CHUKOTKA - ARCTIC SURVIVAL
Reporter: Emma Griffiths
Artic tundra
On the top of the world at the very edge of Russia is a place few outsiders ever see
Usually smothered with snow Chukotkas few short weeks of summer are a time for nature to blossom and life to be celebrated.
Dancing on beach
Then best of character filled faces
For those who live here.. year round survival relies on a practice that outrages many in the west.
Day of whale preparations loading boats
Its just after dawn and Chukchi hunters are preparing to face the deep.Theyll travel far out to sea in search of their prey its difficult, dangerous work and out here theres no rescue service if things go wrong.
Gennady on beach
Gennady Inankeuyas is their leader.For three thousand years the Chukchis have left these shores to hunt whales and today they say its as essential as ever.
Many people here have been waiting for us for a long time because the weather has not been right and we werent going to sea. So the reserves of whale meat in the village are almost gone
Guards
Chukotka is an international frontier at its closest point only five kilometres from the United States. That means Russian border guards keep a close eye on the whalers.. cramping their need for free access to the sea.
Gennady
Because its a border territory, so its not in our power to do anything. We have been asking already for better access to the sea, but it hasnt happened yet.
Boats get pushed off
Greg, there are two grey populations acc to iwc. One is endangered, and this one is not.
Permission finally granted the hunters head out
Their prey is the grey whale not endangered in this part of the world.. more than twenty thousand of them pass this coast every summer.. where about one hundred and thirty of them are killed by the chukchis..They may be isolated.. but the hunters are well aware of how some countries feel about killing whales.
People living in warm countries have their fields and I cannot understand when they have their own crops why they do not allow us to go to our field. Our field is the sea
Gennady showing harpoon
While its steel-tipped Gennadys harpoon is still thrown by hand.. and for a reason.These men are meant to hunt as traditionally and humanely as possible.
Boats at sea various of boats taking off
These are the conditions for whaling by indigenous people imposed by the International Whaling Commission or IWC.
Valentin in boat
Along to monitor the hunt is Russias IWC representative Valentin Ilyashenko. He believes.. for these people.. the whale is as essential.. as the air they breathe.
Valentin
If they eat or use other food, the mortality rate grows and their life expectancy decreases.
Boats waiting out at sea
.. the whalers are confident of a kill.. but were not allowed to film it everyone is aware of the international impact of pictures of a whale being harpooned.
Beach
Building fire, cooking fish, kids waiting
With the hunters gone the villagers prepare a feast In a tradition stretching back millennia today is a day of thanks for the whales death provides these people with life.
Gennady
It follows our ritual of thanking the whale for its existence that he brings to our houses food, provision, light.
Lilya at fire or Talking
And if you think whale meat isnt needed here in todays modern world just listen to Lilya Lemako. ..a teacher, she is well aware of the sensitivities of killing whales but Lilya knows many of her neighbours would literally starve without it.
Lilya
For me personally, I work at school, I can manage without it I can use other food, but those people who cannot, their salaries are small and this is their main food.
Lorino poverty
One look at their village of Lorino shows what she means and this is summer.In winter four metres of snow covers the ground the average temperature minus thirty.People here live on less than ten dollars a month yet their isolation is so great that food shipped in from the south costs more than it does in Moscow.
Victoria and kids at home
Inside their crumbling apartment block - Victoria Rypkhirgina does what she can to feed her family heading the local cultural group earns the familys only cash.
Victoria
If they deliver (bring over) fruit and vegetables they are very expensive beyond our means.
More at home maybe cucumber sandwiches.. ? bread and tea?
Cucumber sandwiches sate hungry tummies for now but for Victoria and her children whale meat is the staple
Victoria
We have been brought up on this meat, our children have been brought up on this meat.
Thats why if they take it away or prohibit us from getting this meat we will simply die out.This is our food.
Victoria gets handed baby son
Victoria wants her baby son Anton to grow up to be a whale hunter.. its the only way for them to survive especially in the harsh winter when food has to be hunted.
Victoria
First in is very tight on eti supi. Second in is also tight on yesle if you make a soup with Russian meat you are hungry again in half an hour. if you eat our frozen indigenous food in winter it digests gradually in our stomach.
Lorino poverty
In Soviet times.. food supplies were shipped in from the mainland as they call the rest of Russia here. There was even a factory in Lorino.. where locals could earn some cash.
