:34:14
The musk ox is outfitted
with broad hooves
:34:16
to walk on snow
:34:18
and a winter undercoat
of cashmere-like wool
:34:21
softer than a lamb's
and impervious to the cold.
:34:29
Alaska's last horned survivor
:34:31
of the Pleistocene Age
:34:33
it embodies the resiliency
and adaptability of life
:34:37
in it's battle
with the elements.
:35:00
Humans, too, have adapted
to the land of winter.
:35:05
Called "Eskimos" by outsiders
:35:07
descended from peoples who
crossed the ice age land bridge
:35:11
the lnupiat learned to use every
resource in their frozen desert.
:35:17
For food,
they turned to the sea.
:35:22
Still today, they watch
for arriving bowhead whales.
:35:28
If the lnupiat
have been respectful
:35:30
they believe a whale will
give itself to them as a gift.
:35:39
The hunt,
sanctioned by international law
:35:42
is a sacred ritual
to the lnupiats.
:35:55
Hauling in it's body
:35:57
they thank the whale
:35:58
for the gift
of life-sustaining nourishment