AKU-6-74-001 Ancient and Current Methods Of Taking The Bowhead Whale
By Dr. Floyd E. Durham
University of Alaska Sea Grant Program 707 A Street Anchorage, Alaska 99501
Alaska Sea Grant Report No. 73-9
The cover woodcut, "Hiyu Muktuk," depicts Eskimo whalers about to harpoon a huge bowhead. The print was created by Dale DeArmond of Juneau, a noted Alaskan artist who spent several weeks in Gambell on St. LawrenceIsland during the spring whaling season of 1973. Jack Lentfer, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service The rostrumsof tuo bowheadwhales protruding above the surfaceof the Arctic Oceannear Barrow, Alaska.
Dr. Floyd Durham, a research biologist at the Hancock Foundation of the University of South- ern California, has been studying bowheadwhales for the past thirteen years. He has worked with Eskimo whaling crews at Barrow almost every year since 1961, and has visited other whaling villagesfrom Walesto Barter Island. In this paper, Dr. Durham describes the various hunting tech- niques used by whalers on the Arctic coast from prehistoric times to the present, He then discusses the effects of these various techniques and of international whaling laws upon the contempo- rary Eskimo whale harvest.
Two Man has been hunting whales for almost floats, each with a buoyancy of 200 to 300 5,000 years. Throughout the world the wealth in pounds, impeded the swimming and particularly these magnificentcreatures has beenrecognized the diving of the frantic, wounded whale. The and pursued, In the Arctic, the whale has tradi- floats also indicated the direction in which the tionally been hunted by the Eskimos for food, whale was fleeing, its depth, and its point of re- and during the frenzied whaling days of the 19th appearance at the surface, where several boats century, by white Yankee whalers for oil and usually met the whale with additional harpoons baleen. and floats. Fifteen floats were required to prevent Primitive Hunters a large whale from submerging. Its tail tendons were cut and its chest was pierced repeatedly with Considerableevidence of prehistoric whaling long-handledlances until the whale spouted blood is available. Gregarious whales were sometimes and d ie d. Thus the tethered, exhausted, stampeded and driven onto a beach or up a hamstrung animal finally bled to death, narrow inlet or fjord where they were hacked or lanced to death. In some areas, such as Japan, huge nets were devised to take even medium-sized whales.' The Makah Indiansfixed harpoonsand Eskimo Whalers floats in large whales,which preventedthem from The whale was approached with more taboos diving deeper than six feet; then a member of the than any other animal in the Eskimo world. The crew rode the whale while stabbing it. In gener- whale, it was said, would not honor unclean al, however, primitive man used harpoons with Eskimos with his death. It is no wonder that the lines and floats attached to fatigue the whale, and Eskimos relied on chance and charm for success, then killed it with a lance. considering the large size of the animal and the The latter technique continued in general use great dangers of the hunt. The bowhead whale throughout the first half of the 19th century in Bataena mysticekus!, was the most important the commercial harvest of large, slow-moving, game animal to the Eskimo of northern Alaska, buoyant whales. It was used by Eskimos before where a village might take twenty in a season. The they came into contact with Yankee whalers, The success of the hunt was dependent upon the umiak and the kayak were the standard whaling captain, whose extra sense sometimes enabled boats of the Eskimos, They attached a barbed him to steer the umiak to the spot where the harpoon head of bone, ivory, or stone to a long, whale would rise. The harpooner's chances of heavy, wooden handle which could be heaved as striking a death blow were greatly enhancedif he far as twenty feet. Some heads were ingeniously had just spent the night with the captain's pretti- made to "toggle" flex 90' crosswise!, which est wife. The charm of the woman was thought to prevented them from tearing out of the harpoon- reconcile the whale to being harpooned, thus ed animal. Attached to the harpoon was a rope up bringing honor to the village. The woman' s to 100 feet long, made of, the hide of walrus or contribution to insuring a whale kill was to wear other animal. A series of pokes floats made from her best clothes, including a brow band with seal skins!, was attached to the harpoon. The ornament.
