Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska The Last True Eskimos in Alaskan Northwest

Interesting documentary from the 1940's or 1950's

I'm sure that this was done "hollywood" style and not completely true to actual life style. But still very interesting

The guys face on the cover is Itermonyaq, of ''The people of the Netsiilik'' who was filmed in the early 50;s as him his wife Tingook, and their adopted grandson made a living in the Canadian Arctic, completely off the land, no guns, etc. They later were to reappear on the movie ''Never Cry Wolf'' as the Old Inuit folks the main character hunted with, and the young Inuit man who hunted Wolves.

We once owned a version , as we home schooled our kids and the curriculum had these movies.

Any filming made, is done ''Hollywood'', aka, editing and voiced over.....there is no other way, film is film...

Point Hope, for all its good and bad, is the longest contentiously occupied place in North America.
The ''old village'' where they are is abandoned due to erosion, and quite a new town was started in the 60's and slowly people moved over.

One cool note, his 1917 Enfeild 30-06 was most likely given to him at the end of his Alaska Territorial Guard service, as were all the other ATG rifles given out in 1942. I used to have a 1/2 dozen of them, as they were very common.

I have watched this show several times over the decades. Any documentary, scenes have to be edited or fluffed up for the camera. This show is quite accurate and not much fluff. I took enjoyed his shooting scene but the rifle does not have much recoil for a 30-06. Without much doubt by me this is a military conversion, Remington did produce this rifle as a sporter is smaller calibers. I like the fact they ate the fish raw. Quite common as any fuel for fire was very limited. Neat show.

Thanks, Owl! I enjoyed that!

My wife kept her dads ATG M1917. He 'sporterd' it and made a few repairs, with one that ended the stock as an ivory schnabel.
He kept it apon discharge of his ATG services, as the ATG was taken into the National Guard and outfitted with M1Garands.

Im fairly sure Winchester also ( though Im not 100% sure) made a ''sporter'' model in the 30's, but then again, I havent seen one unmodified ATG issue out there.
Most were just stock reduction jobs, quiet a few had their sight ''ears'' front and back, removed.

Almost all had bright though worn bores with no pitting. Old school gun cleaning habits that show........

Those fish are frozen, not raw! And they're dipping in seal oil...which pretty much goes with anything....except 'crackers' (pilot bread). They get slathered with lard (Crisco these days ).

And you're right about fuels. Although quite probably the 'Eskimo' tribes would not have survived (just as many stranded whalers didn't) if they had cooked more of their food, since cooking reduces the scurvy preventive properties of so many available foods. Drying, aging, freezing/caching are all still common ways to preserve the traditional staples.

Crisco? ... were lucky to get Seal Oil. I cant do Coffee after Seal Oil though....

My wife is way into traditional nutrition, and its in and outs..... Eating frozen fish isnt viable without a caloric boost, hence the Seal/Whale (or Crisco) oil they dipped in. This makes for enough calories to thaw and digest the foods for a nutritional gain to the body, especially when outside in the cold. The Vitamin C not being destroyed by heat is a good note, Klikitarik, one I hadnt thought about much.

Final note, stuvwxyz, alas, I had to ''google'' and only Remington made a 'sporter' M1917 as the Modle 30, from 1921 to 1940, Winchester just surplussed them as they were, so the ones I saw were just very well sporterized Winchesters.....Im lernin' something new, everyday, even as an Old dog...... LOL!!

I noticed real quick them Winchester ammo boxes that were set on the counter in the trade house. Silver tips. And I thought I barely caught “.30 Remington for Automatic Rifles”. Thats all I saw, I’m sure “pump” was in there too!! 😁 Someone go back and look. Props Im sure! 🤣

Crisco on crackers (but everyone calls it 'lard', probably 'cause the first commercially traded solid fat was the tinned lard. Incidentally, nearly disintegrated lard tins have been some of the only metal found in the pits of the old semi-subT houses we've scoped with metal detectors. Fat was obviously a huge detail.... in case the modern diet leaves that in doubt.)

BTW, I've never had nor seen coffee offered after the rich traditional meals...always tea. I don't and won't eat Crisco on crackers or bread but certainly appreciate the palate cleansing and buffering properties of crackers and tea after a rich, high calorie meal.

I bought a few of the remaining boxes of old red/green/white 30 Remington from a local store; also picked up dozens of red and yellow Winchester and Western 225 Win ammo as well as a few more Rem and Win boxes of 303 Savage that were being dumped. Plenty of proof that headstamps don't mean a whole lot when it comes to making meat.

Is it just me, or do those folks look just like Mongols?

Damn! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Reminds me of older black gentleman who came in shop once and asked for a box of 32’s for his revolva. Asked if he needed longs or shorts he said, "jez gimme da long ones, I jez snips dem off til’ dey fits!"

I really liked that documentary. I would love to see more like it. I really like that the folks were/are self reliant. Awesome!

