Chlaus LOtscher 
Hauled-out on an ice floe off Little 
Diomede Island, left, a herd of 
walrus takes its rest. John Iyapana, 
captain of the umiak, leads a crew 
of fellow Diomeders on one of their 
annual spring walrus hunts, below. 
wl) crossroads of the Bering and Chukchi 
mal seas off the coast of western Alaska. 
John gripped my arm and directed 
eje me to one side of the umiak. “We’ll 
kin? I approach in this way,” he explained, 
illustrating with his hands. “Broad- 
whis- side, so everyone can shoot.” 
The umiak skirted a cake of ice 
and came suddenly on the walruses, 
head Twenty massive bulls lay together on 
sling a large ice floe — grunting, bellowing, 
[ the I thrusting at each other with their heavy 
ivory tusks. Only one or two of the 
irctu more wary animals glared at us as 
north- we drifted in closer and closer. We were 
pad scarcely fifteen yards away. 
Edgar used the stilled motor as a 
\cr;- rudder and the umiak turned slowly 
is late broadside to the walruses. John whis- 
pered a signal and firing erupted from 
jithe the boat. There was a moment of con- 
fused hesitation before the enormous 
bulls began lumbering toward the edge 
of the ice. They slipped gracefully but 
ponderously into the sea, churning the 
water into a frothy turbulence. 
Four bulls remained, motionless in 
death. The umiak’s bow touched the 
ice and the crew leaped nimbly onto 
the floe. Long knives, carried in scab- 
bards made from the skin of the 
oogruk, or bearded seal, were drawn 
and sharpened on whetstones. With 
a rapidity and skill born of years of 
experience the Eskimos laid the car- 
casses open and cut them into pieces 
that could be lifted easily, dragged 
to the skin boat, and heaved aboard. 
All the meat from the animals was 
salvaged, including the intestines, 
stomach, liver, and heart. Four sets 
of white ivory tusks were thrown in 
last, on top of the steaming meat. As 
we pulled away, little more than a red 
stain colored the ice. 
The walrus-hunting season — her- 
alded by the annual spring retreat of 
the ice to more northern waters — was 
only beginning for the Diomede peo- 
ple. The village was emerging from 
winter with a limited supply of fresh 
walrus meat. On these early hunting 
trips, great quantities of walrus and 
seal are brought back to the village 
by the crews. This meat is distributed 
among the people to fill their depleted 
caches. I wondered how much meat 
would be retrieved as the season pro- 
gressed and greater numbers of wal- 
rus were harvested. 
In 1977 and again in 1978, while 
working for the Alaska Department 
of Fish and Game, I visited many 
49 