Three Regional variations in Eskimo techniques for shore ice, and drowned. When it putrefied, the taking whales has been described by several ex- whale expandedand cracked the ice. The escaping plorers, historians, geographers,and whalers. odor, particularly recognizableto dogs, identified According to Kaj Birket-Smith's comparative the location of the stinking carcass, which was study of North American Eskimos, those in the then chiseled from the ice. Hudson's Bay area were shy of water. The men When bowheads were numerous they were wore waterproof suits and tied floats to the taken at even insignificant coastal prominences, gunwale of the umiak to prevent it from capsiz- such as Krusenstern where the men isolated them- ing, and they paddled silently by standing up. The selves physically and spiritually while whaling. man in the bow handled the harpoon, which had They wore masks, displayed figurines, and held a buoy and drag anchor attached. The latter was ceremonial dances. Following these preparations, not illustrated and probably was endemic to the the bowhead was harpooned from an umiak. Hudson's Bay Eskimos. Poison, allegedly made Many harpoons with attached floats caused the from the fat of a human being who was secretly whale to drown from fear or from wounds. killed, would kill a whale when smearedon the Whales were sometimes deliberately killed by harpoon head, or if poured in the water at the poisoning, and later the Eskimos feastedupon the mouth of a bay, it would prevent a confined putrefying flesh of the whale. At Wales, many whales formerly were whale from escaping. Don Charles Foote spent several years with harpooned as they rose at the edgeof the ice, and the Eskimo whalers at Point Hope, He described were hacked to death with stone lances. Across traditional whaling as sticking a whale with a Bering Strait at East Cape,the Eskimosused long harpoon to which three inflated sealskin floats harpoonlines with six to ten pokes,floats made were attached. Other crews joined the attack, of sealskin, spaced twenty to thirty feet apart. lancing the animal in the spine, heart, liver, and The whale was killed with a lance years later, flipper tendons. "Present-day hunting with a bomb lance!. 959-1962! differs little except for the darting In the Bering Sea and North Pacific near the gun and shoulder gun usedfor killing." Aleutian Islands, the Eskimos hunted whales, It is possible that the very large bowhead including bowheads. Two men in a kayak ap- taken years ago at Point Hope was killed by proachedwithin throwing distanceof a surfacing poisoning. The almost legendary story is that a whale. A spear with a detachable, slate-tipped medicine man and a harpooner in a kayak point smeared with a poisonous local plant approachedthe large whale, As the hunter threw Aconitum! extract, was hurled into the animal's the harpoon, the medicine man sang a song so back. The hunters then returned to camp to wait powerful that even a prick of the harpoon would for the whale to sicken and die, hoping that it, or have killed the animal, The great whale died one poisoned by another hunter, would wash meekly, and its meat and jawboneswere taken to ashore nearby. Apparently the aconite decom- the village. The jaws were set up at the southern posed before the Eskimosretrieved the whale, "feasting ground" where one eroded stump still thus making the flesh of the whale safe for remains. eating. The eating of putrefying flesh by Siberian In the Pacific, the Eskimos and Aleuts hunted Eskimos continued even after white men intro- whales from an umiak or from a two-seated duced firearms. In small boats, hunters chased up kayak, using a heavy harpoon or a thin, slate- the tidal channel any whale that entered a certain tipped lance probably poisoned! designed to small, shallow bay. Frightened and possibly break off in the whale. Whales reputedly died injured by rifle fire, the whale fled to the upper from even small wounds. end of the bay, wedged itself under the heavy
Four University of Alaska 1Vluseum
Partof a Barrowwhaling harpoon which dates from the late 19th century. The head is of boneand the blade is slate,
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Shoulder guns have been used by both Eskimo and Yankee whalers for the final kill.
