BARROW, AK - The day was warm and clear. A group of four Inupiat whalers paddled a
skin boat along the remaining shore ice followed by an aluminum boat full of filmmakers with a motion picture camera
grinding.
"This light is amazing," director Bestor Cram said. "This is great stuff. Did you get that?"
A three-man film crew has been in Barrow for the past week or so trying to capture the spirit of the whaling culture
of the Inupiat. The group, Northern Light Productions, came to make a portion of a film sponsored by the National
Park Service on the history of whaling. When finished, the film will be shown in the theater at the New Bedford
Whaling Museum in Massachusetts.
"The relationship between New Bedford and the North Slope dates back to the 1860s, when whalers first came
here to the Arctic Ocean," producer Lennie Rotman said.
Part of the filming in Barrow included re-enactment of a whaling crew chasing and harpooning an imaginary whale.
The group also filmed Eskimo dancing and a blanket toss.
"We also hope we can shoot a scene of an elder talking to a child on the beach, explaining the harshness of
the ocean and telling him about some of the mistakes the greedy whalers made in the past," Rotman said.
Many boats were lost off the Arctic Coast over the years of Yankee whaling when they were trapped by the moving
ice. Barrow has a history of saving these men from starving and freezing to death.
The making of the film is part of a larger, growing relationship between New Bedford and the North Slope. The two
communities will also be recipients of Park Service legislative grants co-sponsored by Sens. Edward Kennedy of
Massachusetts and Ted Stevens of Alaska designed to document and educate people about the history of whaling.
"Some of this money is earmarked to support the Inupiat Heritage Center here in Barrow," Rotman said.
Whaling captain John Nusunginya and crew members William Long, William Ekowana and Ned Edwardsen re-enacted the
whaling scenes. Nusunginya is also involved in film production, and his company, Rewind Productions, has been helping
in the production of the film.
Rotman said the group has also been with elder Bertha Leavitt on a scene where she is teaching children about traditions
of Inupiat skin sewing.
Rotman said he was assisted by Arlene Glenn of the Commission on Inupiat History Language and Culture, Jana Harcharek
of the North Slope Borough School District's bilingual department and Ron Brower, director of the Inupiat Heritage
Center.
"Support from the community has been great," Rotman said. "When we are finished with these scenes,
our hope is that we can revive the spirit of a relationship between our communities that began 140 years ago."
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Iñupiaq History, Language and Culture
The mission of the Iñupiat History, Language and Culture (IHLC) division is to document,
preserve, and perpetuate the history, language and culture of the North Slope region and to ensure that cultural
issues are given appropriate consideration during the planning process. IHLC’s actions help fulfill the borough’s
founding commitment to its Iñupiaq heritage and to protect cultural and subsistence resources for all residents
of the North Slope.
http://www.co.north-slope.ak.us/ihlc/
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