The one week of fisheries we had was very interesting. After a seine pull, setting some traps, and some netting, we caught a variety of fish.
The species we caught were a Spatulate Sculpin, or Icelus spatula, Starry Flounder, or Platichthys stellatus, Chum Salmon, or Onchorynchus keta, and Dolly varden, or Salvelinus malma.
The average size for the Spatulate Sculpin was 100 milimeters, the starry Flounder was 169 mm, the Chum Salmon was 41 mm. and the Dolly varden was 104 mm.
Besides just catching fish, we also logged some data of the habitat around them. We collected the average depth of the river, which was 24.5 cm, the average velocity, which was 0.57 m/s, and the total discharge, which was 0.896865 us per second.
The whole fish class was very interesting. I enjoyed it a lot. It gave me some more knowledge of fish and now has put me on a life-long quest to learn more about fish.
-Mitchell Forbes

On June 19th we took a cross section of the stream that fed into the lake.  It was clear water and was surrounded by tundra.  Much of the rocks in the river were an average of 6 on the Wentworth’s scale of substrate (smaller than my fist).  The average depth of this section of the river was 21 cm.  The average velocity of the river’s current was 0.53 m/s.  The total discharge of the river was around 0.897 meters cubed per second.

We caught a total of five different species of fish. Those are: Spatulate sculpin/Icelus spatula(1), Starry Flounder/Platichthys stellatus(5), Chum Salmon/Onchorynchus keta(5), Pink Salmon/Onchorynchus Gorbuscha(2), Dolly Varden/Salvelinus malma(16). The average length for the fishes were 100cm, 169cm, 141cm, 36cm, and 104cm. The averages for the depth, velocity, and the total discharge were:24.5cm, .57m/s, and 1.79373 uS.

So far, I’m having fun because I’m surrounded with fun people and the class is just another fun part during the day. I like being in this Camp because, its fun and theres food and stuff. So like… yeah and stuff…somehow…i don’t want to go home but i want to go home because i think its way better to stay home but then i dunno….life is hard:D so like have fun and stuff and work hard…lol:D:D:D: HAHAHA OH!! today… we went kayaking..it was fun and everything about the weather was good…because the sun finally shined upon our depressed souls…SIKE! haha but the sun actually did shine…funny… ok..im having fun so far and you know…its great…your welcome..bye:D
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Colin Atti this is awesome

In the Ellikarmiut Kuigat River, we went fishing and caught five different species of fish. The species were, (Icelus spatula)-Spatulate Sculpin, (Platichthys stellatus)-Starry Flounder, (Onchorynchus keta)-Chum Salmon, (Onchorynchus gorbuscha)-Pink Salmon, and (Salvelinus malma)-Dolly Varden. The average length for each species were; 100mm for the Sculpin, 169mm for the Starry Flounder, 41mm for the Chum, 36 for Pink, and 104 for the Dolly Varden. Also, the river habitat we observed were depth, the velocity for the river flow and the discharge. Average depth found was, 24.5cm, average velocity found was, 0.57m/s, and the total disharge in the river was, 1.79373.

Posted By:
Napoleon Atti
(Colin)

On June 16, we went fish seining on the river by the camp and we caught some fishES. We identified 5 different types of fishes, which included 5 chum salmons (Onchorynchus keta), a dolly varden (Salvelinus malma), a spatulate sculpin (Icelus spatula), 5 starry flounders (Platichthys stellatus), and 2 pink salmons (Onchorynchus gorbuscha). The average sizes of all these different species of fishes were 169 mm (starry flounder), 41 mm (chum salmon), 100 mm (spatulate sculpin), 104 mm (Dolly varden), and 36 mm (pink salmon). For the river habitat characteristics, the average depth of the river was 24.5 cm, the average velocity was 0.57 m/s, and lastly, the total discharge of the water was 1.79373. I enjoyed collecting data with all the other students and I enjoyed catching fish since it was my first time to catch any fishes.

~Pedro Andrew (Tiffany)

Hmm…My trip here to Nunivak Island (Nash Harbor) was quite interesting. It’s been fun here discovering and learning new things while doing the hands-on activities. Although things have been pretty different, learning in a camp when you can hear the shower of the rain as if it were hailing, we have come over that problem and continued to learn. I would encourage all of you students who have been asked to apply and have been accepted. This trip has been a blast and am sure that it will continue to surprise me.