Fox farm
Boats on beach They worked at this fox farm harvesting furs for coats and hats.. Whales were hunted, then, too.. killed to feed the foxes.
Lorino.. people
When this was discovered a horrified International Whaling Commission banned all whale hunting in Chukotka. Then when communism collapsed in the early nineties .. the Chukchis Soviet safety net disappeared.. but they werent allowed to hunt whale, either.
Edvard Zdor
Food deliveries stopped and people were virtually left at the mercy of fate
Eduard Zdor is a Chukchi activist who fought for the return of indigenous whaling to stop people starving.
Zdor
I am from this area and I can honestly tell you people were virtually starving and it was at this time when sea hunting helped people to survive.
Closed fox farm empty cagesGreg, couldnt call him chukchi leader - would rather call him whale captain.The fox farm is now closed and for only the second year the chukchis whale captain GENNADY has convinced the INTERNATIONAL WHALING COMMISSION that indigenous whale hunting is needed .simply for people to live.
Gennady
Now, at this moment, the quotas are allocated mainly for indigenous people.No one is using whale products any longer for industrial purposes.
Walrus skin boat being repaired by men
boy helps bail water
The Chukchis face another hurdle.Many in the West opposed to whaling give their support to these people only if the hunt is traditional. (upsot music or natsot)For the Chukchis that would mean using these walrus-skin boats authentic as they may be.. theyre not what whale hunter Vladimir Chaivyrgin would take to the arctic seas..
Vladimir Chaivyrgin Hunter
The weak place is the skin. Sometimes you put your foot there and it tears apart. The skin gets damaged by the sun.Thats it.
Valentin
There is a great desire of people to preserve the aboriginal hunting in the forms of using equipment and means as they were used for millennia by the people which is impossible for various reasons. Firstly, the grey whale is dangerous and very aggressive when hunted... secondly...it is necessary to use speed boats and special weapons to shorten the time of the chase and to quicken the whales death.
Vlad and the boys fixing boat
Vladimir agrees and points instead to some help from an unlikely source.
Synch Vladimir at walrus-skin boat we stopped using them its too dangerous.
Oleg q: - How do you hunt whale then?
In the big boats that are standing over there. These are the boats with the engine - from the governor.
Whale cut up
Sharpening tool then slashing in to skin of whale
the grisly reality of the Chukchis self-reliance is laid out for all to see. This adolescent grey whale was killed the day before but Galina says none of it will go to waste.
Synch Galina Metul [woman cutting whale]
We use everything skin, meat, and their guts as well, we preserve it for winter sometimes boil the skin we put it in layers for winter with herbs it can last the whole winter
Oleg q: many say this is a beautiful animal, but the hunters kill them. What do you think about that?
smiles embarrassed: of course its beautiful and its a great pity, but the need to eat prevails.- laughs
Whale day boats return towing whale A few beaches away.. the hunters of Lorino finally return after ten hours at sea their giant quarry in tow.
Whale dragged up
The twelve metre whale is a heavy load.. And when the men get their turn its really a token effort.
Tractor.
..Instead a tractor is called in and even then the whale is too heavy.It would take 200 men to pull this whale ashore yet some anti-whaling countries insist no modern equipment should be used.To Valentin and the hunters these conditions are a ridiculous fiction imposed to make the people of western nations feel better.
Its important for the Australians to understand as well as other countries that there are people who cannot eat other than what has been given to them by nature they cannot switch to other food they cannot change their way of life, its important to remember we are all different and we should preserve the diversity of people.
Buckets of whale
This catch is enough to feed Lorino for a month villagers rush in to claim the equal shares to take home
Girls cut and chew in to whale meat
And there are those who cant wait
Girl on beach grab Lera Nowgear
there is other food stuff but every summer and autumn we prepare whale meat for winter and whats left over well take home and cook
Dancing, singing on beach
For the Chukchis the whale hunt is also a chance to rediscover their identity..
Song, dance on beach
For centuries they welcomed the whale with songs of thanks.
Faces of hunters as they rest on the bench
After years of being told what to do by the Soviets, the Chukchis are now eager to make their own decisions.
How should a free man feel? The free man who knows where he can go and what decisions he can make.. or the man whose hands are tied behind his back and he is told where to go and how much he can catch.
Thats the difference between a free and not free man between free people and not free people.
Winter will soon plunge Chukotka into darkness.. fresh food supplies disappearing with the sun.
The Chukchis hope their new found freedoms will help to ensure their survival.
