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Nalukataq
Nalukataq (, ''naluk-'' 'to throw it underhand; to toss it up' + ''kataq'') is the spring whaling festival of the Iñupiat of Northern Alaska, especially the North Slope Borough. It is characterized by its namesake, the dramatic Eskimo blanket toss. "Marking the end of the spring whaling season," Nalukataq creates "a sense of being for the entire community and for all who want a little muktuk or to take part in the blanket toss....At no time, however, does Nalukataq relinquish its original purpose, which is to recognize the annual success and prowess of each ''umialik'', or whaling crew captain....Nalukataq raditionshave always reflected the process of survival inherent in sharing...crucial to...the Arctic." After the spring whale hunting season, successful crews celebrate with a Nalukataq festival. Associated with the summer solstice, these take place in June and are scheduled to avoid conflicts between villages in order to allow friends and relatives from distant communities t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nalukataq Blanket Toss Barrow
Nalukataq (, ''naluk-'' 'to throw it underhand; to toss it up' + ''kataq'') is the spring whaling festival of the Iñupiat of Northern Alaska, especially the North Slope Borough. It is characterized by its namesake, the dramatic Eskimo blanket toss. "Marking the end of the spring whaling season," Nalukataq creates "a sense of being for the entire community and for all who want a little muktuk or to take part in the blanket toss....At no time, however, does Nalukataq relinquish its original purpose, which is to recognize the annual success and prowess of each ''umialik'', or whaling crew captain....Nalukataq raditionshave always reflected the process of survival inherent in sharing...crucial to...the Arctic." After the spring whale hunting season, successful crews celebrate with a Nalukataq festival. Associated with the summer solstice, these take place in June and are scheduled to avoid conflicts between villages in order to allow friends and relatives from distant communities ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iñupiat
The Iñupiat (or Inupiat, Iñupiaq or Inupiaq;) are a group of Alaska Natives, whose traditional territory roughly spans northeast from Norton Sound on the Bering Sea to the northernmost part of the Canada–United States border. Their current communities include 34 villages across ''Iñupiat Nunaat'' (Iñupiaq lands) including seven Alaskan villages in the North Slope Borough, affiliated with the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation; eleven villages in Northwest Arctic Borough; and sixteen villages affiliated with the Bering Straits Regional Corporation,"Inupiaq (Inupiat)—Alaska Native Cultural Profile." ''www.nnlm.nlm.nih.gov'' ''National Network of Libraries of Medicine.'' Retrieved 4 Dec 2013. and often claim to be the first people of the [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blanket Toss
A trampoline is a device consisting of a piece of taut, strong fabric stretched between a steel frame using many coiled spring (device), springs. Not all trampolines have springs, as the Springfree Trampoline uses glass-reinforced plastic rods. People bounce on trampolines for recreational and competitive purposes. The fabric that users bounce on (commonly known as the "bounce mat" or "trampoline bed") is not elastic itself; the elasticity is provided by the springs that connect it to the frame, which store potential energy. History Early trampoline-like devices A game similar to trampolining was developed by the Inuit, who would toss blanket dancers into the air on a walrus skin one at a time (see Nalukataq) during a spring celebration of whale harvest. There is also some evidence of people in Europe having been tossed into the air by a number of people holding a blanket. Mak in the Wakefield Mystery Play ''The Second Shepherds' Play'', and Sancho Panza in ''Don Quixote' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Utqiaġvik, Alaska
Utqiagvik ( ik, Utqiaġvik; , , formerly known as Barrow ()) is the borough seat and largest city of the North Slope Borough, Alaska, North Slope Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Located north of the Arctic Circle, it is one of the List of northernmost settlements, northernmost cities and towns in the world and the Extreme points of the United States, northernmost in the United States, with nearby Point Barrow which is the country's northernmost land. Utqiagvik's population was 4,927 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, an increase from 4,212 in 2010. It is the List of cities in Alaska, 12th-most populated city in Alaska. Name The location has been home to the Iñupiat, an indigenous Inuit ethnic group, for more than 1,500 years. The city's Iñupiaq name refers to a place for gathering wild roots. It is derived from the Inupiat language, Iñupiat word , also used for ''Claytonia tuberosa'' ("Eskimo potato"). The name was first recorded, by European explorers, in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North Slope Borough, Alaska
The North Slope Borough is the northernmost borough in the US state of Alaska and thus, the northernmost county or equivalent of the United States as a whole. As of the 2020 census, the population was 11,031. The borough seat and largest city is Utqiaġvik (known as Barrow from 1901 to 2016), which is also the northernmost settlement in the United States. History The borough was established in 1972 by an election of the majority Indigenous people in the region, following Congressional passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. Most are Inupiat. The borough was named for the Alaska North Slope basin. In 1974 it adopted a Home Rule Charter, enabling it to exercise any legitimate governmental power. The borough has first-class status and exercises the powers of planning, zoning, taxation, and schools."Your Government" North Slope ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Muktuk
Muktuk (transliterated in various ways, see below) is a traditional food of the peoples of the Arctic, consisting of whale skin and blubber. It is most often made from the bowhead whale, although the Beluga (whale), beluga and the narwhal are also used. It is usually consumed raw, but can also be eaten frozen, cooked, or pickling, pickled. Methods of preparation In Greenland, muktuk (''mattak'') is sold commercially to fish factory, fish factories, and in Canada (''muktaaq'') to other communities. When chewed raw, the blubber becomes oily, with a nutty taste; if not diced, or at least serrated, the skin is quite rubbery. One account of a twenty-first century aboriginal whaling, indigenous whale hunt describes the skin and blubber eaten as a snack while the rest of the whale meat is butchered (Flensing, flensed) for later consumption. When boiled, this snack is known as ''unaaliq''. Raw or cooked, the blubber and skin are served with HP sauce, a British sweet and sour cond ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baleen
