GiovanniG

AlaskaSavoonga, Whaling Walrus Skin boats by JohnGerbase

AlaskaSavoonga, Whaling Walrus Skin boats by JohnGerbase

While living in the village on Saint Laurence Island Alaska in an Inuit village called Savoonga I captured this skeleton boats which are waiting for a walrus sk...
Read more

While living in the village on Saint Laurence Island Alaska in an Inuit village called Savoonga I captured this skeleton boats which are waiting for a walrus skin covering. These boats required two to three female walrus hides to cover them, male hides have too many war wounds to be used. The boats are 2.5 meters (14 ft.) long and were used to harvest whales as recently as 2005. The island is home to about 1100 "Russian Inuit", who speak a languagage different from other Inuit in Alaska. There language is also spoken by Russian Inuit about 40 miles west of the Island. These Inuit are subsistence hunters and are allowed to hunt whales under a quota system. They Savoonga group are allowed 6 +- whales a year. They harvest Minki, and Humpback whales. They now use aluminium boats with out board motors of about the same length.
Read less