Students are onsite at Ellikarmiut. Arrival was just stupendous, flat calm seas and everyone and gear made the trip from Mekoryuk without any problem.

We have been meticulous about setting camp up this year and it has paid off…heated tents, great classroom and the best instructors, staff and students…we’re off to a great start.

More to come as the students begin documenting on this blog.

Martin Leonard III

Hey, coming back from Bethel, was ok. But, missing my friends, was SUPER SAD!!!! I did’nt want to leave, that was the saddest part. Being home, I like it, coming back to my worried mom, and my two brothers. They were happy to see me. And other people too. They asked me where I’ve been, so I told them about the whole camp thing. And my other friends asked me how it was, had to tell them again and again.

It was real nice to go Nunivak Island with other students,(kids). Yeah, it was a great experience with the others too. Having a chance to talk to some of my friends from Bethel, and wish I can talk to some others, just to see how they are. I don’t know exactly “how” they are, but anyways, Hooper Bay is cold now a days, but fun. School is going great too, some of my classes are good, which I really like to work in. And some classes I hate to go to. But, I like to do the work. I will hopefully see you guys soon!!!

Felicia H.C. Olson (HPB)

For more KUC movies click Here

We started an Archaeological dig this year at the Field Camp. I enjoyed digging quite a lot and would say it was the best experience I had while attending the camp. The laid back management style that Rick Davis presented was very beneficial to my cohorts and I, considering the fact that we would sit every morning and listen to a lecture, we looked forward to digging in the afternoon. The frequent occasion when someone would find something sifting, would be answered by everyone gathering around the sifter or the person and admiring their new found treasure and “Oooing and Ahhing” about it. And our counselor Ben, and his imagination, imagining everything was ancient and had some important purpose. I really had fun digging at this camp.
This is my last blog posting, so thanks to Ben, Martin, Melia, Isaiah, Abe, Elena, and all the rest of you out there that supported this camp, I had an excellent time.
-Dimitri

We had just sat down after hiking seven miles over hill and dale, carrying our packs filled with our tents, sleeping bags and pads, spare clothes, water, and a couple of meals. We were exhausted. We were all sprawled out on the beach next to a stream that flowed into the ocean. Just then, Kyle, Daniel, and I wondered if we could construct a bridge to cross the stream. We looked for a large log that would do the job, but couldn’t find one long enough to span the fifteen foot wide stream. We noticed that there were several enormous logs on the other side. We just needed to find a way to get there. It was low tide, so down on the beach the stream became much wider, but only about a foot deep. We began collecting and hurling large rocks into the water to use as stepping stones. All of us, thinking we had good balance, got soaked from the knees down, with the exception of Kyle, who fell almost completely in. The combination of small logs and large rocks eventually got us across the river. Once across, we began scouting for a log both long enough to span the stream, and strong enough to withstand the weight of a few people. The only problem was that it was too heavy to carry. We quickly found a solution to that problem though. We all would lift one side and rotate the log 180 degrees, until finally, it was lying adjacent to the stream. We then threw the upstream end into the water and let the current swing it around to the other side, where we had helper that lifted it onto the opposite shore. After Kyle took the maiden voyage across we noticed that the tide would soon overtake the bridge and it would drift away. Daniel, Kyle and I concluded that if we surrounded the ends with rocks it would keep the bridge from floating away on high tide. Once the rocks were in place the bridge was complete. That is how the bridge to nowhere was built.    —-Doug

Since our arrival at Nash Harbor we had been waiting for the day to go kayaking. The first couple weeks we weren’t able to due to some difficulties, but the day finally came when we got permission. You wouldn’t think it was the best weather for kayaking, cloudy and cold, but you get surprisingly hot in the dry suits that we wore. For those who don’t know about dry suits, they keep you completely dry with seals around the wrists and neck. We set out on the lake right next to camp and headed for the other end. These 2 seater kayaks get pretty tiring to man, because they are so much longer and heavier than singles. It didn’t help that every time we tried to accelerate we would turn into the wind. We had to change directions after every 50 yards or so. Daniel and I lost a lot of much needed energy because we were zig zagging our way up the lake. Upon arrival at our destination, we happily exited the kayak. It was a lot more tiring than I thought it would be. We sat next to the stream that flows into the lake resting. Then our writing professor ran by us and jumped into the chest-deep stream! We all looked at each other and then immediately followed our professor’s example. We continued jumping in trying different tricks until we couldn’t feel our hands and faces. These are the only parts exposed by the dry suits. They didn’t stay cold for long,however; we quickly warmed up on our trip back to camp. We got back to camp and put all our stuff away. We definitely agreed that this was the best day of the camp. -Kyle