Baleen is a filter-feeding system inside the mouths of baleen whales. To use baleen, the whale first opens its mouth underwater to take in water. The whale then pushes the water out, and animals such as krill are filtered by the baleen and remain as a food source for the whale. Baleen is similar to bristles and consists of keratin, the same substance found in human fingernails, skin and hair. Baleen is a skin derivative. Some whales, such as the bowhead whale, have longer baleen than others. Other whales, such as the gray whale, only use one side of their baleen. These baleen bristles are arranged in plates across the upper jaw of whales. Depending on the species, a baleen plate can be long, and weigh up to . Its hairy fringes are called baleen hair or whalebone hair. They are also called baleen bristles, which in sei whales are highly calcified, with calcification functioning to increase their stiffness. Baleen plates are broader at the gumline (base). The plates have b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rope
A rope is a group of yarns, plies, fibres, or strands that are twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have tensile strength and so can be used for dragging and lifting. Rope is thicker and stronger than similarly constructed cord, string, and twine. Construction Rope may be constructed of any long, stringy, fibrous material, but generally is constructed of certain natural or synthetic fibres. Synthetic fibre ropes are significantly stronger than their natural fibre counterparts, they have a higher tensile strength, they are more resistant to rotting than ropes created from natural fibres, and they can be made to float on water. But synthetic ropes also possess certain disadvantages, including slipperiness, and some can be damaged more easily by UV light. Common natural fibres for rope are Manila hemp, hemp, linen, cotton, coir, jute, straw, and sisal. Synthetic fibres in use for rope-making include polypropylene, nylon, polyesters (e.g. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Block And Tackle
A block and tackle or only tackle is a system of two or more pulleys with a rope or cable threaded between them, usually used to lift heavy loads. The pulleys are assembled to form blocks and then blocks are paired so that one is fixed and one moves with the load. The rope is threaded through the pulleys to provide mechanical advantage that amplifies the force applied to the rope. Hero of Alexandria described cranes formed from assemblies of pulleys in the first century. Illustrated versions of Hero's ''Mechanica'' (a book on raising heavy weights) show early block and tackle systems. Overview A block is a set of pulleys or sheaves mounted on a single frame. An assembly of blocks with a rope threaded through the pulleys is called tackle. The process of threading ropes or cables through blocks is called "reeving", and a threaded block and tackle is said to have been "rove". A block and tackle system amplifies the tension force in the rope to lift heavy loads. They are common ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bearded Seal
The bearded seal (''Erignathus barbatus''), also called the square flipper seal, is a medium-sized pinniped that is found in and near to the Arctic Ocean. It gets its generic name from two Greek words (''eri'' and ''gnathos'') that refer to its heavy jaw. The other part of its Linnaean name means bearded and refers to its most characteristic feature, the conspicuous and very abundant whiskers. When dry, these whiskers curl very elegantly, giving the bearded seal a "raffish" look. Bearded seals are the largest northern phocid. They have been found to weigh as much as with the females being the largest. However, male and female bearded seals are not very dimorphic. The only member of the genus ''Erignathus'', the bearded seal is unique in that it is an intermediate. Bearded seals belong to the family Phocidae which contains two subfamilies: Phocinae and Monachinae. The bearded seal possesses characteristics of both of these subfamilies. Fossils first described in 2002 indicate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pinniped
Pinnipeds (pronounced ), commonly known as seals, are a widely distributed and diverse clade of carnivorous, fin-footed, semiaquatic, mostly marine mammals. They comprise the extant families Odobenidae (whose only living member is the walrus), Otariidae (the eared seals: sea lions and fur seals), and Phocidae (the earless seals, or true seals). There are 34 extant species of pinnipeds, and more than 50 extinct species have been described from fossils. While seals were historically thought to have descended from two ancestral lines, molecular evidence supports them as a monophyletic lineage (descended from one ancestral line). Pinnipeds belong to the order Carnivora; their closest living relatives are musteloids (weasels, raccoons, skunks, and red pandas), having diverged about 50 million years ago. Seals range in size from the and Baikal seal to the and southern elephant seal male, which is also the largest member of the order Carnivora. Several species exh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fluke (tail)
A fin is a thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure. Fins typically function as foils that produce lift or thrust, or provide the ability to steer or stabilize motion while traveling in water, air, or other fluids. Fins are also used to increase surface areas for heat transfer purposes, or simply as ornamentation. Fins first evolved on fish as a means of locomotion. Fish fins are used to generate thrust and control the subsequent motion. Fish, and other aquatic animals such as cetaceans, actively propel and steer themselves with pectoral and tail fins. As they swim, they use other fins, such as dorsal and anal fins, to achieve stability and refine their maneuvering.Helfman G, Collette BB, Facey DE and Bowen BW (2009"Functional morphology of locomotion and feeding" Chapter 8, pp. 101–116. In:''The Diversity of Fishes: Biology'', John Wiley & Sons. . The fins on the tails of cetaceans, ichthyosaurs, metriorhynchids, mosasaurs, and plesiosaurs are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
