Point Lay Nalukatak: Motion dances and finale (part 10b of 10)

Willard Neakok motion dances.

Lloyd and Bertha Tazruk motion dancing, # 1.

Lloyd and Bertha Tazruk motion dancing, # 2.

Lloyd and Bertha Tazruk motion dancing, # 3.

Lloyd and Bertha Tazruk motion dancing, # 4.

At three years of age, little Elmo is already one of the most popular dancers on the Slope.

The young women perform.

Chester Upicksoun,

John Stalker, Willard Neakok and Elmo.

Drums are raised to signal the final dance. In just a few more beats, Point Lay's historic Nalukatak will be over.

Point Lay Nalukatak: Fun and lively dance brings the celebration to an end (part 10a of 10)

Not long before midnight, the blanket was brought into the high school gym for the dance. They had thought about doing it outside, but the wind was very cold and the dancers wanted the Elders to be comfortable and enjoy themselves.

Julius Rexford was the first to step onto the blanket and then the Atkaan crew followed. The dance had begun.

The Atkaan crew.

Then came Thomas and the Nukapigak crew.

The Nukapigak crew. The fun dancing would continue for awhile, and then there would be motion dancing - which will be the subject of my next post, which ought to be up within half-an-hour after this one.

The drummers.

During the dance, I was called up and given a high award - because it came from the heart of my good friends in Point Lay. Julius presented and as he did, Thomas grabbed my camera with the wide angle lens and photographed me.

I was not going to toot my own horn here, but Mary Sage of Barrow put a message on Facebook last night and told me I had better post this picture. So here it is. Mary received such an award herself, as did several others who had contributed to the success of Point Lay's first Nalukatak in 72 years.

Point Lay Nalukatak: Candy flies at the blanket toss, harpooner misses the blanket (part 9b of 10)

Christina Lane, daughter of Captain Julius and Marie, distributes candy to the crowd in rather exciting manner.

Christina on her way down.

Christina hits the blanket in perfect form.

It is so much fun to toss people high into the air.

Brenton, who harpooned the Atkaan whale, shows some style.

Things go wrong for Brenton. He's going down - and he has passed over the edge of the blanket. Now the pullers become spotters. It is their job to break his fall. If they fail... well, there is an ambulance standing by.

The spotters succeed. Brenton does not need an ambulance. He gets up undamaged. No one will leave the Point Lay Nalukatak in an ambulance.

Up she goes.

Martha waves to the crowd.

There is one more event - the traditional dance. It had been my plan to post it tonight as well, but I think this is enough for now. I will post the dance, probably in two sections, tomorrow.

Point Lay Nalukatak: blanket toss (part 9a of 10)

Jamie gets some air during the blanket toss, or, in Iñupiaq, "nalukatak."

Jamie takes a dive. She comes out of it okay.

Making plans for a fantastic jump.

Sometimes, plans go awry.

A new vantage point from which to study Point Lay.

Boy. It's a long way down.

Now  that he has participated in a successful whale hunt and graduated from high school, Lloyd is moving up over the world.

There were times when the children had the blanket all to themselves. They enjoyed it.

Point Lay Nalukatak: Cakes - dedicated to graduates and whalers; oil's watermelon gift... getting ready for blanket toss (part 7 of 10)

The first cake presented at the first was dedicated to Kali High School Class of '09, of whom there were ten. Eight, whalers all, came to feast. Several plan to attend college. Above is Daniel Pikok, John Stalker, Rhoda Rexford (daughter of Julius) Kuoiqsik Curtis, Dorothy Pikok, Christian Young, Melva Sampson and Lloyd Curtis.

The second cake presented was that for the Atkaan crew.

To make certain that there was enough for everybody, the decorated cakes were supplemented by the plain in appearance but delicious in taste. Harpooner Brenton Rexford, younger brother to Julius, prepares to serve.

I fear that, immediately after I took this picture, I grabbed a piece for myself.

And then there was watermelon. Shell Oil, Incorporated, who hopes to drill in the home of the bowhead, gave fruit and other gifts at various whale celebrations on the Slope.

The suckers are from candy thrown to the crowd during the blanket toss - which will be posted shortly after this.

But this was a whale feast. Patrick Tukrok uses a pick axe to separate chunks of quaq, frozen whale meat, from each other.

Having eaten her fill, Jamie takes a quiet moment for herself as she waits for the adult blanket toss to begin. After it begins, she will have a rather exciting moment, as you will soon see.

Four girls pass beneath the outer edge of the blanket as they play "Follow the Leader" behind Bill Tracey. Traditionally, the blanket is made from the skins of the umiak manned by the crew that caught the whale. In Point Lay, they hunt with motor boats, so the skins for this blanket came from the umiaq of the Little Kupaaq Crew captained by Harry Brower, Jr., of Barrow.

Very soon, this blanket will be put into action.

And that will be the subject of my next post, which go up almost immediately after this one.