It was just before dinner when our camp counselor Melia pointed out a herd of reindeer across the stream. Although reindeer have poor vision, they have a keen sense of smelling and hearing.The reindeer were eating not too far from where the old reindeer corral was, and decided we wanted to see how close we could get. We quickly changed into waterproof shoes, crossed the stream, walked along the little hills, went behind the fence, and started crawling towards the herd. We were less than a quarter mile away and they were already looking our way because of the dried grass that was breaking while we crawled.

As we slowly approached the reindeer , they started running away, so Mary and I stopped for a while. Mary thought situationally and her plan was for us to crawl towards the end of the bluffs, walk on the beach, and then sneak up on them. I took pictures and recorded movies; I then looked over and noticed the herd was at the end of the bluff. There were approximately 60-70 reindeer, there also seemed to be more males than females. They must have been curious and they were not even scared because they did not run when they saw us, they were walking towards us instead of running. The reindeer were only approximately 20 feet away from us. I started freaking out because I thought they were going to attack us. I told Mary “Look, they’re right there!” We observed them, at the end of the bluff smelling towards the ocean, like they were smelling us.

I was about to run off, but Mary pulled me down to stay hiding in a ditch on the side of the bluff. Many things were running through my head; I thought we were going to get attacked by the bulls because their antlers are so huge. I wasn’t going to just stay there and hide like Mary, because I thought we were dead meat. I was holding the camera, and when they started coming towards us I ran, then Mary ran after me. We ran about a quarter mile, stopped, and looked back. They were not even running after us, they were only watching. We both were shaken up. My hands were shaking, my heart was pounding, and I was out of breath. That was when I noticed I had dropped the camera, so we had to go all the way back and look for it. When we started back, and the reindeer ran away. We tried to get as many close photos as possible without dropping the camera. We did not want to be around the herd anymore, so we went back to camp and ate dinner.

After dinner we asked our camp cook Elena if reindeer attack, and she said they did not. Mary and I looked at each other as if we were crazy. Later that night, we asked one of the boat drivers Jonathan if they attacked, and he said they do if they are being hunted with a bow and arrow. The following day is when we left Nash Harbor and got to Mekoryuk then headed out to the airport. While we were waiting for our plane, Mary and I also asked NIMA Corp. member Dale if reindeer attacked, he also said no. Eva and Nicola said when they were hiking reindeer ran up to them, looked at them and ran away; which is what Mary and I could have done, but we were too scared.

Florence

The most fun I had during the Summer Science Camp was going out camping for one night. Our staff members and group went hiking less than a week ago to a place called Bihmayook. It took us about two and a half hours to reach our destination, a seven mile trip. I think it took me and my friend Felicia a little longer because we were the last ones to arrive. The trip gave us all a break from our class work and our essay. When we arrived, we pitched a tent while the staff members started the camp fire. Although we didn’t have a cook but we had these 2 servings of food in a big bag. The staff members boiled the water in a pot with these little cooking stove’s poured it into our bag, waited 15 minutes and ate from the bag. I thought it tasted good because it almost tasted like someone cooked it. We even had hot chocolate to keep us warm. The weather there was cloudy, then rainy practically the whole night. When we were all around the camp fire we were talking, laughing, and just having a good time. The boys made a log bridge across the stream and crossed it without getting wet while some people were video recording. They saw a fish in the stream and tried to kill it with a spear. It was pretty cool. Unluckily they didn’t get it, though Daniel said that he hit it. The staff members said that we could stay out an hour longer than usual until midnight. They watched us and made sure we were all in our tent. My tent partner was Yvonne; she was making me laugh and we didn’t go bed until 2 a.m while everyone was sleeping. When we woke up we had breakfast around the camp fire . After breakfast we hiked back to camp, although some people didn’t walk back including me. We went back by boat and it only took us only 15 minutes to go back instead of two and a half hours. I think the boat ride was a lot of fun because we got wet using a small boat on big waves in the ocean. My face was the only part that got wet because I had on rain gear. When we got back to our camp I helped the cook because it was her 55th birthday. This was the best trip since I have been here.

