poke is to be given. You can feel it because of the blood
that gathers in the afflicted area. When too much blood stays in the
ankle or knee too long it will eat the bone and get pussy. If nothing is
done immediately, the pus will turn to water. Traditional doctors sug-
gest that blood be let out immediately. The depth that the kappun (in-
strument used for bloodletting) is poked in depends on the part of body
where it is inserted. For example, it is inserted three inches deep in the
hip joint. The average kappun is about three inches long, and the blade
is usually thin and sharp at the tip. Long ago jade was used, but steel
blades have replaced them.
247
^•V';> USING THE HARVEST
When a person has snow blindness (illuk), and he continues to have it despite warnings,
he is punctured between his eyes with a kappun. This is so blood can be drawn out,
because the blood is thought to be old.
Long ago, if a person had snow blindness with a sty, they used lice (kumak). People had
a lot of lice then, and they would find one for the patient's eye. The kumak was tied with
a strand of human hair, then put into the eye, and it would scratch the sty off.
When the center {inua, meaning "it's living being") of a boil (ciyuaq) is ready to be
removed, it can be done by pulling a human hair and using it to take the center out, so it
won't grow again. After taking the center off, the boil is covered and bandaged with
sargigruaq (wormwood), so it cannot become infected and leave a scar.
Before there were modern medicines or nurses, if someone had a very bad cut (killiq),
warm urine was used to clean it. The urine would stop the bleeding quickly and the cut
would not become infected. If a cut would not heal, they bandaged it with sargiq (worm-
wood). People who lived near the ocean used blubber when it was available. The blubber
was cut into thin strips and placed on the wound, or seal oil was boiled and used to
cleanse and soak the cut. Today, if a child gets a cut his parents or the child himself will
put Mercurochrome or iodine around the injured area. If a circle is drawn around the cut
with this medicine, people believe it will stop infection from spreading.
If a small child's liver swells up (tirjukiuq) , and his nose begins to quiver and he does not
eat, a rabbit skin is soaked in seal oil and warmed, then placed on the child's stomach and
tied like a belt. This is done so the seal oil will seep into the liver and make it soft. The
child will then become lively again.
A person with a bad appendix was cured by pressing it lightly, working the contents into
the intestines, and then draining it to mosses. It takes a long time to drain it. Afterward,
the person is given frozen sheefish or anything cold to eat. Sometimes the appendix
would burst during this process and the patient would die. A person who died of appendi-
citis was diagnosed by the blue coloration of skin on his armpits and neck area.
When a woman was to have a baby, her husband built a small framed hut (uqquutaq)
where she would deliver the child. Although someone brought food for her, she went
through the childbirth alone. Afterward, she would go to a snow house, called anigutyaq,
for four days, because she was very qwjuq (contaminated). Then she would go back to
the main house.
Long ago, the people did not use soap and water for bathing. At the first part of the
month, they closed the smokehole in the top of the house and then spent the whole night
sweating. After spending some time sweating, the person went outside to wipe himself
with fresh snow, and then he went in and dried. His body felt weak and light afterward.
People waited for fresh snow to fall before taking a sweat bath.
The Eskimos of long ago were very knowledgeable people. Broken arms, broken legs,
frostbite, or freezing rarely occurred, because they were careful and did not play around
with liquor. But after contact with the outside world there was the introduction of liquor
where the people lose some of their sense of identity, including social and physical con-
trol. Long ago when conditions were hard they stayed at home. No one had to say, "He
got frostbitten," or anything of this sort. People always watched to see what type of day it
would be, and they were very knowledgeable about weather conditions. They were very
cautious people."
248
Part 5
The Patterns of Change
SUBSISTENCE AND ENVIRONMENT *$f&2
Chapter 13
Subsistence and Environment
To the passing eye, the taiga environment of the Kobuk River Eskimos
is a monotonous repetition of itself. There are uniform sweeps of tun
dra, expanses of undiversified timber, lakes and ponds, creeks and riv-
ers, all apparently identical and all integrated into a pattern that seems to
recur endlessly. Added to this impression of homogeneity is a feeling of time-
lessness and immutability. It seems that the plants and animals of this land
must always be widely scattered, uniformly scarce, and constant in numbers.
In fact, these impressions of uniformity and changelessness are com-
pletely incorrect. From the standpoint of human utilization, the dominant char-
acteristics of this environment are uniqueness of specific resource places and
variability of resources through time. These two phenomena play a funda-
mental role in determining the nature of Kuuvarj mint subsistence.
Localized Nature of Resources
Anyone who observes Kobuk villagers hunting and gathering will be
struck by their intimate knowledge of the animals and plants on which they
live. Clearly, an understanding of the behavior and ecology of prey species is
one key to the hunter's success. But in the Kobuk people's taiga environment
there is another key as well. To make a subsistence livelihood they must know
every detail of the natural landscape, as it exists during each season and under
every condition.
This knowledge of the landscape is essential for two reasons. First, it is
the basis of navigation and pathfinding, as people travel widely by land or
water pursuing their livelihood. Second, to exploit the resources of this envi-
ronment, people must know exactly where to find them. The Kobuk valley
contains a profusion of specialized resource places, scattered in an unpredict-
able mosaic across the land. Location of these places cannot be predicted
because no two environments or micro-environments are identical, at least
not from the standpoint of human use. Every bend of the river, patch of forest,
or stretch of tundra, and every valley, pond, hillside, muskeg, or stand of
brush presents a somewhat different pattern of resources. Each is unique.
Some are devoid of usable resources; some are rich; some are productive
according to chance, season, or special conditions.
Thus, Kobuk River people must learn the land's pattern of resources if
they are to make a livelihood from it. The Kuuvarjmiut have access to count-
less generations of accumulated experience in their homeland. Their knowl-
edge of the terrain is continually passed on, enriched, and altered as the
251
'"*,<.;.
SUBSISTENCE AND ENVIRONMENT
configurations of the natural landscape change through time. And so, their
knowledge is a living thing, a part of the culture and simultaneously a part of
the land which sustains that culture. There can be no more intimate connec-
tion between humans and environment.
Beyond simply recognizing the pattern of localized resources, the
Kuuvarjmiut must also know the conditions that will make these resource
places productive. Each place is known for a particular species of plant or
animal (sometimes several species) found there in a certain season, part of a
season, or special set of circumstances. Localized resources are usually time-
specific in ways that can be predicted if the place and the species are known
well enough. So the Kobuk hunter-gatherers conceptualize the landscape as
an arrangement of distinct resource places in a state of continual change, and
this understanding is the basis for their daily subsistence activities.
Examples of Localized Resources
The following examples show how animal and plant species tend to be
localized in the Kobuk Valley, and the way this affects people's subsistence
activities.
Caribou. The caribou is well-known for its tendency to turn up almost
anywhere and according to unforeseeable, unpredictable impulses. To an ex-
tent this is true, but caribou movements follow some predictable patterns,
especially in their migratory routes. During the fall and spring migrations,
caribou usually move through certain valleys and low passes in the Kobuk
region, such as the Ambler/Redstone and the Hunt river drainages. The most
favored specific area, however, is Onion Portage, where caribou nearly al-
ways congregate and cross the river in large numbers. Hunters from many
villages converge on this place each fall to take advantage of its special at-
tractiveness to caribou.
Migrations are strongly affected by geographic features that funnel ani-
mals through certain places. During other times of year it is not so easy to
predict where caribou will be found, but the Kuuvarjmiut have learned some
patterns. For example, in early January of 1975, Shungnak people needed
fresh meat, but no caribou could be located in the immediate area. An elder
advised hunters to look along the windswept west and southwest slopes of
Rabbit Mountain, where the snow cover would be thin and the land would
catch direct sunshine. Hunters went to this place shortly afterward and found
caribou exactly where the old man said they would be.
Bear. Certain spots or areas are known for being particularly attractive
for black and grizzly bears. For example, the Ambler people know of two
areas that are good for bears during the fall. One is along a stretch of tundra
between the Hunt and Nuna rivers, and the other is a portion of the lower
Redstone River, where bears are attracted by spawning salmon and large
patches of blueberries.
252
SUBSISTENCE AND ENVIRONMENT <££«
Wolf and Wolverine. Surprisingly, these two wandering species are
more abundant in certain areas than in others. For example, the south end of a
long peninsula of tundra near Onion Portage is known as an excellent place
for hunting or trapping these animals during winter. People sometimes call
this area a "wolf crossing," because the animals pass through here as they
move between the Kobuk and Noatak river valleys.
Beaver and Muskrat. These animals favor certain known lakes, ponds,
sloughs, and stretches of river. Some of the lakes south of the Hunt River are
heavily populated with muskrats, for example, while some others have only a
few, and still others inexplicably have none at all. Villagers have to learn a
pattern like this through experience; it cannot be known by simply looking at
the lakes. Similarly, beavers tend to frequent certain bodies of water (or parts
of rivers and streams) and not others. Ambler people single out the Milugiat
River as having the best beaver concentrations in their area.
Mountain Sheep. This is a highly localized species. Kobuk River vil-
lagers know of several mountains or specific parts of mountains where sheep
tend to congregate throughout the year, and these places are hunted to the
virtual exclusion of all others.
Moose. Certain large stands of willow along the Kobuk River are for
some reason especially attractive to moose during the fall and winter. These
stands, identified only through years of experience, are recognized and fa-
vored by village hunters.
Waterfowl. Ducks and geese have a strong tendency to congregate in
certain places at specific times of the year. During the spring, they fly along
particular aerial pathways and over certain lakes, and in the fall they are at-
tracted to completely different places. When villagers hunt ducks and geese,
they choose from a large number of known places, depending on the season,
weather, means of travel, and other factors.
Fish. Hundreds of highly localized fishing places are known along the
Kobuk River, its tributaries, and nearby lakes. Some of these spots are used
for gill netting during only one season, others are used during two or more
seasons, and a few can be used year round. There are places used only for
seining, others used for catching certain species with rod and reel, and still
others where fish are caught by jigging through the ice. Similarly, people use
certain places for a particular kind offish trap, again depending on the spe-
cies offish and the season.
For example, from March until breakup, pike can be jigged through the
ice of Amigituut Lake, south of the Hunt River mouth. People can take large
numbers of them, but only by fishing at one specific place in the lake. Else-
where in the lake, or in any of the surrounding lakes, a fisherman will catch
nothing. In late spring, for a few weeks after breakup, there is excellent gill
netting for pike, whitefish, and suckers in a small slough near Onion Portage.
This place is named Siglauraq because it is a reliable source of food during
the lean time after breakup.
SUBSISTENCE AND ENVIRONMENT
Examples of localized fishing places, for particular methods at particu-
lar seasons, could be multiplied endlessly. Knowledge of local patterns is
essential for this complex of subsistence activities.
Spruce. Although stands of white spruce look very much alike, there
are marked differences when it comes to their use by people. For example, in
some areas there are many standing dead trees with a straight grain, which
allows for easy splitting. These places are strongly favored for firewood cut-
ting. In certain other areas the trees are tall but have an extremely twisted
grain, making them unsuitable for firewood because they are hard to split.
There are also stands of straight, towering spruce with few branches — ideal
trees for house logs. These stands are so rare and valuable that someone who
plans to build a house may cut logs as much as 40 river miles away and then
raft them down river to the village.
Edible Plants. All species of edible plants grow only in certain places, and
their abundance or productivity differs greatly from one spot to another. For
example, wild chives are found in many areas along the Kobuk River, but in two
spots they grow far more abundantly than anywhere else. One of these is Paalitaaq,
at Onion Portage, where Ambler people gather almost all of their chives. The
other, Siksrikpaich, yields more chives but is far from any settlement.
Berries are always restricted to patches or small areas where conditions
are ideal for them. Usually a given place is good for only one or two species,
and a few people will come there to pick each year. But there is one place, on
the upper slopes of Manuilisat Mountain (north of Ambler), where blueber-
ries, cranberries, crowberries, and salmonberries flourish. On the lower slopes
there are also excellent stands of birch for bark and sled lumber. Like so
many other resource places, this one has no distinctive physical features to set
it apart, so it is only known through chance discovery sometime in the past.
Wind. Weather has a great effect on the use and availability of resources,
and it is strikingly localized in the Kobuk River valley. For example, Shungnak
village has stronger and more frequent winds than Ambler, although only 35
miles of flat land separate the two places. An east wind at Shungnak blows as
a north wind at Ambler, or it may not blow at all. Ambler people often know
that an easterly gale is blowing only by seeing clouds of snow drifting over
the tundra south of their village.
The area from Shungnak west to Pitcjiq Lake (eight miles southeast of
Ambler) is known as windy country. From Pitqiq Lake west to Onion Por-
tage, winds are usually much lighter. Then, from Onion Portage west to
Tulukkaal (five miles west of the mouth of the Hunt River), the winds are
very powerful. This blows the snow into hard drifts and allows easy winter
travel without need for established trails. Westward from Tulukkaal is a stretch
of calm country, where the deep powder snow makes travel extremely diffi-
cult away from regular trails. The area of the Hunt River mouth is a notorious
wind funnel, where passing boats have been blown onto the beach in summer,
and where winter travelers pass only during quiet weather. Kobuk villagers
>54
SUBSISTENCE AND ENVIRONMENT <ffffs
must always consider such localized wind patterns as these in planning their
subsistence activities.
Localized Resources at Two Traditional Campsites
The Kobuk people usually establish their long-term camps in excep-
tionally rich places, where many localized resources are found close by and
they can do a variety of subsistence activities with minimum travel. The two
sites described here are among the richest on the upper Kobuk River, and they
have been heavily used for many generations.
First Camp. This site is located at the mouth of a tributary that flows
into the Kobuk between Shungnak and Ambler. The tributary flows through a
large tundra area and drains many lakes that are well populated with pike,
suckers, and whitefish. Localized resources and subsistence activities focused
around this camp include the following:
Wind. The camp is open to a fairly steady north wind that blows
in this area. This helps to dry the large quantities offish people
catch, split, and hang on open racks here. It is also pleasantly cool-
ing on hot summer days and suppresses the mosquitos, which tor-
ment people when it is calm.
Spring gill netting. People set their nets in the tributary and nearby
in the Kobuk River for several weeks after breakup. Their catches
include exceptionally fat humpback whitefish as well as broad
whitefish, pike, suckers, and grayling.
Summer seining. Several good seining places for salmon and broad
whitefish are located just above this camp in the Kobuk River,
close enough for easy access by boat.
Summer gill netting. Gill nets are set inside the mouth of the
tributary for broad whitefish, humpback whitefish, and pike. Just
outside the mouth, in the Kobuk River, the nets make good catches
of salmon and whitefish.
Summer hooking. Grayling, sheefish, and pike are taken with rod
and reel around the tributary mouth.
Fall seining. Least cisco, humpback whitefish, and broad white-
fish are seined during the fall, just outside the tributary mouth and
at several nearby places up the Kobuk River.
Fall gill netting. Nets are placed inside the mouth of the tributary
where large numbers of broad and humpback whitefish, pike, and
burbot congregate.
Burbot trapping. After freeze-up, traps can be set for burbot at a
place just outside the mouth of the tributary.
Plant gathering. Cranberries, blueberries, Eskimo potato, and abun-
dant wild rhubarb can be found at specific places near this camp.
255
SUBSISTENCE AND ENVIRONMENT
Hunting and trapping. Migrating waterfowl are taken in good
numbers at the mouth of the tributary. Bears are often hunted in
this area during the fall, and caribou frequent the nearby tundra at
various times of the year. A tower was built here for scanning the
flat surrounding country to find caribou. During the spring, musk-
rats and beavers are taken in a number of large lakes along the tribu-
tary.
Second Camp. This is another very rich traditional campsite, located
on the north side of the Kobuk River downstream from Ambler, near the
mouth of a slough and several miles from a major tributary. Localized re-
sources and subsistence activities focused around this camp include the fol-
lowing:
Wind. Like the first camp, this place is favored by north winds dur-
ing the summer, though it is partially sheltered by the timber and
terrain. Wind is a greater factor here during winter, when it blows
with tremendous strength and curtails activities for long periods.
Spring gill netting. The mouth of the slough is an excellent place
for netting whitefish, pike, and suckers for several weeks after
breakup.
Summer seining. Three seining places are located in the Kobuk
River just below this campsite. Catches of salmon and broad white-
fish can be made here during June and July.
Summer gill netting. An exceptionally good eddy is located in
the Kobuk River at this camp, where salmon, sheefish, pike, and
broad whitefish are taken in large quantities. Nets are also set for
whitefish and pike inside the nearby slough.
Summer hooking. The offshore eddy here is one of the best
sheefish hooking places on the upper Kobuk River. During July,
people regularly travel here from Ambler for rod-and-reel subsis-
tence fishing. Pike hooking is done in the slough throughout the
summer and fall.
Fall seining. During the fall, sheefish and whitefish are seined in
two places located just downstream from the campsite.
Fall gill netting. The large eddy offshore is an excellent place for
catching salmon, sheefish, and whitefish in the fall. Nets for pike,
sucker, whitefish, and burbot are placed inside the mouth of the
neighboring slough.
Early winter gill netting. Whitefish, sheefish, trout, and burbot can
be taken with nets set under the ice offshore from the campsite.
Burbot trapping. A traditional burbot trap site is located in the
Kobuk River just below this campsite.
Plant gathering. Wild rhubarb, blueberries, cranberries, and abun-
dant crowberries are found in the immediate area of this campsite.
SUBSISTENCE AND ENVIRONMENT *$?£s
Hunting. This camp is located in what is perhaps the best hunting
area of the upper Kobuk valley. Caribou migrations tend to funnel
through here in the fall and spring, and the animals sometimes
winter nearby as well. Moose are commonly taken along the river
in this vicinity. Good stands of willow around this area are excel-
lent habitat for ptarmigan and snowshoe hares.
Waterfowl hunting. This too is exceptional in this area. One of
the best hunting places is located just upriver and another favorite
shooting spot is within a few hundred yards of the campsite.
Furbearing animals. These are unusually common in this area.
Fox, wolf, and wolverine are often taken on the tundra and along
the river nearby. Muskrat and beaver frequent some of the adja-
cent sloughs and lakes.
These two outlines of localized resource patterns at specific campsites
should not be taken as typical situations — indeed the opposite is true. They
are favored because the surrounding environment creates an unusual concen-
tration of resources. Usually, a given place will have only a few usable re-
sources nearby, with other resources scattered at varying distances in the sur-
rounding area. Even at the two sites described, the hunting, fishing, and gather-
ing places are spread over an area of several miles, and many could be found
only by someone who knows the local landscape well.
Dynamic Nature of Resources
The examples given above show that resources are not only localized,
they are also available only during certain times of the year. The Kuuvatjmiut
must know both the location of resource places and the exact time when each
place will be productive. These conditions are seasonal and predictable: Cari-
bou migrate through specific valleys in September; moose congregate along
the river in August; fish can be caught in certain places following breakup.
Thus, the abundance or availability of utilized species changes drastically at
different times of the year.
But certain other changes in resource availability are more predictable.
Some of these changes are short-term, as when a species is absent or difficult
to obtain for a year, a season, or part of a season, because of some temporary
condition. Other changes are longer-term and often cyclic, so that a species
becomes scarce or unavailable for a period of years or even decades. These
shifts are not always negative; resources also become more available for vari-
ous lengths of time. Marked fluctuations in availability affect almost every
significant resource utilized by the Kobuk Eskimos, and this profoundly af-
fects the subsistence economy in several ways.
Short-term Variations
Caribou. The availability of caribou changes from year to year accord-
ing to their movements. For example, if fall snows south of the Brooks Range
SUBSISTENCE AND ENVIRONMENT
are unusually heavy or become severely crusted by a thaw, caribou might stay
north of the range or in the mountains. This can temporarily delay the migration
and curtail the fall hunts, or it may keep most of the animals north of the Kobuk
region for the entire winter, as occurred in 1956-57 (Hemming 1971:13).
In the fall of 1974, caribou did not move into the Kobuk valley until
freeze-up time. Hunters were unable to reach them by boat because the river
was frozen, and overland travel was impossible because there was no snow.
As a result, the fall hunt was poor. Fortunately, part of the Arctic herd win-
tered in the valley, so the villagers obtained their meat later on.
Occasionally there is a heavy rain during the winter, which leaves a thick
crust on the snow. Caribou (and moose) have a hard time feeding, so they move
high on the mountains, where lower temperature always prevents winter rain.
There they can survive, although they tend to become lean. It is very hard for
hunters to reach these animals, which are of poor quality in any case.
