In Northern Alaska, people generally survive by using a combination of modern store-bought goods and traditional ways of living off the land. One of the key parts of subsistence, especially in the Arctic, is hunting wild animals for meat and sharing with your community. In Northern Alaska, this includes whaling, a practice that Iñupiat people have engaged in for a thousands of years.
Nalukataq is a thanksgiving harvest celebration for the whaling season. Usually held in June, Nalukataq finishes the hunt as the captain of the whaling ship divides the spoils among the community. The blanket toss is a highlight of the event where people are tossed up into the air as high as fifty feet in the air. This ceremonial festival is a celebration of Iñupiat culture, the bounty from the sea, and the food that sustains life in the far north where survival is a primary concern.
The three day event begins with a prayer of thanks for the harvest and the meat to keep the community fed through the winter.
After a morning of preparation, whale meat and muktuk (whale blubber and skin) are served. Whale meat prepared in various ways is feasted on throughout the festival.
The captain of the whaling boat gives away most of the whale meat to their community. They make sure the elders have enough food for winter and that visitng friends and relatives get a taste of the harvest.
The successful crews who caught whales are honored at the celebration. The festival as a whole honours the whaling crew captain for his excellent skills as a provider.
Sharing with everyone is a highly prized skill in the arctic where the harsh winters are unforgiving. Cultural principals of sharing are taught and practiced that keep everyone safe from starvation.
Part of the celebration is wearing traditional Inupiat clothing. Mukluks and parkas of seal, caribou, wolverine, wolf, and fox are all over the celebration.
The namesake of the festival is the blanket toss. One person stands in the middle of a blanket made of walrus skin. Everyone else stands on the edges and bounces the blanket in time to toss the flyer in the air.
The blanket toss is now a sport in the World Indian-Eskimo Olympics. It may have originated during hunting when people were tossed high in the air to see into the distance. Now it is a expression of culture and celebration.
Hunting for whale and celebrating with the blanket toss are living traditions of the Inupiat people. It may be hard to tell what century you are in until a cellphone reminds you that ancient traditions are still alive in the modern world, at least in Alaska.
