Berry delicious...

Been a good year for Berrys
Old folks this way predicted such with the low ammount of snow we had, saying it was gonna be great for Berrys, and so it is....
Spent a few days around the house, doing this and that, and a few days back I stumbled apon 1 ripe 'Ukpk' also known as Salmon Berrys.
They look alot like Salmon roe I guess.....
Three days ago was a 7 gallon day, yeasterday 9, today she gave away what she had to spare to an elder brother and the kids gave some to friends who were leaving town.

Freezer ready bags are the way to go, as these women fill their backpacks, and keep the mess less.
Now to top off buckets with 'em and bury the buckets inna cold celler, after a solid freezing inturn , in the freezer.......

Anyway, as we usually reside by the coast in summer it was a plaeasnt suprize to get them a almost two weeks earlier than were used too, and to boot, all this rain and the sun dipping below the horizon again, its truly berry time.

Ukpiks
Something we dont get on teh coast, Raspberrys

My Singsong Carol, the Berry patch devastator.

Now were gonna have meat problems. The wife aint got enough freezer room, so the dry stuff as wella s the raw stff is comming out to be dryed up and forgotten~~LOL!!~~That box of Blubber has to be eaten soon, too........

I , for one need fresh meat, so I guess were gonna have to hunt somemore......

Mixed berrys the Little Ones Picked

Our diet will be happy with purple foods, full of vitamin C as well as some fibers and other particals our bodys burn, damn good, if I say so myself.

They are great tea and desserts as well as getting added to other stuff and garnishing foodsall winter, I like 'em plain.

Organic I think?

Hey! You notice I have a camera??Pulled it out today! ~~LOL!!~~ A big old bulky thing with crappy megapixless, but itll due till I get another. That last Kodak was pricey, so who knows......

Trapesing about and Salmon

Hey!

How are ya?
Well, Ive been a trapesing about, though I am now cameraless once again, seems I left it somewhere, so I cant blame anyone but myself~~LOL!!~~ I do have a few things captured on a friends phone camera, but I gotta figure how to get 'em on the computer. These are old.

Went "Coasting" (actually alotta walking)and pulled up a bunch of bones to dry and retrive later this summer. Some Mammoth ivory, but nothing major as the snow was still a clinging to most of the frozen mud.
Thats changing daily and were destined to go back again, as well Caribou hunting has been good too, but yet we are outr for much more :D

The Salmon Berries are ripening, and the wife came home with a bunch last night, though it was "Hunting" not picking as the vvast majority are not yet ripe. Soon it'll be Blue berries too.

Salmon have showed up and were putting out out net tonight as they seem to be on everyones mind for fresh food.

My minds on August with Muskox season, Moose season, Caribou are prime for pelts and dry meats as well as time to move my firewoods home............

well, Hopefully I'll get some picts next time, but I will keep a writing a bit .

Regards!!!

Besides Hunting and Fishing, we have to get out and "Gather" as well.

Beside Fire Wood, Antlers, Horns and Fur , we gotta get out and get the raw materials that the ocean has to offer. Often its beach washed Mammoth, that are in the very shallow sands and mud slew from tahwing sloughing Permafrost that is sluiced and sorted by the waves. Storm action and a nice calm can really be productive when looking for ivory or bones for carving.
Spruce Roots, carving wood, and poles are good to get right now , washed up along the beach. Sometimes a dead Seal can have its skin salvaged or a Walrus have its head and flippers removed while it bobs in the Ocean. Dead Whales are best left alone, and followed as each tide and wind move the body. When a big blow hits with a big tide, it'll beach the Whales carcass and you take note for a later day.

Prospecting gold is a hobby too, and a few peices have hit our hands , but not enough to make it more than a hobbie. Antiques and crashed planes are cool as well, when we cros paths.




Of course I dont have photos of this comming summer, but to get a good idea, heres a few from the past, before I had reliable picture takeing capabilitys with digitals.

Staying in our own little huts is always fun.

Found all this gold as well, a nice place to work if theres gas and time, something I'm short of this year, but theres gold in those hills. This is a 1-1/2 oz nugget.

The nuggets on the bracelettt were panned mostly by the kids, as we had a friend who was a miner and well connected in the jewlrey biz, I had them make a big ol' Silver bracelett .

The second Son returning to the boat from a long hunt across the ice, while I hunted Sea Ducks and Trout fished a couple mile from their stalkings...