Bears. Black and grizzly bears are apparently affected by year-to-year
changes in the berry crop. In good berry years, hunters usually encounter
many bears, but in poor years they see very few. This fluctuation also indi-
cates the highly variable nature of berry crops, which are themselves an im-
portant resource.
Waterfowl. Ducks and geese tend to be fairly stable resources, but some
variations do occur. There are good and bad years for waterfowl hunting,
depending mainly on weather conditions during the migration that affect both
birds and hunters. In some years there are simply fewer ducks or geese than
normal, which also results in poor takes.
Fish. Kobuk River salmon runs are quite variable from year to year, so
the subsistence take fluctuates a great deal. Catches of all fish species can be
curtailed severely when prolonged rains bring high water for part or all of a
season, so that gill nets cannot be used. Long wet spells can also ruin a season's
catch by causing it to spoil on the drying racks. In 1974, for example, nearly
all salmon taken in the summer spoiled because of cold, damp weather. Events
like these can drastically affect the local economy and force people to make
heavier use of other resources.
The effect of interrelated natural events on subsistence activities was
seen in recent years, when whitefish runs diminished in the Black River. An
increase in the beaver population apparently resulted in the damming of many
lake outlets, so the whitefish could no longer run down the river. Of course
decline in a resource like this causes people to compensate by harvesting the
same resource somewhere else or shifting toward other resources.
Long-term Variations
Caribou. The history of caribou populations and movements in the
Kobuk valley is a classic example of variability and its impact on subsistence
activities. Caribou were plentiful in this region during the nineteenth century,
a fact substantiated by archaeological evidence and the accounts of Kuuvarjmiut
,:■ ,►•'
SUBSISTENCE AND ENVIRONMENT <£**
elders. The population underwent a period of decline, however, reaching a
low point in the 1880s. At this time, the caribou retreated into a core area
north and west of the Kobuk and were rarely seen in the valley. Kobuk people
were forced to make long, arduous winter journeys into the Noatak valley to
find any caribou at all.
Then, around the turn of the century, caribou numbers grew, their range
expanded, and wintering animals moved east, west, and south into less crowded
areas (Hemming 1971 :3,5). By the 1940s, caribou began trickling back into
the Kobuk region, first in small numbers and then in ever-increasing numbers
as the herd continued to grow. Each year they returned in the fall and re-
mained until spring, as they still do today.
There are indications that the caribou population of northwest Alaska
reached its peak during the middle 1960s. It remains very high at present, but
some game biologists feel that a period of decline has set in. This pattern is
not unusual, since caribou populations everywhere seem to fluctuate con-
stantly. According to some authorities, these changes are cyclic over a period
of about 100 years.
Although caribou are now seasonally abundant in the Kobuk valley,
there is every reason to expect that they will not always be so. If the popula-
tion declines the range will probably contract again, and Kobuk people will
be forced to enlarge their hunting territory. A Kuuvanmiut elder, recounting
the long hunting journeys of his youth, saw the pattern clearly:
I know caribou won't be around here some day. Look, where people
lived long ago, lots of caribou bones. Piles of them. They didn't
pack those bones over from the Noatak! They hunted right here.
But then all of a sudden no caribou around here — nothing. I don't
know for how long. Then caribou come around again all the time,
the way it is now. Some of these days, going to change again and
no more caribou. We have to travel then, just like before.
Moose. These animals are common today in the Kobuk valley, but be-
fore the turn of the century they could only be found by traveling far south
into the Koyukuk River drainage. Old men remember making winter trips to
the Hogatza River, where they shot moose and brought home as much as their
sleds could haul.
Around 1910, Eskimos began finding moose far up in the Kobuk drain-
age, around the Pah River flats. Over the next 50 years the animals gradually
spread downriver, as they are still doing today. This movement is only part of
a dramatic expansion of the moose range throughout the north. It has intro-
duced an entirely new resource into the Kobuk valley, but the villagers do not
see this as a permanent change. Many believe that moose have already begun
to decline in the upper Kobuk while they are still increasing in areas toward the
coast. They interpret this change as a westward movement of the entire herd.
Although the moose range is still expanding in northern Alaska, there is
no way to predict whether moose will continue to increase, reach a point of
259 <©2
stability, or undergo a decline. The Kobuk River people, accustomed to liv-
ing with constant environmental change, feel that the moose might someday
be gone again.
Small Game. Ptarmigan and snowshoe hares are very important in the
Kobuk subsistence economy during some years, but both species experience
sharp changes in population. Ptarmigan numbers vary considerably from year
to year, according to snow and weather conditions, and they apparently have
cyclic population changes of some magnitude over longer periods. Hares ex-
perience drastic cycles with roughly 10 years between high points. During
population peaks they are prolific and during lows they are hardly seen.
Beaver. According to Kobuk villagers, beaver populations have under-
gone considerable change over the last 20 or 30 years. They have apparently
declined in the upper Kobuk-Pah river regions, while they have increased in
the Selawik-Kugarak river drainages. The Kuuvaymiuf interpret this change
as a gradual westward migration of beaver.
Muskrat. In the upper Kobuk area, muskrats were abundant until a few
years ago, but they have suddenly declined to a point of relative scarcity.
Spring muskrat catches, formerly large in some areas, have decreased to al-
most nothing. Muskrats are now found only in the most favored areas, and
hunters must travel long distances to make a sizable catch.
Porcupine. In the 1 920s, porcupines were very common in this region,
but they have become relatively scarce today.
Fish. It is difficult to interpret long-term changes in the number offish
taken. Nevertheless, Kobuk people do believe that chum salmon have cyclic
population changes, and that salmon and sheefish have both gradually de-
clined in recent decades (Foote 1 966: 1 2).
Whatever the cause may be, it is certain that localized fishing places
have marked long-term changes in productivity, caused by alterations in the
river and its tributaries. Eddies where gill nets are set can become larger or
smaller, appear or disappear, as the river shifts its course, deposits silt, and
erodes its banks. A traditional fish camp may become unproductive if the net
sites nearby are destroyed. For example, a major communal netting site about
a mile above the mouth of the Ambler River was destroyed recently when it
became too shallow for nets. This important resource place for the entire
village of Ambler was lost, and people are now forced to crowd all of their
nets into a single eddy farther downstream.
Even major spawning places for salmon have been known to vanish
because of river changes. This happened on the Hunt River, above the
confluence of ' Nuqaqti Creek and Nuna River, where a well-known spawning
area was abandoned.
Changes like these are fairly common, but people can usually compen-
sate for the loss of old harvesting sites by finding new ones. The Kuuvarjmiut
subsistence economy has always been maintained through flexibility and ad-
aptation to new conditions as they occur.
260
SUBSISTENCE AND ENVIRONMENT <?ffs
Vegetation. Fires are common in the Kobuk region and can cause ma-
jor changes in the vegetation over substantial areas of terrain. Most fires kill
large numbers of trees but leave them standing, so after about two years the
seasoned timber is an excellent source of firewood. A burn near Ambler some
time ago created enough firewood to last for many years. Of course, fires
cause other changes in vegetation resources, destroying some and creating
others through the successional process that follows.
Explanations of Variation and Localization
Long-term fluctuation of animal populations is a dominant ecological
process in boreal forest environments like the Kobuk valley. Although broadly
cyclic population changes take place over vast areas of the north and have
been studied extensively, natural scientists have not found a widely accepted
explanation for them. Snowshoe hare and ruffed grouse, and certain of their
predators, are best known for rhythmic changes in numbers. But the external
cause for these elaborately documented cycles is still a mystery.
The Kobuk River people, from their regional perspective, explain most
population changes as the result of movements. Moose became common be-
cause they left some other place and came to the Kobuk country, and they are
declining again because they are moving on. This same explanation is offered
for caribou, beaver, muskrat, hare — any animal that is common at one time
and scarce at another. One Kuuvarjmiut elder repeated what he learned as a
youth, that animal populations constantly shift in a circular pattern ("maybe
clear around the world"), and that their reappearances in a given area cause
cyclic population changes.
Fires are another important cause of long-term changes in resource avail-
ability. It is estimated that approximately one million acres are burned by
wildfires each year in Alaska (Viereck 1973:170). These fires, which burn
forest and tundra, have occurred throughout the Kobuk region. Fire-altered
succession greatly changes the vegetation and creates a mosaic of differently
aged stands. Fire is so universal that, "with the exception of a few scattered
stands, the vast majority of Alaska is estimated to have been burned over the
last 200-250 years'1 {Ibid. 470).
The effects of fire on wildlife vary considerably. It probably makes an
area unattractive to wintering caribou for up to 50 or 1 00 years. On the other
hand, burned areas become rich in moose forage within several years, remain
so for 15 to 20 years, and then decline in value as timber appears. Beavers
feed on the deciduous trees that replace brush growth some years after a fire,
but when spruce forest replaces these trees the beavers disappear. This se-
quence seems to be occurring in the Pah River flats, but it might be reversed
if a major tire burned the area. Snowshoe hares are also scarce in mature
forests but thrive in the brush that develops after a fire.
The vegetation patterns of taiga regions are further complicated by suc-
cession along the ever-changing river courses. As the rivers shift their chan-
261
SUBSISTENCE AND ENVIRONMENT
nels, timberland is destroyed in one area while soil is newly deposited else-
where. This process, combined with wildfires, prevents a uniform develop-
ment of vegetation. The diversity and constant change in plant communities
strongly affects animal populations, and helps to shape the pattern of
Kuuvcnjmiut subsistence activity.
Localization, Variation, and Subsistence Activities
Effects on Subsistence Range
The capacity to move to resource places when they are productive has
always been essential for Kobuk Eskimo subsistence. This applies to the use of
all plant and animal species, but especially to the main staples: caribou and fish.
The flesh of the caribou furnishes the natives with their chief means
of subsistence during the winter, and in hunting they are compelled
to follow them hundreds of miles, from place to place, over the
vast tundra plains in their restless search for food (Cantwell
1889:79).
During aboriginal times the Eskimos had no large or permanent settle-
ments; they lived in camps that could be moved whenever the need for re-
sources demanded it. Because transportation was limited — dog teams were
very small and boats were propelled by hand — their ability to travel long
distances and then bring back hunted or gathered goods was limited. In order
to survive, they had to be nomads who stayed near the herds of caribou wher-
ever they might be.
Arrival of the Europeans began a period of accelerated cultural and tech-
nological change. Villages grew up along the river, dog teams were enlarged
to provide greater mobility, and boats were powered by engines. But the dy-
namics of the environment remained the same. When caribou vanished from
the valley, people were still forced to follow them, traveling north into the
Noatak valley. During winter they used dog teams for these journeys, and in
summer they took boats up the tributaries, then crossed the mountain divides
on foot. Whatever they could haul on their sleds or their backs was brought
home to the new villages. The pattern and technology of subsistence changed,
but the imperative remained the same — the geographic range of activities
was determined by the location of resources. I lunters went to the game.
Then, as caribou herds increased, the animals spread south again, and
trips to the Noatak became a rarity. The territory used by Kobuk people grew
smaller as the need for distant trips diminished. At the same time, declining
fur prices led to a decline in trapping activity, and this further lessened the
need to exploit vast tracts of land. Other resources in the valley, such as moose,
also increased. During this period of concentrated resource wealth, people
remained mobile as always, but within a more restricted area. Again, the range
of activities was determined by the imperatives of the environment.
&> 262
SUBSISTENCE AND ENVIRONMENT <fffis
And so it will remain in the future. Hunters will go to the caribou, and
the location and size of the herds will determine the villagers' subsistence
range. If caribou are found only in one area of the Kobuk valley, villagers will
hunt there; if they remain in the Noatak country, villagers will hunt there.
Thus, Kobuk people may have to expand their territorial range in the future,
as environmental dynamics require. "It should be remembered ... that changes
in land utilization patterns will probably follow closely any future changes in
the distribution of caribou" (Foote 1966:49).
Although fish are restricted to the waterways, they are still not uniformly
available. The ecology of fishing in the Kobuk region is very complex and
has considerable bearing on the villagers' subsistence range. Kobuk people
point out that the tributaries which drain the mountain country north of the
river are all swift and clear, and these are used by salmon, sheefish, trout, and
certain species of whitefish. Tributaries draining from the tundra flats to the
south are discolored and slow, and these are used by pike, lake whitefish,
suckers, and burbot. These streams originate in the tundra flats. Thus, suc-
cessful subsistence fishing requires access to resources from both the north
and south tributaries of the Kobuk.
In addition, the fishing places are highly localized and time-specific for
each species. With the passage of seasons there is a constantly changing pat-
tern offish resources. During breakup, for example, fishing is done at par-
ticular sites that maybe used at no other time. In summer, different places are
used and different species are taken. The same is true in the fall and in the
early winter, as conditions follow their regular cycle of change.
Subsistence fishing demands that the villagers not only understand this
changing resource pattern, but also have the mobility to fish anywhere along
the entire Kobuk River or its tributaries as conditions dictate. In fishing, as in
caribou hunting, the range of subsistence activities is extensive, variable, and
determined by the imperatives of environment.
The two most important bases for survival were the fish and the
caribou. Success in the quest for these assured a comfortable ex-
istence. A bad salmon season, or a year in which the caribou var-
ied their migration might, on the other hand, bring about hardship
or even starvation (Giddings 1961 : 1 28).
Despite their mobility and their use of all available resource places,
Kobuk people have known times of food shortage. Most adults in the villages
can speak of these times from personal experience. When food shortages oc-
curred, hare and ptarmigan became the staple winter foods. In former times
caribou, moose, and beaver were scarce in the Kobuk country, so these small
animals were essential for meat. Fish was summer food; small game was
winter food. People caught thousands of hares and ptarmigan each year when
they were available. But of course, the same limitations apply to these ani-
mals as to any others. In some years there were almost no hares and ptarmi-
gan were also scarce, so the Kuuvarjmiut were hard put to find food. Today, of
263
SUBSISTENCE AND ENVIRONMENT
course, store-bought foods eliminate the threat of physical starvation, but they
do not prevent the hardship of dependence on a foreign diet.
Effects on World View and Land Concepts
Kobuk people live in an environment where nothing is ever certain.
Perhaps this explains why they often avoid committing themselves to long-
or short-range plans. An inexperienced outsider may become frustrated by
this reluctance, until he realizes that it is a practical adaptation to the realities
of life here.
"Will you go hunting tomorrow?"
"Maybe."
"Will you stay in your fish camp this summer?"
"I don't know, I might try it."
"Will you build a new house in the spring?"
"Possibly."
Plans are usually left open this way because a person can never be sure
about the animals or the weather. Carrying this recognition of uncertainty to its
logical extreme, Inupiat people who are asked if they will do something sev-
eral months or a year from now sometimes reply, "I might, if I'm still alive."
This same noncommittal attitude applies traditionally to the use of spe-
cific places or land areas. The Kuuvarjmiut are basically nonterritorial, though
they tend to focus their activities within certain areas to avoid competition for
resources. For example, the Ambler people usually hunt and fish no farther
west than the mouth of Anugituut Creek (a few miles west of the mouth of the
Hunt River). Beyond this stream lies the range of the Kiana people. This
restraint is not a strict territoriality; it is simply the normal limit of the subsis-
tence range. Within this range, people move anywhere according to familiar-
ity and preference, but if times are lean they go beyond it without compunc-
tion. If there are no caribou east of Anugituut Creek, Ambler hunters travel
farther downriver until they find some.
Along the same lines, certain families are oriented toward using spe-
cific parts of the village's range. Some Ambler families hunt and fish prima-
rily downriver, others tend to go upriver. These patterns result from years of
experience which have led to a deeper familiarity with the localized resource
places of a given area.
Certain families also tend to use specific fishing sites, camps, and snar-
ing places for hare and ptarmigan. This loosely defined "ownership" is main-
tained as long as the site is used regularly by the same family. Apparently the
idea is not so strong that access would be denied to anyone. All families have
used many different places for fishing, camping, and snaring over periods of
years. People do not claim inviolate rights to specific areas, because this would
eventually cause a self-defeating restriction of everyone's essential mobility
and flexibility.
!g> 264
SUBSISTENCE AND ENVIRONMENT <'.;
Private property rights granted to individuals under the 1906 Native
Allotment Act have begun to affect this traditional land ethic. Under this Act,
many Kuuvarjmiut villagers have claimed land, up to the limit of 160 acres,
based on a family history of use for camps or other purposes. Once ownership
is granted, immobile resources such as timber cannot be removed from an
allotment without permission, nor may another person camp or build there.
Because the plots are poorly marked, and because people are accustomed to
free access to land, violations of these exclusive rights have been frequent
and bad feelings have resulted.
Some villagers now feel that the individual land allotments were ill con-
ceived for an area such as this. While they give people a right to some land,
they also bind them to specific places and subvert the basic patterns of subsis-
tence living. The idea of the allotment was based on a sedentary, agrarian
pattern rather than taking a fundamentally nomadic lifeway into account. Thus,
individual land allotments undermine the Kobuk people's customary pattern
of communal land use and de facto ownership of the entire surrounding terri-
tory. "How can we choose one piece of land for our own?" an Ambler man
asked. "We can't say we use this one place, or some other place, all the time.
It doesn't work like that."
The Open Land Concept
In effect, the Kobuk Eskimos use all of their territory some of the time,
but none of their territory all of the time. Each person has potential claim to
every part of the land used by the community. This open land concept is
manifested constantly in the Kobuk villagers' approach to subsistence.
A non-Native settler lived in the Kobuk valley, away from any of the
villages. Near his home there was a porcupine, which he enjoyed seeing and
never disturbed. When an Inupiaq visitor learned of it and wanted to take it
for food, the settler would not tell him where to find it. His refusal was in-
comprehensible to the visitor, who did not share the settler's interest in ani-
mal watching. But more than this, the settler was denying him access to game,
a necessity of life, and violating the Kuuvarjmiut people's ethical code. The
villager protested, in extreme frustration, that one person must always tell
another where game is located, and that anyone could take game at any time,
regardless of where it may be found.
The contemporary villagers clearly feel that everyone living within a
given region should have equal access to the land's resources. A person should
not claim these resources for private use, should share his harvest among
others, and should not use unfair advantage to obtain more than anyone else.
These feelings are evident in the villagers' attitude toward anyone who lives
permanently outside the settlement. Now that permanent communities exist
and people are committed to them, no one should reside out in the bush.
Doing so gives the advantage of easy access to local resources, which are not
as readily available to those in the village. This interferes with the basic right
of free access to all land, since people feel that they cannot hunt or fish very
265 <8&i
.hS'"'7
p SUBSISTENCE AND ENVIRONMENT
near such an outpost. Having all of an area's residents within a village gives
everyone equal and unimpeded access to all surrounding land.
The relationship between Kobuk River people and the land is based on
these concepts of freedom and equality. Villagers can range across the terrain
unfettered by boundaries, unrestrained by foreign laws, unaffected by the
decisions of distant governments. Ethics and rules derive from their own cul-
ture and economic system, and they are most viable in a world remote from
the distant outside. Perhaps nothing is more valued by the villagers than their
identity as Ihupial and their inviolate freedoms on land they consider to be
under their guardianship.
These freedoms are primary elements of daily life in Kobuk communi-
ties. The land remains open for village people to use as custom dictates. Deci-
sions of when or where to travel and what activity to pursue are made accord-
ing to season and need. When a person travels, he is turned aside by no barrier
except a natural one. When he camps, he stays where he finds resources and
leaves when he has taken enough. And when he hunts, he kills what is neces-
sary without fear of judgment by anyone other than his village peers.
Freedom on the land has succeeded for the Kobuk people because their
needs have not gone beyond the ability of the environment to produce. Proof
that this system is successful can be seen in the Kobuk valley today, where
the land is undamaged, no species of animal has become endangered or ex-
tinct because of local overuse, and a viable subsistence economy remains
very much intact.
Subsistence Range — Present and Future
While subsistence has remained the Kobuk people's economic main-
stay, the geographic extent of subsistence activities has fluctuated consider-
ably during the past century. Over the past several decades, the subsistence
range has become increasingly concentrated within the Kobuk valley and near
existing settlements. Caribou have reached a peak of abundance and have
become easily available near the villages. At the same time, moose popula-
tions have reached a high point, commercial trapping has declined severely,
and fish and small game have remained fairly plentiful.
In short, the present-day Kobuk villagers are experiencing the greatest
abundance of natural resources known within memory or legend. This allows
them maximum access to game with minimal need to range over large ex-
panses of land. The addition of imported foods to the Native diet has further
strengthened this trend.
