Community Projects: Visiting an Ice Cellar
In January of 2002, Dick Weyiouanna's Inupiat language class explored a Barrow ice cellar, a pit dug into the tundra and owned by whaling captain, Bill Aishanna. Whales give themselves to whalers who respect the animal and treat it properly. This reverence continues each year when the whaling crews clean out their ice cellars, the places where maktak and whale meat are kept frozen at about 10 degrees Fahrenheit. They remove the old meat and share with elders and those in need. They pick away old, dirty ice from the floor and walls and replace it with a layer of fresh, new snow. In this video, one can see different whale meats, fish, and wild bird stored in the ice cellar.