Yankee Whalers Before considering modern Eskimo whaling, it a man frequently would board a floating Atlantic seems appropriate to review the methods of early right whale to thrust a harpoon into its back, Yankee whalers because these men, with their hang onto the line during the dive, and when the new equipment and killing power, made profound whale surfaced, thrust in a second harpoon, changes in the Eskimo's way of life. The Yankees also learned whaling techniques The Yankee whaler was a daredevil breed. ' from William Scoresby, Jr., an early English He was ingenious, persistent, and greedy; he scholar, writer, inventor, and explorer. Both he lacked concern for the future of the whaling and his father excelled as whaling captains. industry, the perpetuation of the whale stock, Scoresby, Jr. demanded excellence in harpooning. and the fate of the Eskimo, He was one of the He condemned one ship officer who "... lost world's finest hunters, because he learned open three large whales one-fourth of a shipload!, by boat whaling from the Basques, those master unparalleled unskillfulness of harpooner." One of whalers of Spain, By 1578 the Basques had a his whaling tricks was to harpoon a worthless, whaling fleet of twenty to thirty vessels off suckling whale as a decoy to lure the mother close Newfoundland. With great agility and fearlessness, enough to make a kill.' A. Hyatt Verrill, in his book The Real Story bottom until it became exhausted. When it sur- of the Whaler, reviewed the equipment used in faced the waiting crew thrust a lance into it, Yankee open boat whaling. The boats were of preventing it from sounding, and it rolled over prime importance, because the actual hunt took with slight struggling. placein them. Throughlong yearsof whaling,the Scammon reports that "The captured whale is boats had been developed to practical perfection. towed to the beach at high tide, and a scarf is cut They were pulled by five great oars, and paddies along the body and through the blubber, to which were used to approach the whale silently. oneend of a tackleis hooked,the other endbeing Harpoons were tremendously heavy, clumsy, made fast to shore; then as the tide falls the and cumbersome implements which could be animal is literally skinned, the carcassrolling heaved only fifteen or twenty feet with both down the bank as the process goes on." Often a hands, This "iron" was intended merely to secure stackof blubberwhich wascapable of yieldingas the whale and to prevent his escape. If the "iron" much as 1,000 barrels of oil had been harvested held fast, the heavy rope attached to the harpoon by the time the ship arrived, Meanwhile, the was gradually recoiled in casks,drawing the boat crews rested periodically in shelters improvised alongside the monster, which was then killed with from sails and half overturned boats, a lance thrust into its vitals. This was the most Following the ship's arrival and the "trying dangerouspart of the hunt. Although whaling out" rendering! of the cached blubber, vigorous guns had been in use since early in the 19th whaling continued despite fog and drifting ice. As century, the real old-time Yankee whaleman the spring seasonprogressed, the boats were kept found the common "iron" and the lance the most on board and the whaling was "done from the satisf actory weapons, and more whales were ship." As nights became longer in the fall, the taken by these simple homemadeappliances than whales were pursued round the clock. "Night by any other means.' whaling" was often successful because the whale's In the late 1840's the fabulous population of wake was marked by phosphorescent marine bowheads in the Okhotsk Sea, Siberia, was ex- organisms. ploited. Charles M. Scammon was a persistent Hartson H. Bodfish outlined his whaling tech- hunter, a careful observer, and an accurate record- nique as follows: " 'Going on' meansapproaching er of that event. In early spring, long before his to a proper distance for striking, and that fre- ship could penetrate pack ice, he sent his men in quently meant running the boat up until it touch- boats to the head of Tchanter Bay, one of his ed the great creature. I was never able to strike favorite hunting spots in the Okhotsk Sea, As the bowheads except under sail. They are easily whalers sailed along the ice field, a whale would alarmed by slight noises or vibrations, and the reveal its presence by blowing. When heard or disturbance of the water by oars or paddies is seen, it was instantly pursued. At first the whales sufficient to throw them into panic. For the were easily captured, but as they became wary, striking and killing of the whales we carried three they increasingly evadedtheir pursuersby gliding harpoons,three lances,and two dartingguns, also under the ice, often carrying with them the a shoulder gun. The boat steerer who directs the offending harpoon and line. Thus the chase speed and direction of the boat to meet the frequently was prolonged or even abandoned. surfacing whale! stands by in the bow ready with Compared with other whales, the bowhead is his first darting gun. Rarely does the first bomb so shy that even when spouting in large numbers kill the whale, so the second darting gun is around the boats, they could not be approached planted before the whale gets away, thus the within darting distance. Scammon reported that possibility of two lines on the animal and one "... notwithstanding the boats were rigged with harpoon may pull out becauseof the mangling of extra large sails, in order to take advantage of the the flesh around the harpoon by the bomb. If the light airs or winds that may prevail in summer. whale was still lively, it was finished off with the The use of oars or paddies would be quite sure to shoulder gun or lance. The lance was dependable frighten the whales, and when there is not suffi- but the bombs often failed because of mal- cient wind 'to sail onto them' there is but little functioning or carelessnessof operator." One of chance of 'getting fast.' " After being harpooned Bodfish's "incompetent" boat steerezsgot a bomb the whale might remain motionless on the shallow wound in his hand and later went insane while wintering over.