But what of the future? As long as the land provides in abundance, Kobuk
people will probably continue intensive use of a relatively limited range, mostly
within the Kobuk and adjacent Selawik river drainages. But there is little
chance that resources will stay at their present high level indefinitely. Cari-
bou may have already begun to decline, and if their range shifts the villagers
will surely move farther afield to hunt them. Moose populations could drop at
266
SUBSISTENCE AND ENVIRONMENT <£(P
any time, small game will undoubtedly become less abundant, and the avail-
ability offish will periodically decline. Chum salmon are now fished com-
mercially in Kotzebue Sound, and are therefore subject to the same decline
that has struck salmon elsewhere.
These changes might occur separately or in concert. They might be
gradual or they might take only a few years. The one certainty is that changes
in resource levels will happen and that they will affect the range of Kuuvamniut
subsistence activities.
If resources should decline, the villagers would be forced to travel more
widely for hunting, fishing, and gathering. Resources would remain local-
ized, as always, but specific resource places would yield less, so people would
need access to many more of them to maintain the same level of productivity.
They would also increase their use of species such as snowshoe hare, ptarmi-
gan, mountain sheep, and the less preferred kinds offish. Again, this change
would lead to a more intensive and extensive approach to subsistence, in-
creasing the need for an open, unbounded access to the surrounding land.
Limitation to the present range of utilization or to a portion of it would have
a serious detrimental impact on the subsistence economy.
If subsistence species should experience natural declines, tighter regula-
tion would be established on legal harvests. This might be combined with grow-
ing competition from outsiders for the resources, as Alaska's human popula-
tion is increasing and becoming more mobile. Thus, Kobuk people could find
themselves subsisting under the pressure of diminished resources as well as
limited access due to legal regulations. This would create the need for a greater
subsistence range, to allow maximum access to resources during times of avail-
ability, as determined either by physical presence or open seasons. In other
words, as the resource base diminishes, the need for mobility over larger areas
and free access to all parts of the subsistence range will increase.
Subsistence Activities and Kobuk Valley National Park
In 1980, a large area near the center of the Kuuvaijmiut homeland was
designated the Kobuk Valley National Park. This area is still extensively uti-
lized for subsistence by Kobuk River villagers and neighboring people from
the coast, as it was for thousands of years before the park was established. Its
overall importance for subsistence activity cannot be measured precisely be-
cause this varies for every resource every year. In a given period of time,
people might depend on this specific region for many resources, then at an-
other time they might focus more on the neighboring terrain. The main points
of access to one extremely important subsistence resource — caribou — are
located within Kobuk Valley National Park. Major routes for spring and fall
migrations arc inside the boundaries, as are portions of the wintering range.
In a specific year, most of the caribou taken by upper Kobuk residents
may come from national park land in the Hunt River-Onion Portage area.
During 1975. for example, the fall caribou hunt was sharply curtailed by a
267
SUBSISTENCE AND ENVIRONMENT
late southward migration, and by mid-winter the Ambler people were low on
meat. But wintering caribou appeared in the Hunt River area, and since the
animals were not being harassed by wolves they were in excellent condition
for human use. Villagers took their meat supply from these herds for several
months and were spared the hardship that would have come otherwise.
If this region had been closed to subsistence access, the villagers would
have been forced to live without caribou meat, their most important daily fare.
Fall rains had spoiled much of their fish catch, so what remained of it would have
been depleted quickly. Neither hare nor ptarmigan were available in enough
numbers to compensate for these shortages. Scattered wintering moose could
not make up for the lack of other resources. It would have been a long, diffi-
cult winter. But the caribou were there, and people had open access to them.
As long as Kobuk villagers follow a subsistence lifeway, the territory
they use cannot be confined within artificial boundaries or cut into sections
with permanently assigned uses. The nature of subsistence resources is in-
compatible with such limitations. Any part removed from a subsistence range
may be its vital core during a given time. Each portion of the terrain is an
integrated element of an ecological system that includes a human population.
This system is like an organism — it cannot function with an essential organ
removed. And in the Kobuk River valley, the land that has become a national
park is an essential part of the system.
If access to land within the national park is important today, during
these times of relative abundance, it could become far more so in the future.
When major resource species such as the caribou decline in numbers, the
Kobuk people will have to use all of their subsistence range and harvest some
species that are little utilized now. This means open access to land will be
essential as the environment undergoes normal processes of change.
The Kuuvarjmiut regard all of the land they have traditionally utilized as
their own. They have had free use and unbounded access to it — in effect,
ownership of it — for many centuries. Now, in the passing of a few years, they
find it being divided into parcels and removed from their "control" (though it
was never controlled, because there was no reason to think of land in that
way). The freedom they have known on this terrain has been abruptly ended,
and the land has been claimed by people from another place.
A Kobuk valley resident observed that outsiders consider this region a
wilderness. In fact it is not a wilderness, and it has not been for millennia. It is
an occupied land, sustaining a people and a culture that have grown out of it.
To the Kuuvaijmiut the Kobuk valley is a thoroughly known, elaborately named
mosaic of recognized places and features, each with a long history of human
occupancy, utilization, and associations. It may appear to some as an un-
known wilderness, but to the Kobuk Eskimos it is as familiar as the streets
and buildings of an outsider's home town. It is their land; they are a part of it;
it is a part of them.
,>'268
THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE <^
Chapter 14
The Present and the Future
Although they have experienced profound cultural changes over the
past century, the Kuuvarjmiut remain deeply involved with living on
and from the land. Every day of the year, some village residents are
involved with subsistence or related activities — hunting, gathering, fishing,
trapping, camping, traveling, woodcutting, or making and repairing equip-
ment. The topics of daily conversation also reflect the dominant place of sub-
sistence in people's thoughts.
But the Kobuk villagers' interest in subsistence goes far deeper than the
purely economic, because the patterning of their entire culture and society is
deeply rooted in subsistence living. Relationships among people are closely
bound to the need for cooperative endeavors and sharing the wild harvest.
Traditional modes of child rearing, education, and recreation are directly re-
lated to the hunting and gathering livelihood. Attitudes, ethics, and personal-
ity are all partly outgrowths of this way of life. And in recent times the course
of change in Kuuvarjmiut culture has been strongly influenced by the impera-
tives of subsistence living.
Subsistence and Cash Economics
Subsistence is still the economic mainstay of Kobuk Eskimo villages.
Kobuk people obtain large amounts of their protein and carbohydrates di-
rectly from the land. Most meals are dominated by Native foods, while im-
ported products are used mainly as a supplement. There is a generally held
opinion that strength and health can be maintained only through use of wild
meat and fish.
In addition, about half of the people own dog teams (and nearly all fami-
lies have a few dogs), which are supported almost entirely from the land.
Many homes are fully or partially heated by wood cut from surrounding for-
ests. And the raw material for traditional clothing and other locally made
goods is provided by subsistence.
To meet these needs, a large harvest of wild game, fish, and plants is
made each year by Kobuk River villagers. Needless to say, if the people had
to purchase an equal amount of imported food and other materials, it would
cost millions of dollars each year. Since few steady sources of cash income
are available here, the economic burden for supporting this population with-
out subsistence would rest primarily on the government. In other words, the
present alternative to subsistence is public support.
A viable cash economy does not exist now in the Kobuk region. Most
wage employment is seasonal and temporary, lasting for a few weeks to sev-
269 ■
««a;u'j
THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE
eral months each year. Villagers often find themselves living with a boom-
and-bust cash economy, which is considerably more fickle than the natural
resources that have traditionally supported them. The Alaska Pipeline, for
example: many Kobuk villagers have found temporary jobs during the con-
struction phase, but when the pipeline is completed few will be hired to oper-
ate and maintain it.
Villagers rarely know much in advance when they will find work, where
it will be located, and how long it will last. Most jobs are in construction,
forest fire fighting, and commercial fishing, which are all concentrated in the
summer and of unpredictable duration. These jobs are usually located in dis-
tant places like Kotzebue, Fairbanks, Anchorage, or the North Slope, so men
must leave their wives and children to earn money. The disruptive impact is
made greater by the large size of many families today, which creates a real
physical hardship for the parent left behind. Added to this is the emotional
difficulty of repeated separation.
Village people feel a need for cash income, which affords them basic
items such as radios, motorized transportation, or household appliances. But
considerable sacrifice is necessary to secure an income. For this reason, jobs
that take people away from the village are sought only as often as necessary
and short-term positions are definitely preferred. The few jobs available lo-
cally are sometimes a source of divisive competition. One solution is to shift
these positions around among the people so different families can enjoy the
benefits of local employment.
The disadvantages of wage employment tend to affirm the villagers'
commitment to a subsistence economy. It is important to point out that this is
not the easier option — it is not a "lazy man's way out." Subsistence living
means constant hard labor and long hours at work. Few people who have
grown up in a more urban setting are physically able to meet the demands or
are psychologically prepared to tolerate the discomforts of such a life. By
most standards it is a very hard life indeed.
Kobuk people often point out that subsistence is the only reasonable
option for them, since jobs are not available and their source of support is the
land. They also believe that natural resources are more reliable than money.
If prices climb higher and money becomes scarce so the villagers cannot af-
ford to buy goods from Outside, they still have all the necessities here. One
resident of Ambler said:
As long as I have the land and nobody tries to stop me from using
it, then I'm a rich man. I can always go out there and make my
living, no matter what happens. Everything I need — my food,
clothes, house, heat — it's all out there.
A woman, also of Ambler, pointed out:
Eskimo people have no money in the bank; not like you white
people. Many times we even have no money in our pockets. We
have few ways to make money, so we have to make our living
from this country. That's something the people Outside don't un-
;>>'
THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE <£&
derstand. And another thing too. If we have nothing of our Eskimo
food, only white man food to live on, we can't live. We eat and eat
and eat, but we never get filled up. Just like starvation.
Competition for the Resources
Because the Kobuk River people depend on the land for their liveli-
hood, they are concerned about its well-being and sensitive about competi-
tion for the resources it provides. Territorial feelings exist among the vil-
lages. Each tends to use a specific region and to avoid incursions into regions
used by neighboring settlements. Although territories are not inviolate, they
help to prevent competition for resources in a given area.
Fall caribou hunts are one activity that takes place irrespective of territorial
considerations, because hunters must go wherever the caribou might be. Often
this means that people from Kotzebue, Noorvik, Kiana, Ambler, Shungnak, and
Kobuk converge on the Onion Portage-Hunt River area during the fall migration.
Upper Kobuk villagers sometimes resent other Inupiat who come from afar to
hunt these animals because they feel that the numbers here are limited.
Related to this territoriality is a general attitude that the upriver villages
are large enough now. Inupiat or non-Inupiat from other areas should not
move here, because they will put too much strain on the resources. The vil-
lagers are aware that game is sparse near large communities and cities: "If we
get lots of people here, same thing will happen. No more animals then."
A general attitude favoring establishment of the Kobuk Valley National
Park has been largely based on concern for the future of subsistence resources.
People have been assured that traditional uses of wild resources would be
allowed within the park, while these resources would be protected from deple-
tion by outsiders. Kobuk people feel that through involvement with park ad-
ministration they could help to oversee the welfare of their own land, and this
is of paramount importance to them.
Concern for well-being of the land is also reflected in the Kobuk villag-
ers' strenuous opposition to roads being built through their subsistence range.
Roads would bring increased competition from outsiders, they feel, and would
almost surely damage the environment they depend on. People are also fear-
ful that roads might affect caribou movements and disrupt tributary streams
used by spawning fish. In addition, roads could bring new settlement within
their traditional homeland, and the villagers universally oppose this.
Kobuk people are becoming increasingly aware of outsiders' interest in
their land, and they fear the consequences that any development or exploita-
tion would have on their livelihood. A leader of one upper Kobuk village
expressed his anxieties, as paraphrased here:
Too much is happening to the people. Too many outside pressures
are forcing in on us. Changes are coming too fast, and we are be-
ing pushed in all different directions by forces that come from
some place outside.
271 <&**
*4G
S@S> THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE
People thought that the land claims settlement was the end of our
problems, that it meant the future was secure; but it was only the
beginning. Even before the lands were all selected, the govern-
ment wanted pipeline easements and road corridors right through
our territory. These would take away strips miles wide, cutting
right across our land. Instead of open access to the land, the Eski-
mos might be surrounded by huge pieces of country that are de-
clared national resources for "all the people." Land that has al-
ways belonged to the Natives is being parceled up and divided
among the takers.
An old Kobuk Eskimo put the same feelings differently and more succinctly:
I tell the people here, Eskimos should make laws for those people
Outside. That would be just the same as what they try to do to us.
We know nothing about how they live, and they know nothing
about how we live. It should be up to us to decide things for our-
selves. You see the land out there? We never have spoiled it.
Culture and World View
The Kobuk River people's intimate dependence upon the environment
and their direct communion with it are the wellspring from which their entire
culture has developed. Kuuvarjmiut society and culture cannot be separated
from the land in which it has evolved. This intimacy, apart from the basic
need to survive, is why the Kobuk people are so firmly committed to their
subsistence lifeway. It is what they are.
The Kobuk people's personality and view of themselves in relation to
the world have emerged as an element of the hunting-gathering life in a diffi-
cult environment. They place great emphasis on knowing the land in detail
and learning the methods of harvesting its resources. As a result, adults and
elders are acutely knowledgeable about the intricacies of their environment,
and they are highly skilled in the methods of living from this land. They
describe the land in a complex, specialized vocabulary; they perceive its subtle-
ties with a trained and masterful eye; and they relate to it in a familiar and
personal way that steins from knowing each place as unique unto itself.
The Inupiat are a highly imaginative and profoundly resourceful people
in an environment that demands constant creativity and cleverness to assure
survival. They have learned to emphasize cooperation so that people can work
smoothly together and share equitably in the proceeds of their efforts. Be-
cause their surroundings are harsh and unforgiving, the Inupiat have devel-
oped a perseverance and toughness that helps them to cope effectively with
the difficulties of daily life.
These qualities are attributes of successful members of Kuuvarjmiut so-
ciety, and they have been important for the long-term survival of this cultural
community. At the same time, the Kobuk people maintain traditional values
that give social rewards for excellence in subsistence pursuits. They regard
272
THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE <f/ffi
their own hunting-fishing-gathering lifeway very highly and consider it supe-
rior to all others. Individual community members are measured according to
their success at subsistence. A man is esteemed if he is an excellent hunter,
trapper, boatman, traveler, or craftsman. Similarly, a woman achieves status
through her skills in fishing, skin sewing, and other domestic industries.
The Kobuk people opt for a subsistence livelihood, not just because it
gives them the food they most desire or allows them to live where they most
prefer, but because it permits them to be what they value most as human
beings. Their identity as Kobuk River Eskimos is fundamentally tied to living
as hunter-gatherers. Not surprisingly, they feel a strong emotional commit-
ment to this way of life. It gives them satisfactions that they cannot find in
other places. Most of the people show these feelings only through the inten-
sity of their outdoor activities, but a few also verbalize them.
An old man, now in his seventies, vividly described his travels over vast
areas beyond the Kobuk valley. "That was the way to live," he said, "the only
way for people to be healthy and satisfied." He spoke of the freedom, the look
of the land, the wandering, and the goodness of making a livelihood through
use of his body and his cleverness. He did not praise the beauty of the country
so much as the beauty of living within it. "I'm too old for all that now," he
lamented, "but if I could do it again 1 would be out there every day."
The Kobuk peoples' attachment to the land is partially an esthetic one,
but not in a way that is familiar to the non-Inupiat. They do not seem to view
their surroundings with a detached eye, as a living piece of natural art. The
beauty that they perceive derives more from the land as a nurturing source of
life and livelihood. When a village hunter looks over the terrain and sees that
it is rich — caribou moving across the tundra, waterfowl migrating in profu-
sion, or fish running and the drying racks heavily laden — he feels a sense of
beauty through the wealth and goodness of his surroundings.
Beauty is perhaps a universal human concept, but its sources vary from
culture to culture. An empty landscape can be full of beauty for one who
comes from an urbanized agricultural society; it holds no immediate spectre
of starvation. But for the Kiiuvarjmiul, beauty comes less from the artistry of
the landscape than from its richness and promise of bountiful activity, its
ability to reward the quest for food. Land is not just something to be viewed in
the abstract, it is a place to pursue the activities that people love. Generations
of Inupiat have reflected on this pragmatic beauty, a beauty that has be-
come the soul of their attachment to the land and to their way of living on it.
The New Technology
The nature of Kuuvay mint subsistence began changing when the first
Europeans made their way inland less than a century ago. Little by little,
elements of western technology displaced traditional Eskimo implements.
The old weapons were given up, sod houses fell to the ground, fur clothing
273
THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE
was used less frequently, and traditional campsites were occupied for shorter
periods of time. Subsistence took on different aspects as the people shifted
from old to new ways of doing things.
But do these changes mean that subsistence is vanishing and will soon
be abandoned entirely? Does the use of modern technology indicate that sub-
sistence has already been replaced by a different economy and life style?
As a boy, he rode inside an open kayak with his father who hunted
waterfowl with a throwing board and bird dart. Today, his own
son rides behind him on a snowmachine while he hunts with a
high-powered rifle. (Ambler field notes, 1975)
Visitors are often impressed by the modern elements of life in contem-
porary Kobuk villages. People travel with snowmachines, live in substantial
houses, wear manufactured clothing, listen to radios, hunt with rifles, and fish
with nylon gill nets. Romantics are likely to feel disappointed. They might
even conclude that Kuuvaymiut culture has been lost in the transition, and
that the traditional relationship to the land has vanished.
But anyone who remains in a Kobuk River community long enough to
see beneath the surface, who lives in some degree as the people do them-
selves, will perceive the life of the villager in a very different way. Romantic
notions are replaced quickly by practical understanding as the realities of
village life become clear. Kuuvaymiut culture is very much alive, just be-
neath the veneer of adopted western ways. The patterns of personality, world
view, language, social interaction, and relationship to environment are all
overwhelmingly Kuuvaymiut.
An outsider who resides in a Kobuk village also recognizes that modern
technology has not altered the basic facts and nature of subsistence living.
Hunting, fishing, trapping, and gathering are still the principal source of
people's livelihood, regardless of the technology involved. Whether a man
hunts caribou on foot, with a dog team, or with a snowmachine, using a spear,
bow and arrow, or rifle, he is still pursuing a subsistence lifeway when the
game provides him with food and clothing. The vital question is not how the
resources are obtained, but for what purpose they are obtained and what role
they play in the person's overall life. If a family needs a certain number of
caribou per year for their basic subsistence, the way they are taken means far
less than the fact that people need them.
Kobuk villagers have opted for what they judge to be the best methods
of obtaining needed resources. As new technology became available, they
experimented, then selected the tools most effective for their needs. This same
readiness to adopt technologically superior tools, which has characterized
Eskimo culture for thousands of years, demonstrates an enduring commit-
ment to pragmatism. For example, the villager feels no anxiety over the noise
of his chain saw. His overriding concern is obtaining firewood to heat the
house that shelters his family. Looking back, the same pragmatism deter-
mined that bucksaws should replace steel axes, which originally replaced stone
axes. The same amount of wood reached his stove whether he chipped at a
THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE <P]^
tree slowly and laboriously with an ax or cut it quickly and easily with a chain
saw. The choice was clear.
There is no perception of inconsistency when a Kobuk villager uses
modern technology to obtain necessary resources. An outsider who partici-
pates in this way of life comes to understand the reasons quickly. Subsistence
living often involves enormous physical labor and long days outdoors in ex-
tremely uncomfortable conditions. Even with chain saws, rifles, and
snowmachines, it is still a very trying way to live. The fact that village fami-
lies are often large places a great burden on their providers. Devices that save
time and labor are therefore accepted as a matter of common sense.
One such implement, the snowmachine, has won overwhelming accep-
tance since its introduction to the Kobuk valley about 10 years ago. People
have shifted from complete dependence on dog teams to an almost total reli-
ance on machines. Dogs cannot approach the power, speed, and convenience
of snowmachines. Mechanized hunters can travel farther, increase their chances
of finding game, hunt more effectively, haul larger loads, and decrease their
time away from home and family. The machine's disadvantages — noise, high
cost, and susceptibility to breakdown — are hardly enough to offset its advan-
tages. A snowmachine hunter still needs the same amount of game (or less,
since he may have fewer dogs to feed), but he can get it more efficiently.
The snowmachine and dog team illustrate a basic fact of life in Native
Alaskan communities: technology is always changing, but the need to make a
living from the land remains a constant. It is important to distinguish the
means from the end.
