Even though the blanket toss may be considered the main event of the day (according the Lyn Kidder of Barrow From A to Z), the Nalukatag is so much more than jumping on the sealskin trampoline. Nalukataq is a festival in which the whole community gathers to celebrate a successful end to the whaling season. Beginning at noon and lasting until all of the food has been distributed, the Nalukataq can be a whole day affair extending into the hours of the midnight sun. Depending on the success of the season, there can be several different Nalukataqs in the Spring and in the Fall. This year Barrow celebrated four separate spring Nalukataqs. At the beginning of each distribution, the master of ceremonies calls the whaling crew to the center of the dirt field where the crew holds hands in a giant circle and thanks the whales for coming to them this season. It is an Iñupiat belief that a successful hunt is possible only because the whale gives itself to the whaling crew captain’s wife, not because of the technical skill of the crew. If the crew members and their family have upheld the twelve values of the Iñupiat people (i.e., Respect for Nature, Sharing, Knowledge of Language, Cooperation, Family and Kinship, Love and Respect for our Elders and One Another, Humor, Hunting Traditions, Compassion, Humility, Avoidance of Conflict, and Spirituality), the whale will give itself to the crew to nourish and sustain the community for months to come. By thanking the spirit of the whale, the community assures that the whale spirit tells other whales to give themselves to Barrow whalers next time.
The celebration proceeds with the distribution of food to each person present. All of the residents bring one gallon Ziplocks. Many bring coolers to store the food for the afternoon. In between servings, there is singing, prayer, the blanket toss, and visiting. It is a thanksgiving on a community level, something absent from mainstream America. Iñupiat elders sit on a row of Church pews that have been hauled from St. Patrick’s Catholic Church to the dirt of Simmond’s Field for the event. They create a first row encircling the whole of the field, about the size of a football field.As grace ends everyone takes out their one gallon Ziplock bags and holds them open for the first course -- dark whale meat. At first glance, it appears stringy, a long tendril of black muck. Families place the whale meat on a cutting board, slice it up, and share with their family members. The elders use a crescent-shaped knife called an ulu to make the job of cutting through whale meat much easier. As they cut through the whale meat, members of the whaling crew and their children come around with Eskimo donuts, rolls, and tea. In fact, the whale had been caught weeks if not a month before the celebration. At the site of the hunt, if the whale is too large to haul back to the land, the slaughter begins on the ice as does distribution to each of the whalers. The chunks of the whale are taken back to a designated ice cellar (dug into the permafrost, a natural freezer) for storage until the Nalukataq celebration. Whale meat tastes like sushi in soy sauce, but is not actually seasoned at all.
After whale meat, muktuk is distributed. Muktuk is the whale skin and blubber which is very tough to cut through without an ulu. In town there are no billboards, but there are messages painted on the town dumpsters that act as public service announcements. A favorite of these dumpster ads reads, “Got Muktuk?” Muktuk is chewy and fatty, but it didn’t have too much flavor. Nalukataq dessert is Eskimo Ice Cream which looks similar to a Rice Crispy Treat. The traditional recipe calls for a mixture of whipped seal or caribou fat with nuts and berries though is often made with Crisco today. Finally, whale intestines in seal oil are distributed. The smell is one of the most foul available, but Barrow residents claim that it’s an acquired smell. Most people seem to save the intestine and oil for using at home. Once the food has been shared and enjoyed, ugruk skins are lifted off the ground and secured into wooden posts. Ugruk (Iñupiak for seal) skins are initially used to make the covering of the whaling boat, the umiak, but later become the foundation of the blanket toss. Stitched together into a large blanket, Iñupiat woman attach handles all around the perimeter of the blanket. Each handle is held by one person and as a group, the blanket is moved up and down until a count of three when the person standing on top of the blanket is launched into the air. Some children get five feet of air beneath them. The ugruk skins are not like a trampoline; they do not have that elastine give, so the child comes down with a thunk, but often landing on their feet. Some people like to claim that Eskimos used the blanket toss as a way to look for someone who is lost or to check for whales on the horizon, but Barrow residents claim this as preposterous sensationalism. It is a celebratory game to close out Nalukataq.
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