-mary moe

Nan is our elder from Miqsarmiut, an old abandoned village where she was born and raised. After her mothers death her father took her to Ellikarmiut, which is now called Nash Harbor. When Nanfirst came to Nash Harbor, her son in-law told her that I can understand Cup’ig. She then spoke to me in Cup’ig asking me where I was from. After I introduced myself, some people asked me to ask her some questions. One of the questions I had asked for someone was, “Qangvaq yuurtellrusit?,” which means, “When were you born?” She was born on the 13th of August, 1913. She will be 94 this coming fall.

Since I was the only one who was able to understand Nan, I became the translator. She started telling stories of her father and parts of her childhood. We asked her how the houses looked when she was a little girl. She described how they looked the same way our Nunivak Island books described the sod houses back in the early 1900’s. Then another day, Nan took us up the hill to show us some plants that the people of Elliikarmiut gathered. She pointed out where they’d pick their greens, and how they would eat them.

One day some of the campers and I were hanging out in the cook tent where we were telling funny stories. Some one then asked me to ask Nan if she had any funny stories to tell. She began telling the story of a polar bear that came into her village when she was a little girl. The story of the polar bear goes like this…

One day the chief of the village went hunting at kavirlirpak (place of red rocks) where he set seal nets during the fall time. After catching a couple of seals, he brought his catch home to his wife to butcher. Before butchering the seals, she went to get water from the water hole which never freezes, to feed them. It was their custom to pay respect to the animals that provide them food and clothing. After doing so, she cut up the seals, made seal oil, and stored them in the underground cache.

The chief and his wife had a dog that always got into things. One night when everyone was asleep, the chief’s wife heard something outside. She crawled out of her igloo to check on what was causing the noise. When she walked to the storage cache, she saw cold breath coming from the cache. She was upset and started yelling at the dog saying, “The stupid mutt has gotten into our food!” As she walked to the cache to scold the dog, a polar bear jumped up from the cache and started roaring in her face, causing her to fall back. As fast as she could she got up and ran to the qasgiq (men’s house) telling them that there was a polar bear in the food cache eating all their food.

All the men went charging out of the qasgiq with their spears and sticks to kill the polar bear. They beat the bear till it was dead. When attempting to carry the bear out of the cache, it was impossible since its belly was filled with fresh seal.

After that, Nan’s mother, and other parents of the village would have their children walk out of their igloo to look towards the food cache and sing a song about the polar bear, how it died, and that it ate all the food. And once the song was sung by the children, including Nan, they than would crawl back into their home. Nan gave us all a laugh with her story.

By translating for Nan, I learned some Cup’ig words such as a seal, which in my Yup’ik lanuage we call issuuriq. Nan calls it a taquukaq. There were a couple of other words I learned, although I’m not quite sure how to pronounce them. Translating for Nan has been a tremendously great experience.  –Yvonne

It is difficult to date back how long Nunivak Island has been inhabited, but it is certain that the Nuniwarmiut were among the last groups to be exposed to western society. The Nuniwarmiut maintained to live their traditional way of life even after contact was made in the early 1920’s. Though they left Nash Harbor in 1959, their strong cultural lifestyle is still evident in Nash Harbor.

It is a rare opportunity to camp on such a rich archeaological site for a few weeks. Every day we get to experience the the remains left behind from generations of previous inhabitants. Stone marked graves dot the hillside and artifacts stick out of eroding banks. Every day we walk amongst the ghosts of an ancient culture that managed to thrive unchanged as the world modernized.

-Daniel

During the couple of weeks we’ve been here on Nunivak Island, a common question arose from the campers, “When is Martin coming?” Martin Leonard, the program coordinator and world-class kayaker, was suppose to fly out the day after we left but was detained. The daily response from the counselors to the bombardment of questions regarding Martin’s arrival was, “He’s coming tomorrow.” Tomorrow would come and go with no sign of Martin. Martin was the only person with whom we could go sea kayaking and the constant delays created worry amongst the campers. A belief grew that Martin would not show, but the day before our last day on the island, he arrived.