The Next Generation
It is impossible to measure the Kobuk people's overall commitment to
subsistence. Each individual and family approaches it in a different way, and
dependence on the land varies from time to time. The head of a family might
have a long-term job one year, greatly diminishing his subsistence take; in
another year he might have little or no employment, so his subsistence take is
much greater. Such are the chronic instabilities of life in village Alaska to-
day. Certain generalizations can be made, however. Most important, the diet
of Kobuk Eskimos is dominated by foods from the land. Regardless of tech-
nology, wage employment, or time devoted to harvesting activities, this alone
demonstrates the continuity of subsistence living here.
Aside from this economic dependence, there is a cultural commitment
to subsistence which can only be judged subjectively. In the upper Kobuk
villages, for example, most older adults are fully involved with subsistence; it
dominates their lives and takes priority over all else. There is more variation
among the younger adults. Some are heavily committed to subsistence, some
only partially so, and others live mainly by wage and other income. In the
younger age groups the balance swings increasingly away from subsistence,
especially among those who do not have families as yet. Some of these people
275 «
;-^'fe
THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE
will move toward a subsistence livelihood as they grow older, but it is impos-
sible to predict how many or to what extent.
Many Kuuvarjmiut parents express a desire that their children learn their
own language, live in their own culture, and acquire subsistence skills. There
are great differences in traditional learning from family to family. Neverthe-
less, nearly all school age boys are enthusiastic about hunting and fishing,
and they spend considerable time at these activities.
During their visit, the two boys (aged nine and eleven) talked al-
most exclusively of hunting. When they played Eskimo-English
word games, testing each other's knowledge, all of the words were
for animals. The eleven-year-old boy said he killed his first cari-
bou this fall. It was divided up according to custom, and the larg-
est portions sent to two old women. In celebration of the occasion,
the women sent him small gifts of money. Clearly, it was a major
event in the boy's life. (Ambler field notes, 1975)
Until very recently, children stayed in their home villages (where they
had plenty of opportunities to learn subsistence skills) only up to high school
age. Then they were sent away to boarding school far from home, where they
were completely detached from their own traditions. After four years in these
schools, some had little interest in subsistence, although it sometimes re-
emerged later on.
In recent years, regional high schools have been established, so children
stay close to home and continue to be involved with their own cultural sur-
roundings. At the same time, interest in Native culture and traditions has grown
within the schools themselves. Young people now value their own way of life
more highly, retain greater knowledge of their Native language, and develop a
greater interest in subsistence living. It is too soon to know what effect this will
have or what direction village economies will take, but there are strong indica-
tions that subsistence will continue when today's adults are too old to carry it on.
It is most likely that the number of people who depend on subsistence
will remain fairly stable. Many young people are opting or will opt for a
wage-oriented livelihood, either in the village or away from it. These persons
will be involved only partially, if at all, with subsistence. At the same time,
village populations will probably increase slowly or remain fairly constant,
as the natural increase is balanced by out-migration of the educated young.
Subsistence and the Land
The most immediate threats to subsistence in the Kobuk valley are
changes in the status or the natural condition of the land. The village people
feel that developments such as roads, mining, and population increases could
endanger their livelihood. Such disturbances could change game migration
routes, reduce animal populations through overexploitation, damage fish
spawning areas, adversely change the Kobuk River waters themselves, or
seriously alter important local resource places.
276
THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE <
The Kobuk villagers are also concerned that subsistence activities them-
selves might be curtailed, either because of new restrictions on harvesting
game or because of changes in status of the land. If subsistence is to be viable
over the long run, people must have access to their entire traditional home-
land. Also, land use policies and game take regulations should continue to
give subsistence the highest priority among uses. It is important to note that
present subsistence activities do not adversely impact the environment. In-
deed, of all potential uses for this environment, subsistence at contemporary
levels is perhaps least detrimental to its pristine qualities.
If land planning and policy did not support the continuation of subsis-
tence, in recognition of its long history and its importance to the indigenous
people, there could be far-reaching effects. A viable, active hunting and gath-
ering lifeway, one of the last remaining on earth, could dwindle and vanish
from existence. With its foundation and the source of its essential being gone,
Kuuvaijmiut culture would move more swiftly toward extinction.
The old Eskimo, Siqiniq, was among the last to hunt bears in the
traditional way. This was usually done with a long-shafted spear,
tipped with a lance-point made from a bear's foreleg bone. The bear
was approached by stalking it, waiting along a trail, or walking up
as it fed, then kicking it or throwing a stick at it. This would provoke
the animal to attack, which it often did standing on its hind legs.
As the bear approached, the hunter planted his spear shaft in the
ground, bracing himself and holding the tip so it would pierce the
descending bear's chest. The animal impaled itself as it lunged
downward toward its intended victim, and a thick ring of thong
behind the lance-point prevented the weapon from passing cleanly
through. This way the bear never reached the hunter. But the man
had to be powerful enough to hold his spear up, so that the animal
remained on its hind feet until it collapsed.
Siqiniq killed a grizzly this way, but he held the butt of the spear
in the crook of his arm instead of planting it in the ground. Then he
stood holding the animal up until it died. This incredible feat of
strength made him legendary among the Kobuk Eskimos. When
the old man heard young hunters bragging of their exploits, he
waved them brusquely aside. "Don't talk to me about hunting," he
advised, "until you have felt the strength of a bear." (Shungnak
field notes, 1975).
277 «&£■
^v
Appendices
ORTHOGRAPHY <c^'/f?J
Appendix 1
Orthography and Pronunciation Guide by Lawrence Kaplan
The language of the Kobuk River valley is Alaskan Iiiupiaq , the northern branch of
the Eskimo language group spoken from Unalakleet, Alaska, north and east across the
Arctic to Greenland. More particularly, the Kobuk dialect is part of Malimiut Iiiupiaq,
which together with the North Slope dialect, makes up North Alaskan Iiiupiaq one of two
important Alaskan Iiiupiaq dialect groups. The other is Seward Peninsula lnupiaq.
Kobuk Iiiupiaq is spoken in the Kobuk villages as well as in Selawik. Slight linguis-
tic differences are present between the speech of the upper and lower Kobuk villages. The
dialects of Buckland and Deering are very close indeed to the Kobuk dialect.
The writing system used in this volume is the standard orthography in general use
throughout Alaskan Iiiupiaq; it was developed in the late 1940s by Roy Ahmaogak, a
Barrow Iiiupiaq, and Eugene Nida, a linguist with the Summer Institute of Linguistics.
The writing system succeeds in representing consonants phonemically, but loss of dis-
tinctness between certain pairs of Kobuk vowel clusters has created difficulties in repre-
sentation of vowels for this particular dialect. The solution has been to sacrifice the close
identification of written symbols with surface phonetic forms in the interests of preserv-
ing a measure of uniformity throughout Alaskan Iiiupiaq writing.
Alaskan Iiiupiaq has three short vowels, a, i, and w, which are pronounced with their
cardinal phonetic values. All vowel sounds may be modified somewhat by surrounding
consonants, most notably by uvulars which produce lowered variants of adjacent vowels.
There are also long vowels; these are written double as aa, ii, and uu. As this written
difference indicates, short and long vowels contrast phonemically.
Generally in Iiiupiaq any two short vowels may occur in a cluster, giving six possi-
bilities: ai, ia, au, ua, iu, and ui. In the Kobuk dialect, however, phonological changes
have resulted in some vowel clusters no longer being distinct from others.
Ai and ia are pronounced identically as [e:], something like the vowel in English
"say." For example, qiaruq ("he is crying") and pairuq ("he stayed behind") have vowel
clusters which are pronounced the same.
Au and ua are also the same, having the sound [o:], approximately like the vowel in
English "so." The words qauq ("forehead") and quaq ("fresh frozen meat or fish") are
thus pronounced identically.
Iu has come to be pronounced like the long vowel ii, for example, Kuuvarjmiul,
where the last syllable sounds as if it contained ii. The only true phonetic vowel cluster is
ui as in ui ("husband"). Although there are lost phonetic distinctions among some vowel
clusters in the Kobuk dialect, all six are still represented in the writing system.
The consonant phonemes in the Kobuk dialect are basically the same as those in
Iiiupiaq in general. Using the symbols of the standard orthography, the following chart
displays the consonant inventory of the Kuuvaijmiut:
281
■'<■..';
s«vft
ORTHOGRAPHY
Labials
Alveolars
Palatals
Velars
Uvulars
Glottals
Stops
P
t
ch
k
q
i
Voiceless fricatives
s
kh
qh
h
Voiced fricatives
V
y
g
g
Voiceless laterals
f
f
Voiced laterals
1
l
Nasals
m
n
n
i)
Voiceless retroflex
sr
Voiced retroflex
r
As with vowels, consonants also occur long — except for the voiceless fricatives,
' (glottal stop), and sr. Long consonants are written double, for example, mm represents
long m; ch, however, is written tch when long. When next to a voiceless consonant, v
sounds like [f], which is not a symbol in the orthography: for example, Viisrvilat.
English speakers will note that the phonetics of Inupiaq are quite different from
English even though the sounds are represented by symbols from the same Roman al-
phabet. The vowels are similar to English: a (ah), i (ee), and u (oo), but there are also
long vowels ( aa, ii, and uu) as well as vowel clusters.
Many of the consonants, such asp and /, are very close to their English counter-
parts. Sounds which are written differently from English or are unfamiliar to speakers of
English are:
q an uvular k pronounced back in the throat
a glottal stop, as between the syllables in English uh uh for "no"
kh sounds like ch in the German word ich
qh sounds like ch in the German word ach or the Scottish word loch
g a back g, like a French or German r
i a voiceless /
/ a palatal sound, like the // in million
f a voiceless, palatal /
n a palatal sound, like the ni in onion
n sounds like ng in the English word singer
r sounds like an English r or like the z in azure
sr a voiceless r, sounds like the shr in the English word shrink
This brief explanation is intended to present the essentials of the Inupiaq orthogra-
phy, making it possible for readers to understand the written representations of Inupiaq
found in the text. For detailed information on Kobuk Inupiaq phonology, see Kaplan,
Phonological Issues in North Alaskan Inupiaq.
&$i> 282
ANIMALS AND PLANTS <4>'/<fi
Appendix 2
List of Animals and Plants Used by Kuuvarjmiut
The list that follows names all of the plant and animal species important for
subsistence to the Eskimos of the Kobuk River. Undoubtedly there are some
omissions of birds and plants that are infrequently used, although some rarely
used species are included. For most purposes, however, the list is complete.
Mammals
English name
caribou
moose
Dull sheep
black bear
grizzly bear
wolf
red fox
red phase
silver
cross phase
marten
short-tailed weasel
mink
wolverine
river otter
lynx
beaver
muskrat
porcupine
red squirrel
arctic ground squirrel
hoary marmot
arctic hare
snowshoe hare
harbor seal
ringed seal
bearded seal
Scientific name
Eskimo name
Rangifer arcticus
tuttu
A Ices alces
tinniika
Ovis dalli
ipnaiq
Ursus americanus
iyyagriq
Ursus arctos
akiaq
Can is lupus
amaguq
Vulpes fulva
kayuqtuq
Vulpes fulva
kavviaq
Vulpes fulva
qiangaq
Vulpes fulva
qigniqtaq
Maries americana
qapviatchiaq
Mustela erminea
tigiaq
Mustela vison
tigiaqpak
Gulo gulo
qapvik
Lutra canadensis
pamiuqtuuq
Lynx canadensis
nuutuuyiq
Castor canadensis
paiuqtaq, aqu
Ondatra zebethicus
kigvaluk
Erithizon dorsatum
iluqutaq
Tamiasciurus hudsonicus
saqalataayiq
Citellus parryi
siksrik
Marmota marmota
siksrikpak
Lepus othus
ukallisugruk
Lepus americanus
ukalliq,
ukalliuraq,
ukalliatchiaq
Phoca vitulina
qasigiaq
Phoca hispida
natchiq
Erignathus barbata
ugruk
283 <gga
^V> ANIMALS AND PLANTS
beluga
bow head whale
Birds
common loon
yellow-billed loon
arctic loon
red-throated loon
horned grebe
red-necked grebe
white-fronted goose
Canada goose
snow goose
brant
old squaw
shovel er
pintail
mallard
greater scaup
lesser scaup
green-winged teal
bufflehead
American widgeon
harlequin duck
white-winged scoter
surf scoter
common scoter
red-breasted merganser
willow ptarmigan
rock ptarmigan
spruce grouse
ruffed grouse
sandhill crane
lesser yello wlegs
American golden plover
semipalmated plover
mew gull
glaucous gull
Bonaparte 's gull
arctic tern
great gray owl
horned owl
snowy owl
osprey
tree swallow
rusty blackbird
pine grosbeak
Delphinapterus leucas
sisuaq
Balaena mysticetus
agviq
Gavia immer
taatchiniq
Gavia adamsii
tuutlik
Gavia arctica
malgi
Gavia stellata
qaqsrauq
Podiceps auritus
sugliq
Podiceps grisegena
suglitchauraq
Anser albifrons
kigiyuk
Branta canadensis
iqsragutilik
Chen caerulescens
kanuq
Branta bernicla
niglignaq
Clangida hyemalis
aahaaliq
Spatula clypeata
aluutaq
Anas acuta
ivugaq
Anas platyrhynchos
ivugasrugruk
Aythya marila
qaqhikpalik
Aythya affinis
qaqhituuq
Anas crecca
qainiq
Bucephala albeola
nunuqsigiilaq
Anas am eric ana
uggiihiq
Hist rionicus hist rionicus
sagvaq timniaq
Melanilta deglandi
killalik
Melanitta perspicillata
tuungaagruk
Melanitta nigra
uvinnauyuk
Mergas serrator
paisugruk
Lagopus lagopus
aqargiq
Lagopus mutus
niqsaaqtuniq
Canachites canadensis
napaaqtuum aqargiq
Bonasa umbellus
ituqtuuq
Grits canadensis
tatirgaq
Tringa jlavipes
tinmiam qipmia
Pluvialis dominica
tullik
Charadrius semipalmalus
qurraquraq
Lams canus
nauyatchiaq
Larus pyperboreus
nauyasugruk
Larus Philadelphia
aqargigiaq
Sterna paradisaea
mitqutailaq
Stri.x nebulosa
naataq
Bubo virginianus
nukisagaq
Nyctea scandiaca
ukpik
Pandion haliaetus
qaluksiugayuk
Irodoprocne bicolor
lulugagnauraq
Euphagus carolimis
lulukkam ittuq
Pinicola enculeator
qayuuttaaq
>284
ANIMALS AND PLANTS <c^
gray jay, camp robber
common raven
Fish
sheefish
chum salmon
white fish
humpback white fish
broad white fish
least cisco
round whitefish
arctic grayling
arctic char
lake trout
northern pike
Alaska black fish
longnose sucker
burbot, mudshark
pond smelt
Plants
white spruce
black spruce
common juniper
willow
diamond-leaf willo w
paper nirch
American green alder
balsam poplar,
cottonwood
quaking aspen
prickly rose, wild rose
rose hips
crowberry, blackberry
Alpine bear berry
bearberry, kinnikinnik
lowbush cranberry
bog cranberry
high bush cranberry
nagoon berry
bog blueberry
cloudberry, salmonberry
American red currant
Labrador tea
Perisoreus canadensis
Corvus corax
Stenodus leucichthys
Oncorhynchus keta
Coregonus sp.
Coregonus p idsch ian
Coregonus nasus
Coregonus sardinella
Prosopium cylindraceum
Thymallus arcticus
Salvelinus alpinus
Salvelinus namaycush
Esox lucius
Da Ilia pectoral is
Catostomus catostomus
Lota lota
Hypomesus olidus
Picea glauca
Picea mariana
Juniperus communis
Salix sp.
Salix pi a ni folia
Betula papyri/era
A! mis crispa
Populus balsamifera
Populus tremuloides
Rosa acicularis
Empetrum nigrum
Arctostaphylos alpina
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi
Vaccinium vitis-idaea
Vaccinium oxycoccus
Viburnum edule
Rubus arcticus
Vaccinium uliginosum
Rubus chamaemorus
Ribcs tristc
Ledum decumbens
kiiriq
tulugaq
su
qalugruaq
qalupiaq
qaalgiq
qausriluk
qalusraaq
quptik
sulukpaugaq
qalukpik
qalukpik
siulik
iiuuqiniq
kaviqsuaq
tittaaliq
iihuagniq
napaaqtuq
napaaqtuq
tulukkam asriaq
uqpik
kanunniq
urgiiliq
nunarjiak, nunagiak
ninnuq
pitjuqsraatchiaqmi
ninnuq
kakitlagnaq
igrunnaq
paungaq
kavlaq
linnik
kikminiiaq
qunmun asriaq
uqpinnaq
luungaum asriaq,
ivgum asriaq
asriavik
aqpik
nivinnaqutaq
lilaaqqiuq
285
ANIMALS AND PLANTS
Eskimo potato, wild potato
wild rhubarb
sour dock
wild celery, seacoast angelica
fire weed
wild c hives
cotton grass
grass, sedge
Common wormwood
four-angled cassiope
cordate-lea ved saxifrage
Parry's wallflower
peat moss
sphagnum
mosses
reindeer lichen
birch fungus
white bracket fungus
Hedysarum alpinum
Polygonum alaskanum
Rumex arcticus
Angelica lucida
Epilobiwn angustifolium
Allium schoenoprasum
Eriophorum sp.
species unknown
Artemisia tilesii
Cassiope tetragona
Saxifraga punctata
Parrya nudicaulis
species unknown
Sphagnum sp.
various genera
Cladonia rangiferina
Fames ingniarius
species unknown
masru
qusrimmaq
quagaq
ikuusuk
quppiqulaq
paatitaaq
Palliksraq
ivgich, panaq
sargich
ikkuguligiksut
asriatchiaq
aigaq
tininniq
ivruiyaq
manaq
ipigaksraq
tinauraq
ivruq
niqaaq
avaatchiqiq
iunnuuraq
Physical Environment
lake
lagoon
oxbow lake (or any long, narrow lake)
slough connecting a lake to a river
confluence of two rivers; outlet of a lake
lake outlet
stream connecting two lakes
the end of a lake opposite the outlet
mouth of a river or slough (literally
"the entrance'1'')
river ("Kobuk" comes from kuuvak)
tributary stream
island
point of land
water (drinkable)
water (undrinkahle)
mountain
valley between two mountains
(literally "where there are no
mountains ")
narvaq
tatchiq
taksruk
small ridge
qaugruk
kuugaatchiaq
ridge
cjimigaq, (jimigaaq
nuilana
land
nana
iggiatcliiana
sand
qavia
atangal,
ataniq
mud
maggaq
qitnuq
rock
iyagak
flint, chert, firestone
akmaacj
paa
jade
isitjnaq
kuuk
iron, metal
saviihaq
kuugaq
ocean
tagiuq
qikiqtaq
beach
tagium sinaa
nuvuk
sky, heaven
qilak
imiq
sun
siqiniq
imaq
moon
tatqiq
ingiq
star
uvlugiaq
northern lights
kiuguyat
thunder
katluk
ingiilgut
!
clouds
nuviva
®ZB* 286
RESOURCES USED <l£fe
Appendix 3
Compilation of Resources Used
The following is a detailed compilation of the ways Kobuk River people use
wild plant and animal species. Taken as a whole, this listing and the brief expla-
nations demonstrate a tradition of utilizing nearly all parts of game animals rather
than just the meat and a few organs. The methods of preparing Native foods are
only hinted at. Kuuvatjmiut people have an elaborate repertoire of traditional and
modern recipes, which involve many combinations of animal parts and prepara-
tion techniques. The methods of preparation mentioned below (such as "boiled"
or "dried and later cooked") are usually incomplete summaries of more involved
procedures.
Mammals
Caribou
Muzzle (umilgiiq): This part is eaten after the entire head has been prepared by
boiling.
Eyes (iri): Eyeballs and the fat behind them are eaten raw or from the boiled
head. The eyes are also eaten after being dried by hanging them inside the house
or turning them inside out, tying them with sinew, and allowing them to dry.
Ear (siun): The tips are chewed like gum after skinning fresh-killed caribou.
The base part of the ear is eaten from the boiled head.
Tongue (uqaq): This is a delicacy, eaten boiled or dried. It is often cut from
fresh-killed caribou and boiled by hunters.
Lower jaw (agliqquk): After the head is boiled, the lower jaw meat and tissues
are eaten; then the jawbone is cracked and the marrow (patiq) inside is eaten.
Lips and mouth tissues; These are eaten from the boiled head.
Head muscles: After the head is boiled, meat is eaten from parts such as the
upper jaw, temple, eyes, and back of the skull.
Brain (qaqisaq): The brain is removed from the boiled head, mixed with fat
skimmed from water in the boiling pot, and eaten with pieces of meat.