Mammoth Teeth

NICE tooth

A days gatherings of Mammoth bones, a Muskox skull, whale parts, ect, all from the Ocean...

Everybody enjoying the ride with the front half of lunch still in the skin to protect the meat from sand.

A washup"Stinker" that we took the head from.

Mammoth from the beachcombing.

Using your feet is a smart way to be looking for tusks in the low tide muds, it's rather productive....

One side'd score.....

Well with luck in art sales for gas $$$, a junk motor to push the boat along . If the motor quits, well rig a sail and keep on going~~LOL!!~~and with a vast open water ahead, were plowing tward a good July of beach combing. The end results are always worth the efforts, and when we return, Caribou Hunting, Berrys, Salmon Fishing, Greens Pickings and school for the kids await us here in Noorvik.

Hope you enjoy'd the pix, and as I'll yet be around for another week, Ive got lots to do, and gas to gather for this winter, when we take most of the gatherings and make arts and crafts to sell....for more gas , and all the toil it brings........~~LOL!!~~

BOON & CROCKETT, Baby!!

Yep, We had a Fish and Game Trooper come and measure today. The Skull is 24 7/16ths for "Grizzly" as that , evidently, is what Roams the North of Alaska.

I dont know how much it scored in B&C but the trooper knows his stuff, as Ive seen over the years. I looked up B&C boone-crockett.org and found that the mesurement leads to "24" all Time"

The alaska Trooper was not an official measure'r for B&C but I'm likeing the idea that B&C call it "All Time", (What ever that means....anybody know waht that means??) as any skull over 24 inches sq. on a Grizz skull is called that "All time" I wonder if its a "top 100" list or something.....

He measured, remasured and made sure it was meat free and such.......so its not "Official" record wise, but thats the size the state wants to know.

"DAMN!!" was 'bout all I could say about it all........

Not bad for the Wifes first Bear.

Whitefish roast.

Before you can have Roast Whitfish, you must first have Whitefish........

Save the Good innards and clean.

Then they are oven ready.

Sneaky Moose are a lurking..........

Fisherwomans cooking fire..........

Partners Agnes and Cora with their temp rack, which will be the basis of an extensive drying rack.

We often use temperary racks when we move about, but these are across the Kobuk from Noorvik among dozens of others. No dust, no theft, no loose dogs, and a good days work can make lotsa food.

This will be there Spring and summers fishing catch.

Pike and Sheefish landed........

Sunday dinner for the 14 of us.
We ate the Trout they caught yesterday fried for lunch.

Good food for energy, so tomarrow can be as good a day with the racks being done with a few poles more and a fish cutting table too.....might have to bring the dogs over as well....~~LOL!!~

Setting net

Fishing has begun, heres the wife and her fishing partner Cora at it again.

They put out a net yesterday and had some luck, but no camera.

With the way things have gone and the way e=were going, were most likely to stay fairly close to the village this summer, as we have many improvments to make and stuff to get done around here to improve our lives. It's all for the good, and so were gear'd down to this place anyway, and the kids had fun here last summer.

Still gotta go get the food, chase the animals and do our thing.........

Weve made a place across the river and plan a good expansion, as soon as we get more poles. The wives Pard has a old tired 30 hrs, and the wife a motorless boat, so its good enough to check net and paddle when nessarry back and forth across the river.

All the daughters want to follow and work, I just want to drive around chopping poles, getting firewood and building her a nice place to dry fish for us, trade and dogfood.

The oldest daughter , Tinmiaq, has returned home from training and has a week before shes gone to work in Kotzebue for the summer, unless the Maniilaq association finds her a job in Noorvik.

Shes 16 and all is well .

Tin is skinning a Loon found in the net they set last night. Sometimes we get a Muskrat , or a diving bird . Not often, but since we dont hunt diving ducks, they are rare to our hands, and have extreamly tough skins, tough enough to make socks and bags out of, especially if they have no bullet holes in 'em. My wife has made me shell bags for bullets and bags for other stuff.

Its a large mesh'd net, for Salmon, but good for Sheefish. Were expecting Sheefish to migrate through and they got 3 today as well as a huge trout. Too bad we didnt have a camera untill Tin came home, but at least I can post current stuff.

The net they are setting is for the Whitefish that are passing through. A much smaller mesh to target them with, as they swim along the surface.