Seven Regarding the docile whale, Bodfish writes: Charles D. Brower played an unusual role as a "The bowhead is not much of a fighter. The tail is whaler and "King of the Arctic." Unlike the dangerous, but because there are no teeth or jaws previously mentioned New Englanders, he was for biting, no damage is likely to be encountered land-based at Point Barrow. He learned the from the head unless by accident. Bowheads are Eskimo language, took an Eskimo wife, and pro- ordinarily easy to kill with the bombs." But he foundly influenced the economy, health, educa- gave one example in which twenty-three bombs tion, and whaling of the area. He came to Point were exploded in the vitals of a whale and, during Barrow before white men decimated the whales, the eight or nine hours required to kill the animal, walrus, caribou, and musk ox. The Eskimo was a it wrecked one whaleboat and rammed the ship. part of the then "balanced Arctic." Before his The Yankee whalers probably took two out Fifty Years Below Zero were up, he saw the white of three whales they struck, This was Bodfish's whalers pull out. He recognized and was part of average on starting a new style of whaling in the conflict between the old and new cultures. which he maintained a twenty-four-hour watch at His Eskimo contemporaries were reluctant to the open places in the pack where whales surface. abandon the old harpoon-lance technique of kill- On one occasion he harpooned sixteen whales, ing whales, for fear of offending the whales.They losing only four.~s were skeptical of the efficiency of the bomb Some of the whalers, such as Frank T. Bullen, because they observed that Herendeen killed only author of The Cruise of the CACHALOT, divided one bowhead with a whale gun in 1885 and lost their time between taking the sperm whale in the that whale!, whereas the natives got six whales North Pacific and the bowhead in the Okhotsk with their old-style harpoons and lances. Sea. On leaving the sperm grounds, the bomb equipment of the CACHALOT was cleaned and stowed. Bowheads were too easily killed with harpoon and lance to "waste" a bomb on them. On observing the occasional but increasing Soon after arriving at the Kurile Island grounds, a success of the white whalers, the Eskimos com- bowhead was raised and two boats were sent out. promised: If the first harpoon used on a whale "There was little or no wind... so we did not was made of stone or ivory, then anything iron attempt to set sail, but pulled with oars! straight harpoon or bomb!, might follow without break- for him 'head and head'..., We were upon him ing the charm. Brower and the other land-based with our harpoons buried in his back," Bullen white whalers also compromised by chasing said. The bowhead gave a lumbering but harmless whales in umiaks, which were superior to wooden splash before sounding in shallow water. On whaleboats, particularly in portage, and by wait- surfacing he set off at his best gait, but was easily ing at leads and "ponds" for the whales to come overtaken. The boat crew took no precautions on to the hunter. Brower found that hamstringing h au ling alongside the whale"... while the the flukes prevented the whale from diving, and officers searched his vitals with the lances as if that lancing its jugular quickly finished off a they were probing a haystack. Really the whole harpooned whale. Many of the Eskimos whaled as affair was so tame that it was impossible to get up crewmen for the white hunters, and by 1883 they any fighting enthusiasm over it; the poor, un- had adopted Yankee whaling gear and allowed wieldy creature died meekly and quietly as an themselves the comfort of hot tea and bread out overgrown seal. In less than an hour from the on the ice. Tents were used years later. By 1894, time of leaving the ship we were ready to bring few Eskimos whaled native fashion, and most had our prize alongside." forgotten the old "harpoon-float-lance" method.