Neck (qurjisiq): The meat is eaten frozen and raw (quaq), or boiled.
Shoulder blade (kiasrik): The meat from the shoulder blade is eaten cooked or
raw. The scapula bone itself is used to make a fish-scaling tool, or a fan to cool
oneself and keep the mosquitos away.
Foreleg (toliq): The upper and lower foreleg meat (siqrjich) is eaten cooked or
raw, and is considered very good for making dry meat (paniqtuq).
287 <Spfcs
h*;a-*
RESOURCES USED
Sinew (ivalu) from the forelegs is dried and used for sewing. It is especially good for
making boots.
Marrow (paliq) is extracted from the upper and lower leg bones by cracking them
open. Lower leg bones are preferred, because the marrow contains more fat. This
marrow is eaten raw or cooked, usually with meat. It can also be pulverized and put
into a container, preferably a dried caribou stomach. Oil rendered from the ends of
humerus and femur bones is then poured into the dried stomach with the marrow. The
mixture cools and hardens, and is usually stored, to be eaten (usually with dried meat)
at some later time. There are several variations on this recipe.
Foreleg bones are used primarily for making oil (puiniq). The ends of humerus and
femur bones are soaked overnight to soften them, then they are pulverized, placed in a
kettle of water, heated to just below boiling for about an hour, cooled to lukewarm
temperature, and then the floating oil is skimmed off.
Lower foreleg bones (sivulliq) are made into a tool for skinning fur animals (nauiuun,
nauiiuq) and a scraper for preparing hides (ichuun).
Foot bones (isigaich): Cartilage (nukik) from around the foot bones is eaten raw,
fermented, or after the bones are thoroughly cooked by boiling.
Marrow from the foot bones is also eaten. A bone from the "ankle" of the caribou is
made into a whirler toy, with sinew strings.
Hooves (kukik): The black hooves are removed by boiling, then made into small items
such as "Eskimo yo-yo" handles, jewelry for sale to tourists, and the traditional
Eskimo sun goggles.
Backbone (kiyipigaq): The meat from alongside the backbone (ivaluliniq) is excellent
cooked, dried, or raw-frozen.
Sinew from the back muscles (uliutik) is dried and used for sewing.
Spinal cord (qitigaq) is removed from cut-up backbone sections after boiling, and is
considered very good eating.
Pelvis (kuutchinaak) : Meat from the pelvis is eaten raw, dried, or cooked.
Tail (pamiaHuk) : Meat from the tail is eaten.
Hind leg (mumiq): The hind leg meat (mumiq) ranks with the hide as the most valu-
able part of the caribou. It is delicious raw-frozen, dried (cut into thin strips or sheets
and hung on racks outside, or sometimes inside the house), or cooked (boiled, roasted,
baked, or made into soup with vegetables, rice, and condiments). The lower hind leg
meat (sirjijich) can be half dried and frozen and eaten as quaq.
Upper hind leg bone (anautaksraq) and lower leg bone (pianniq) are cracked open
and the raw or cooked marrow is eaten. Marrow is always cooked inside the bone.
Sinew from the hind leg is used for sewing.
Ribs (tulimaaq) provide excellent tasting meat, prepared by drying or boiling, or made
into a "soup."
Brisket (sakiagich): Breastbone cartilage (isatigich) and meat are eaten after drying or
cooking. Brisket is considered excellent for making "soup."
RESOURCES USED <£,^
Diaphragm (mulik): This part makes fine dried meat because it consists of two layers,
with tasty fat between them. It is also eaten cooked.
Belly and chest meat (aqiakhik): This consists of thin sheets of meat, which are sliced
away from the body and dried. It is considered a delicacy, the best of all dried meats,
and it is also cooked for eating.
Lungs (puvaich) were formerly eaten, cooked and mixed with blood. They are used only
for dog food today.
Windpipe (tuqhi) is boiled and eaten.
Heart (uumman) is boiled and eaten; considered excellent. Sometimes it is dried.
Liver (tirjuk) is usually fried, but sometimes eaten raw-frozen. It is also mashed and
mixed with caribou stomach contents, or sliced and put inside a caribou stomach to
make niiukkaq (see uses of caribou stomach below).
Cecum or "appendix" (kivvigruaq, kivviq): This organ is removed, cleaned, stuffed with
mesentary fat, then boiled. It is usually eaten with meat and is considered a delicacy.
Omasum or "bible" (tunusrisaq) is usually prepared by cleaning and then boiling,
though older people sometimes leave the contents inside while cooking. The omasum is
also eaten raw after being cleansed in cold water.
Rumen or "stomach" (kisraguaq): Dried caribou stomach is either eaten or used as a
container for storing foods.
Stomach contents (nigiikkaq) are removed from a caribou stomach that has been left
inside the killed animal for several days, slowly fermenting in the retained body heat.
Then the contents are mixed with sugar and seal oil before eating.
Slices of liver and of the small lower leg muscles are inserted into the contents of an
opened caribou stomach, left for several days, then taken out and eaten raw. This is
called nigiikkaq, and is eaten by the old people.
Large intestine (inaluat) is turned inside out, cleaned, dried, and eaten.
Small intestine (aminilik) is boiled, cut into small pieces, mixed with fat, and eaten.
(People do not drink cold water after eating this food, lest it solidify the thick grease in
their throat and choke them.)
Pancreas (mapsaq): Dried pancreas is used as a container to store fat from boiled bones
ipuiniq), sometimes with bone marrow mixed in.
Kidneys (taqluk) are eaten raw or boiled; they are considered excellent especially when
they are fresh.
Udder (mamautik) is boiled and eaten.
Blood (auk) is cooked with chopped fat to make blood soup (qayusraaq).
Fat (quunnaq): Fat of all kinds is considered extremely valuable and excellent eating; it
is taken from inside the muscles, along the back, among the organs, and on the
mesentary membranes. Fat is eaten dried, raw, or cooked, nearly always together with
meat.
289 «»
^V> RESOURCES USED
Back fat (tunnuq) is eaten with meat, or used to make akutuq, a chilled mixture of fat,
berries, and sugar. Seal oil, fruit, meat, whitefish that has been cooked and then dried,
and sometimes Eskimo potato (masru) may also be used in akutuq. This delicacy is
often called "Eskimo ice cream.'1
Mesentary fat (itchaurat) is eaten raw or cooked, or stuffed into the cecum or "appen-
dix" like a sausage, boiled, cut off in slices. It is called kivviq. It is eaten with seal oil,
boiled heart, and the omasum or "bible."
Antlers (nagruk) have innumerable miscellaneous uses, but are most often used for
making net mesh gauges, handles for knives or other tools, net sinkers, and bark basket
handles.
Hide (amiq): Caribou hide is commonly used for making several kinds of boots, for
mittens, boot liners, insoles, wristlets, and (infrequently today) parkas. It is also made
into skin mattresses, sled pads, thermos bottle pouches, and many smaller items. Hair
(mitqut) is removed and used as filler in dog harness collars. The hairless skin is cut up
for thong, which is used for snowshoe webbing, sled lashings, and many other purposes.
During pre-contact times, when there was no suitable alternate clothing material,
caribou hide was a more important resource than the meat.
The thin membrane (mamiq) on unscraped caribou skin is pulled off, moistened, put
onto small cuts, and held in place until it sticks. This effectively stops bleeding.
Moose
The meat and organs of moose are utilized in much the same way as described for
caribou, and nearly all anatomical terms are identical. The following list is a summary
and should not be read as a complete detailing of uses.
Nose is aged overnight and eaten raw (not frozen), or aged several days and then boiled.
Eyes: The eyeballs and the fat behind them are eaten from the boiled head.
Ears: The tips are eaten after the head is boiled.
Tongue is removed from the jaw, boiled, and eaten.
Lower jaw: Meat from the jaw is eaten after the head is boiled.
Lips and mouth tissues are eaten from the boiled head.
Head muscles are eaten from the boiled head.
Brain is eaten from the boiled head. The brain is also used for tanning hides.
Neck: The meat is eaten cooked or raw-frozen.
Shoulder blade: The meat is eaten raw or cooked. The shoulder blade itself can be
dried, then used to attract rutting bull moose by raking it against trees and brush.
Foreleg: All of the meat is used, raw, cooked, or dried. Moose sinew is rarely utilized,
because it is considered too thick and difficult to handle.
Foot bones are boiled for many hours (often together with beans), then the bones are
cut apart and the flesh and cartilage is eaten. They are considered excellent to eat.
290
RESOURCES USED <Cv^;
Backbone: Meat along the backbone is eaten raw, cooked, or dried.
Pelvis: Meat from the pelvis is eaten raw, cooked, or dried.
Tail is cooked and considered excellent eating.
Hind leg: The meat is eaten raw, cooked, or dried. Marrow from all leg bones is eaten.
Ribs: The meat on the rib cage is eaten raw, cooked, or dried.
Brisket is usually prepared by cooking.
Diaphragm is eaten cooked or dried.
Belly and chest meat are cut off in a single large sheet and dried.
Windpipe: This is boiled and is considered excellent eating.
Heart is boiled and eaten.
Liver is always cooked before eating.
Stomach: This organ is emptied, washed, and boiled for eating. Moose stomach con-
tents are never eaten.
Large intestine is turned inside out, dried, and eaten.
Kidneys are always cooked before eating.
Fat: Back, body, and muscle fat is eaten cooked, raw, or dried. Mesentary fat is dried.
All fat is eaten ordinarily with meat.
Antlers: Moose antlers are preferred over those of caribou for making knife and other tool
handles. The large, spatulate portion is used to make a platter for eating cooked fish.
Hide: An elaborate, difficult tanning and smoking process prepares the hide for use in
making boot soles and mittens. Skin with the fur removed is cut into lengths for making
rope and the heavy part of snowshoe lashings.
Mountain Sheep
The uses of mountain sheep are not detailed here, because these animals are not often hunted
at present and because they are utilized in much the same way as caribou and moose.
Black Bear
Head: The entire head is boiled, and the meat, eyes, lips, mouth tissues, and cartilage
are eaten. Modern Kobuk villagers follow some traditional prescriptions for proper
treatment of bear heads: The lower jaw is never removed; a "wormlike" piece of carti-
lage is cut out from the underside of the tongue, impaled on a sharpened live willow
twig, and left on the spot; the brain is not eaten; and the skull is left out in the woods,
either impaled atop a small live spruce or buried (if there are no trees around). Bear
heads are never brought home for cooking.
Teeth: Bear teeth are carved into fishhooks.
Muscles: All bear meat is prepared by cooking; it is never eaten dried or raw (except for
the fat). Parts used for meat are the neck, back, pelvis, shoulder, forelegs, hind legs, ribs,
291
■&&> resources used
brisket, belly and chest, and diaphragm. Bear meat is very highly regarded as
food. Women were traditionally prohibited from eating bear meat, but this custom is not
followed at present.
Feet are aged about two weeks, then cooked and eaten. They are considered excellent.
Claws are carved into fishhooks which are very good for grayling fishing.
Heart is cooked and eaten.
Intestines: The entire intestines are pulled out, cut into three strips, braided, roasted over
a fire, and eaten.
Liver is not eaten.
Kidneys are boiled and eaten.
Fat is taken from the mesentaries, body, and viscera and rendered out for bear grease.
Back fat (itqsruq) is eaten raw with dried fish or meat.
Tail fat is also eaten.
Hide: This is used for mattresses, parka ruffs, or mittens (leg skins only), or it is cut into
strips for rope. Bear hide was traditionally used for making dog harnesses.
Brown Bear
Brown bear meat tastes different from that of the black bear and is considerably less
valued, but it is eaten whenever available. All parts and organs described for the black
bear are used in the same fashion.
Wolf
Hide: This is used for making parkas, hats, parka ruffs, and clothing trim. The head skins
are used for mittens and ammunition pouches, and the tails are made into neck scarfs.
Muscles and organs are not used.
Marten
Hide is used for making hats and clothing trim.
Muscles and organs are not used today, but were formerly eaten.
Weasel
Hide is used occasionally for clothing trim or as a wiping cloth for binocular lenses.
Muscles and organs are not used.
Mink
Hide is used for making hats, scarfs, clothing trim, and mitten linings.
Muscles: All body meat is eaten, after it is prepared by boiling or roasting.
<€&» 292
*=«£
Organs are not eaten.
Head is cooked, and all the flesh and muscle are eaten, as well as the brain.
Wolverine
Hide: The valuable hide is used for making ruffs, clothing trim, and mittens. The tail is
used as decoration for a man's parka belt; the feet for a woman's belt. The head skins
are made into ammunition pouches.
Meat and organs are not eaten today, but the meat was used formerly as survival food.
River Otter
Hide is used for making hats and clothing trim.
Meat is eaten, prepared by boiling or roasting.
Organs are not eaten.
Head is cooked, and the tissues, muscle, and brain are eaten.
Lynx
Hide is used for making parkas, hats, mittens, and clothing trim.
Meat is boiled or roasted for eating. It is not dried.
Organs: The heart, lungs, kidneys, and liver are boiled and eaten. The stomach and
intestines are not eaten.
Head: All flesh, eyes, muscles, and the brain are eaten from the cooked head.
Beaver
Hide is used for making parkas, hats, clothing trim, and mittens.
Meat: Beavers are taken for the meat as much as for the hide. Meat from all parts of the
body is eaten after preparation by boiling, roasting, or half-drying followed by boiling.
Organs: The heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys are boiled together and eaten; they are
considered a delicacy.
Beaver stomach is not eaten. It is immediately removed from a killed animal lest it sour
and spoil the meat.
Head: All meat, eyes, lips, tissues, and the brain are eaten from the boiled head.
Teeth are carved into fishhooks, which are especially good for grayling. Also made into
a tool for cutting ivory or bone.
Tail: Boiled or roasted, it is considered a delicacy.
Castor gland: The whole gland or its contents can be used for bait in trapping other fur
bearers.
Claws are carved into fishhooks.
293 <fa
RESOURCES USED
Anomalous organs: Beaver have several unusual parts, which are always removed
and thrown away to assure reincarnation of the animal. Anomalous organs include a
large gland under the neck, a small "extra" oval-shaped bone in the foreleg, and the
top portion of the double claw on each hind foot.
Beaver bones are also thrown back into the water after the meat is used, so the animal
will be reincarnated.
Muskrat
Hide is used for making parkas, hats, clothing trim, and lining for mittens.
Meat is eaten, after it is prepared by boiling or roasting; or the entire animal may be
hung to dry.
Organs: The heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys are cooked and eaten. The other viscera
are not used.
Head: All flesh, eyes, meat, and the brain are eaten from the cooked muskrat's head.
Tail: Sinew from the tail is used for fine sewing around the tops of fancy boots.
Porcupine
Meat is prepared by boiling or roasting, after the animal has been skinned.
Organs: The heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys are eaten from the cooked animal.
Stomach and intestines are not used, except for the last foot of the lower intestine, which
is dried with pellets of excrement inside it. One or two of these pellets are removed,
crushed, mixed with water, and taken as a cure by a person suffering from diarrhea.
Head: All of the flesh, eyes, muscles, and the brain are eaten from the cooked head.
Feet are eaten from the cooked animal.
Red Squirrel
Hide was formerly used for making clothing trim and children's parkas.
Meat was formerly cooked and eaten, but it is not used today.
Arctic Ground Squirrel
Hide is highly valued for making fancy parkas.
Meat is eaten, after being prepared by boiling, roasting, or half-drying followed by
cooking.
Organs: The heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys are eaten from the cooked animal.
Stomach and intestines are not used.
Hoary Marmot
Hide is used for making parkas and hats.
$%&> 294
RESOURCES USED *££
Meat is eaten, after being prepared by boiling, roasting, or half-drying followed by
cooking.
Organs: The heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys are eaten from the cooked animal.
Stomach and intestines are not used.
Head: All of the flesh, eyes, muscles, and the brain are eaten from the cooked head.
Snowshoe Hare
Hide is used for making socks, mitten and hat liners, clothing trim, and
(occasionally) parka ruffs. Formerly, the hide was woven or sewn for blankets,
parkas, mittens, and socks. It is not durable, but is extremely soft and warm.
Meat is eaten after being boiled, roasted, or dried.
Organs: The heart, lungs, blood, liver, and kidneys are cooked and eaten.
Stomach and intestines are not eaten, but may be fed to the dogs.
Head: All of the flesh, eyes, muscles, and the brain are eaten from the cooked head.
Feet were used in previous times for washing or wiping objects.
Arctic Hare
These animals are exceedingly rare and seldom taken. If one is caught it is used in the
same way as the snowshoe hare.
Birds
Waterfowl
Meat: All ducks, geese, mergansers, loons, and grebes are eaten, although there is consid-
erable variation in quality. Geese and the larger ducks are most preferred. The meat is
prepared by boiling as a soup or thin stew, roasting, or half-drying followed by cooking.
Organs: The stomach and intestines of fat waterfowl are boiled and eaten if they were
empty when the bird was killed. Full intestines are not used. The lungs, heart, and other
small organs are cooked and eaten.
Head: All meat, cartilage, fat, tongue, and the brain are eaten from cooked waterfowl
heads.
Feet are often eaten when waterfowl are cooked as soup.
Fat is eaten with the cooked meat.
Duck or goose fat from inside the body cavity is aged, then rubbed on the torso of a
person suffering from a cold. Dried fat, well aged, is also rubbed on rashes or insect bites
to stop the itching.
Wings of large waterfowl (such as geese) are used for whisk brooms or fans.
295 <$£
S$&J> RESOURCES USED
Eggs: The eggs of all waterfowl are occasionally boiled and eaten, when they can be
found.
Skin is eaten with the cooked bird.
Loons and grebes may be skinned (with fat left on the skin), then the skin is cut into
small pieces and cooked with the bird's meat. Liquid fat is skimmed from the broth,
hardened, and eaten with the meat. This is called qalluaq.
Loon and grebe skins can be made into waterproof pouches for articles like ammuni-
tion. They were also formerly used to make socks.
Down is used to make home-sewn parkas, blankets, and pillows.
Willow Ptarmigan, Rock Ptarmigan, Spruce Grouse, Ruffed Grouse
Meat: Ptarmigan are boiled (to make a thin stew), roasted, or dried (entire birds).
Grouse are boiled and roasted, but never dried.
Organs: The heart, lungs, and stomach are eaten with the boiled meat. The contents are
squeezed from full intestines, then they are cut in short lengths, dipped for a few
seconds into boiling water, and eaten with seal oil. Empty intestines are never used.
The crop (puviaq) is inflated with the contents inside, hung in the house to dry, and
given to children for a toy.
Feet are eaten with the cooked animal.
Head: The flesh, eyes, brain, and muscles are eaten from cooked birds.
Eggs: Ptarmigan and ruffed grouse eggs are boiled and eaten. Spruce grouse eggs are
not eaten.
Sandhill Crane
Meat is roasted, or boiled as soup.
Organs: The heart, lungs, and liver are cooked and eaten.
Stomach and intestines are not eaten.
Head: The flesh, eyes, tissues, and brain are eaten from cooked birds.
The beak was formerly used for making points, especially fish spears.
Feet are eaten with the cooked birds.
Leg bones: The hollow leg bones are used to make a child's toy blowgun
(suputitagaaq).
Marrow from the wing and leg bones is eaten.
Wings are dried and used for a broom or fan.
Eggs are eaten cooked on the rare occasions when they are found.
296
RESOURCES USED <H&
Lesser Yellowlegs
The entire bird is boiled, and the head, meat, and viscera are eaten.
American Golden Plover
The entire bird was eaten in earlier times, but it is rarely, if ever, taken today.
Gulls and Terns
The eggs of the mew, glaucous, and Bonaparte's gulls, and the Arctic tern, are all boiled
and eaten. Mew gulls were formerly cooked and eaten, but this is no longer done.
Owls
Meat and viscera of the horned owl, great gray owl, and snowy owl are boiled and eaten
as soup. Owl heads are not eaten, "because they look strange."
Osprey
The meat was boiled and eaten in former times, but the rest of the bird was not used.
Tree Swallow
The body is dried, then bits of meat are rubbed on a person's lips or held inside the
mouth to cure sores.
Pieces of nest material can also be put in the mouth for sores, or moistened and rubbed
on itchy rashes or bites.
Rusty Blackbird
This species was cooked and eaten in earlier times.
Pine Grosbeak
This species is (or was) roasted or boiled for soup.
Fish
Sheefisli
Meat is eaten boiled, raw-frozen, dried, roasted, smoked, aged (fermented), and fried.
Special preparations include aging the fish for about a week and eating it raw, or
preparing a fish chowder by boiling the meat with flour.