I had watched this one (..last true eskimo's...) several times. The other showing self reliant living is the Nonook movie.

In the mornings, my wife often eats Seal oil dipped 1/2 dryed Seal, Frozen Trout and Caribou for breakfast.
Shes lovin' the Chipolte' type Tobasco or Lea & Perrins spiked into the oil, and a cup of Hills Bro's....... water works fine for me...or coffee first....

As humans, and lucky enough to be US Citizens, were at a relitvly peacfull time in Human history. Lots of folks are getting fed, war is not so prevalent and medicines keep saving the day.....and the scum have risen as well.
Theres no way you could get by for long with out working your butt off back then.

Lots of truth there. One of my students back in the early 80s had a crazy lineage due to being a ‘snow baby’. Took me awhile to figure out why she had two families until I learned that her surname was simply the rescue family’s name.....speaking of tough lives even not so long ago. Edward Nelson relates a very similar story back in the early 1900s only the family who ditched the child was embarrassed when the baby was discovered before freezing and the parents took it back.

But changes continue....

Thinking "snow baby" is an abandoned baby.
But is there more, than what happens in big cities all the time.
A cultural element, or more to the term.


The 'Fire is so fascinating to me.
The knowledge base and experiences that gather together
in pursuit of a common pursuit, is unreal.

A couple of pics of Point Hope, circa 1984. It was a fascinating place, especially the old village. They wanted $400 or the Polar bear hide.

There's also a native there that has my Ruger Redhawk.

Very good!


Makes me feel ashamed that I dont know more about them.

This is my old Mod30 Remington Express in 30gov06.

Great thread thanks for posting

Just like many of our ancestors of us white boys

Those people took tough to another level than what most of us can envision.

My wife’s family is Athabaskan, Indian not Eskimo.

Marveled at how lil discipline was used on kids when first getting introduced.

And then it hit me, nature was the discipline tool for her grandparents and great grandparents, survival odds were slim, if you didn’t listen to your elders, they were even slimmer.

My how things have changed in a couple of generations.

The people that I knew that still live traditionally today who eat the traditional Inupiaq or Athabaskan diet are eating more healthy than 95% of most Americans. If your read, Always Hungry by Dr. Ludwig you will see scientific evidence that their diet was much more healthy on a molecular level than the traditional european diet. Life expectancies have dropped tremendously with the coming of wonderbread and pepsi.

I liked his sled, some observations:

Looks to be a 12-14 foot

The guy had steel runners!

His tug lines on his wheel dogs are really short

He had a single dog in swing. I thought maybe a fighter? BUT.....judging by the shape of the head, and the dog's movements and behavior, it's a female in heat.

I'd take that whole team and sled, over any of the newest snow machines today.

I have seen the full series of the Netsilik movies several times. Used to get them out of UAF, IIRC. We showed them to the kids and adults alike in Pt Hope. One of the adults even tried hunting seals that way, and was successful. After two, he quit. "Too much work. It's cold, too!"

I have in my temporary possession, Charlie Sheldon's Eskimo Scout rifle, given him by Muktuk Marsten. Charlie - uh - "customized" it, hunted with it for years, after the war, his widow gave it to a friend. I'm supposed to restore it to somewhat original form when I get to it. Replacement barrel, sights, and stock, for starters. I better hurry, as the owner is older than I am!

I was living in Pt Hope during the move. The last occupied buildings / folks out of the old site were the school and teachers. Students were brought the mile or so to school at the old site for a year or two in a Rolligan (giant tired tundra truck) due to blizzard and polar bear hazard.

Dr.Jake, who practiced BIA dentistry out of Kotzebue for all the villages around for years said "The farther up river you get, the poorer the people get, and the better their teeth get". This was due to relative availability of sugar and other western foods.

As for the elder respect thing, back in the day one had to be tough, observant, with a good memory and integration facility, and no small amount of just plain luck just to live long enough to become an elder, who were the repositories of wisdom, learning, practices, and tradition. That, and with the parents working full time on subsistence, the older, less physically able grandparents often were majorily the children's upbringing. There is still great (at least nominally) elder respect among those folks.

Now days, with integration into western culture, with it's less demanding survival mode, any damned fool can become an "elder". And most do.

Just look around the Campfire.......

I took exactly one overnight hunting/camping trip out of Pt Hope with white-man's food, then I took to carrying (also as emergenciy ration) frozen tomcod and a 4 inch square of Bowhead muktuk. When I could get it, which was usually. That's enough caloric value for a couple days if necessary. A half inch square warms you right up if one gets a little chilly, too. The tomcod was just filler.

Muktuk takes a little getting used to, with the biggest downside (besides availability for a white guy) is that 30 minutes after one eats it, one's breath could stop a charging Cape buffalo in it's tracks at 10 paces. Pretty sure, anyway. Cape buffalo are fairly rare in the Arctic.