Eight Umvers The darting gun, one of the first modificationson the traditionalhand-thrust harpoon and line, included an explosiuecharge along with the toggle-headedharpoon, Changing Times They had long since lost their native finesse with When the bowhead stock was depleted and primitive tools. That Eskimos can and do forget the price of baleen and whale oil dropped drasti- techniques is illustrated by the comment that the cally at the beginning of the 20th century, the Natives of Wales had forgotten how to whale white whalers left the Arctic. Once again the within fifteen years after the commercial whalers Eskimos were dependent upon their own re- quit the Arctic. Richard K. Nelson wrote that sources. Bombs and guns suddenly became scarce. whaling at Wainright was a lost art. Dr. Max C, The whales were nearly gone, and the land game Brewer, former director of the Naval Arctic Re- was scarce. The population of Native villages search Laboratory at Point Barrow, wrote in a dropped due to famine and disease. Brower, recent personal communication that the Eskimos "King of the Arctic," saw his little kingdom in of Tuktoyaktuk and Inuvik Mackenzie River dire straits. delta area, Canada! had invited a Barrow Eskimo To add to the problem, the Eskimos also whaler to instruct them in the killing of whales, began to forget the white man's way of whaling, an "art" which they had forgotten. Nine ~ 8 gg 44@~@,@ +%4'e~g@ s 4 4 ~ @easIs+. 44s@+ >@0 * e.. ~~'@e ~++ay ~.~+~++ I@ @ 4@ Alaska State Historical Library, Lomen Collection Eskimo umiak with sail amidst ice floes on the Bering Sea, Comparison of tion in 1968 that twenty Eskimo boats were out Whaling Techniques under sail: "They always sail for hunting so as to In comparing the current Eskimo whaling be quiet." Today there are exceptions to the technique with those of the early Eskimo and the quiet hunting technique. Poulter later noted the Yankee whaler, let us consider it step by step: use of an outboard motor to increase speed and 1. Approaching the whale. Bowheads are range. A stranded Eskimo might improvise a sail readily spooked by noises and vibrations such as from a piece of tarpaulin on poles to bring his those resulting from paddling and rowing; Scam- boat back to shore, but in my ten years of mon, Bodfish, and Bullen repeatedly reported observing hunters in action in several coastal sailing their whaleboats alongside a surfacing villages in Alaska, I have seen little indication of whale without disclosing the presence of the sailing equipment or sailing skills. The umiak boats. Verrill illustrated a Yankee whaleboat with remains the standard boat of the Eskimo for a simple but effective spritsail. Old-time spring whaling, since it is suitable for work within legends repeated by Barrow Eskimos recall the the moving ice and leads and can be dragged over use of umiaks with sails of caribou hide, which the ice more easily than heavier, more modern later were modernized with canvas sails, center e quip ment. Nevertheless, the contemporary board and rudder. C. Rusty Heurlin, in his recent Eskimo does use other craft, often manufactured painting "Once More Whaling," shows a half- of aluminum or fiberglass, for fishing along the dozen umiaks in a lead under sail. Dr, Thomas coast and in estuaries, bays, and rivers, None of Poulter, on a walrus hunt off Saint Lawrence these craft are of the sailing type, and are seldom Island, Alaska, reported in a personal communica- used for whaling. Ten 2. Striking the whale. The whaler-authors and resulting in many lost whales. Some whalers mentioned above, along with Scoresby and lead with the shoulder gun and hopefully add a others, have emphasized the need to make fast to darting gun, bomb, line and float before the the whale with a line and at least a buoy. This was whale submerges. At Point Hope the whalers use done by early Eskimo and Yankee whalers by darting guns more often than shoulder guns, due thrusting a heavy-shafted harpoon point-blank to the serious accidents that have occurred with into the whale, or by hurling the harpoon as far as shoulder guns. Careless loading of a shoulder gun twenty or thirty feet. The introduction of the caused the bomb to explode in the barrel. darting gun did not eliminate the necessity of a Shrapnel cut the whaler's intestines, and he died close approach to the whale, As with the hand the next day. On the day following this fatal harpoon, the closer the approach the better the accident, another bomb exploded prematurely, thrust. A few of the old Eskimo boat steerers will hitting an Eskimo in the leg. pull alongside the whale so that the umiak In summary, the Yankee code for taking a touches the whale. Because the bowhead is slow bowhead called for: I! a silent approach by moving, a second darting gun also with harpoon, sailing, if in open water; ! making a harpoon line, and buoy! is sometimes fixed before the and line fast that harpoon might be only a whale can submerge. Because the Yankee whalers hand-thrust shaft with barbed or toggle head, or it restrained the harpooned whale by fixing the line might bear an explosive charge as does the darting to the whaleboat, it was essential that the har- gun; and ! killing the whale with thrusts of the poon be firmly fixed. As pointed out by Bodfish, lance or by a point-blank shot in the neck with a a hand-planted harpoon usually holds better be- shoulder gun. cause the flesh near the toggle is not fragmented As previously stated, good Yankee whalers by a bomb. He further warned that unless a line is using harpoon-line-explosives secured two-thirds first made fast to the whale, an almost sure loss of to three-fourths of the whales struck. a bomb and a valuable whale would result when it The average loss of bowheads along the was shot with a shoulder gun. Only a neck shot Alaskan Arctic coast in recent years is difficult to will kill a whale instantly and prevent it from estimate, because no statistics are available. My escaping under the ice. experience indicates that about one in four or five whales pursued is harvested successfully. 