28 July 2018 It Feeds A Village

Gifts From Whale*

Beachcombing on St. Lawrence Island is almost like opening a time capsule, with layers of stories niggling into your mind. How long has this been here? Where did this come from? Who created this?

One of the most impressive sights for me was this bowhead whale. Killed this past March by one of the villagers, it provided meat and sustenance for the entire community of Savoonga, more than 700 people. And that was only half of the whale.

This bowhead was captured in March a few kilometers from the village of Savoonga. Punguk, our guide, heads over to look at the whale. You can see how incredibly huge even part of the whale is.

According to our guide, Punguk, the whale was shot, but promptly sank, only to wash ashore about four days later. By that time, the internal organs had ruptured (exploded?) rendering meat on that side of the body inedible. The other half was stripped of meat, and some bones. We actually met a man today who had come to gather the ear drum of the whale to use as a cave for his polar bear carvings. This was the only whale killed this year, but yet it's enough to share.

Baleen

I had never seen baleen so intact, or so fresh, and I was stunned by their immensity and durability. Instead of having teeth, bowhead are baleen whales, which means they have these long strips known as baleen, which hang from the roofs of their mouths. They use them to strain out krill from the sea water. They are made of keratin so they're similar to hoofs and human nails. In the early 1900's baleen was an important part of life, used for fishing poles, clothing supports, and household items.

Baleen were an important part of daily life in older times, used for many household items that are now made of plastic or maybe of steel. The baleen from this bowhead whale were firmly intact. Baleen are visible in this view of the bowhead. These are dried out baleen, which some carvers use in their work. You never know what you will find on the beaches here. Seal, walrus, and whale bones are everywhere. JB standing next to these bones provides context for size. Minke whales are baleen whales, also, and are the smallest of the "great whales".

*Note

In Yupik English, when talking of animals, they tend not to use articles like a or the. By not using the articles, and only using the name of the animal (ie. Whale instead of the whale, or Walrus instead of a walrus), it is more intimate and acknowledges the connection between man and nature.

Today's Tweet

Beachcombing on Savoonga's area beaches is a treasure hunt. You never know what you will find, but chances are good there's a story behind it all. #exploremore #itfeedsavillage #giftsofwhale