"The guy had steel runners!"

Are you speaking of the Netsilik movie? IIRC, in one scene, he made a sled from materials at hand- a few driftwood sticks or caribou leg bones, arctic char, caribou hide, mud, and water.

He wrapped these big fish end to end in a wet caribou hide and froze them for runners, added mud and ice to the bottoms for wear (and renewable) , attached the runners together with a few driftwood sticks. Or maybe it was caribou leg bones, I disremember that part. Darned ingenious. And one could eat much of it later!

All over the beach areas in Pt Hope one could (can still?) find small 2-4 inch long sections of bone, about an inch to an inch and a half wide - likely caribou rib - with holes drilled in them apparently to use on the bottom of sled runners. My guess, anyway. Seemed too plentiful to be arrow scrapers or straighteners, and that's all I could think of.

I think the Netsilik also used a fan shape dog team, rather than "in-line", at least part of the time. My recollections of those movies are 45 years old, so may not be entirely accurate.

Nice, Las. Havent thought about Jake J. in a long time, he was also quite the Sheep guide, too.

The bone runners are found all over the place, at least along the Kotzebue areas,too. I have boxes of them and ''wedges'' that were always taken along in a bag for the sled, and the Umiaq's, to re-tighten soaked and loose Seal thong ties and ''tighten up'' their ride.. The woods all rotten away, but the bones remain.
The most preferrable shods for runners were young whale rib, as they had very little 'perosity' ( ya, a welding term, but the little holes in the material) and good lengths of both curved and straight material could be cut from them. I have found a few made from Caribou Antler and some from ivory.
Steel runners are noted by Hobsen, one of Charlie Browers partners, in the late 1800's after locals here figured out that barrel hoops made excellent runners. Those guys back then would make the most of everything.

Things really changed in the villages after WW2, when an airstrip and post office made the world available to everyone. Some cash and a Sears catalog and guy could have anything.

Very good!

Enjoying this thread greatly.

Oh [bleep] you about to go full native on us... soon you will be doing those Bristol bay native corporation radio ads..

Of similar interest: Google up "happy people" and "Siberia" for renderings of a tough life.

Good ones, 1 minute.

Happy People is a most excellent show, and are the Siaberian ChukChi Reindeer Herders and Walrus Hunters.


This guy has ''Skills'' hunting at a Seals breathing hole. Around here called an 'Allu' and are noticeable untill theres lots of snow on the Ocean ice like Muskrat Pushups are on the river.

Then they get down with the sharp knifes and hooks butchering, not a drop of blood on their hands or clothes...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZLVgAP5Cps

Dr. Jake has a book out on his guiding/hunting experiences. A friend loaned it to me and now I can't find it. I need to, or buy another to return it. I hate loaning a book out and not getting it back.

enjoy the movie, seen it several times

Indeed!!! Jake's got 4 books out there.......Ida never thunk!!! Now to get some...

https://www.amazon.com/Alaska-Tales...mp;psc=1&refRID=2YEJRJAKTW94X0KKY54Q


amazon.com/Alaska-Hunting-Earthworms-Elephants-Jacobson

amazon.com/Alaska-Flying-Jake-Jacobson

amazon.com/Alaska-Bears-Jake-Jacobson

Thanks for the heads up, Im an avid collector of books regarding the locals in motion

I need to check my books. Did you loan it to me, if so I will send all 3 or 4 back.

Hey Butch, you got my weak mind to thinking, I had to look back at our PMs from last December. I sent you the "Reader's Guide to Alaska" as a year or so loan. But, we can do a renewal on it, let's say one year from ...... NOW. (we both will probably forget about it again in 3 months)
getting old, and forgetful.

Keep it coming fellows!


I am learing a lot.

My mind is terrible, but I found the PM. Seems my Son and your acquaintances worked for Jay Sekulow and the ACLJ

No, but you can send them anyway..


I am almost trustworthy.

I remember now. 3 came from Art and I need to look for the one from kid 0917. I did locate Art's books.

I am done with those books; feel free to keep or move them on as you wish.

I know there were eskimos in the mid 50's. My dad was stationed on Thule Airforce Base in northern Greenland. He saw eskimos from the airplane just the way we saw on the movie. He said the went in a straight line. How they knew where to go was a mystery. It looks all the same.

very interesting to read about these types of hows,whys and old days life styles in Alaska. 24 hr. campfire needs more of these types of posts instead of argueing about what bullet weight or what cartridge is the new hot koolaid cartridge or favor of the month. I look forward to more of these posts. may I mention this Caribou himself has posted some real neat posts,thank you,Pete53

Enjoying these posts.
Thank you

Out in the Barrens (and elsewhere) where there are few if any landmarks, they made/make cairns, which of course are each unique unto themselves. Navigation markers. Wind. Sun.

And of course dogs have a good sense of direction if they know where you want to go.