1 July 2011 Nalukataq Part 2

Nalukataq Part 2

Yesterday was the second day of the Nalukataq. This second day of the whaling festival was for different whaling teams celebrating their successful whaling season. During the day they passed out the whale meat to the crew and their families. Eric and I went during the evening to the blanket toss. The blanket is caribou hides sewn together is strung up on ropes about 8-9 feet off of the ground. The whaling crew and their families one-by-one got up on the blanket and were thrown into the air at least 10-20 feet high. Usually the person who is thrown into the air has a bag of candy and as they get to the highest point of their jump they rip open the bag and throw the candy out into the crowd. The children scrambled for the candy and stuffed their pockets with the sweets. It reminded me of when I went to a parade as a child and having a bag ready for the people on the floats that threw the candy out as they went by. Oh the cavities!! Some of the people that got up there were pretty graceful and did flips and tricks, while others were not so talented and flopped right down. Watching the spectacle was pretty amusing. I overheard one of the native woman commenting about how they were so happy that no one had gotten hurt so far this year. I guess in previous years people have broken legs, arms, and had other serious injuries. However, I would have still gotten up there to do the blanket toss. I think it would have been great and would have been one of those experiences that you remember for a long time. However, they did not allow 'outsiders' to participate that night in the blanket toss.

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Tonight I went to a lecture at the Heritage Center. There were 2 speakers and they unfortunately had a small audience (10). The first speaker was Greta Krafsur from Colorado State University. She is working very closely with the village and doing necropsies on the seals and walrus the natives hunt. She analyzes the cells of these animals to determine the health of the animal and to make sure there are no contaminates in their bodies. Overall these marine mammals are very healthy. They do have some parasites in them, but the animals are able to withstand an enormous amount of these parasites before they actually affect their health. She brought in a seal heart that had heart worms that she had found earlier in the day. She said it was the first seal heart she had found with heart worms. These heart worms are just like the heart worms that dogs get and need to take pills to prevent.

The second speaker was Katie Kokx from the University of Alaska - Fairbanks. She does necropsies on arctic foxes. She looks specifically 4 viruses (rabies, distemper, parvo, and adenovirus) in the arctic fox populations. In the last 10 years there have been 31 deaths in the U.S. due to rabies. In Alaska, there have been 3 deaths in the last 70 years due to rabies; none from the arctic fox. The only known rabies death due to arctic fox was in a remote part of Russia when a man was bitten on the nose by an arctic fox. Rabies has been around for thousands of years with its first documentation in 2300 BC describing rabies as the "power of the dogs" as the people thought the disease was the dog's revenge on humans. She studies the arctic fox because they are scavengers, cannibalistic, not scared of humans, travel long distances, live on 3-4 years, and produce large litters of pup (producing up to 18-22 pups per litter). I am hoping Katie will allow me to be a part of one of the arctic fox necropsies she is performing in the next week!

Fact of the Day

Yesterday's Fact of the Day Answer: More than what percent of the world's active glaciers are in Alaska? More than 50% of the world's glaciers are in Alaska!!!

Today's Trivia: What is the state sport of Alaska?

Inuit Word of the Day

Yesterday's Word: Aakka = No! Hint: It's a 2-letter word that no one likes to hear. Did you get it right?

Today's Word: Tikiq - Hint: You have 10 of them! What is the word of the day?

Please take 2 seconds and reply with your guesses to the fact of the day or Inuit word of the day in the "Ask the Team" section link below:
http://www.polartrec.com/forum/microbial-activity-in-thawing-arctic-permafrost/fact-of-the-day-or-inuit-word-of-the-day-guess