The next afternoon, Martin took us out for our first and last chance at sea kayaking. We got dressed in our dry suits and partnered up. After inspecting the double seater kayaks and adjusting our foot pegs, we pulled our kayaks into the stream and walked them into the harbor. The kayaks were positioned out of the way of the larger waves as we were helped into the kayaks and inspected for a second time. When everyone was ready we paddled out in to the harbor, sticking close to the cliffs to stay out of the wind. It is an amazing sight to view the hundred foot giants from below. Birds dotted the cliff side, taking flight as we neared. We even spotted a seal lounging in the open waves.

We passed Cape Mohican, the farthest point dividing the harbor from the ocean, and an immediate difference was noticeable. The transition from calm, still water to the ever swelling ocean was startling. Our nerves subsided as we went over the first couple swells. The rather intimidating three to five foot swells were quite gentle as they pulled us up and over their crest down the other side into another swell. After spending roughly forty minutes out on the ocean, the real fun began. Turning back towards camp we were able to surf the swells. A large swell would come up from behind and if we paddled hard and long enough we could surf it and cover twice the distance in half the time. Sea kayaking was by far the most incredible activity this camp had to provide. Those attending next year are in for a spectacular treat, when Martin shows up.

-Daniel Updegrove

Out here in Nash Harbor we have had a fox that has been visiting us.The fox has visited us so many times that Ben named him Charley. Charley is white and reddish. He has a kind of wiry coat, and is small and sneaky. The cook caught him trying to take our fish off of the rack, and she scared him off. I think that Charley is my favorite part of this camp. He comes around the camp at the most random times; last night he was playing in the grass outside of our tent. I wanted to go and watch him but I had to go to bed cause it was late. Ben found Charley’s den, its a little ways above our camp. So far Charley hasn’t been aggressive towards anyone of the people at the camp, he seems to be really nice. Charley even lets us take his picture, and I think that T.J. took a video of him. I really like Charley, I am going to miss him when we leave.

Ben just informed me that Charley, is really Charlene i guess while we were out there Melia saw that she had puppy’s. They didn’t tell us us because she didn’t want us to go and try to play with her puppy’s which I probably would have done. even thought Charlie turned out to be Charlene I still miss her and wish that I could have seen her puppy’s

♥

Jenny

I discovered this knife in an old mud house we are digging up.

In Yup’ik culture we are to leave someone else’s belongings alone, especially at an old site, otherwise we may get haunted by whoever the belongings belonged to. However, our anthropology class is digging out a sod house in an old uninhabited small village that was abandoned in the late 1950’s after the Bureau of Indian Affairs shut the local school down. The Cup’ig people of Ellikarmiut moved northeast to the village of Mikuyarmiut (Mekoryuk). What got left behind were structures such as sod houses; they are not standing anymore. We are digging to see what people used back in the nineteenth century and earlier; we also want to see how they survived. Over the years grass has grown into the squarish structures, and it is difficult digging past the roots and the grass. After several days of digging, we may have dug down to where the flooring is.

What got left behind in the sod house that we are digging in is a combination of modern and non-modern day artifacts: small beads, knives, ivory from walrus, a lantern, rubber boots, check-stamp pottery, bottles, several drums, burnt bones from ,seal, birds, and reindeer or caribou, also cans and stones, mussels, a whale bone scapula, nylon, electrical wiring, batteries, Tupperware, silverware, broken glass, a jar of seal oil, etc…

What amused me is on the first day of digging I discovered an artifact that is about 90-100 years old. This artifact is a hand made, the handle is made out of bone and a blade made of metal. The handle of the knife has carved grooves where the handle and blade were lashed together. It is not in great shape because the metal is rusted, but it still identifiable.

This knife could have been used for numerous minor errands, like a pocket knife that comes in handy today. A similar blade to this is now in the Berlin Museum.

What we can learn from this artifact about the Cup’ig people is that they still had their traditional ways of tool use and subsistence.

Florence Nukusuk