FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - While modern-day commercial whaling practices have resulted in the over-hunting of the world’s largest mammals and subsequent declines in population, a few Native Eskimos in the Western Arctic still continue their traditional whaling practices. A comprehensive research effort to examine the history and current practices of these native people has resulted in a Web site geared to anyone seeking information on whales, native whaling communities, the history of whales and area climate and environmental changes.

Findings by the researchers document the Native understanding of their environment and even make predictions for whale hunting based on current and historic environmental conditions. This discussion is now housed online at a University of Arkansas Web site at http://www.uark.edu/misc/jcdixon
/Historic_Whaling/index.htm.

The site, entitled "Traditional Whaling in the Western Arctic," contains years of research into many facets of traditional whaling, says Allen McCartney, professor of anthropology and editor of "Hunting the Largest Animals: Native Whaling in the Western Arctic and Sub-Arctic."

Dixon stands next to a bowhead whale skull at Barrow, Alaska. Findings by the researchers document the Native understanding of their environment and even make predictions for whale hunting based on current and historic environmental conditions. John Dixon, photo.

"Whaling is the way these people have always done things," McCartney said. "To understand whaling is to understand the society itself."

McCartney and John Dixon, professor of geosciences, form part of a team that includes cultural anthropologists, physical geographers, archeologists, Quarternary environment specialists, whale biologists and Eskimos. Their work was conducted with the endorsement of the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission, an organization of the ten Alaskan whaling communities. Several universities were represented in the project, including the University of Alaska-Anchorage.

"We are seeking to create a total picture of how whaling societies have evolved over time," said Dixon, who studies historic environmental change in the Western Arctic.

Geoscientist John Dixon of the University of Arkansas studies environmental change and its influence on whaling communities. John Dixon, photo.

Traditional Eskimo whaling in the Western Arctic takes place in the spring as the winter ice breaks up. Hunters pursue the animals—usually bowhead whales—in small boats, then drag the carcasses to shore ice edges. At the ice edge, people remove the skin, blubber and meat. The natives store the blubber and meat in underground "ice cellars" kept cold by permafrost. The villagers then take the baleen and bones to the village for use as tools, utensils and building materials.

Dixon’s research has involved looking at historic climate data, sea surface temperatures, storm frequency, sea ice conditions and permafrost records to develop an idea of how whaling practices have changed as environmental conditions fluctuated. The nature of the sea ice, its extent and thickness influence the hunters’ access to open water, how easily they can spot a whale and whether or not they can drag the whale onto the sea ice to butcher and store the meat.

Researchers study whale bones from bowhead whales to learn more about the history of whaling in the Western Arctic. Allen McCartney, photo.

"The two are interconnected. You can’t look at whaling patterns without accounting for the environment’s role," Dixon said.

The complied current and historic climate data has been placed on the Web site at http://www.uark.edu/misc/jcdixon/
Historic_Whaling/Climate/Climate_index.htm.

McCartney studies whale bones that were used to build houses, meat caches and scaffolding for burials during the prehistoric period. He measures the bones to reconstruct some of the prehistoric whaling patterns of the Western Arctic that may have been present as far back as 2000 years ago. Although whaling forms a central part of the culture for Western Arctic tribes, most communities catch only one or two whales a year, McCartney said.

"It’s tough to catch a whale from a small skin boat," he said.

Bone measurements and extrapolations show that prehistoric whalers mostly caught yearlings, smaller whales that lacked knowledge and experience but were no longer watched by protective mothers. Such animals also prove easier to haul onto the sea ice and take less time to butcher and store, which makes it less likely that the meat will go bad.

Today’s native whalers catch larger animals, because they use modern-day equipment, including dart bombs and strong ropes to haul whales up on the ice.

Other research on the Web site ranges from the biology of the bowhead whale to an analysis of community sharing in traditional whaling villages.

For a map showing the location of the Alaskan whaling villages, please see http://www.uark.edu/misc/jcdixon/
Historic_Whaling/Villages/Main_Map.htm.

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