{"id":56005,"date":"2024-04-22T04:16:52","date_gmt":"2024-04-22T12:16:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/civileats.com\/?p=56005"},"modified":"2024-04-29T11:30:02","modified_gmt":"2024-04-29T19:30:02","slug":"for-this-alaska-town-whaling-is-a-way-of-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/civileats.com\/2024\/04\/22\/for-this-alaska-town-whaling-is-a-way-of-life\/","title":{"rendered":"For This Alaska Town, Whaling Is a Way of Life"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/div>

For many Alaska Native<\/a> communities, subsistence hunting<\/a> and fishing is a way of life. For the Apassingok family, it accounts for more than 80 percent of their food. If Daniel Apassingok and his sons, Chris and Chase, have a particularly fruitful day out on the water pursuing seals, walruses, and whales, they can feed their entire Siberian Yupik village of Gambell<\/a>. <\/p><\/div>

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So it was a collective victory for the village in April 2017, when then-16-year-old Chris became the youngest person in his community to harpoon a whale: Gambell fed off the bounty for months. But after his mom, Susan, posted about the exciting accomplishment on Facebook and the Anchorage newspaper picked up the news, the family received thousands of online hate messages\u2014even death threats.<\/p>\n

At once heartbreaking and heartwarming, this story is the subject of One with the Whale<\/em><\/a>, a new, award-winning documentary that premieres on PBS\u2019s Independent Lens on April 22. Created by co-directors Pete Chelkowski<\/a> and Jim Wickens<\/a> with the community\u2019s blessing, it showcases the struggles of subsistence hunting\u2014and the lack of understanding about its importance.<\/p>\n

\u201cSubsistence hunting is a traditional lifestyle that\u2019s been passed down from generation to generation, and we rely upon it dearly,\u201d says Daniel Apassingok. \u201cIt helps feed not just the community, but the next village and people all over the state.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>

\"The<\/a>

The Apassingok family in Gambell. (Photo credit: Jim Wickens)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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With a population of around 600 people, the remote town of Gambell sits on the northwest cape of St. Lawrence Island<\/a> within the Bering Sea, closer to Russia (36 miles) than the Alaska mainland (200 miles). The environment there is rugged and barren, lacking trees or other vegetation. Conditions can be harsh, with temperatures dropping to -20\u00b0F in the winter.<\/p>\n

For Chelkowski and Wickens, who are not Indigenous, making this film had a profound impact on their understanding of Alaska Native lifeways. \u201cI\u2019m from New York City, and there are probably more people living in the building I grew up in than in the whole village of Gambell\u2014so witnessing the way of life in Gambell was really eye-opening,\u201d says Chelkowski \u201cBut this is not some fairy tale; these are real people who are living in the most difficult conditions on the planet and overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles. And they do it with hope and love.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Gambell, packaged foods and other supplies arrive only by plane, and the inflated prices at the local grocery store reflect those import efforts. For their family of five, Susan spends upward of $500 a week on the mainly processed foods that line the store shelves. Compounding matters, a lack of jobs makes it tough for many Gambell residents\u2014whose poverty rate hovers around 35 percent<\/a>\u2014to afford those high food costs.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to hunt, you have to gather berries, you have to gather sea vegetables,\u201d former John Apangalook School<\/a> principal Rob Taylor explains in the film. \u201cIf you don\u2019t do subsistence activities, you die.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to hunt, you have to gather berries, you have to gather sea vegetables. If you don\u2019t do subsistence activities, you die.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The school allows students to miss 10 school days per year for subsistence hunting and gathering, though kids often skip out on more than that in order to put food on the table. Given the imperative of providing for their families, it can be tough to impress upon young people the importance of formal education<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Of particular significance is the springtime bowhead whale<\/a> migration, which kicks off a weeks-long whaling season starting in late March or early April, when temperatures warm up to 20\u00b0F. Apassingok recalls some seasons, like last year\u2019s, when they didn\u2019t catch any whales. In those years, they try to make up for the lost harvest by catching more seals and walruses throughout the spring and summer. But whales\u2014particularly bowheads, one of the largest<\/a> and heaviest<\/a> species\u2014are the ultimate prize. Each can yield hundreds of pounds of meat and maktak (skin with blubber), which are rich sources<\/a> of lean protein, healthy polyunsaturated fatty acids, and vitamins A, D, and E.<\/p>\n

Gambell is one of 11 Alaska villages that participate in whaling as authorized by the International Whaling Commission<\/a> and regulated by the nonprofit Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission<\/a>, which oversees the quota system. The estimated 50 whales harvested by Alaska Native communities annually provide about 2 million pounds<\/a> of food, which would cost upward of $20 million to replace with a store-bought protein such as beef, which averages anywhere from $10 to $20 per pound in these remote places.<\/p>\n

