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Barrow Sea Ice Observatory and Ice Cam

Saturday 17 February 2007

This morning I met with Laura and the Barrow High School students. They were working on cleaning, labeling, and cataloging the Nuvuk material that had been collected in the summers of 2005 and 2006. I was happy to see Michael, Jesse, and Ben – students that I met in 2005. Alex, Selma, and David joined the group for the 2006 field season. While Laura was working on the schedule and budget for summer 2007, I got to stay with the students in the lab. I was impressed with the serious and meticulous approach to their tasks.

These students are literally digging into their own history. Nuvuk is washing away into the ocean, and they are racing against time to recover human remains and artifacts.   Much of the material from the summer of 2005 has cleaned and cataloged; they need more space before they can start of the 2006 material. ECHO provides the funding to pay the students as archaeology field assistants. Under Laura's expert eye and knowledgeable instruction they are learning valuable skills such as surveying, laboratory techniques, fieldwork, and database systems. These skills can be used in future careers. Their involvement in the project also helps them build a connection to their past.

Laura is an incredible mentor with these students. She is patient and thorough in her explanations. She holds high expectations and standards and does not allow the students to fall short. There is a noticeable difference from the slightly rambunctious group of “diggers” and the intense, knowledgeable workers that I see today.

Each artifact, whether it is whalebone or a tiny piece of glass, is numbered, described, and entered into a database. Michael was arranging items in trays before they are stored in a cabinet. The students take pride in their work, and they are eager to share what they have learned. Michael found an ivory seal harpoon head, something that I had never seen. He described how its unique design made it rotate once it struck a seal. It would not slip out like a spear or lance would.

Laura said that most of what they are finding are human remains and artifacts associated with the gravesites. She is also interested in a couple of other sites in the Nuvuk vicinity. One is the Birnirk site, which is the area now known as PigNiq, the shooting station or Duck Camp. This area is now a summer hunting camp and gathering area for social events. There are several mounds that have been mapped, but not completely excavated.

I also learned that Laura is taking a break from the hectic life of a PhD student. She has been working on her PhD at the University of California – Davis, specializing in the anthropology of marine mammals. She discovered that she really enjoyed being in Barrow and working on the Nuvuk project, and she was able to work out a way to be here full-time. Laura splits her time between her scientific and teaching pursuits and a few part-time jobs that keep her financially solvent. She will finish her PhD work, but for now she is doing exactly what she loves doing and she is in a place that makes her happy. Can it get any better?

Learn more about:

Nuvuk Archaeology

Nuvuk Saturday Schoolyard Presentation

Read an interview with a whaler from Nuvuk

Learn more about what a marine mammal anthropologist does …

North Slope Borough ECHO Project

After lunch I went with Winona to the Saturday Schoolyard presentation. Dr. Cameron Smith , an anthropologist from Portland State, was giving a talk about his four trips to Vatnajokyll Glacier in Iceland. His goal was to solo-hike across the glacier, which at its widest point is about 100 miles across. The hardships he encountered were unbelievable. Whiteouts, bottomless crevasses, teetering on the brink of a 3,000-foot drop into a volcanic crater without knowing it, almost falling into an icy melt-pool (water so clear that it was invisible), and continuous rain, sleet, and snow would tend to stop most people. This guy is tough.

Dr. Smith included the history and lore of Iceland in his talk. He made it clear how the combined forces of ice and volcanism shaped not only the island but the people and culture as well. Iceland has been on my list of “must visit” places for years, and after Dr. Smith's lecture it is now my number one destination. His descriptions of trolls and frost giants captured my imagination.

The Vatnajokyll Glacier is an ice age relic that is the largest ice mass in Iceland, and the third largest in the world. It is 100 miles across at its widest and ranges from 600-1200 feet thick. Vatnajokyll – jokyll means glacier , vatna means water -- will be gone by the end of this century if it continues to melt at its present rate. In its place will be a large dry valley. Another threat to Vatnajokyll is Mt. Hekla , the mythical entrance to hell, an active volcano that erupts from time to time and causes tremendous melting and flooding. Dr. Smith reported that the glacier usually has anwhere from 10-30 feet of snow, but during his most of his trips there was almost no snow and the solid ice was exposed. He had to do most of his hiking in ice boots, which make walking difficult. Dr. Smith pulled a specially built sled that opened into a modified “hut.” He was able to fit all of his gear as well as sleep and cook inside the tiny structure.

Dr. Smith's next adventure will be somewhere in the Arctic. He is headed out Tuesday for a 3-week “practice run” before his major trek next year. He will be based out of a remote hunting cabin on the North Slope and will hike out from there. Check his website to read about his adventures. To learn more about his work, click here .

In the evening it was back to Kivgiq with Winona and her son Randy for the Box Dance and the final procession of all of the villages. Kalukak, the Box Dance, is the reverent ceremonial dance that signifies the beginning of the new, the turning over of the responsibilities to the next leaders, and the celebration of culture. Each village performs a unique version of Kalukak. During the first part of the dance the box drummer hands over his drum to the new drummer. Then the dancers, lined up in order of seniority, emerge from one door and exit through another. The bird dancers are the leaders, calling commands and leading their people into a new and prosperous year. It was a very impressing and moving dance for each village.

The box drum is a relatively new addition to Inupiat music. I was told that when the US Navy left munitions boxes or fuel drums behind, the people would keep collect them to use as drums. These became popular drums for Kalukak, hence the name Box Dance.

After the Box Dance, there was a time for gift exchange. People would bring a gift to someone, and then that person would have to join the giver in a dance. All ages participated. Gifts included anything from frozen fish to gloves and mukluks. Exchanges were made between different villages or from within the same village.

We couldn't hold up much past midnight, so we headed back to BASC. It was an extremely cold night. On the walk to the car I kept hearing a crackling sort of noise t hat seemed very close to my head. It was so odd, and I could not figure out what it was or where it was coming from. When I got in the car and reached up to remove my hood, which was made of cloth (I had forgotten my wool hat), I realized what was going on. In the short distance from the building to the car my coat hood had frozen. It almost cracked apart when I pushed it back from my head. I can't believe that it happened that fast; we were not outside more than five minutes.

On the way back to BASC we saw a spectacular aurora borealis . It shimmered across the sky and folded back upon itself until it looked like a big green turban right above us. There was a brief flash of red, a little tease. We stood outside the car and watched until the cold drove us back in and back to BASC.

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Photos from Dora's Expedition