Reporter: Emma Griffiths
Artic tundra
On the top of the world at the very edge of Russia is a place few outsiders ever see
Usually smothered with snow Chukotkas few short weeks of summer are a time for nature to blossom and life to be celebrated.
Dancing on beach
Then best of character filled faces
For those who live here.. year round survival relies on a practice that outrages many in the west.
Day of whale preparations loading boats
Its just after dawn and Chukchi hunters are preparing to face the deep.Theyll travel far out to sea in search of their prey its difficult, dangerous work and out here theres no rescue service if things go wrong.
Gennady on beach
Gennady Inankeuyas is their leader.For three thousand years the Chukchis have left these shores to hunt whales and today they say its as essential as ever.
Many people here have been waiting for us for a long time because the weather has not been right and we werent going to sea. So the reserves of whale meat in the village are almost gone
Guards
Chukotka is an international frontier at its closest point only five kilometres from the United States. That means Russian border guards keep a close eye on the whalers.. cramping their need for free access to the sea.
Gennady
Because its a border territory, so its not in our power to do anything. We have been asking already for better access to the sea, but it hasnt happened yet.
Boats get pushed off
Greg, there are two grey populations acc to iwc. One is endangered, and this one is not.
Permission finally granted the hunters head out
Their prey is the grey whale not endangered in this part of the world.. more than twenty thousand of them pass this coast every summer.. where about one hundred and thirty of them are killed by the chukchis..They may be isolated.. but the hunters are well aware of how some countries feel about killing whales.
People living in warm countries have their fields and I cannot understand when they have their own crops why they do not allow us to go to our field. Our field is the sea
Gennady showing harpoon
While its steel-tipped Gennadys harpoon is still thrown by hand.. and for a reason.These men are meant to hunt as traditionally and humanely as possible.
Boats at sea various of boats taking off
These are the conditions for whaling by indigenous people imposed by the International Whaling Commission or IWC.
Valentin in boat
Along to monitor the hunt is Russias IWC representative Valentin Ilyashenko. He believes.. for these people.. the whale is as essential.. as the air they breathe.
Valentin
If they eat or use other food, the mortality rate grows and their life expectancy decreases.
Boats waiting out at sea
.. the whalers are confident of a kill.. but were not allowed to film it everyone is aware of the international impact of pictures of a whale being harpooned.
Beach
Building fire, cooking fish, kids waiting
With the hunters gone the villagers prepare a feast In a tradition stretching back millennia today is a day of thanks for the whales death provides these people with life.
Gennady
It follows our ritual of thanking the whale for its existence that he brings to our houses food, provision, light.
Lilya at fire or Talking
And if you think whale meat isnt needed here in todays modern world just listen to Lilya Lemako. ..a teacher, she is well aware of the sensitivities of killing whales but Lilya knows many of her neighbours would literally starve without it.
Lilya
For me personally, I work at school, I can manage without it I can use other food, but those people who cannot, their salaries are small and this is their main food.
Lorino poverty
One look at their village of Lorino shows what she means and this is summer.In winter four metres of snow covers the ground the average temperature minus thirty.People here live on less than ten dollars a month yet their isolation is so great that food shipped in from the south costs more than it does in Moscow.
Victoria and kids at home
Inside their crumbling apartment block - Victoria Rypkhirgina does what she can to feed her family heading the local cultural group earns the familys only cash.
Victoria
If they deliver (bring over) fruit and vegetables they are very expensive beyond our means.
More at home maybe cucumber sandwiches.. ? bread and tea?
Cucumber sandwiches sate hungry tummies for now but for Victoria and her children whale meat is the staple
Victoria
We have been brought up on this meat, our children have been brought up on this meat.
Thats why if they take it away or prohibit us from getting this meat we will simply die out.This is our food.
Victoria gets handed baby son
Victoria wants her baby son Anton to grow up to be a whale hunter.. its the only way for them to survive especially in the harsh winter when food has to be hunted.
Victoria
First in is very tight on eti supi. Second in is also tight on yesle if you make a soup with Russian meat you are hungry again in half an hour. if you eat our frozen indigenous food in winter it digests gradually in our stomach.
Lorino poverty
In Soviet times.. food supplies were shipped in from the mainland as they call the rest of Russia here. There was even a factory in Lorino.. where locals could earn some cash.
