Looking West from Mt. Sivuqaq

A view of Gambell from Mt. Sivuqaq really puts the village into perspective as a community perched upon the threshold of great sea. The seemingly flat, featureless surface really comprises an ever-shifting gravel spit spilling into the raw ocean where the depths drop dramatically at short distances giving way to a great continetnal shelf that was once the Bering Land Bridge. Walking the mile or so to school each day on the gravel is a big departure from navigating any improved surfaces and really helps the bush teacher out here earn the title "bush teacher".

Gambell: Centuries of Occupation

On the west beach, a few hundred yards from teacher's housing, lies the recently excavated remians a Siberian Yupik dwelling dating back to the late 19th century. This particular structure here with Carrie in the foreground was a style typical of the Nunglook or "underground" dwellings constructed from a whale bone frame and sod siding. The living quarters were were underground with the sod and bone srucuture above ground. The original occupation sites around Gambell predominate much of the west beach and were used largely as seasonal camps in the summer when fishing was good and the weather warm. It wasn't unitl the coming of the first missionary, Gambell's name-sake and it's first school teacher, Vene C. Gambell in 1898, that the present village was incorporated into a permanent year-around residence for the largely nomadic Yupik peoples here. By the mid-1920's, government- imposed laws made primary school mandatory for children through the age of 14, thus changing forever what was, for some 20 centuries, a nomadic, subsistence lifeway for the Siberian Yupik Eskimo. Without sentimentalizing too much, though, one should consider the fact that after a great epidemic in 1878-1879, the entire population of the island was reduced from roughly 3,000 people to as few as 150! It was within one decade of this great disaster that Alaska's territorial minister of education Sheldon Jackson sent its first reflief efforts into present-day Gambell to try and revive a shattered society. In 1891, the first herd of Siberian Reindeer were introduced to Gambell via Jackson as a way to provide the Yupik people a new more consistent harvest of game to replace falling harvests of bowhead whale and walrus. The irony here, not lost on my social studies students, is that the great edpidemic and declining harvests of traditional game that almost drove the Eskimo population of Sivuqaq into extinction was a direct result of overharvesting from American commercial whaling during the mid 1900's. It is also widely speculated that the mysterious epidemic was direct result of conatct and trade with these same American whalers.

Qughsatkut! King Polar Bear

The namesake of our school and the subject of lively discussion with my first hour sophmores. Qughsatkut is "King Polar Bear" in Siberian Yupik and seems a fitting mascott for a community bound together with the ecosystem of the polar bear. At once elusive and opportunistic, "Nanuuk" as the animal is referred to in both Yupik and Inupiak (eskimo peoples further north) dialects, has frequented Gambell over the past few winters in significant numbers. Nanuuk is greatly revered here as a kind of "elder" hunter in kind who shares a carnivore's passion with the Siberian Yupik Eskimo for the several species of ice seal who make the Bering Straits their home. Thirteen Nanuuk were harvested last year in or around the village, and a mother and cubs were discovered making a curious but agressive foray into a residents front porch on the west beach. According to Junior Soonigruk, in my first period social studies calss, " Nanuuk comes with the first pack ice in December hungry for the ice (bearded) seal. You can can find him at the dump or in town when there's a big storm." Junior's implication, I think, was that Gabmbell, indeed the island of Sivuqaq, is a sort of way station for the hungry bear out on the Bering Sea ice pack ice. He may also have been trying to unnerve me in the face of a class of students eager to test the mettle of their new teachers. One thing's for sure: Junior knows what he's talking about. His father, Gerald Soonigook Sr., an experienced Nanuuk hunter is also the chairperson of one of thirteen chapters of the Alaska Nanuuk Commission, a native polar bear watchdog that provides regional/ local oversight of the annual polar bear harvest in accordance with both federal law and international treaties with Russia. Though the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service impose no anual limit on the harvest of these animals, guidelines clearly stipualte that the hide and skull of each animal taken must be presented to conservation officials. The sale of Nanuuk's hide and claws are also strictly regualted within the village's boundaries. The Nanuuk hide pictured here was harvested last January along the north beach as one individual stayed a bit too long on the polar bear way-station that is Sivuqaq.

Modern Life and Traditional Ways

Because of its relative isolation from other regional hubs in Alaska (Sivuqaq is approximately 200 air miiles northwest of Nome) Gambell has maintained a degree of cultural autonomy and identity as a traditional subsistence community. Unlike many native communities in Alaska today, Gambell resident still speak their indigenous language Siberian Yupik and many of my current students still speak it in the community and at home. Gambell, however, does struggle with many issue related to influences from the outside world. The introduction of satellite technology in the 1980's and the increasing frequency of air travel and transport (there are currently three daily flights in arriving in Gambell from Nome from several air carries that provide supplies and transportation) have given residents the opportunity to suppliment their subsistence diet with store-bought goods as seen at one of the two general stores here in Gambell. Many elders speak of the loss of some traditional knowledge and an increasing reliance upon goods and services from the outside world. Most residents, however, find a balance between traditional and modern lifestyles. Seen here at the bingo hall, the Atuk, or Yupik dancing, is a bi-weekly community event in which elders call out the "old" stories to the beat of walrus gut drums while dancers act out in form. Dress is another important element of Yupik culture here as seen in this picutre of a young Yupik girl dressed in the traditional Kuspuk or Eskimo woman's dress. The three-year-old boy on the scooter wears a traditional parka with wolverine fur ruff. Note the improvised plywood surface. Other than the air field tarmac,these are the only improved surfaces suitable for bicycles or scooters.