Eggs (suvak) are eaten with sheefisli meat, either cooked, raw, or raw-frozen. The eggs
may also be dried, then roasted, mixed with fish oil, and eaten together with the long
"air bladder" (avatlaunuj).
Eggs are also made into a delicacy called ittukpalak, by mashing sheefisli eggs and cranber-
ries, mixing them with seal oil and sugar, and whipping the dish to a fluffy consistency.
Fish eggs are sometimes stored in fish oil for later use.
297 <
^$S> RESOURCES USED
Stomach and intestines: These organs are boiled to produce fish oil (qaluum uqsruq),
which is skimmed off the water during cooking. The stomach and intestines are eaten
afterward.
Air bladder (avattauraq) : The long bladder organ is rich in fat. It is turned inside out
and dried or cooked, then put in fish oil for immediate or later eating.
Liver (lirjuk) is not eaten, but is used for dog food.
Testes (igri): This elongated white organ in the male fish is not eaten, but is used for dog
food.
Head (niaqugruaq) : The flesh, eyes, brain, and other tissues are eaten from the cooked
head.
Heads are buried in a grass-lined hole for about six or seven days during the summer,
then are dug up and eaten. The heads of dried sheefish are used for dog food only.
Gills (masriich) are eaten with other parts of the fish, regardless of preparation.
Skin (raw is amiq, dried is amigaatchiaq) is scaled after the fish is caught; then it is
eaten with the dried or cooked fish.
Arctic Char and Lake Trout
Meat is eaten boiled, raw-frozen, dried, roasted, smoked, aged, and fried. It is often
prepared as a soup with flour (fish chowder).
Eggs are eaten with cooked fish.
Liver and eggs that have been boiled with the entire fish are mixed with blueberries or
cranberries and then eaten.
Organs: Only the cooked liver is eaten; the rest of the organs are used for dog food.
Head: All of the flesh and the brain is eaten.
Skin is eaten along with the fish.
Humpback White fish
Meat is eaten boiled, raw-frozen, dried, roasted, smoked, aged, and fried. Often specially
prepared as a fish chowder. Only humpback whitefish, trout, and sheefish are cooked this
way.
Eggs are eaten with the cooked fish.
Cooked liver and eggs are mixed with blueberries or cranberries, then eaten.
Eggs are also made into ittukpalak (see sheefish).
Eggs from fish caught through the ice are mixed with snow or ice shavings, stirred
together until they are white, then eaten. This is done where the fish are caught.
Stomach and intestines: These organs are boiled, the fish oil is skimmed off and kept,
then they are eaten.
®SP'298
RESOURCES USED <S&i
"Round stomach" (aqiagtitchiaq): The contents are squeezed out, then it is boiled or
roasted for eating. This is done only when the organ is not fatty.
Head and gills are eaten along with the rest of the fish.
Skin is scaled, then eaten with dried or cooked fish.
Broad White fish
Meat is eaten boiled, raw- frozen, dried, roasted, smoked, and fried.
Eggs are eaten with cooked fish. They are also dried, cooked, and put in fish oil to
store, then eaten with fish oil. Eggs of this species are also made into ittukpalak (see
sheefish).
Stomach and intestines are boiled, the fish oil is skimmed off and kept, then they are
eaten.
"Round stomach" (aqiagiitchiaq): The contents are squeezed out, then it is boiled or
roasted for eating. This is only done when the organ is not fatty.
Head and gills are eaten along with the rest of the fish.
Skin is scaled, then eaten with dried or cooked fish.
Least Cisco
Meat is eaten raw-frozen, aged, and fried. It is also half-dried, then boiled for eating.
(This dish, called iyamaaqhik or igamaaqhik, can be made with any species offish.)
Least cisco is also an excellent dog food.
Eggs are eaten along with the fish.
Organs, head, gills, skin are not eaten.
Round Whitefish
Meat is eaten raw-frozen or boiled only. It is used primarily for dog food, because its
taste is considered poor.
Eggs, organs, head, gills, and skin are used only for dog food.
Chum Salmon
Meat is eaten boiled, dried, roasted, smoked, aged, and fried.
Eggs are eaten dried, boiled, roasted, or dried together with the backbone (aanaalik).
Dried eggs are sometimes mixed with bearberries, which keeps the eggs from sticking
to a person's teeth.
Stomach, intestines, liver, and gills are used only for dog food.
Head is cooked and eaten, or buried in a grass-lined hole for six or seven days in
summer, then dug up and eaten (called auruq).
299 <Sgg«
£?Ki> RESOURCES USED
Skin is eaten with cooked or dried fish. It is also cooked separately after being removed
from the dried fish (patiktitaq).
Grayling
Meat is eaten raw- frozen, boiled, dried, roasted, and fried.
Eggs are eaten with cooked or raw-frozen grayling.
"Round stomach'-' (aqiagutchiaq) : The contents are squeezed out, then the organ is
boiled or roasted for eating.
Stomach, intestines, and gills are not eaten.
Head is eaten with the fish.
Skin is scaled, then eaten dried or cooked.
Burbot (Mudshark)
Meat is eaten boiled, raw-frozen (after aging), and roasted.
Eggs are cooked and eaten.
Stomach and intestines are boiled and eaten.
Testes are cooked and eaten.
Liver is fried alone; it is considered a great delicacy.
Burbot is used to make a delicacy called tinniugaq, by mixing the liver, eggs, and
stomach parts, mashing them together (sometimes with blueberries or cranberries), and
boiling them.
Head and gills: The flesh, eyes, and brain are eaten from the cooked head.
Skin is eaten with the fish. The skin was used in earlier times for strips of trim on skin boots.
Northern Pike
Meat is eaten boiled, dried, or roasted. It is also an important dog food.
Eggs are eaten raw, raw-frozen, or cooked and also made into ittukpalak (see sheefish).
Intestines, stomach, liver, and head are eaten after cooking.
Skin is scaled, then eaten from the dried fish. Pike skin was used in previous times to
make bags for storing fish oil.
Northern Sucker
Meat is eaten boiled or dried only. It is also used for dog food.
This is not a preferred fish; but it is the first species available after winter and may be
important as survival food in lean springs.
Eggs are eaten boiled, or raw with the intestines.
RESOURCES USED <?j£E
Intestines: After the contents are squeezed out, the intestines are washed, then eaten
raw.
Air bladder is eaten raw.
Head: The flesh, brain, and other parts are eaten from boiled fish.
Gills and skin are not eaten.
Clam
Clams found in certain lakes in the upper Kobuk area are boiled and eaten.
Vegetation
White Spruce
Wood: Firewood is cut from forests surrounding all upper Kobuk River villages and
camping areas. Dry, dead wood (qiruk) is the preferred type, but it has become difficult
to find near the settlements (except near Ambler, where a forest fire killed timber some
years ago). Live, green wood (uummaq) is therefore used extensively for providing
heat.
White spruce is also used in construction of log houses, which have been the most
common upper Kobuk dwelling until recently. Stands of large straight-growing,
straight-grained spruce are found in a few scattered localities along the river, and these
provide most of the house logs.
Spruce is also cut for making boats, hunting canoes, sleds, meat caches, drying racks,
and innumerable other small items.
Boughs (akiguq) are used for covering tent floors in camps and for insulative bedding
for sled dogs.
Needles (qisiqsiutit) are boiled near a person who has a cold or flu, to relieve symptoms
and freshen the air.
Bark (amigaq) is taken from live trees to provide roofing for traditional summer
shelter, caches, or drying racks.
Roots (amaaq): Long, supple roots are dug from around young trees with long, straight
roots, then split and used for sewing birchbark baskets. Large roots are carved into
dippers, platters, and net floats.
Sap: Soft, clear sap (sugliaq) is put on cuts and infections as an antiseptic, or boiled in
water and drunk to relieve symptoms of flu or rheumatism.
Dark spruce pitch (kutchuq) is chewed like gum or used to caulk boats. It is also
boiled in water until pure pitch floats on top, then skimmed off to drink as medicine.
301 <^s
s£\!fe> RESOURCES USED
Black Spruce
Larger black spruce may be used for wood, boughs, and roots as described above for
white spruce. Usually, however, they are too small for any but miscellaneous uses
such as making poles or burning as firewood in camps.
Balsam Poplar (Cottonwood)
Wood is used as firewood, but it is not highly preferred because it leaves heavy ash.
Bark is carved into net floats and was formerly used to make sun goggles.
Seeds: The cottony material around the seeds can be used for emergency fire starting.
Leaf buds are gathered in winter for sore throat medicine or used to make balm of
Gilead.
Birch
Wood is used for firewood and for smoking fish. Birch wood is also made into lumber
for sleds, snowshoe frames, cutting boards, and boat frames.
Bark is extensively used today for making baskets which are sold or used for various
purposes by the people themselves. Birch bark is excellent material for starting fires
because it burns regardless of wetness or wind.
Sap is boiled to make syrup; in the past it was apparently drunk the way it came from
the tree (Stoney 1900:100).
Alder
Wood: Despite its small size, alder wood is an excellent, hot-burning firewood; it is
used fairly often for heating houses and tents, and for cooking dog food. Half-rotten
alder is very good for smoking fish and making smudges to repel insects. This wood is
also used for making scraper and knife handles.
Bark is still used to make red dye for coloring the leather side of animal hides (for
example, wolverine-skin parka tassles).
Leaves are chewed and then applied as a compress on wasp stings and mosquito bites.
Aspen
Wood is sometimes used for firewood or as lumber in sled construction, but it is too
soft to be of much value.
Bark: The inner bark is chewed as medicine for constipation.
Willow
Wood is burned for firewood, insect smudges, meat or hide smoking, and dog food
cooking. Willow wood is also used for making basket rims, wicker fish traps, withes
for stringing fish, traditional shelters and caches (not used today), and endless miscel-
laneous purposes. Diamond-leaf willow is excellent for making snowshoe frames.
RESOURCES USED <fffii
Bark is eaten from young shoots, or entire shoots (natatquq) may be eaten. Willow
bark was formerly used for making nets and snares.
Leaves: Very small, young leaves (sura) are eaten with seal oil and sugar, or mixed
with fish eggs and eaten. After early summer, the leaves are too large and taste sour.
Sap: The outer bark is stripped from a willow, then the sweet sap is scraped from the
exposed stem with a knife and licked off the blade.
Prickly Rose
Rose hips, fruit of the prickly rose, are gathered and eaten raw.
Crow berry
The berries are eaten raw, or mixed with seal oil for eating or storing. They are fairly
dry inside, and can be stored "as is" in a cool place. Juice from the berries is squeezed
into the eyes to relieve soreness or mild snow blindness.
Bearberry
There are two species: Arctostaphylos alpina is seldom used, but is picked and eaten
on the spot when found. Arctostaphylos uva-ursi is gathered in quantity from the
Kobuk River Valley sand dune areas. These berries are stored in rendered fat (such as
bear grease), fish oil, or seal oil, then eaten with the oil. They are also mixed with
dried salmon eggs or added to akutuq.
Lowbush Cranberry
The berries are eaten raw, cooked for preserves, or added to ittukpalak or akutuq. A
berry soup is the most common way it is eaten.
Juice from the berries is rubbed on a rash that occurs around the waist area. Cranber-
ries are a common remedy for colds, kidney problems, or for people who have no
appetite.
They are stored in cardboard boxes, barrels, and in the freezer. They can be gathered
early and left to ripen in a box or barrel. They are also harvested in the spring after
the snow melts because they are still edible, although quite sour.
N ago on berry
This berry is eaten raw wherever it is found. They are gathered and preserved with
salmonberries. Even a few cups give the other berries a distinctive raspberry flavor.
Bog Cranberry
This species is eaten raw, usually when and where it is picked.
Bog Blueberry
Bog blueberries are eaten raw, boiled for preserves, or added to ittukpalak and
akutuq. Traditionally the most common berry along the Kuuvarjmiut area. It is gath-
303 «a\^
E©S» RESOURCES USED
ered with a qalutaq, which is a berry bush tapper shaped like a dipper. The berries are
tapped into a basket and cleaned by winnowing in the wind. They are stored in barrels
or frozen in freezers.
Cloudberry
Also known as salmonberry, these can be gathered while they are unripe and cooked
to make a berry soup. They are gathered and stored in barrels or freezer. They can be
eaten raw with sugar and cream or with seal oil or mixed with cooked fish. Many
people add them to akutuq and, today, some boil it for preserves.
American Red Currant
This species is eaten raw, usually when and where it is found.
Highbush Cranberry
These berries may be eaten raw, but are often used to make jam.
Labrador Tea
The leaves are gathered and used for making tea.
Common Juniper
The needles and twigs are boiled for a medicinal drink used for congested lungs,
arthritis, rheumatism, and uro-genital problems.
Single berries are eaten as medicine for a sore throat, cough, and lung congestion.
Eskimo Potato
The roots or tubers are gathered in quantity during the fall and stored underground for
winter. They are eaten raw.
Wild Rhubarb
This species is gathered in early summer (until June). The stems are eaten raw. The
leaves are cooked, then mixed with fish eggs or seal oil and sugar for eating.
Sourdock
These plants are gathered all summer. The leaves are cooked and eaten, or stored in
barrels or the freezer. They are mixed with sugar and seal oil when eaten.
Seacoast Angelica
The stems are stripped of skin and eaten raw. This species is seldom found in the
upper Kobuk, but it is common in the lower river area.
s€>304
RESOURCES USED <©2
Fire weed
The young shoots (six inches tall) are gathered in early summer, laid outside for half
a day, then put in seal oil and eaten when desired.
Wild Chive
The plant and roots are sometimes eaten raw, but are usually added to meat or fish
"soups."
Chive slices are boiled in fish broth, the fish is removed, and the broth allowed to
cool. Fish oil adheres to the chives, which are removed and eaten with half-dried fish
that has been boiled.
Grass or Sedge
Unidentified grass-like plants are used for lining the holes for aging fish, for cover-
ing roofs of cabins (beneath the sod layer), and for dried insole material.
Common Wormwood
Kobuk villagers often use this plant for medicinal purposes. It is chewed or made
into a tea which is drunk for the flu, stomach ailments, or sore throat. The plants are
also moistened, then placed on painful arthritic areas and covered by a hot stone.
Sagebrush plants can be burned to keep mosquitos away.
Four-angled Cassiope
This heather-like plant is used for starting campfires, because it contains a flammable
substance.
Birch Fungus
A species of bracket fungus (probably Polyporus aplana(um) is used as a fire starter
in emergencies and burned inside the house to repel mosquitos or drive mice out.
White Bracket Fungus
This soft fungus that grows on birch trees is used for pincushions.
Moss
Moss from timbered areas is used for chinking cabins and covering roofs (beneath a
layer of sod).
Peat Moss
Sod from wet tundra and old lake beds is used for chinking cabins, covering cabin roofs,
and covering semisubterranean houses. It is gathered during the driest part of summer.
305 <S8®
r'tf#5!
RESOURCES USED
Reindeer Lichen
This is used as survival food for people or dogs.
Earth Resources
Water
The relatively pure waters of the river and its tributaries must be included as a vital
resource for Kobuk people. River water is used exclusively while in camps, and part-
time in the villages (where wells are also available, but not always functioning). The
villagers are acutely aware of the importance of this water in their lives, not only for
drinking but also for providing the fish that are an essential part of their livelihood.
Water from the hot springs in Dakli Pass, south of Shungnak village, is another impor-
tant resource. People visit the hot springs each year in March, April, and May to soak in
its medicinal waters. Large containers of water are also brought home for drinking,
again because of its medicinal qualities.
Clay
Bluffs along the Redstone and Hunt rivers yield a special red clay that can be used to
paint sleds, snowshoes, and houses. It is still occasionally utilized today.
Jade
Kobuk Eskimos have a long tradition of using natural outcrops of jade, which is abun-
dant north of the Kobuk River. In pre-contact times, the mineral was used for making
stone tools, but today it is gathered for sale to outsiders. For some persons this repre-
sents a significant source of income.
Whetstone Rock
A slate-like rock called tinaakatiisruuk is collected at an outcrop on the lower Pah River
and is used as a sharpening stone for knives.
Stone
Rounded rocks collected along river beds are used as sinkers for gill nets and seines.
Other selected river rocks are used as makeshift whetstones for sharpening blade tools,
then discarded afterward.
Bibliography
BIBLIOGRAPHY <^'/^
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1 J ''--. :._ '
Index
a
aanaalik (female salmon) 183
Aaquaksrauraq 57, 94
adze blades 4
Ahteut, homes at 5
aigaq (Parry's wallflower) 234
Agnaqhauq 98
Agnauqhigaq 108
Agvigiuraq (place) 97
akiaq (grizzly bear) hunting 213
aki (long-handled gaff) 149, 196
akiuraq (short-handled gaff, illus.) 149
akivik (windbreak framed 178
Akmak
complex (stone core) 2, 3
microblades (illus.) 5
Akpagialuk 90
Aksik{Oks\k) 14, 19,88,93, 109
houses at 18
last surviving resident 92
people move to Noorvik 21
Aktuq9\
akutuq (Eskimo ice cream) 80, 233
Alallauraq (Kiana seining site) 181
Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, fishing rights and
the 145-146
Alaska-Yukon Gazetteer 18
Alatna River 138, 139,224
alder thickets 28
Allakaket (place) 106, 109
alluaq (fishing hole in the ice) 185
Allutunittuq (place) 108
Alpine bearberries (kavlaq) 232
Amaamnunaaq Camp 75-78
amaguq (wolf) trapping 225
amaqtuq (humpback whitefish) 171
amatchiaq (fall method for cutting whitefish, illus.) 182
Ambler (Ivisaappaat) 109,110
caribou migration 207
sheefish counts 163
Ambler River (Natmaktugiaq) 139
rafting on the 118
ice danger on the 125
route to Noatak River 1 16
Selawik, Shungnak trails 138
American red currants (nivinnaqutaq) 233
Anaktuvuk Pass 106, 110
original name 107
Anarraaq 107
arjatkuaq (Shamanistic ritual) 96
arjatkuq (devil) 100
Anauligvik (Selby River) 13, 103
farthest upriver settlement 17
Anausuk (Beatrice Mouse) 105, 107, 109
reminiscences 94-101
Anayuk (Cutler River) 139
anigutyaq (after birth snow house) 248
animals, Kobuk valley 28-29
antler hook pole (illaqtuun) 187
Anugituut Creek 264
anuniugauraq (gill net for small whitefish and pike) 146
Anuqaaq 97
arjuqatigiik (hunting partners) 66
arjuyaich (Indians) 96
Apqugaagruk (a pass, literally "the old trail") 97, 139
aqargiq (ptarmigan) hunting 221
Aqattuluuraq 105
aqpik (salmonberries, cloudberries) 232
aqpiqutaq (salmonberry blossoms) 76
aqsrautraq (football) 93
aqu (beaver) trapping 228
Aqugluk (see also: Foster, Lucy)
Aquppak (Louis Commack) 77
reminiscences 109-1 10
Aqusriugvik 105
aspen 28
asriatchiaq (saxifrage plant) 234
asriavik (blueberries) 232
atigirut ("putting on the parka," predicting freeze-up) 184
atiutit (namesakes)
attending funerals 70
invited to birthday parties 80
A tor uk 94
a ugayuk (an elongated tripod lean-to)
auktitluq (nosebleed) 247
Aullitlgani (place) 97
Aumatchiaq 97
Auriviuraq (Omar River) 14
Avaaraguat (creek) 102
315
%s$> Index
a-b
Avaaragaal (place) 102, 103
avalanche (sisuuq) 124, 139
Ayaatchaitkut 89
ayaupiq (spreader bars for nets) 1 6 1
ayuaq (skin boil) 248
Baird mountains 25
Baldwin, Tom 102
balsam poplar 28
Bane, Ray 182
bare earth (nuna) during winter travel 125
Barr, Arthur 57
Barr, Susie, reminiscences 92-101
Barrow 106, 109
bartering 83
basket, birchbark (qallivik) 23 1
bear
hunter, Siqiniq 277
hunting statistics 217
resources used 291-292
spearing a (illus.) 214
topography, use of 252
bear, grizzly (akiaq) 28
hunting 213
bear, black (iyyagriq) 29
hunting 213
bearberries (tinnik) 233
beaver (patuqtaq or aqu)
resources used 293
trapping 228
Beaver River 175
Beaver, Mamie (Naagaayiuraq) 90
beluga whale 245
maktak (skin and blubber) 4
Bering Land Bridge 1
berries
picking 67, 231-233
recipes 233
storing 231
BI A, see also Bureau of Indian A/fairs, 2 1
bibliography 309-313
Bingo, as winter entertainment 80
birch
thickets 28
use of 6, 237
birchbark basket (qallivik) 67, 23 1
bird scare devices (nuyuaqsaun) (illus.) 174
bird species 29
resources used 295-297
used by Kuuvanmiut 284
birthing, traditional 95
hut (uqquutaq) 248
black bear (iyyagriq) 29
hunting 213
resources used 291
Black River 156
fish camp (illus.) 157
mouth, fish camp 177
black spruce 28
blackfish trap (iiuuqiniqsiun) (illus.) 152
bloodletting instrument (kappun) 247
blowflies (nuviuvak) 174
blubber (maktak) 245
blueberries (asriavik) 232
boats
spruce bark-covered 1 18
statistics on numbers of 119
boil, skin (ayuaq) 248
bowhead whale 245
breakup 155
Brooks Range 2, 25, 115
caribou in the 200
Denbigh Eskimos in 4
trails leading to 139
Brown, Doug 72
Buckland, hot springs 80
burbot, see also mudshark
hooks 185
ice fishing for 185
winter migration 184
burbot trap (qargich) 189-198
average catches 198
back wall (qitnuq) 191
building a 191
components 191
cutaway view (illus.) 197
description of building the entryway 193
end logs (patinniq) 1 92
entryway frame (paatjat) 194
funnel (iggiaq) 192
funnel entrance (illus.) 194
outer fence (salliiiiq) 1 92
outline (illus.) 192
parts labeled (illus.) 197
placement of (illus.) 190
pliers for setting toggles (illus.) 196
poles set (illus.) 195
setting toggles (illus.) 196
shoreward fence (kilullingich) 1 92
side view of throat (illus.) 194
throat poles (mitlinniq) 191
wall log braced (illus.) 192
walls (tupirjich) 191
willow sapling barrier (illus.) 195
B©£>316
Index <ff/£s
b-c
Bureau of Indian Affairs, see also BIA
cache (ikiggaq) 96, 153, (utjaluuraq) 235
ground-level (saiyut) 153 '
small house on pilings (urjalut) 153
stone covered 1 16
underground (sigluaq) 101
calendar, Kuuvarjmiut 35
California Yearly Meeting of Friends 16, 18
camp
Black River fish (illus.) 157
description of fall fish (Qalugriivik) 180-1!