3. Killing the whale. Old Eskimo and early Without a substantial shorefast ice platform Yankee whalers finished off an exhausted whale or a properly sloping and protected coast for with lances thrust into the chest and throat, The beaching the dead whale or without the proper wild, Yankee cry of "the chimney is on fire" was tackle, manpower, or heavy-duty tractors for given when the chest was riddled and blood hauling the whale out of the water there is a streamed out of the whale with each spout, The further loss of whale products. battle then was nearly over. Lances were cheap, In light of the observations of the writers effective, homemade tools, but few are found in mentioned above, it seems reasonable to conclude the equipment of contemporary Barrow whalers. that methods used by many modern Eskimos With the development of explosives, most of the could be improved by use of the older techniques, Yankee whalers finished off a whale with a which would increase the chances of harvesting a shoulder gun blast. Even this required special skill whale. If this condition is the result of failure to to strike a vital spot. In current Eskimo whaling, pass on both the know-how of the old Eskimo the darting gun-line-buoy stage is sometimes hunt culture and the finesse of the Yankee omitted, and the shoulder gun frequently is used whaler, it is regrettable, and might well be cor- from start to finish, often requiring many bombs rected. Eleven International Whaling Codes other exclusively Native craft propelled by oars or sails; ! They do not carry firearms; ! They are Additional insight into the methods of cur- not in the employment of persons other than rent Arctic Eskimo whalers may possibly be aborigines; ! They are not under contract to derived from the circumstances surrounding the deliver the products of their whaling to any third development of International Whaling codes and person." the actions or inactions of the United States Article 3 of the 1931 Convention is important relative to these conventions. in that it provided an exception for aboriginal The International Whaling Convention and harvest and use, but is particularly interesting in the International Whaling Commission have that it evidences little knowledge of Eskimo attempted to regulate worldwide whaling and hunting techniques at the time. maintain the stocks of great whales at sustained As early as the 1880's, for example, the yield levels. When the institutions started 931 Arctic Eskimo was familiar with the shoulder gun and 1946, respectively!, North Atlantic whale and other firearms. By the early 1900's these populations were already overharvested. Principal were in common use. concern centered on the Antarctic, and to a lesser Nevertheless, it seems apparent that the degree on the North Pacific. United States, as one of the contracting parties The bowhead whale, of principal concern in wishing to protect "aboriginal rights," was either this paper and to the Arctic Eskimo was virtual- uninformed on Eskimo weaponry, chose to ignore ly depleted in the North Atlantic. Along the such knowledge, or perhaps went along with Arctic-Alaskan coast, however, where commercial romantic ideas of aboriginal practice with the whaling had ended early in the century, Bailey thought that the problem was of little conse- and Hendec present evidence that stocks had quence. increased substantially by the 1920's and 1930's. In 1946, the International Whaling Commis- This was, however, recognized by only a few sion wrote: scientific observers, local traders and the Eskimos "Schedule 2." It is forbidden to take or kill themselves. The 1931 Convention undertook the gray whales or right whales, except when the protection of bowhead whale stocks essentially meat and products of such whales are to be used on the basis of North Atlantic experience and ex elusively for local consumption by the concerns. Added to this aspect was the unsettled aborigines." legal status of Alaskan "aboriginal rights" and the The above regulations were amended in 1964 lack of knowledge within government of the as follows: cultural, economic, and subsistence patterns of 1964. Paragraph 2. "It is forbidden to take or the Eskimo in Alaska and in the Arctic more kill gray whales or right whales, except by generally. aborigines or a Contracting Government on behalf In any event, the 1931 Convention contained of aborigines, and only when the meat and pro- two references applicable to Eskimo whaling in ducts of such whales are to be used exclusively the Arctic. These are: for local consumption by the aborigines. "Article 4. The taking or killing of the right Whatever the knowledge or objectives of the whales, which shall be deemed to include