Fox farm
Boats on beach They worked at this fox farm harvesting furs for coats and hats.. Whales were hunted, then, too.. killed to feed the foxes.
Lorino.. people
When this was discovered a horrified International Whaling Commission banned all whale hunting in Chukotka. Then when communism collapsed in the early nineties .. the Chukchis Soviet safety net disappeared.. but they werent allowed to hunt whale, either.
Edvard Zdor
Food deliveries stopped and people were virtually left at the mercy of fate
Eduard Zdor is a Chukchi activist who fought for the return of indigenous whaling to stop people starving.
Zdor
I am from this area and I can honestly tell you people were virtually starving and it was at this time when sea hunting helped people to survive.
Closed fox farm empty cagesGreg, couldnt call him chukchi leader - would rather call him whale captain.The fox farm is now closed and for only the second year the chukchis whale captain GENNADY has convinced the INTERNATIONAL WHALING COMMISSION that indigenous whale hunting is needed .simply for people to live.
Gennady
Now, at this moment, the quotas are allocated mainly for indigenous people.No one is using whale products any longer for industrial purposes.
Walrus skin boat being repaired by men
boy helps bail water
The Chukchis face another hurdle.Many in the West opposed to whaling give their support to these people only if the hunt is traditional. (upsot music or natsot)For the Chukchis that would mean using these walrus-skin boats authentic as they may be.. theyre not what whale hunter Vladimir Chaivyrgin would take to the arctic seas..
Vladimir Chaivyrgin Hunter
The weak place is the skin. Sometimes you put your foot there and it tears apart. The skin gets damaged by the sun.Thats it.
Valentin
There is a great desire of people to preserve the aboriginal hunting in the forms of using equipment and means as they were used for millennia by the people which is impossible for various reasons. Firstly, the grey whale is dangerous and very aggressive when hunted... secondly...it is necessary to use speed boats and special weapons to shorten the time of the chase and to quicken the whales death.
Vlad and the boys fixing boat
Vladimir agrees and points instead to some help from an unlikely source.
Synch Vladimir at walrus-skin boat we stopped using them its too dangerous.
Oleg q: - How do you hunt whale then?
In the big boats that are standing over there. These are the boats with the engine - from the governor.
Whale cut up
Sharpening tool then slashing in to skin of whale
the grisly reality of the Chukchis self-reliance is laid out for all to see. This adolescent grey whale was killed the day before but Galina says none of it will go to waste.
Synch Galina Metul [woman cutting whale]
We use everything skin, meat, and their guts as well, we preserve it for winter sometimes boil the skin we put it in layers for winter with herbs it can last the whole winter
Oleg q: many say this is a beautiful animal, but the hunters kill them. What do you think about that?
smiles embarrassed: of course its beautiful and its a great pity, but the need to eat prevails.- laughs
Whale day boats return towing whale A few beaches away.. the hunters of Lorino finally return after ten hours at sea their giant quarry in tow.
Whale dragged up
The twelve metre whale is a heavy load.. And when the men get their turn its really a token effort.
Tractor.
..Instead a tractor is called in and even then the whale is too heavy.It would take 200 men to pull this whale ashore yet some anti-whaling countries insist no modern equipment should be used.To Valentin and the hunters these conditions are a ridiculous fiction imposed to make the people of western nations feel better.
Its important for the Australians to understand as well as other countries that there are people who cannot eat other than what has been given to them by nature they cannot switch to other food they cannot change their way of life, its important to remember we are all different and we should preserve the diversity of people.
Buckets of whale
This catch is enough to feed Lorino for a month villagers rush in to claim the equal shares to take home
Girls cut and chew in to whale meat
And there are those who cant wait
Girl on beach grab Lera Nowgear
there is other food stuff but every summer and autumn we prepare whale meat for winter and whats left over well take home and cook
Dancing, singing on beach
For the Chukchis the whale hunt is also a chance to rediscover their identity..
Song, dance on beach
For centuries they welcomed the whale with songs of thanks.
Faces of hunters as they rest on the bench
After years of being told what to do by the Soviets, the Chukchis are now eager to make their own decisions.
How should a free man feel? The free man who knows where he can go and what decisions he can make.. or the man whose hands are tied behind his back and he is told where to go and how much he can catch.
Thats the difference between a free and not free man between free people and not free people.
Winter will soon plunge Chukotka into darkness.. fresh food supplies disappearing with the sun.
The Chukchis hope their new found freedoms will help to ensure their survival.