Kaktovik Subsistence
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• Kaktovik Subsistence Land Use Values through Time in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Area - ' by Michael J. Jacobson Cynthia Wentworth U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Northern Alaska Ecological Services 1982 Kaktovik Subsistence LAND USE VALUES THROUGH TIME IN THE ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE AREA NAES 82-01 Kaktovik Subsistence LAND USE VALUES THROUGH TIME IN THE ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE AREA by Michael J. Jacobson Cynthia Wentworth Kaktovik Resource Specialists: Nora and George Agiak Mae Agiak Kaveolook Eunice Agiak Sims Herman Aishanna Isaac and Mary Sirak Akootchook George Akootchook Jane Akootchook Thompson Olive Gordon Anderson Betty and Archie Koonneak Brower Tommy Uiiiiiiq Gordon Alfred and Ruby Linn Herman and Mildred Rexford U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Northern Alaska Ecological Services 101 12th Avenue, Fairbanks, Alaska 99701 1982 CONTENTS Foreward .................. i Acknowledgements Introduction .. iii 1. Subsistence Setting . .v . .................. 2. History of Kaktovik . 1 . " . 3 3. Traditional Land Use Inventory Sites . .... .7 4. Land Use Patterns Over Time. .... 15 5. The Land and the Subsistence Economic System . ........ 21 6. Yearly Cycle . .. 29 7. Resources Harvested . .. 35 8. Future Studies and Recommmendations .. ......................... 69 Appendix 1. Genealogy ............................................. 71 Appendix 2. The Reindeer Era . .79 Appendix 3. Traditional Land Use Inventory Sites. .................... 85 Appendix 4. Individual Histories and Residence Chronologies ............... 121 Appendix 5. Muskox. .. 137 Literature Cited .......... .................. 139 Cover photo: Tents along the Sadlerochit River (M. Jacobson). Book design by Visible Ink, Anchorage, Alaska. LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Population from Brownlow Point to Demarcation Point ............... 7 Table 2. Traditional Land Use Inventory Sites in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge ........................... 8 Table 3. Traditional Land Use Inventory Sites Mid-Beaufort Sea Coastal Area ................................ 9 Table 4. Kaktovik Fuel Prices, 1977-1981 ............................... 22 Table 5. Kaktovik Staple Food Prices .................................. 23 Table 6. Biotic Resources Commonly Used by Kaktovik Residents ............ 36 Table 7. Whales Taken by Village of Kaktovik Between 1964 and 1981 ......... 49 Table 8. Genealogy: Akootchook Family ............................... .72 Table 9. Genealogy: Gordon Family ................................... 73 Table 10. Genealogy: Ologak Family ................................... 75 Table 11. Genealogy: Arey Family ..................................... 76 Table 12. Genealogy: Other Related Families ............................. 77 Table 13. Economic Situation After Severe Winter of 1935-36 ................. 81 LIST OF FIGURES Fig. 1. Northern Portion, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge ..................... vi Fig. 2. North Slope Borough .......................................... vi Fig. 3. Mid-Beaufort Sea Coastal Area ................................... ix Fig. 4. Traditional Land Use Inventory Sites Arctic National Widlife Refuge Area .............................. 10 Fig. 5. Traditional Land Use Inventory Sites Barter Island and Vicinity ........ · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ....... 10 LIST OF PHOTOGRAPHS Photo 1. Crossing the foothills near the Hulahula River · · · · · ................ 1 Photo 2. Susie and Andrew Akootchook, about 1948• They helped establish a trading post at Barter l8land In 1923 .......... 4 Photo 3. Tom Gordon, a Scottish whaler and trader,. established a trading post at Barter lslarwffn.1fi8 • · · · · · · · · · ........ 4 Photo 4. Fishing for arctic char at the H~ · F':f:,!f,oie · ..... 11 Photo 5. Singing and dancing at lglukpaluk • ' • · · · · · · · · · .... 12 Photo 6. Old house, now vacant, at r ~- Photo 7. Perry Akootchook inspects his snowmachine at a Sadlerochit River camp . 16 Photo 8. Nora Agiak and other girls row a boat at Barter Island in the 1920's .... 17 Photo 9. Whaling captain Isaac Akootchook with maktak from large bowhead whale killed fall1981 ..... 25 Photo 10. Loaded sled near Arctic Creek on the Sadlerochit River ............. 27 Photo 11. Boating along the coast near Barter Island in late July, 1977 .... 30 Photo 12. A sled load of firewood is brought to the Hulahula River's Second Fish Hole camp .... 31 Photo 13. Dancing inside the community hall during Thanksgiving . ......... 32 Photo 14. Ugruk (bearded seal) skin stretched out to dry at Kaktovik . .. 33 Photo 15. Caribou taken near Pokok (Humphrey) Bay in July . 37 Photo 16. Masak Gordon butchers caribou meat at Kaktovik . ..... 