North- United States' participants might have been can Cape whales, Greenland [bowhead] whales, South- only be guessed at, but the record is clear that ern right whales, Pacific right whales and southern none of the Convention stipulations or Commis- pigmy right whales, is prohibited. sion regulations cited above! were ever enforced "Article 3. The present Convention does not in Arctic Alaska. apply to aborigines dwelling on the coasts of the The history of implementation of regulations territories of the High Contracting Parties pro- in the Arctic does not include many instances vided that: ! They only use canoes, pirogues, or where the Government has made sincere efforts Twelve to explain the regulations or the need for them to again, as in 1931, in its rightful concern over the the Eskimos. If this was true in the case of the international extermination of the great whales, Conven tion and Commission regulations, they overlooked or chose to ignore the real status of could not have had much impact on whaling whale stocks in the North Pacific and Arctic methods, no matter how well formulated. Ocean. Thus the bowhead whale and gray whale, In theory or effect, however, the 1931 regula- "endangeredspecies" by governmentaldecree, are tion allowed the Eskimo "to live off the sea" for taken by the Eskimo from stocks that are relative- fifteen years by killing whales in the traditional ly high as compared to their status at the turn of style of his early ancestors, The ensuing regula- the century. The dichotomy of these situations tions of 1946 were beneficial to the Eskimo in and events since 1931 is obvious, but perhaps the that they protected the gray whale from commer- need for Eskimo and government alike to apply cial whalers, thus making a second stock of large the lessons learned is now becoming more real, whales available to the Eskimo in his rare taking Reform in the methods of taking, retrieving, of this species, The big 1946 bonus was the act butchering, and utilizing whales by Eskimos will which placed no restrictions whatsoever on the take place. Whether or not it will be practical and craft or weaponry used by the Eskimo. Instead of in keeping with the Eskimo way of life will just primitive tools he could use cannons, catcher depend largely on both the Eskimo people them- boats, and factory ships, just as the non-Native selves and on a cooperative government working commercial whalers do on unprotected whales. with them. The 1964 amendment included another aspect for It is my thesis that better methods are both the Eskimo which has never been used in Alaska. possible and practical and that much may be His government might take the whales for him, learned from the past the history of both the presumably in a more efficient manner, or while Eskimo aborigine and the Yankee whaler. the Eskimo was otherwise employed Whaling regulations must contain more posi- The United States pledged at the 1931 tive and factual propositions. Supporting laws Geneva conference Article 1!; "The High Con- should pertain to the taking and butchering of tracting Parties agree to take, within the limits of whales and to the disposal of whale products. A their respective jurisdictions, appropriate "High Contracting Government" could ! assist measures to ensure the application of the provi- in developing methods for more efficient killing sions of the present Convention and the punish- of the whales, and ! provide an outlet for selling ment of infractions of the said provisions." the blubber, meat and by-products. Aborigines were not exempted from this regula- With a better method of taking whales tion aimed at overly aggressive commercial possibly returning to the old, tried-and-true, har- whalers, Lacking in respect by and authority over poon-float-lance method or devising a new ex- the whaling nations, neither the United States nor plosive, chemical, and/or electrical weapon with a the Convention proposed an "observer scheme" bag limit per village per season, whales could be for Native whaling or took measures to correct taken in the Arctic without handicapping the the minor infractions. It was easier "to do Eskimo way of life and without hurting the whale nothing" than to make a futile attempt to police stocks. By removing the regulation of "not selling the Arctic. It followed that, after 1946, the whale products to a contracting party," the con- Eskimos could use their hand-held explosive tracting government or some assigned institution whaling equipment with clear conscience and could aid at least in processing the blubber into could legally search for and experiment with whale oil and other valuable products to finance bigger and better whale guns. the taking of whales in the future, promoting The Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 research on whales, or performing some com- again evidenced little concern for the facts of munity Eskimo project such as education, con- actual Eskimo whaling practice. The Congress servation, or welfare assistance. 