Excerpted From Alaska Department of Fish and Game Technical Paper No. 188, February 1990.

INTRODUCTION

Most of the 5,000 residents of Alaska's Seward Peninsula depend on wildlife for food dog food, clothing, and raw materials. Iņupiat and Yupik Eskimos, who comprise 70 percent of the region's population, have subsisted on marine mammals, fish, terrestrial mammals, birds, and plants for at least 4,500 years. Recent studies in several communities in the region have shown that although hunting and fishing equipment has improved in the past century, traditionally used wildlife species were being harvested, processed, and stored in traditional ways in most communities (Eisler 1978, Ellanna 1982, Sherrod 1982, Sobelman 1980, Thomas 1982, Magdanz and Olanna 1988). . . .

In harvesting wild resources, Golovin residents predominantly used coastal and inland habitat. Few Golovin hunters ventured into the open ocean for large marine mammals; they did harvest seals and beluga that entered the sheltered waters of Golovnin Bay and Golovnin Lagoon. Brevig mission residents divided their energies among the uplands, the coast, and the open ocean. Like their fellows at Whales, Ingalik, and King Island, they ranged far into the open ocean to hunt walrus and bearded seals. Their hunting areas and camp locations indicated an economy balanced among inland, coastal, and marine activities. To a greater degree than most Seward Peninsula communities, Shishmaref was oriented toward the ocean. Hunting bearded seal, walrus, and polar bear were major activities. Shishmaref residents also used extensive land areas for harvesting, but their local terrestrial environment was nor so diverse not so productive as that of Brevig Mission and Golovin.

For migratory birds, Brevig mission residents hunted in the spring in the marshes between Cape Douglas and Port Clarence, along Port Clarence Spit and along the length of Brevig lagoon. Sea ducks, like king eiders, were hunted along the ice edge at the entrance of Port Clarence. In the late summer and fall, waterfowl were hunted again at Cape Douglas and Brevig Lagoon, in the Imuruk Basin area including the lower Agiapuk River drainage, the aptly named Duck Creek, and the southern shore of Imuruk itself. Years ago, some Brevig Mission residents gathered waterfowl eggs around the lakes northen of Cape Douglas, and along the length of Brevig Lagoon. Seagull eggs were found in the same locations. Small islands, which protected nests from fox and other predators, were especially productive gathering locations. Murre eggs were gathered at Fairway Rock in the Bering Strait, an occasional activity. The smaller birds' eggs were gathered in the vicinity of camps and the village, often by children who would bring them home for their mothers to cook.

Golovin residents hunted migratory birds in spring on the ice in Golovnin Bay and Lagoon, and later along the northern shore of the Bay and lagoon, especially in the Kachavik River area and Reindeer Slough. After the ice in the bay broke up, people traveled by boat to Rocky Point and occasionally west to Bluff to gather eggs from murres and gulls. To hunt geese in spring, Golovin hunters have used small airplanes (one local family runs an air taxi) to fly to the Fish River flats where they land on frozen lakes. In the fall, Golovin residents hunted in wetlands on both sides of the bay and lagoon. Some hunt from a fishing camp at the mouth of the Kachavik River, near areas where flocks of thousands of sandhill cranes and smaller flocks of Canada geese assemble in September each year.

Sobelman reported that Shishmaref residents hunt for migratory birds as part of their fall hunting, gathering, and camping activities. Shishmaref Inlet, Cowpack Inlet, Arctic River, and Serpentine River were especially popular areas for waterfowl hunting (Sobelman 1985:86). Sobelman also reported that Shishmaref hunters generally pursued ducks and geese as they flew south in the fall and hunting waterfowl occurs to a much lesser extent in the spring. . . . Since 1974, when a major storm occurred, Shishmaref residents have noticed that waterfowl on their migration northward in the spring appeared to be travelling further inland (Sobelman 1985:86). Hunters in Wainwright, located along the Arctic coast north of Shishmaref, have noticed similar changes in migratory patterns (Nelson 1981).

In all three study communities, residents used wildlife primarily for food. People consumed not only edible meat, but also eggs, blubber, and organs including intestines. The oils and fats of marine mammals, in particular, were staples in all three communities. Hides from marine mammals were made into waterproof footgear, parkas, and hunting bags. Sealskins were used whole for rendering and storing blubber and oil. Hides from terrestrial mammals like wolverine, caribou, fox, and ground squirrel were made into clothing such as ruffs, footgear, mittens, parkas, and caps for personal use and for sale in the handicrafts market.

The meat from wild fowl was used in virtually all cases, but other parts were also used. In Brevig Mission in 1984, for example, between 5 and 20 percent of the households reported using other parts of the bird: heart, liver, stomach, and intestines (not necessarily for human food). People also used down and feathers from waterfowl. Some people wormed dogs by feeding them a mixture of ptarmigan feathers and seal oil.

Although all three villages had electricity in 1989, this is a relatively recent development (Golovin's generator was installed in 1982). Some wild foods were frozen fresh, but traditional processing techniques were still common. Seal blubber was rendered to make oil; meat from fish and mammals was air-dried; walrus blubber and flippers were fermented in covered pits. Most households used wild birds fresh, especially during the spring hunt when waterfowl offered a welcome change of diet. Some households froze birds for later use. Traditional processing techniques were as much a matter of taste as technology; people preferred dried, aged, or fermented products. Even if freezer capacity was available for a season's entire harvest, much food was still processed traditionally. . . .