For the past month, several wooden boxes sat outside Herman Ahsoak's home in Barrow. They were filled to the brim with whale.
"The last few years since it's been cold enough, I've kept it in boxes outside my home," said Ahsoak, captain of the Quvan crew. "A lot of the captains store their whale meat and muktuk in ice cellars."
This week the boxes came off the porches and out of the cellars as Barrow whaling captains and their crews prepared to make their way around town Thanksgiving morning, distributing meat, muktuk and aqikkak, or tail flukes, to local churches.
"When we take the whale we always cut half of the uati -- the back part of the whale that the captain keeps for the celebrations. We have to cut half of the meat for Thanksgiving and the other half for Christmas," said Ahsoak.
The crews cut up the meat, muktuk and tail into equal portions that will both be eaten at the churches' holiday feasts and then be given to every member of the families who attend.
"It's all divided equally; it's all the same," he said.
Typically, the whale is handed out to churches with Inupiat congregations including Utiqiagvik Presbyterian Church, Assembly of God Church, the New Beginning Church and Cornerstone Community Church.
"We have a responsibility to our family and our community to provide what we harvest," wrote Crawford Patkotak, captain of the Patkotak crew, in an email. "It is initially (through) feeding people at our home when the whale is harvested and during the Nalukataq Whaling Feast and then we have portions set aside for the Thanksgiving and Christmas feasts held at our local churches."
It's a tradition that's been going on for generations, he said, and one that is important to continue. For Patkotak, it's a blending of both cultural history and Inupiaq values that underscores the importance of hard work, sharing, self-sufficiency and taking responsibility for family and community so everyone can lead healthy, productive and meaningful lives.
"We remember this rich culture growing up in the churches and celebrating (through) the feeding of people where nobody goes hungry," said Patkotak. "It gives you a deep sense of pride and joy when we work together to feed the community. It is our hope and prayer that this is carried on by our younger generation and they feel the pride and joy of feeding people in our community and continue to work hard to keep our culture alive."
For Barrow resident Mary Sage, sharing is how the Inupiat people have survived for thousands of years.
"My Aaka has told me many stories about sharing in relation to survival," she said. "To receive maktak and quaq during Thanksgiving is an awesome feeling of connectivity to our ancestors."
While sharing has been a cornerstone of Arctic life "since time immemorial," Thanksgiving as a holiday has not. It was officially designated a holiday in 1863 and came to the North Slope -- along with Christmas -- with missionaries years later. When it arrived, earlier traditions were blended with the new holiday to make it the unique celebration it is today.
"We've adapted these holidays by sharing whale and Inupiaq dancing after," said Sage. "We know how hard the whaling crews work to provide for our community. It's a special feeling to receive whale on Thanksgiving."
Not only is the whale distribution a way of showing care for the community as a whole, it's extremely personal for the whaling crews as well.
"What makes it so special is when you're working with your crew and with all your family. You're spending family time together, you're enjoying good meals, and working hard," said Ahsoak. "When you work hard it also keeps you strong and healthy."
While hard work paid off this year, this community also has enough whale because of the generosity of the Point Hope whalers, who transferred their unused strikes to Barrow whalers and opened the doors for the final whale caught this season, said Ahsoak.
"I just thank the Point Hope whalers because if it wasn't for them, we wouldn't have been blessed this fall. They gave us a chance," he said.
He and Patkotak hope to charter a plane to Point Hope sometime during this holiday season to deliver boxes of muktuk from the whale caught with their strikes.
It's that cycle of sharing and receiving, between communities and community members, that is the foundation of the Thanksgiving feast and the whale that makes it so special for the people of Barrow.
"It brings joy to my heart," said Ahsoak. "Our elders taught us to share what we catch because it will always come back. Just to see when people receive their native foods, see their smiles, and know they're content with a big meal, it just brings joy. You can't really express it in words."
This story first appeared in The Arctic Sounder and is republished here with permission.