Native people of Alaska have been whaling for a very long time. In the Yupik, Inupiat and Siberian Yupik cultures it has become a basic part of their lifestyle.

These cultures depend on the whales for food each spring. The blubber with the skin still attached is called muktuk. The Eskimos eat the muktuk for vitamins A, D and C. This was important because the Eskimos could not get vitamins A, D, and C anyplace else.

Photo by Chlaus Lotscher

In the old days the Eskimos used to eat and use every part of the whale. Blubber used to be boiled into oil for stone lamps. The house rafters were made of whale ribs. Whale jaw bones were used to make sled runners. The back bone of the whales were used for stools. Sometimes shoulder blades were made into snow shovels. Sometimes baleen was used for long fish lines, children's toys and games.

Eskimos in Alaska that hunt bowhead whales use large boats called umiaks. These large boats can hold up to 8 people. When they found cracks in the ice in the spring everybody watched for migrating whales.

Photo by Chlaus Lotscher

When somebody saw a whale a group of men got into their umiaks to go get the whale. The harpooner would shout out directions to help steer the boat while the others rowed. A helmsman helps steer the umiak with a little gadget in the back of an umiak called a rudder. When a whale surfaced the harpooner would harpoon the whale when the boat got close enough to the whale.

Eskimos in Alaska hunt two kinds of whales. These kinds of whales are called beluga and bowhead.