months the sun does not set for 80 days which is known as the land of the midnight sun. It simply goes around the horizon and seems to always be in your eyes. It appeared to be quite warm during the days which probably got to around 50-60 degrees F.
After about 5 weeks at the camp, I was able to travel West to the town of Barrow, which is the northernmost city in the United States. This town was not nice and it was primarily inhabited by Inupiat Eskimos, who have lived there for over 1,000 years. Barrow has a polar climate and gets down past minus 50 below zero F.
I did manage to walk around quite a bit with my camera before catching my commercial plane back to Fairbanks. I dined on whale blubber from a recently caught whale and I have to say that I will never eat that again. Whale hunting is allowed by the Inupiat Eskimos and their limit for the year is 22, but they can only hunt Bowhead whales( called icewhales) that are in very high numbers( estimated around 10,000). Hunters use modern techniques to hunt, but they use traditional techniques to lug the 28 foot plus size mammals to the shoreline in town using only rope and man power. The catch is shared by the entire community.
Eskimo Woman, Barrow, Alaska Photo by Barry Epstein
The town of Barrow was lined with old sheds where the Eskimos lived and many had snow mobiles and polar bear skins on their roofs. There were scruffy dogs rummaging through the garbage cans.
While I was in Barrow, a young couple from California were camping on the Arctic Ocean and they were killed one night by someone shooting
Eskimo Children, Barrow, Alaska Photo by Barry Epstein
them with a shotgun as they lay in their tent at close range. The following will give you an indication of the way that they lived in this town. The local police had closed the only liquor store in town and it took only 2-3 days for peer group pressure to force the culprit out to confess and then allow the towns people to go back to their drinking. What a strategy for the police that really worked. I get the feeling that they have done this before and I am horrified to think why.
BARRY STEVEN EPSTEIN- PhotoAutobiography DRAFT 33 of 156