During whaling season, everything else in the community pauses.
Whaling captain Jan Nashookpuk rings a church bell in Point Hope on May 10, 2023, a traditional way to signify a successful bowhead whale hunt to the community. POINT HOPE — The village came to life on a bright May afternoon. Snowmachines, four-wheelers and trucks rushed to the green church in the middle of town.
Jan’s wife, Tada, and his 25-year-old daughter, Janice Schaeffer, stopped home to calm their feelings and decide what food and kitchenware to pack for a night on the ice. During the whaling season, everything else in Point Hope comes to a pause. The captains take on a leadership role, deciding when and how to set out on the ice, providing equipment, food and fuel for their crews and keeping them safe on the hunts.On the ice that day in May, dozens of people gathered to begin a long night of hard work.
Outside, the air was salty and cold. Jan Nashookpuk and other Point Hope captains carefully looked over the animal and a strap that had been fastened to its tail to make sure it was ready to be hand-pulled onto the ice with a block and tackle system. A polar bear approaches the location on the sea ice where Jan Nashookpuk’s crew landed a bowhead whale on May 10, 2023. The bear turned and ran away from the crowd gathering there.
In the past few years, she said, her father lost his father and mother — her grandparents — both of whom were leaders in the family’s whaling traditions. “When we first started, I was 11 years old. I was like, ‘OK, you know, I can climb on a whale. That’s easy.’ And then I’m 25 and I’m three kids deep, and I’m like, ‘How am I gonna get on that whale? I’m not a little girl anymore!’” she laughed.
Soon after the whale was on the ice, the crew began dividing the meat and maktak. People sometimes worked in pairs to drag the heaviest pieces away.Women talk and watch as a bowhead whale is harvested after a successful hunt by Jan Nashookpuk’s crew near Point Hope on May 10, 2023. Maktak and meat is harvested from a bowhead whale near Point Hope on May 10, 2023. Several whaling crews harvested shares in the whale.
A sled, packed heavy with bowhead whale meat and maktak, is pulled back toward Point Hope from the sea ice on May 11, 2023. When Tada Nashookpuk came home, she barely slept.Tada Nashookpuk drives through Point Hope to distribute small amounts of meat and maktak to as many households as she and her helpers can reach on May 11, 2023.
Edna Nashookpuk goes door to door in Point Hope to deliver meat and maktak in Point Hope on May 11, 2023. A polar bear hide hangs outside a home.
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