1'bar teen Summary and Conclusions The almost worldwide aboriginal method of The opportunity is ripe to relearn the old taking great whales with harpoon, line, buoy, and Eskimo hunting skills and to reteach the Yankee lance was used by the Eskimos in the western technique of killing whales from open boats. The Arctic. This simple but effective technique suppli- opportunity is ripe to encourage conservation by ed sufficient bowhead whales in season to sustain killing what is actually needed, retrieving what is a whaling culture in the coastal villages for more killed, and preserving the bowhead stock for than 1,000 years. At the beginning of the Yankee future generations. This might become the code commercial whaling in the Arctic in the mid- of the People of the Whale. 1800's, the Eskimo technique was altered by the addition of explosive whale bombs for quickly and safely disposing of the harpooned, exhausted whale. By the beginning of the 20th century, when the whale stock had been depleted and the Acknowledgements Yankee whalers had left the Arctic, the technique This work was sponsored by the Arctic had degenerated until the bomb had become the Institute of North America with the approval and most important, if not the only weapon used. The financial support of the Office of Naval Research old Eskimo technique had been forgotten and the under contract N00014-70-A-0219-0001 sub- new Yankee technique had been corrupted. By contract ONR-367!. Observations of whaling omitting sails on umiaks and sometimes the har- implements and techniques at Barrow and all poons with line and buoy, and by shunning the other Native villages along the northern coast of lance, the whale chase often consisted of a series Alaska was made possible through the logistics, of bombings from start to finish. This technique guide service,and gifts generouslysupplied by the results in more whales wounded and relatively Naval Arctic Research Laboratory, Barrow, fewer carcasses recovered. Some "stinkers" die Alaska. I am also indebted to the many Eskimo under the ice and are chiseled out days later; only whalers who supplied information concerning small portions of these whales are usable. When operations at sea, on ice, in other distant places, fresh whales are butchered today, it is not uncom- and at times and seasons when I could not mon for some of the blubber to be discarded. The participate. I thank David M. Hickok, Director of blubber, which comprises a large percentage of the University of Alaska Sea Grant Program, and the whole, was originally considered the whale's Charles D. Evans, Associate Resource Biologist, most valuable part. Such waste is in part attribut- Arctic Environmental Information and Data able to certain laws which inhibit the marketing Center, University of Alaska, for their part in and commercial use of this valuable product. encouraging the publication of this study. Fourteen NOTES 1. Leonard Harrison Matthews, The Whale. London: Geo. Allen and Unwin, 1968!. 2. T. T. Waterman, The Whaling Equipment of the Makah Indians. University of Wash, publ. in Ar thro- pology, vol 1, No. 1. 1920. Reprint ed., Seattle: Univ. of WashPress, 1955!, 3. J. Sonnenfeld, Annals of the Association of American Geographers 50:2. Washington, D. C.: Assoc. of Amer Geog 1960!. 4. Kaj Birket-Smith, The Eskimos. Trans. from Danish. London: Methuen 4 Co., Ltd 1959! Reprint ed,, New York: Crown Publisher, 1971!. 5, Don Charles Foote, "Eskimo Hunting of the Bowhead Whale." Paper read at the Arctic Fisheries Unit, 20 December 1962, Montreal, 6. Alfred Powers, Animals of the Arctic and Adven- ture. New York: David McKay Co., Inc., 1965!. 7. Alfred M. Bailey and Russel W. Hendec, "Notes on the Mammals of Northwestern Alaska." Journal of Mammalogy 7 926 : 9-28. 8. John A. Cook, Pursuing the Whale. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1926!. 9. J, L. Giddings, Ancient iifen of the Arctic. New York: Alfred A, Knopf, 1967!. 10. Howard A. Clark, "The American Whale-Fishery, 1877-1886." Science Vol, 1, No. 1, pp. 321-24, 11. F. W, True, "The Whalebone Whales of the West- ern North Atlantic compared with those occurring in European waters, with some observations on the species of the Northern Pacific." Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, vol. 33 Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1904!. 12. Wm. Scoresby, Jr., An Account of the Arctic Regions, with a History and Description of the IVorthern Whale-Fishery. 2 vols. Edinburgh; A. Constable and Co., 1820!, 13. A. Hyatt Verrill, The Real Story of the Whaler. New York: D, Appleton and Co., 1916!. 14. Charles M, Scammon, The Marine Mammals of the A'orth-western Coast of North America. San Fran- cisco: John H. Carmany and Co., 1874!. 15. Hartson H, Bodfish, Chasing the Bowhead. Cambridge: Univ, of Harvard Press,1936!. 16, Frank T. Bullen, The Cruise of the CACHAI.OT. New York; D. Appleton and Co., 1899!. Reprint in paperback, New York: Dover Publications,1962!. 17, Charles D. Brower, Fifty Years Below Zero, New York: Dodd, Mead and Co., Inc., 1942!. 18, Bailey and Hendec, op. cit, 19. Richard K. Nelson, Hunters of the Northern Ice. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press,1969!. 20, Verrill, op. cit. 21. Froelich Rainey, "Eskimo method of capturing Bowhead Whales." Journal of Mammalogy 21 940! 3: 362, 22. Bailey and Hendec, op. cit. 23. U.S. State Department, Treaty Series 880, Geneva 1931. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Gov, Printing Office, 1970!, 24. U.S. State Department, Treaty Series 1849, Washington,1946. Washington,D.C.: U.S. Gov. Printing Office, 1970!. 25, International Whaling Commission, Amendments to the Schedule of the International Whaling Convention of 1946. Adopted by the Commissionin London, 1964!, Fifteen