diary, spring (Nita Sheldon) 71-75
diary, summer (Nita Sheldon) 75-79
establishing fall fish 177-180
fall fish, daily schedule and illus. 178
fish (Paniyavik) 186
fish, description of early 11-12
selecting a site 138
spring fish 156
winter, list of supplies 137
campsites, traditionally rich 255-257
canoes, aluminum 1 19
Cantwell 7-14 (passim)
canvas tent (illus.) 137
Cape Blossom 14, 16
Cape Krusenstern 13, 143
Cape Prince of Wales, schools at 16
caribou (tuttu)
butchering 208
cows with fawns (nuggalik) 206
feeding areas 3
hunting 199-211
along the Noatak 5
equipment carried for 205
fall 201
in the mid 1970s 204
in the past 201
spring 210
summer 201
techniques 206-207
winter 202
in Kobuk Valley National Park 266
key to upriver survival 22
migration 207
most important animal 28
processing 208
resources used 287-290
stalking criteria 205
topography and 252
winter 209
carnivals (Noorvik, 1970s) 81-82
Carter, Joe 88
cash economy 82, 269
celery, wild (ikuusuk) 234
cemeteries (Noorvik) 71
cherts, locally available 2
child training 68-69
chives, wild (paatitaaq) 234
Christmas (Noorvik, 1970s) 81
church services, first upriver 17
clay 306
Cleveland, C.'s summer fish camp (illus.) 190
climate
data for Kobuk and Kozebue (table) 26
Kobuk valley 26
summer 27
winter 26
clothing
reindeer skin 14
traditional winter (illus.) 120
cloud formations 121
cloudberries (aqpik) 232
club, fish (niaqqifi) (illus.) 149
coast, hunting and trading at the 13
cold, nasal (nuvaksiqpak) 247
Colville River 143,224
hunting along the 1 16
Commack, Louis (Aquppak) 105, 214
reminiscences 109-110
communication, non-committal 264
construction, as source of wages 85
cooking, methods 89, 101
Corwin (ship) 14
cottonwood smudge fires (illus.) 175
cough, whooping (quhiqpauraq) 247
courtesy in use of territory 143
cranberries, lowbush (kikminnaq) 232
crowberries (paungaq), 233
culture and world view 272
persistence of Ihupiai 274
currants, American red (nivirjrjaqutaq) 233
current, water
bank cutting (tilainiq) 169
"eddy line" (qasrunik) 169
(illus.) 169
indicator (illus.) 191
main river (sagvaq) 169
reverse eddy (argumuksaaq) 1 69
river 169
shallow riffle (itimniq) 169
upstream Kobuk (ilulmuk) 169
Curtis, Edward S. 23 1
317 *&
b&$SSs> Index
c-f
Cutler River (Anayuk) 139, 143
Cutoff (now Huslia) 126
cutting fish (illus.) 171
dall sheep (ipnaiq)
hunting 217
types and terminology 218
daylight, variations in 27
deadfall for lynx (illus.) 227
Deering 88-89
early conditions at 21
economic difficulties (1914) 20
Denbigh Eskimos
adze blade (illus.) 4
on the Kobuk 4
flint complex (culture) 3, 4
spearpoint (illus.) 4
dependence, parents on children 65
development, as a threat to subsistence 276
devil (arjatkuq) 100
diapers, traditional 235
diet, analysis of 240-242
dip net (qalu)
(illus.) 150, 153
technique for 160-161
dog teams 126-129
condition for year-round villages 22
decline (early 1960s) 129
first 6
number (1975) 129
racing and recreation 129
snowmachine comparisons (table) 131
dogs, food consumed by 128
driftwood 238
drive, snowshoe hare hunting 219
drying fish (illus.) 171
duck
average consumption 22 1
snaring (illus.) 103
earth resources used 306
economy, subsistence and cash 269
ecosystem, Kobuk valley 28
eddy water flow (illus.) 169
edible plants, topography and 254
Ekseavik (Iqsiugyik), archeological site 6
elders, women as advisors 68
electricity, first at Noorvik 21
enclosure for unprocessed fish (illus.) 182
English, Beatrice Mouse learns 100
environment, descriptive terms for 286
knowledge of the 140
equipment for fall fish camp (list) 178
Eskimo potato (masru) 234
expeditions (1884) 10
Corwin(1885)
Kobuk River (1881-1885) 13
Kotzebue Sound (1881-1885) 13
explorer, first Kobuk (Simpson) 7
fall activities
modern Lower Kobuk 53
modern Upper Kobuk 39
traditional Lower Kobuk 46
traditional Upper Kobuk 34
fall fish camp
daily schedule 178
establishing 177-180
(illus.) 178
fauna, general 28
types utilized (table) 29
fence, fishing (illus.) 153
fire
cause of long-term change 261
fighting
statistics (table) 84
as reliable employment 84
starting, traditional 89
fireweed, young shoots of (quppiqutaq) 234
firewood 238
fish
cutting and drying (illus.) 171
description of processing 12
enclosure for unprocessed (illus.) 182
essential to subsistence 144
heads and eggs, buried 173
Kobuk area types 29
nets, description 106-107
oil 144
processing 159, 171-175
salmon (illus.) 173
whitefish (illus.) 172
rack (innisaq) 148
types (illus.) 148-149
resources used 297-301
spears 150
spoilage due to rain 175
topographical habits 253
traps
burbot (illus.) 197
whitefish 6
used by Kuuvarjmiut 285
weir (saputit) 150 (illus.) 151
fish camp
Black River (illus.) 157
8^318
f-h
Index
continuous use of 168
description (Qalugriivik) 180-181
description of Ambler family 168
early summer 155
fall camp
daily schedule 178
equipment (list) 178
(illus.) 178
Paniyavik 186
supplies inventory 156
fishing
as a female role 67
early fall 175-184
equipment 146-170
hooking through the ice (niksiksuq-) 1 84
ice 154
late fall and early winter 184-198
lure (niksiuraq) 149
open water 155
partners (kuvraqatigiik) 65
rights, effect of ANCSA on 145-146
rod 163
roles of men and women 145
sites, "first right" to 145
sites, criteria for selecting 1 56
social ramifications of 145
spring and early summer 154
summer 162
techniques, early Kuuvanmiut 5
flint knapping, Siberian origin 4
float (puptann) (illus.) 147
flora species utilized 27
(table) 29
football (aqsrautraq) 93
forests, unique Eskimo environment 28
Foster Lucy (Akugluk) 246
reminiscences 88-92
Fourth of July activities 79
freeze-up, dates 1 84
Friends Church, jurisdiction to missionize 16
frost crystals 123
fuel, boat usage and prices 1 19
funerals (Noorvik 1970s) 70
fur trapping
increase of dog teams for 128-129
furs
for bartering 83
as medium of exchange 21
new use as trade items 22
used as money 2 1
gaff (aki) 149, 196
gall bladder problems (swjaq) 246
game
Kobuk valley 28-29
management of 271
Geary, James V. 18
Geary, Lulu (Tuttugruk) 246
gee pole 133
geese, average consumption 221
Geologist, Survey 20
Giddings, J.L. 1,30
Gilderville 7
gill net (kuvraq)
(illus.) 146
ice holes (illus.) 188
setting a 186-188
under the ice (illus.) 189
positioning salmon (illus.) 170
gill netting 158, 167-170
description of winter 186-188
knowledge required for 168-169
productivity 158, 188
under ice 186
gold
amount found by 1909, 18
discovered at Klery Creek 19
exploratory camps 17
first systematic mining of 1 8
seekers on the Kobuk, 16
graves at Noorvik 71
Gray, Lawrence, fish trap (illus.) 197
grayling (sulukpaugaq) 159
jigging for 184
Great Sand Dunes 143
grizzly bear (akiaq) 28
hunting 213
types of 214
grouse, economic importance 29
hare, snowshoe (ukalliuraq)
hunting 218
resources used 295
headache, severe (niaqunrjuruq) 247
high schools in the villages, effect of 275
hiking, traditional means of travel 1 1 5
HMS Plover 7
Hogatza River 143
hole in ice for fishing (alluaq) 1 85
hook, willow pole (illus.) 1 53
hooking fish through the ice (niksiksuq-) 1 84
hooks, fish
burbot 185
trot line (qairuqsaq) 185
319 «S£i
s£y>
Index
h-k
hospital
first at Noorvik 21
moved from Noorvik to Kotzebue 21
Hotham Inlet 7, 13, 14, 1 19, 154, 160
sheefish winter at 1 84
house
description of an early winter 10, 94
early coastal and interior 5
snow (aputyaq) (illus.) 135
Howard Pass (Akutuq), "whipped fat" 139
subject to violent north winds 121
Hunt River 86, 109, 110, 143, 176,224
burbot traps 1 89
caribou route 200
changing spawning places 260
flats 156
hurricane force winds at 121
winds at mouth of 254
hunting
as a male role 67
caribou 199-211
on foot 93
husky (dog) 126, 127
Huslia (formerly Cutoff) 126
Huslia River 224
Hhuagniq (smelt) 160
illaqtuun (antler hook pole) 149, 187
(illus.) 188
ice (siku) 1 24
conditions 124-125
glare 125
holes for gill net (illus.) 188
new (sikuliuraq) 1 24
overflow on (siiqsinniq) 125
rotten (awjniq) 124
thin (maptukitchuq) 124
igamaaqiuk ("half dry" salmon) 175
igavaun (spruce cooking pot) 236
iggiaq (burbot trap funnel) 192
Iglulisaaq 7
igri. {m\\i) 183
ikiggaq (cache) 96
ikiggcii (elevated cache) 235
ikiliguqtaaniktut (possessed people) 97
Ikkaayutkuk 92
Iknautak 57
Iknin (river) I 39
Ikpik cliff (Saakiihutaana) 105
ikuusuk (wild celery) 234
illuk (snowblindness) 248
Imaagvik (place) 154
Imagluktuq (Black River) 9, 10, 11, 156-157
income, average (1969) 83
Indians
encounter with 96, 104
upper Koyukuk 143
indicator, current (illus.) 191
influenza epidemic 17
inversion, temperature used as protection 136
innisaq (fish rack, illus.) 148
Iiiupiaq
writing system, 281
culture, persistence of 274
Ipnailivik (river) 139
ipnaiq (dall sheep) hunting 217
Iqsingaich 105, 107
/</s/'wgv/A-(Ekseavik), archeological site 6
Iraillak 97
iragakisuuraq (gill net for smallest whitefish) 146
iragulik(g\l\ net for whitefish, pike, sheefish, salmon) 146
isigagutik (sealskin boots) I 15
Isinnaq [Shungnak] 109
Isruqtauraq, seining at 166
Itivilik River 143
iluqulaq (porcupine) hunting 2 1 8
Ivisaappaat [Ambler] 1 10
Ivisaaq (Redstone/Ambler River) 10, II, 139
ivory fish lures 155
ivruq (sphagnum moss) 101, 235
Iyagaagmiut (Indians: "people of the rocks") 139
Iyagak, (Mr. Rock) 16, 89, 90
iyyagriq (black bear) hunting 2 1 3
Jackson, Jenny (Masruana) reminiscences 102-109
Jackson, Sheldon 16
jade 306
jigging fish (niksiksuq-) 154, 184
burbot jigging 185
jobs
opportunities, importance of 62
unpredictability of 270
wage-earning ( 1 9 1 0) 20; (statistics) 83
John River 17
Johnson, David 16
Kakiaqtuivik 1
kakial (trident fish spear) 1 50
Kalla (Qala) 1 I
Kanaaq (place) 97, 105, 107, 108
kappun (bloodletting instrument) 247
kapuqqaun (long fish spear) (illus.) 1 50
Kashevarov expedition 7
Katyaak Co\d Kiana") 19,20
founders of 57-58
320
Index <$jj$
k-1
Kavet Creek 233
kaviqsuaq (sucker) 159
kavisiiqsi (scaling fish) 76
kavlaq (Alpine bearberries) 232
Kavraqutaq (place) 1 09
kayaks 1 1 8
kayuqtuq (red fox) trapping 224
Kiana (Squirrel City or "Downtown") 58, 107, 160
founding of 19
as a gold camp site 17
dog numbers (1974) 129
growth in the 1920s 21
Kiana Hills 25
Kiana-Selawik trail 138
Least Cisco seine at 147
marital residence pattern (table) 61
marriage patterns 59, (tables) 60
number offish nets in 1974, 158
population (tables: 1975) 58-59
salmon count (1974) 170
seining at 164
seining sites 181
sheefish counts (1974) 163
smelt catch (1975) 162
Kigvalluat (fishing place) 1 10
kigvaluk (muskrat) hunting 219
kikminnaq (cranberries, lowbush) 232
Kiksraq (place) 97
Killik River 143
kilullingich (burbot trap shoreward fence) 192
kipniqutat (cut tree trunks) 95
kitik (limestone) 160
Kitik (place; 104, 160
Kivalina 88
Kivvaaluuraq 98
Klery Creek 19, 107, 109
gold mining at 57
Kobuk (Laugyiik) 1 07
depot for supplies 18
Eskimos, first reference to Kobuk (Zagoskin) 7
fall fishing 177
Kobuk-Shungnak channel 1 1
lower, modern subsistence cycles 48-54
lower, traditional subsistence cycles 43-48
lowlands, subject to strong winds 121
mining district recording office 19
seining sheefish 181
sheefishing 144
upper, modern subsistence cycles 35-43
upper, traditional subsistence cycles 30-34
Kobuk Lake, sheefishing in 6
Kobuk River
boats used on the 118-119
drainage 143
rafting on the 117
role in subsistence 26
tributaries 26
valley 1
Kobuk Sand Dunes 209
Kobuk Valley National Park 267
subsistence hunting in 271
traditional subsistence activities (table) 33
Kobuk valley
caribou in the 200
climate 26
future use 266
Kogoluktuk Channel (Qugluqtuq) 182
Kotzebue8, 107, 108
mission and school 16
seal hunting on Kotzebue sound 4
Kowak 9
Koyukon Athabaskans, along the Kobuk 5
Koyukuk River 2, 9, 13, 126, 138
drainage, trade along 4
valley 25
Kugarak River 138
kulavak (mature cow caribou) 199
Kutarlak Creek 139
Kutchuq 98
Kuugaatchiavak River drainage 156
Kuukpak (Yukon River) 109
kuukukiaq (snipe) 90
Kuuriaq Slough 57
Kuuvak Inupiat (Kuuvatjmiut) 110
kuuvaksiun qalu (most common weir, illus.) 152
Kuuvaijmiut (Kuuvak Inupiat) 1 1 0
kuvraqatigiik (fishing partners) 65
labor, division of 66
land
concept of open 265
control of the 268
development, as a threat 276
Inupiat attachment to the 273
planning and policy 277
landscape, importance of knowing the 252
Laugviik (Kobuk village) 107, 109
lean-to (itchalik) 1 1 6
hemispherical (illus.) 1 17
tripod type (illus.) 1 17
least cisco (qalusraaq) 1 54
seine (qalusraaqsiun) 147
seining for 181
321 <$£s
fi@> Index
1- m - n
Lee, Charlie 214
limestone (kitik) 160
line, setting a net line under the ice (illus.) 189
liver swelling (tirjuktuq) 248
Long Beach (Shungnak) origin of 18
lore, knowledge of local 1 1 1
lure, fishing (niksiuraq) 149
sheefish lure 155
lynx (nuutuuyiq)
deadfall (illus.) 227
resources used 293
trap (illus.) 227
trapping 226
Maayyuk 97
mail, first deliveries 18
Makkaksragiaq Channel 154
1 850 settlement near 7
Makkaksraq Camp 7 1 -74
smelt fishing at 162
maklak (whale skin and blubber) 245
beluga 4
Malak 94
mammals used by Kuuvanmiut 283
manaq (moss for stone lamp wicks) 234
Maniilaq (Mauneluk River) 1 1
fishing site 1 10
rafting on the 118
"mares' tails" (qayaguq) 121
marmot (siksrikpak) 1 02
trapping 229
resources used 294
marriage
customs 71
as reason for moving 63
marten (qapviatchiaq)
trapping 227
resources used 292
masru (Eskimo potato) 80, 106, 234
Masruana (Jenny Jackson) reminiscences 1 02- 1 09
Matulik 94
Mauneluk River 102, 175, 181, 182
medicine
boiled seal oil 246
cranberries (kikminnaq) 246
grayling dorsal fin (sulukpaugaq) 246
Hudson s bay tea (tilaaqqiuq) 246
juniper berries (tulukkam asrial) 246
traditional 246-248
wormwood (sargiq) 246
Memorial Day (Noorvik 1970s) 70
men, role in subsistence 67
Mendenhall 17
Miiyuuraq 57
m\\X (igri.) 183
Milugiuvik 72
miners, Polish-Greek-Japanese 58
mining, Kobuk recording office 19
mink (tigiaqpak)
trapping 230
resources used 292
missionaries, first contact with 16
mitlinniq (burbot trap throat poles) 191
mobility, a basic Kuuvanmiut trait 63
money and subsistence 82, 84
months, Kuuvarjmiut 35
moose (tiniika)
butchering 212
harvest statistics 213
hunting 21 1
resources used 290-291
topography and the 253
valley newcomers 29
moss, sphagnum (ivruq) 101, 235
stone lamp wick (manaq) 234
Mouse Beatrice (Anausuk), reminiscences 94-101
movement between villages, reasons for 62
mudshark, see also burbot
traps 106
muskrat (kigvaluk)
hunting 219
pelts, used for barter 83
resources used 294
Naagaayiuraq (Mamie Beaver) 90
Naatagnaq 105
Naataq (place) 106
Nalikkak 88,91
naluagmiu (white man's food) 79
Napaaqtusrugruatchiat (place) 97
Naqsraq, original name for Anaktuvuk Pass 107
Narvairuuraq (lake) 77
Nasruk 108
Natarok 8
Native Allotment Act 265
impact on fishing sites 146
Natmaktugiaq (a pass, meaning "pack it across") 139
Nauyaq ((Louis Commack's wife) 78, 90
Nazurak Channel 79
net
dip (illus.) 150, 153
gill 167-170
line, setting under the ice 186, (illus.) 189
making, traditional 91
sites, spring 155
Index <g^a
n - o - p
netting shuttle (nuvillaun) (illus.) 147
netting, dip 160
New Year's Eve (Noorvik, 1970s) 81
Newlin family 89
niaqqin (fish club) (illus.) 149
niaquntjuruq (severe headache) 247
niivigiik (trad ing-off partners) 66
niksiksuq- (hooking or jigging fish) 184
niksiuraq (fishing lure) 149
niqsaaqtutjiq (rock ptarmigan) 221
nivi {masru from a mouse cache) 234
nivinnaqutaq (American red currants) 233
Noatak River 143
headwaters 14
drainage 14
mountains 10
caribou in the valley 200
Noatak valley 25
nomadic life, change from 262
Noorvik (Putu) 88-89, 1 1 1
dog population (1974) 129
established 20
first school at 21
Least Cisco seine at 147
marital residence pattern (table) 61
marriage patterns (table) 61
Noorvik-Selawik trail 138
original name was Putu 88
population (1975)61
reindeer at 21
reservation established 20
village life 70-81
North Star (ship) 79
Norutak Lake 126, 143
nosebleed (auktittuq) 247
nuggalik (caribou cows with fawns) 206
nuliaqatigiik (wife-sharing partners) 66
Nuna (Hunt River) 8, 10, 260
Nunamiut Eskimos 143
Nuqaqti Creek 260
Nushralutak Creek 139
nutrition, components of 240-242
Nuurvik, (Noorvik, meaning "moving place") 20
