Comments on: nalukataq https://www.burnmagazine.org/burn-diary/2014/07/nalukataq/ burn is an online feature for emerging photographers worldwide. burn is curated by magnum photographer david alan harvey. Sat, 18 Jun 2016 11:53:09 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.2.4 By: skiwaves https://www.burnmagazine.org/burn-diary/2014/07/nalukataq/#comment-422552 Wed, 02 Jul 2014 15:20:26 +0000 http://www.burnmagazine.org/?p=23193#comment-422552 You’re right. They weren’t bowheads. On a number of occasions, I’ve seen humpback, finback, right and sperm whales. They were all in the process of decomposition. Anyone walking in that area of beach got it on the bottoms of their shoes and the odor followed them wherever they went.
It’s sad when an indigenous culture gets displaced with the dregs of modern society.

]]>
By: Frostfrog https://www.burnmagazine.org/burn-diary/2014/07/nalukataq/#comment-422278 Wed, 02 Jul 2014 06:28:26 +0000 http://www.burnmagazine.org/?p=23193#comment-422278 Thank you, Skiwaves. Traditionally, cancers were rare among the indigenous people of the Arctic, but then along came cigarettes and such, plus historical cases of radiation in some places due to government experiments, so cancer is here. I don’t know what kind of whales you’ve seen necropsied in North Carolina, but they weren’t bowheads and they were probably rotting and if you’ve ever dealt with a rotting steer, that’s not so appetizing either. Studies have been done that shown that the whale and the other natural foods of the Arctic – seals, caribou, etc. are healthy foods, especially for Inuit peoples, among whom there are those who get sick if they are deprived it altogether. The skin on maktak is high in vitamin C. Blubber is very different in texture and taste than beef fat and its cholesterol is the good kind. And if you ever spend any time doing much outdoors, it won’t be long before you will prefer Native food, because it keeps you warm in a way that western foods do not. There are places in Canada where industrial activities have contaminated native foods and the toxins have collected in the blubber. Contamination levels in Northern Alaska are low.

]]>
By: skiwaves https://www.burnmagazine.org/burn-diary/2014/07/nalukataq/#comment-421750 Tue, 01 Jul 2014 14:34:52 +0000 http://www.burnmagazine.org/?p=23193#comment-421750 Your burn diary has been quite an interesting window into your part of the world.
Not sure if I could eat whale. But here on the east coast, waiting for our first tropical system, whale meat is scarce and of course, they’re protected. I’ve seen them necropsied on the beach here in North Carolina and it doesn’t look appetizing. I’ve also read that those that eat it have a low incidence of cancer…. Any truth to that?
Nice job, by the way….

]]>