Hunting Muklaq in the Bush

We finally caught him

Today I had an incredible experience: I was given the opportunity to go uklaq hunting. For those of you who don't know what muklaq (muckluck) is, it is the Yup'ik word for seal. My roommate and I were invited to go with some of the native school employees and their children. We had an amazing time.

Exhausted after all that seal hunting!

We started off down the slough to begin this incredible adventure. I wore a lot of clothes because speeding down the river in high forty degree weather can be a bit chilly. I had on four pairs of socks, two pairs of leggings, a pair of sweat pants, a short sleeve shirt, two long sleeve shirts, a sweater and a jacket and I still got cold. But it is okay, because next time I go, I will be more prepared. I know what to expect better now.

Ready with his spear

As we went down the river the wife of the couple who took us pointed out other villagers's houses, the different creeks, and certain islands where many seals can be found. It was a lot of fun. I guess I expected us to head out to the open of the Bering Sea, but I was incorrect. The seals hang around a lot of the small islands closer to the village of Nunam, which is where we spent most of our time out on the water.

one of the camps set up for winter

going down a small creek to see what we could find

When I thought of seal hunting, I wasn't really sure what to expect. Would we sit and wait like you do with fishing? Or would you go and look for it in certain areas where they are on land in a pack? I didn't know. It turned out to kind of be a combination of both, though. When we saw our first one, it was just a few hundred yards off the coast. But the interesting part was that when you hunt seal, you hunt them in the water, where they are hunting. They will come up for air, and that is when you attack. You have to pay attention a lot, because if you don't then you will lose the creature.

He's gonna get him this time!!!

We would spot one, head to where it was as it went under water, then wait until we saw it again, and chase it, and repeat that as many times as it took until we were close enough to spear it. The person with the spear would be in the front of the boat. The spear has a rope connected to it so that when you hit the seal, the spear drags out behind it for you to follow. The spear is designed to float, so if you miss, you can drive up next to it and grab the spear to reuse it. Once you have hit it, you can begin using the spears that are designed to make it float if it hits the seal.

wide open spaces are where you can find the most seal

When you catch the seal, if it is still alive, they would shoot it with a gun, which happened both times. We were involved in two seal chases. The cool thing about seal hunting is it is a team effort. You can try to catch a seal by yourself, but it is much easier when there is a large group of people. The first hunt had four boats, the second we had eight.

Yum, Salmon!

We didn't stay out very long today, just about three and a half hours, but it was a very fun time. When we got back some of the other teachers were cutting fish. That was a fun thing to be part of! I'm not a huge fish person, but we had a great time taking silly pictures and hanging out. I love the lifestyle up here, it is very relaxed and natural, the way I feel like things should be.

Beautiful view to a great time

I really enjoyed my first muklaq hunting experience. I learned a lot about the Yup'ik culture and way of life. These people have an amazing history, they have been living this way for so long that it would be unwise not to marvel at the beauty in their everyday tasks. I look forward to many more hunting trips during my time out here in the bush.