Eskimos: Winter in Western Alaska (1950)

[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] howling husky dogs tell us we're in the land of Eskimos we are visiting the eskimos who live on the west coast of Alaska this is the village of yle the winter sun is low and seems far away here Eskimos live in log cabins for there are forests nearby inside one of these homes achuk and his family are asleep on the floor their bed is of reindeer skins and blankets their pillow is a log it is morning and time for achuk to be getting up he is wearing a spotted reindeer skin parky father's first job is to start a fire with these shavings the stove was given to him Long Ago by men who came to Alaska looking for gold outside it is very cold but the room will heat up quickly now achuk goes quietly out through the doorway without waking the children can you see what he's bringing back a piece of hard packed snow to be melted in a kettle for Breakfast Tea the rest of the family are awake now auk's daughter wears boots of white reindeer skin her brother has seal skin boots after breakfast time to go to school even Eskimo children hate to be tardy the first thing is the oath of allegiance to the United States here the primary boys and girls are singing a song with gestures back at home their parents are busy father has to keep a supply of stove wood at hand his Frozen breath gives us an idea of how cold it is 30° below zero cold or not mother has to hang out the wash look where she keeps baby brother while mother Works big brother anek is out along the river chopping ice to be melted into water water for drinking and for cooking is precious during The Long esimo Winter anagi has brought his sled with him and his dogs will pull the load of ice back to the Village farther out on this same Frozen River the older women of the village are fishing they must chop holes through the thick ice this is kirck with a long handled ice pick it cuts out a fishing hole in a short time to get out the chopped ice kirck uses a frying pan from her kitchen she finds good use for those mittens she knitted last summer now for the fishing pole not a very fancy outfit but the other Eskimo women seem to be catching Plenty of Fish here's the way it's done it's a Tom Cod which freezes almost as soon as it hits the ice an average Eskimo family uses thousands of fish like this during a winter enough for today so kyck puts the fish into a woven grass bag back in the village nuk is packing his sled for a trapping Expedition next he harnesses his lead dog and the lead dog is trained to follow nuk's commands the dog out of line is just learning to run with the team wooden tripods Mark the trail out Beyond The Village these markers help keep from getting lost if a storm comes up an Eskimo fisherman kak is setting his traps on a river sections of fencing like this are lowered through openings cut into the river ice joined together across the river they keep fish from going Upstream except for for one space where koutu places the fish traps these traps made of chicken wire are open at one end with the river entirely blocked off the only place for any fish to go is into coutu's traps at least that's what he hopes we'll see whether or not he was right when we return to the traps with him a week later was koutuk right he certainly was here are about 150 lbs of fish even in winter you'll catch Plenty of Fish if you know how to catch them koutok empties this fish trap about once a week all during the winter he will trade his catch at the trading post for a new axe or perhaps a gun koutuk is 76 years old but this hard work seems to agree with him back in the village this giant seal skin stretched to dry in the sun tells us it is spring and time to hunt seals achuk who is the best hunter in the village is going to take us on a hunt we go with him over the frozen ice on the Beering sea to the edge of the ice field 3 miles offshore leaving the dog team behind achuk pulls his kayak to the edge of the ice the snowshoes have kept him from breaking through thin ice now he can remove them he makes sure the ice at the edge is solid the top of the kayak is light colored achuk wears a white Parky and hopes the seals will mistake him and the kayak for a piece of floating ice the kayak is very light being made of giant seal skins stretched over a wooden frame getting into the kayak without tipping it is quite a trick achuk does it by grasping the wooden shaft of his ice pick with one hand at the same time holding the rim of the kayak opening to make it steady Ivory pegs on the side of the kayak hold his Harpoon and ice pick now off to hunt seals among the floating cakes of ice but look [Music]