38 Photo 17. This caribou hide is used as a sleeping pad when camping .... 39 Photo 18. Examining edible parasites on a fresh caribou hide 40 Photo 19. Arctic fox skins are hung for drying . 45 Photo 20. Setting a trap for arctic ground squirrel . 47 Photo 21. Holding an arctic ground squirrel trapped 30 miles inland on the Hulahula River. 48 Photo 22. Villagers help butcher a bowhead whale at Barter Island, October 1977. 50 Photo 23. George Akootchook removes maktak from a large bowhead whale .... 51 Photo 24. Happiness at Nazukatuq feast . .52 Photo 25. Butchering a large bowhead whale at Barter Island . .52 Photo 26. Seal hunter on an ice floe several miles north of Barter Island, in August .54 Photo 27. Women at Uqsruqtalik (Griffin Point) cutting ugruk meat into strips for storing in seal oil . ....... 55 Photo 28. Ugruk meat hangs from drying rack . .55 Photo 29. This polar bear was killed close to Barter Island in November, 1977 . 56 Photo 30. These willows were placed in the snow at Sadlerochit Springs so that snares for capturing ptarmigan could be hung in the spaces between them ....................... 60 Photo 31. Plucking feathers from ptarmigan . 61 Photo 32. Ken Sims of Kaktovik holds an arctic char (left) and a chum salmon caught close to Barter Island ........... 62 Photo 33. Lake trout are caught in the Neruokpuk Lakes by fishing through the ice with hook and line .64 Photo 34. Fishing for lake trout through thick ice Photo 35. Lloyd and Susan Gordon with ptarmigan and ground squirrels taken near Sadlerochit Springs .... 94 Photo 36. Kaktovik girls with their catch of arctic char at Second Fish Hole . 96 Photo 37. Women and children at lg/ukpa/uk, summer 1924 .. ... 100 Photo 38. Part of Tom Gordon's trading post Is now the Kaktovik village store. Baleen from bowhead whale Is In foreground ..... · · · · 101 Photo 39. The m?rker at Pipsuk's grave ............................... · 106 Photo 40. The campsite at Qikiqtaq- "Drum Island" •................... · · 107 Photo 41. One of the old houses at Pinuqsraluk ........................ · · 115 Photo 42. George Agiak helps his daughter and son-In-law skin a polar bear ... · 125 FORWARD Kaktovik, located on Barter Island on the Beaufort seacoast, is the only village within the boundaries of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Its 175 residents, most of whom are lflupiaq speaking Eskimos, have strong cultural links to lands in and adjacent to the northern part of the refuge and are culturally and economically dependent on the refuge's wildlife resources. Kaktovik is one of the eight villages belonging to the North Slope Borough, which is the regional governing entity headquartered in Barrow. Modern in many respects, there is also ample evidence of its dependence on the land's resources. New pick-up trucks are parked next to piles of whale maktak. Racks of drying ugruk meat extend from just completed modern four bedroom houses, and caribou hides are draped over snow machines parked in front yards. North Slope Borough construction and services offer jobs where residents are regularly employed, but work schedules are flexible enough to allow for subsistence activities, and people hunt and fish on weekends and during vacations. Continuing petroleum development on the North Slope and its possible extension to the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge have focused attention on the people of Kaktovik and their subsistence way of life. In order to make optimum resource allocation decisions and minimize petroleum related impacts, it is important to know as much as possible about these peoples' past and present uses of the land and wildlife and the values associated with these uses. This report documents, from the viewpoint of the people of Kaktovik, historic and present land use and associated values in the general area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Chapter 1 gives an overview of the area and resources that Kaktovik people use for subsistence. The next three chapters give a historical perspective on the area and the subsistence use of the land: Chapter 2 describes the history of the village of Kaktovik. Chapter 3 tells about other former dwelling places: the Traditional Land Use Inventory sites where people still return to fish and hunt. Chapter 4 describes some of the land use patterns that present Kaktovik people followed when they were younger and which influence subsistence activities now. Chapter 5 discusses the significance of subsistence use of the land from an economic perspective. The yearly cycle of subsistence activities according to season is de scribed in Chapter 6. Finally, Chapter 7 gives a detailed description of the subsistence use of each species, including where, when and how it is taken. Appendix 1 shows the principal genealogical relationships of Kaktovik people. The next three Appendices give detailed