nuutuuyiq (lynx) trapping 226
nuviuvak (blowflies) 174
nuyuaqsaun (scarecrow devices, illus.) 174
Omar River 116, 143
rafting on the 118
Onion Portage 143, 254
caribou migration through 200
homes at 5
open land concept 265
orthography, lhupiaq 281
otter (pamiuqtuuq)
trapping 229
resources used 293
outboard engines, boats powered by 1 19
ownership of sites, traditional 264
Paa River 105
people 102, 109
settlement, 17
paiuqtaq (beaver) trapping 228
Paalagik (place) 97
paatjat (burbot trap, entry way frame) 194
Paatitaaq (Onion Portage) 1, 10, 13
paatitaaq (wild chives) 234
Pah River
burbot traps 1 89
flats 1 56
loss of beaver 261
sheefish spawn in the 176
paiviich (fish rack, illus.) 149
Palisades spearpoint (illus.) 4
pamiuqtuuq (otter) trapping 229
Panalik 107
Paniagruk 97
Panikpiaq 88,90
paniqtuq (dried fish) 80
Paniyavik (fish camp) 1 86
(illus.) 187
panniq (mature bull caribou) 199
paper birch 28
parents, dependence on children 65
Parry's wallflower (aigaq) 234
fishing (kuvraqatigiik) 65
hunting (atjuqatigiik) 66
partners
real (suuraqatigiik) 65
trading (tuyuqtuutiruk) 66
trading 64
trading-off (niiviiiik) 66
transitory (piqatigiik) 65
wife-sharing (nuliaqatigiik) 66
"partnerships" 64-66
patinniq (burbot trap end logs) 1 92
paungaq (crowberries) 233
paurvich (sheefish weir) 150
Peary, Tom 108
permafrost 25
pick, long-handled ice 185
(illus.) 188
pike migration 163
323 <c^
m
sf&> Index
p-q-r
piqatigiik (two persons who help each other) 65
piqtalik (spruce cooking pot) 236
Pitqiq (lake) 254
place names 139-143
animal-plant-resource concentrations 140
directional-navigational 142
historic 140
person's names 142
physiographic 140
warnings 142
plants
gathering 67
edible 233-235
inner bark of young willows (natatquq) 233
resources used 301-306
saxifrage plant (asriatchiaq) 234
sourdock or wild spinach (quagaq) 234
spring willow leaves (sura) 233
wild chives (paatitaaq) 234
species, 27
used by Kuuvarjmiut 285
play, children imitating adults 69
Plover(HMS) 7
plover, gifts to the semi-palmated 181
poisoning, food (niggiqfuktuq) 246
pole, antler hook fishing (illaqtuun) 149, 187
poling, as means of travel 1 19
Polk, 18
population
dynamics 57
patterns: Kiana and Norvik (1900-1975) 57
reason for settlement size 62
porcupine (iluqutaq)
hunting 218
resources used 294
Portage Creek 139
Porter, Jack 94
possession (shamanism) 98
potato, Eskimo (masru) 80, 234
pots, smudge (puyuq) 1 72
pottery, first Eskimo 4
precipitation 27
types of 121
predicting freeze-up 183-184
pressure ridges, fishing at 1 54
pronunciation, Inupiaq language 281
prospectors on the Kobuk, 16
ptarmigan (aqargiq)
hunting 22 1
economic importance 29
net hunting 222
Purcell Mountain 126, 143
Putu (Noorvik) 20
original name for Noorvik 88
putukiuiuich (snipe) 90
Putyugialuk 98, 107, 108
puut (pokes) 232
puyuq (smudge fires, pots) 172, 174
Qaihapak 97
qaaktuun (seine) 147
qaaktuutim innivia (seine drying rack) 148
qaalgiq (humpback whitefish) 1 7 1
Qaggugruaq (place) 88
qagruqsaq (trot line) 185
(illus.) 186
Qala (KaWa) 11, 17, 109
fish camp (1974) 177, 182
people 109
qallivik (birchbark baskets) 23 1
Qallivik (place) 108
<7a/«(dipnet)(illus.)150
Qalugaairuk (place) 108
Qalugraitchiaq
homes at 5
Kiana seining site 181
one house at 17
Qalugriivik fish camp 1 77
seining at 180
qalugruaqsiun (gill net for salmon and sheefish) 146, 158
qalukpik (trout) 1 59
qalupiat (whitefish) 89
qalusraaqsiun (Least Cisco seine) 147
qapviatchiaq (marten) trapping 227
qapvik (wolverine) trapping 226
Qaqiikuvik 233
qargich (burbot trap) 189-198
Qatuk 91
Qauliik 107
qauraq (fish cooking method) 74
qayaguq ( "mares' tails") 121
Qikiqtagruk (Kotzebue) 14
qitnuq (burbot trap, back wall) 191
quagaq (sourdock or wild spinach) 76, 234
quaq (frozen raw meat or fish) 80
Qugluqtuq (Kogoluktuk "waterfall" River) 12, 139, 182
rafting on the 118
sheefish spawn in the 176
Qurjisiq 88, 90
Qurjuyuk 104
Qupilguq 94
quppiqutaq (young shoots of fireweed) 234
rack, summer fish-drying (illus.) 148
Index <ff/gs
r - s
raft
salmon towing (illus.) 183
spruce (umiagluk) (illus.) 1 17
rafting 117-118
ravens, sharing fish with 166
real partners (suuraqatigiik) 65
red fox (kayuqtuq) trapping 224
Redstone River (Ivisaaq) 139
rafting on the 118
Reed River (Arjilgagiaq) 1 75
rafting on the 118
reindeer, butchering 91
relatives, as reason for moving 63
Rendezvous, Summer 14
renamed Kotzebue 16
Repogle (missionary) 89
resource
long term variations 258-261
short term variations 257-258
resources used
competition for 271
compilation of 287-306
future Kobuk resources 266-268
role for subsistence 252
responsibility, taught to children 68
Revenue Service, U.S. Marine 8
river
currents 169
course changes 261
rock caves (qarjattaaq) 1 1 6
rock ptarmigan (niqsaaqlurjiq) 221
Rock, Mr. (Iyagak) 16
rod fishing 163
rope making, traditional 91
Saiiaksraq 97
Sagliaq 107
Sagvaqsiugiaq (Pah River) 13, 102, 105
saiyut (ground-level cache) 153
Sakmalich 105
salliniq (burbot trap outer fence) 1 92
(illus.) 167
salmon
cutting and processing (illus.) 173
diminished by pollution (1914) 20
fall cuts (illus.) 182
female (aanaalik) 1 83
gill netting 168
"half dry' ' (igamaaqhik) 175
migration 16^S
net positioning (illus.) 170
raft for towing (illus.) 1 83
seining 166-167
spawned out (tuqurjaraaq) 1 76
spawning areas 176
Salmon River 116, 176
as a caribou route 200
rafting on the 118
salmonberries (aqpik) 232
Samms, Carrie and Robert 16, 17, 98
Sapiqsuaq 102, 104
saputit (fish weir) 150 (illus.) 151-152
saxifrage plant (asriatchiaq) 234
scarecrow devices (nuyuaqsaun) (illus.) 174
schools, established upriver 16
Schwatka mountains 25
seal hunting
early harpoon heads 5
Kotzebue Sound 4
seal oil (uqsruq)
as a trade item 244
from Kotzebue 4
Sealing Point 13
sealskin boots (isigagutik) 1 1 5
seasons, importance of 30
seine (qaaktuun) 147
boat equipment 165
drying rack (qaaktuutim innivia) (illus.) 148
set in the Kobuk River (illus.) 165
description of early 12
smelt (illus.) 161
seining 160
description of 164-167
early fall seining at Qalugriivik 180
salmon 166-167
technique for smelt 161
seizures (qiluragaq) 247
Selawik Hot Springs 139
Selawik Lake 7
sheefishat 6, 184
Selawik lowlands 143
subject to gales 121
Selawik Pass
subject to violent weather 121
Selawik River 138
Selawik River Valley, first reindeer herd in 18
Selby River 175
fish camps on the 178
spawning pools 176
Selby, Lake 17
self reliance, respect for 68
settlement locations: 1984-85 (table) 15
farthest upriver (Anauligvik) 17
325 <®a
s@fc» Index
settlements
at the Mouth of the Nuna (Hunt River) 17
at the mouth of the Sagvaqsiugiaq (Pah River) 17
causes of year-round 22
description of 8
settlers, non-Native 85-87
sex roles 68
shamanism 98-99
ritual (arjatkuaq ) 96
sheefish fs//) 144, 154, 159
gill net (qalugruaqsiun) 158
lure 155
medium of exchange 144
migration 163, 176
weir 177
winter gill netting 186
winter sites 184
sheep, dall (ipnaiq)
hunting 217
topography for 253
Sheklukshuk Mountains 209
reindeer in the 19
Sheldon, Nita 246
description of life in Noorvik 70-81
shelters 134-138
canvas tent 137
cone-shaped (illus.) 135
hemispherical (illus.) 1 17
snow house (aputyaq) (illus.) 135
temporary snow (alluaqsaaq) (illus.) 135
tripod type (illus.) 1 17
willow bough, description 136, (illus.) 137
shoepacks, commercial 1 15
Shungnak 9
called Long Beach 18
caribou migration 207
fall fishing 177
first school at 1 8
fish seine at 147
flats, subject to gales 121
number of fish nets in 1974, 158
placement of burbot traps (illus.) 190
Post Office 1 8
reindeer herd established 18
salmon count (1974) 169
seining at Qalugriivik 180
sheefishing 144
Shungnak-Selawik trail 138
shuttle, netting (nuvillaun) (illus.) 147
siaktat (fish rack, illus.) 148
Siberian peoples, similarity to 2
sii (sheefish) 159
sigluaq (underground cache) 101
Sikjaqsram Paatja 1 1
siksrikpak (marmot) trapping 229
Siksrikpak (Squirrel River) 10, 13
Siksriktuuq 88
Simpson, John 7
Singauraq (place) 1 54
sinker, seine (illus.) 147
Siqiniq, hunting bear 277
sisit (mouse burrows) 234
SisualikS, 13, 14
as a trade center 243
Sisuuksinivik (a pass) 139
siulaitchiaq (fall method for cutting whitefish, illus.) 182
sleds 133-134
basket (qilgich) 133
plank (uniat) 133
statistics 134
sloughs, as fishing sites 155
smelt (Hhuagniq) 160
drying 162
smelt seine (Hhuagniqsiun) (illus.) 161
Smith, Capt. E.E. 7
Smith, Johnny and Duffy 92, 94
Smith, P.S. 19,20
smudge fires (puyuq) 172, 174
(illus.) 175
Snell s camp 11
snipe [kuukukiaq or putukiukiich] 90
snow
amounts of snowfall 27
blindness (illuk) 248
deep soft (katiqsruiniq) 1 23
drift overhang (mapsaq) 124
fresh fallen powder (nutagaq) 122
glazed (qiqsruqqaq) 123
granular (pukak) 123
ground drift (natigvik) 123
hard crusty (sitliq) 122
house (aputyaq) (illus.) 135
packed (aniu) 122
rough surface (qayuqiak) 123
types 122-124
wet or melting (auksaiak) 124
snowmachine 22, 129-132
cultural losses due to 132
dog team comparisons (table) 131
financial burden of 130
importance of the 275
rapid adoption of 129
uses of 130
Index <gf£a
s-t
snowshoe (tagluk) 126
round-tipped (taglupiaq) 126
sharp-nosed (putyugiaq) 126
snowshoe hare (ukalliuraq)
hunting 218
hunting drive (urjuraq) 219
social network, 62
sourdock or wild spinach (quagaq) 234
gathering 76
picking 91
use of 75
spears, fish 150
spinach, wild, see also sourdock
spoilage, fish 175
spreader bars for nets (ayaupiq) 1 6 1
spring activities
modern Lower Kobuk 48
modern Upper Kobuk 35
traditional Lower Kobuk 44
traditional Upper Kobuk 30
spring camp diary (Nita Sheldon) 71-75
spring net sites 155
spring willow leaves (sura) 233
spruce, black and white 28
cooking pot (piqtalik or igavaun) 236
topographical factors 254
use of 235
Squirrel City (Kiana) 58
founding of 19
Squirrel Rivel, Ekseavik (Iqsiug\>ik) 6, 7, 14, 116, 176
burbot traps 190
flats 1 56
gold mining on the 57
mouth area 14
squirrels, resources used 294
Stalker, John 90
starvation 17, 22, 110
stone
as a resource 306
microblade insets 2
tools, grinding versus chipping 4
Stoney, CM. 7, 8
store, as reason for moving 63
gross receipts (1971)83
subsistence
activities
annual Lower Kobuk (table) 32
annual Upper Kobuk (table) 31
in the Kobuk Valley National Park (table) 33
cash economy and 82
cultural commitment to 275
cycles, 22
modern Lower Kobuk 48
modern Upper Kobuk 35
traditional Lower Kobuk, 43-54
traditional Upper Kobuk 30-34
Upper Kobuk, pre-contact 30-43
variations of 30
demands and discomforts of 270
economy 269
kinship networking and 63
range 266
resources, as reason for moving 62
role of resources for 252
Upper Kobuk 30
sucker (kaviqsuaq) 159
Sugunuuquurjuraq 107, 108
Sulukpaugaq 101, 102, 110
salmon congregate at 176
sulukpaugaq (grayling) 159
summer activities
modern Lower Kobuk 50
modern Upper Kobuk 37
traditional Upper Kobuk 32
summer camp diary (Nita Sheldon) 75-79
summer climate 27
Summer Rendezvous 14
missionaries at 16
renamed Kotzebue 16
Sun, Joe 214
supplies, fall fish camp 178
sura (spring willow leaves) 233
Survey Geologist, 20
suuraqaligiik (real partners) 65
Swedish Evangelican Mission Covenant 16
taboo, young girls and bear meat 95
taluyaq (spawning salmon fish weir) 150
Taijijaq 90
tanning, limestone used for 160
teaching children, ways of 69
technology,
acquisition of early 22
advances in fishing 22
arrival of new 273
telegraph, first at Noorvik 2 1
temperature
inversion used as protection 136
ranges of 122
tent
canvas (illus.) 137
hemispherical (illus.) 1 17
tripod type (illus.) I 17
327 <ffi&"
b©> Index
t - U -V - w
territory
associated with fishing 145
differing concept of 143
Thanksgiving (Noorvik, 1970s) 81
thimble (sealskin) 92
tigiaqpak (mink) trapping 230
Tikigaagruk (place) 97
Tikigayuatchiaq (place) 97
Tikigayugruaq (place) 97
Tikigayuk (place) 108
tilaaqqiuq (Labrador tea) 76
tinaakatiisruuk (whetstone rock) 306
tirjauraq (moss for tinder) 234
tinder moss (tirjauraq) 234
tinnik (bearberries) 233
tirjuktuq (swollen liver) 248
Tirravak (fishing place) 1 10
topography
bear habitats and 252
beaver habitats and 253
caribou migrations and 252
evolving 253
fish and 253
importance of knowing 252
moose habitats and 253
mountain sheep habitats and 253
muskrat habitats and 253
place names 139-143
waterfowl habitats and 253
wolf habitats and 253
wolverine habitats and 253
Totsenbet 17
Townsend, C.H. 14,242
trading 242-244
description of early 83
Kobuk people as middlemen 15
partner 64
posts, Shungnak 18
trails
marked with stakes, tripods 138
systems 138-139
training of children 68-69
trap
blackfish (Iiuuqifiiqsiun) (illus.) 152
indicators for a set 210
lynx (illus.) 227
trapping 223-230
furs for trading 223
travel
on foot 1 1 5
summer 1 15-120
supplies for foot 1 15
winter 120-138
tree trunks, cut (kipniqutat) 95
trident fish spear 150
trot line (qagruqsaq) 185
(illus.) 186
trout (qalukpik) 159
Tulukkaat (place) 143, 254
tundra, key ecosystem element 28
TupilikPass 139
tupirjich (burbot trap side walls) 191
luqurjaraaq (spawned out salmon) 176
Tuttugruk (Lulu Geary) 246
tuuq (long-handled ice pick) 185
(illus.) 188
Tuvaasaq (eddy) 1 8 1
tuyuqtuutiruk (trading partners) 66
Ugrivik (river) 97, 107
ukalliuraq (snowshoe hare) hunting 2 1 8
Ukiivigruich, 1 801 century settlement at 6
Uliqik 107
Ullaaq 109
Ulugaagruk 105
Uluggaq 88
Umakalookta 9
umiaks 1 18
Vmilgusuk 107
Umittaq, seining at 165
Unalakleet, reindeer imported from 18
urjalut (small house cache on pilings) 153
urjaluuraq (gable-roofed cache,) 235
Un-nah-tak 1 1
Uqaq Point 105, 160
uqquutaq (birthing hut) 248
uqsruq (seal oil) 80
as a trade item 244
Uqummigayauraq 97
Utuayukpak (place) 102, 103
uuyuraqagvik (fish rack, illus.) 149
vegetation, resources used 301-306
village life, modern 57
villages, settlement of modern Kobuk 7
wages (1910) 20
(statistics) 83
in 1975,85
Walker Lake 25
Waring Mountains 25
weather near 121
waterfowl
hunting 221
resources used 295-297
topography and 253
®>328
Index <ff|fe
w-y-z
weasel, resources used 292
weather
forecasting 121
predicting freeze-up 183-184
weir, fish (saputit) 150
(illus.) 151-152
most common (kuuvaksiun qalu) 152
sheefish 177
Wells family 89
Wells, James 222
whales, hunting baleen 5
Wheeler Creek 138
severe weather at 1 2 1
whetstone rock 306
white spruce 28
whitefish (qalupiat) 89
cutting and drying (illus.) 171
fall cuts (illus.) 182
migration 163, 176
processing (illus.) 172
string of (illus.) 173
stringing on willow rods 180
traps 6
used to predict freeze-up 183-184
winter gill netting 186
winter sites 1 84
widows, in a subsistence world 68
wild celery (ikuusuk) 234
wild chives (paatitaaq) 234
willow
rods, stringing white fish on 180
thickets 28
uses of 235
wind
as factor for resources 254
knowledge of 121
Kobuk region 27
windbreak frame (akivik) 178
winter activities
climate 26
modern Lower Kobuk 53
modern Upper Kobuk 41
traditional Lower Kobuk 47
traditional Upper Kobuk 34
wolf (amaguq)
harvests (table) 226
resources used 292
topography and the 253
trapping 225
wolverine (qapvik)
harvests (table) 226
resources used 293
topography and the 253
trapping 226
women
as wage earners 67
role in subsistence 66
world view and culture 272
writing system, Inupiaq 281
Yukon River (Kuukpak) 109
Zagoskin 7
Zane Hills 25
329 <£&s
ft U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1998-692-915
As the nation's principal conservation agency, the Department of the Interior has
responsibility for most of our nationally owned public lands and natural and cultural
resources. This includes fostering the wisest use of our land and water resources,
protecting our fish and wildlife, preserving the environmental and cultural values of our
national parks and historical places, and providing for enjoyment of life through outdoor
recreation. The department assesses our energy and mineral resources and works to
assure that their development is in the best interests of all. The department also has a
major responsibility for American Indian reservation communities and for people who
live in island territories under U.S. administration.
NPS D17. August 1998.
Clemson Universih
3 1604 012 852 341
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