Roaming Nurse: June 2012

Nalukataq is the spring whaling festival celebrated by the Inupiaq Eskimos of the North Slope of Alaska. The Whaling Captains / Crew who harvested a whale each celebrate with a Nalukataq Festival. I believe this year in Barrow they killed 15 Bowhead Whales. Technically there will be 15 Nalukataq festivals this month. However, I believe a few of the Captains are joining together having their celebration on the same day. The festival is a celebration of thanks for the success in killing a whale; it is also a time when the Captain and Crew distribute the whale meat to the community. Whaling Captains are highly respected in the community, and those who kill a whale have a greater stature in the community. It is tradition for the Captain to give a large portion of his whale to the community; this provides food for the entire Village. Remember, the whales are not killed for sport; they are killed for survival, to feed the people of the community.

Nalukataq starts with a prayer and the raising of the Whaling Crew Flag. Then the food starts to flow, goose soup, caribou soup, breads, and warm drinks for all those in attendance. This is an open celebration; everyone in the community is invited, including non-natives.

After the food is served and stories exchanged the whale is distributed to the community members. Visitors are offered a portion of the fin and tail. I was told that it is customary for the visitor to cut his / her own portion from the fin / tail. The fins and tails (see pictures below) are simply laid out on a pallet for the taking. Yes, I did cut my own and enjoyed it. The fins / tails have been “aged” since the kill. By aged I mean they are simply left outside until the Nalukataq. An important note, it hasn’t rotted, the average temperature is still in the low 30’s this time of year.

The meat distributed to the community is frozen (and traditionally eaten frozen), they are given Quaq (the actual red colored meat of the whale), Avarraq (tail and fin or Flukes), and Muktuk (skin and blubber.) I did have the opportunity to try Quaq and Muktuk frozen. The Quaq, raw, is a wonderful tasting meat; I cannot compare the taste to anything I have ever tasted. Muktuk is the skin and blubber, frozen; it has a taste that reminds me of a combination of fish and ham. The Avarraq I ate was from the aged tail / fin and it has a very sweet taste, again like nothing I have ever tasted.

Following the distribution of the whale the Nalukataq Blanket is made ready for the toss. The blanket is made from the Seal skins removed from the whaling boat, it is secured by ropes supported by crosses to elevate and provide “bounce” for the blanket toss. The blanket is surrounded by people with someone climbing to the center of the blanket and a slow bounce is started. After a countdown all the persons holding the edge of the blanket pull back, shooting the person into the air. This continues like a trampoline action until the person gets tired or falls.

I did have the honor of helping assist with tossing people. Yes, I also took my turn on the blanket. I feel accomplished for trying it, granted I was not good at it I feel like I was accepted somewhat for having the courage to try it.

After the Blanket Toss, there was an Eskimo Dance. The dance was very entertaining with drums, singing, and of course dancing. The Nalukataq Blanket is placed on the floor and used to dance upon. I’m still learning the customs and meanings behind a lot of what is done here and I am not positive on why the Nalukataq Blanket is danced upon. I do know the Eskimo Dance is a celebration of the harvest, of life in general, to give thanks. While I didn’t understand a word of the singing it was wonderful to listen to. The dancing was not an organized stage show as one would expect. It was simply people dancing in traditional Native fashion on their own. I learned after the dance that I should have participated in the dancing, as I did the blanket toss. I promised that at the next Nalukataq (later this week) that I would again, do the blanket toss, and this time I would dance.

I am enjoying learning the culture and even more so enjoying participating in the culture. Like I have said many times before, this adventure of self-discovery is taking me down a path that I never thought possible.

The adventure continues……………..

This was the Little Kupaaq Crew Nalukataq. A huge thank you to the Captain and Crew for a wonderful celebration and hospitality. Congratulations to the Captain and Crew on this years whale!

Crew group photo. The flag flying behind the crew is the crew flag. Traditionally the flag is flown after the crew kills a whale, and continues to fly until the celebration is over.

Overview of the community in attendance. Note, this was only half of the area, there are this many people or more behind me.

The crew unloading the boxes of whale from the harvest.

The crew handing out the whale meat to the members of the community.

The fins and tail of the Bowhead Whale. This was for visitors (or anyone actually) to take, if you cut it yourself. It may look "gross" to some but I will say it was very good.

Just two native children enjoying the celebration.

This lady is cutting up Muktuk (sking and bluber), some ate the whale right there others took it home.

Portions of the fin and tail being cut up to take home. Before I said you must cut it yourself, this is just a strong suggestion as a crew member is assisting here.

Another shot of the the fins / tails.

It went pretty fast, again, it was very tasty!

Quaq (the actual red colored meat of the whale), This is VERY VERY GOOD!

A fin waiting for consumption.

I have solid proof that I did participate in the blanket toss. Again, I was not very good at it, but I feel accomplished for trying.

The blanket toss!

This girl was very good and actually jumped many times throughout the day.

You can see one of the support ropes attached to the blanket in the middle right of the picture.

Age didn't matter, there was kids as young as three (they didn't get tossed very high don't worry it was safe) and Elders all joined in the toss.

The bald guy on the left is Adam, a fellow ER Nurse here in Barrow. I'm on the right, all of us actually looking up at the person we just tossed anticipating their fall so we could launch them in the air again.