Jaw bones from Bowhead whale, West Beach.

These Bowhead wahel jaw bones are displayed from an old harvest on the west beach. In one photo, you can see the red roof top of our teacher's housing in the background. There is a considerable difference between whales hunted by the Siberian Yupik peoples out here in the Bering Sea zone those hunted by other aboriginal groups across the bering Straits that rely on the smaller Gray whale. The huge bowhead whale (weighing from 30 to 100 tons or more) provides more products than the Gray whale (commonly weighing up to 20-25 tons) and is of greater nutritional value. The Mantak (whale meat and blubber eaten together) of the Bowhead has a nice, sweat taste, especially if a young whale (inutuk). Inutuk can be stored raw for up to 20-25 days, while the Mantak of the Gray whale is unfit for consumption after 10-12 days (the skin separates from the fat). The meat of the Bowhead is softer and more tender. This meat, like walrus meat is soured and kept in meat pits for the winter whereas the Gray whale meat does not get sour, it rots. It can be stored, bolied or if there is need for long-term storage it has to be frozen

Whaling Boats on the West Beach

Gambell still depends upon traditional subsistence acivities as a way of life. Walrus and seal hunting produce some of the most significant harvests for the village. Whaling, though, is the fulcrum upon which all of Gambell's subsistence economy rests. the bowhead whale which is primarily harvested out here, can reach over 100 tons and provide the village with food and resources for years. Last year the village missed its annual bowhead harvest, so everyone is eagerly awaiting the big catch this coming spring when bowheads migrate through the region. The Boat in the foreground of this increadible Bering Sea sunset, is one of several traditional walrus skin boats used in the whalehunt. These skin boats are all mounted on large lacks on the west beach just a few hundred yards from teacher housing.

On the Way to Seal Camp

It's early September and I am off to Wesley's seal camp. Wesley has been in Gambell all of his life. Wesley's in the middle and Brad, another teacher, is on the right. Wesley says that Spetember's a good time to hunt the bearded seal because the prevailing winds blow from the west and hit the shore. He says that this helps bring in a seal that's been shot without going out in a boat. I was told the bearded seal can get up to 800 pounds out here. Wesley's camp is about 8 miles south of Gambell on the tundra. The next picture shows the shelter at seal camp. Our seal hunting expidetion was cut short, unfortunately, because the four-wheeler developed mechanical problems and kept stalling on the tundra. At this time of year, the tundra in places is a muddy morasse and we just happened upon all of those places. By the time we reached the shelter(brad and myself walked most of the way with our gear so as not to load down the four-wheeler too much) we were too tired to head down to Wesley's seal blind, so we set up camp at the shelter and settled in for the night.

A view of Gambell

This is a shot of Gambell four miles south along the coast of Sivuqaq. Gambell is barley visiable to the west of the mountain in the picture. The "mountain" is really just a small plateau about 600 feet above level. Gambell is perched precipitously on the edge of the Bering Sea spread over a three three radius along a gravel spit. The west-facing aspect of the beach (where our housing is located) on the left of the picture, is constantly shifting and eroding from big waves and shore fast ice in the winter. This picture was taken in early September when I accompanied local freind on a seal hunt. I went with one other teacher on a trip that was designed as an overnighter at Wesley's seal camp.

Adress and Phone Number in Gambell

Here we are, in the Bering Straits region, we have a P.O.box and phone number. Mail is always exciting up here and phone calls are appreciated:

P.O. Box 223
Gambell, AK 99742

907-985-5199

New fur parkas

This is picture from Carrie's first day on the island. I wanted to get her something special so I had a wolf fur ruff sewn on her parka. My parka ruff is polar bear. Fur from the polar bear and wolf are often used out here for the obvious reason that it's very warm. The polar bear usually comes around here by December or so when the pack ice closes in on the island. Last year, Gambell residents shot 13 Nanook (as they are refered to in Yupik and Inupiak)last year. Wolves have been found on the island as well often accidently hitching a ride on an ice floe from Siberia. The peoples of modern day Gambell are decendents of some of the first migrants to the new world via the Bering Land Bridge some 10,000 years ago. During the Pliestocene Era, the western tip of St. Lawrence Island was connected to the southeastern tip of the Chucki penninsula (see map) allowing peoples from Asia to come over to present-day Alaska. Some of those people arrived and stayed here on Sivuqaq some 2,000 years ago. Many people heere in Gambell have relatives who still reside west across the Bering Straits in Russia. Though separated by national borders, these peoples are stilll united in a common language and culutral identity, Siberian Yupik. Gambell is almost exclusively Siberian Yupik Eskimo with the exception of us teachers and transient missionaries who come for brief stays at the Presbyterian church. Carrie and I live in the old BIA school that was convereted into teacher housing in 1995 when the extant school was built a mile on the other end of the village. we live in a converted two bedrrom unit in a six-plex that houses about eight other teachers. Ours has been a real experience in improvisation, patience and a lot of learning.