\u201cA small 30-foot whale will feed a family for a few weeks,\u201d says Apassingok. \u201cIf you catch three whales, you can feed a family for the summer. Some people can\u2019t afford to buy their food from the stores, especially when they have big families.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Chasing<\/a>

Chasing a whale. (Photo credit: Jim Wickens)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

The Yupik way of life is threatened by climate change<\/a>, which is causing extreme weather<\/a>, flooding<\/a>, coastal erosion<\/a>, and unprecedented ice loss<\/a> across the Bering Sea. Those evolving conditions, in turn, have been shown to impact algae<\/a>, zooplankton<\/a>, fish<\/a>, and seabird<\/a> populations in recent years.<\/p>\n

In addition to addressing food security<\/a> concerns, whaling is also an important cultural tradition that has been practiced by Siberian Yupik peoples for thousands of years. Apassingok remembers going on his first hunting excursion at 5 years old. His son Chris started hunting seals at age 7, then at 15 became a striker\u2014the hunter posted at the front of the boat during harrowing whaling outings. In Gambell, many of these customs have been well-maintained as a result of its isolated locale, far from modern-day influences.<\/p>\n

The traditional and modern worlds collided back in 2017 after news spread of Chris\u2019s rite-of-passage harpooning of a 200-year-old, 57-foot bowhead whale. When Canadian-American environmentalist Paul Watson<\/a> heard about it, he took to social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome 16-year-old kid is a frigging \u2018hero\u2019 for snuffing out the life of this unique, self-aware, intelligent, social, sentient being,\u201d the now-deleted Facebook post<\/a> read. (The quote is preserved in a High Country News<\/em> article<\/a> from the time.). \u201cBut hey, it\u2019s OK because murdering whales is a part of his culture, part of his tradition. . . . I don\u2019t give a damn for the bullshit politically correct attitude that certain groups of people have a \u2018right\u2019 to murder a whale.\u201d<\/p>\n

That inflammatory post prompted Watson\u2019s followers\u2014and countless other keyboard warriors\u2014to troll the Apassingok family. Thousands of negative comments flooded in, sending the shy and stoic Chris on a downward spiral that nearly prevented him from graduating from high school.<\/p>\n\n

But the community rallied around him, as did many prominent Alaskans. Governor Bill Walker<\/a> presented Chris with a certificate \u201cin recognition of his skill and expertise in landing a bowhead and receiving the gift of the ancient whale\u2019s life to sustain his people, and upholding the values and traditions of Alaska Native culture despite opposition.\u201d U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan<\/a> also recognized him as \u201cAlaskan of the Week<\/a>\u201d on the Senate floor then went on to hold a Commerce Committee hearing about the importance of whaling in Alaska.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur traditional lifestyle should be understood like a job or any other livelihood. With this film, we\u2019re trying to help the world understand why we do this for a living.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In October 2017, Chris was tapped to give the keynote speech at the Elders and Youth Conference<\/a>, which preceded the notable Alaska Federation of Natives<\/a> conference. \u201cWe take care of our land and ocean as they take care of us,\u201d he said. \u201cThe biggest rule we are taught by the elders is to never become discouraged while hunting in hard situations. Even though we almost die, we must never give up. We must be prepared for any situation. We must know how to foretell the weather ourselves as our ancestors did. We must never be discouraged by any accident or anybody who may threaten us. I am part land, I am part water, I am always Native.\u201d He then called upon attendees to join him in upholding traditional sustenance activities.<\/p>\n

Seven years after that distressing situation, Chris and his family are both excited and anxious about having their story told to mainstream audiences. Naysayers will inevitably surface, especially as the documentary\u2019s timing coincides with a call from Polynesian Indigenous groups to grant whales legal personhood<\/a> as a protective measure. But the Apassingoks and the filmmakers hope that One with the Whale<\/em> impresses upon viewers the vital role that whaling plays for Yupik peoples.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe misunderstanding I see [about subsistence hunting] is beyond my imagination,\u201d says Apassingok. \u201cOur traditional lifestyle should be understood like a job or any other livelihood. With this film, we\u2019re trying to help the world understand why we do this for a living.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>

\"Chris<\/a>

Chris and Ina on a date. (Photo credit: Pete Chelkowski)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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Chelkowski hopes the documentary inspires empathy among non-Native viewers, much like making the film did for him. \u201cSubsistence hunters in Alaska are not only one with the whale; they\u2019re one with nature,\u201d he says. \u201cThey have co-existed beautifully with these animals for thousands of years. Without the whale, they can\u2019t survive. In the end, the whale symbolizes tradition, love, and family.\u201d<\/p>\n

“One with the Whale”<\/a> premieres on PBS\u2019s Independent Lens on April 22. Watch the trailer below.
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Correction: Due to an editing error, an earlier version of this article misspelled the name of the Siberian Yupik people<\/a>. We apologize for the error and appreciate the readers who alerted us to the mistake.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>