An enormous, elongated polar bear skull emerged from an eroding archaeological site southwest of Utqiaġvik in Alaska.

 Experts claim that it is quite different from most modern polar bear skulls and reassure that it is one of the biggest polar bear skulls ever found.

The skull was determined to be around 1,300 years old and scientists are calling it 'The Old One.'

Doctor Anne Jensen told the news site: 'We don't know the exact size [of the whole animal], but we do know it was a huge bear.'

Jensen said it was possible that the skull was part of a 'subspecies' and that such bears could 'certainly' still roam the Arctic.

The discovery could shed light on Inuit accounts of 12-foot long bears, called 'king bears' or 'weasel bears' by Inuits and other native groups.


Inuvialuit Hunters and the “Weasel Bear”: Inuvialuit have been hunting polar bears – nanuq – in Canada’s Western Arctic for many decades. Passing knowledge and understanding of polar bear hunting from one generation to the next, based on experience, is the very foundation of Inuvialuit wisdom and tradition.


If you get a chance to be around them, you will definitely hear them talking about "tiriarnaq" or "tigiaqpak" (meaning weasel bear), an incredibly unique polar bear that is enormous, narrow-bodied and moves fast. Oral history and traditional knowledge in Inuit culture talks about "weasel" or "king" bears.
Source

These amazing images show life in the frozen Canadian wilderness as depicted by the country's first professional female photographer.

 Both photographers are featured in the new exhibit, which is presented in conjunction with the Exposure Photography Festival. Eventually, the Moodies seemed to take cues from each other. Douglas got better at composition and even tried his hand at portraits. Geraldine eventually equipped herself with a hand-held camera and left the studio to explore the barren landscapes.

All are reproductions from a collection of vintage negatives that was gifted to Glenbow from the Perceval family, descendants of the Moodies who had them stored at a ranch south of Calgary.

The Moodies both lived into their nineties. Geraldine died in 1945 and Douglas in 1947. They spent at least part of their retirement in Calgary.

Douglas Cass, the director of Glenbow’s library and archives, was tipped off to the existence of the collection by author Donny White, who had written the 1998 book In Search of Geraldine Moodie.

“The great-grandchildren of Douglas and Geraldine said, ‘Sure, we’ll donate them,'” says Kooyman. “So Doug goes down south of the city in the old Glenbow van thinking he’s picking up half a dozen glass plates and comes back with 500 negatives, three photo albums, diaries, letters … It was this treasure trove.”


Most of the reproductions are accompanied by excerpts from the Moodies’ journals, providing rare details and depth to the images. Kooyman says she hopes the exhibit will eventually travel to other cities.


“It is almost unheard of to have a collection of historic photographs for which we have first-hand accounts from the photographers of the content and what they thought they were doing,” Kooyman says. “Almost all of these labels will have direct quotes from the photographers about what was happening, how they took the photo, things about the people in it. You never get that. But you have to admit, even if you did take all the stories away, the pictures are still pretty stunning.”

"Never Alone is an amazing testament to our elders who embraced the game because they saw that it could help young people connect to the stories and the culture," said Hope.

 Alaska's indigenous Inupiat people have long used oral and written storytelling to pass down life lessons and values.

Their stories, rooted in folklore and mythology, include tales of overcoming obstacles faced by the community, located in the northern most region of Alaska. Winter is brutal and sunlight disappears from mid-November until the end of January.

But as much as storytelling is integral to Inupiat culture, it risks becoming a dying art form. Four years ago, Inupiat elders -- worried about youth losing touch with their heritage -- came up with a novel idea: Create a video game as a form of storytelling.

The tribe developed a game called "Never Alone," based on the tale of Kunuuksaayuka. The tale follows a boy who ventures out into the cold to discover the source of a recurrent blizzard, which prevents his family from hunting for food.

Hope, one of the game's three co-writers, adapted the story and made the central characters a young Inupiat girl and her fox friend. Players are challenged by a series of puzzles and obstacles set in the harsh Arctic landscape.


"It's the first video game based on an indigenous story and built by an indigenous community," said Amy Fredeen, CFO of non-profit Cook Inlet Tribal Council, which provides social, educational and employment services to Alaska Natives and Native Americans.


As a teaching tool, it incorporates short videos of the community's elders and storytellers sharing stories about their culture.


It continues to be used in grade school through college as a teaching tool.. "The entire creation process was a community effort," said Fredeen.
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Inuit elders talk about changes that they are now seeing in their local environment

 While there are still populations in the continental United States who question whether or not climate change is happening, individuals living in climatically sensitive regions, such as in the Arctic, are already experiencing the impacts. For them, there is no question that climate is changing.

What are some changes seen in wildlife and ecosystems when sea ice melts at an unprecedented rate? As global warming increases and sea ice disappears what will happen to those species unable to adapt to the changing conditions? What are some ways in which temperature change might endanger these species?

What is the human impact in Arctic communities from melting sea ice? Listen to Inuit elders talk about changes that they are now seeing in their local environment by watching "Inuit Observations of Climate Change." How has daily life changed over one generation?


Finally watch the video "An Unpredictable Environment" and note how uncertainty in climate conditions has impacted this Arctic community. What are some of the logistical and safety issues and concerns associated with a subsistence way of life during periods of rapid climate change? How can uncertainty in climate potentially impact communities in lower latitudes?
 Source: NASA

A study of the mitochondrial DNA of modern-day Iñupiat people suggests that all of the Iñupiat and Inuit populations from Alaska, Canada, and Greenland came from the Alaskan North Slope.

 Mitochondrial DNA is passed from mother to child, with few changes from generation to generation. All of the mitochondrial DNA haplogroups that have been found in the remains of Neo- and Paleo-Inuit and living Inuit peoples were found among the people from the North Slope villages, including the haplogroup of Paleo-Inuits, which until this study had only been detected in their ancient remains.

The haplogroup of the Neo-Inuits, thought to have replaced the Paleo-Inuits, was also detected. “We think the presence of these two haplotypes in villages of the North Slope means that the Paleo-Inuits and the Neo-Inuits were both ancestors of the contemporary Iñupiat people,” Jennifer A. Raff of Northwestern University said in a press release.

A third haplogroup, typically seen in Native Americans living further south, may have been carried by the first people to enter the Americas. It could also have entered the peoples of the North Slope through recent marriages between Athapascan and Iñupiat families, or ancient contact between the two groups.

“We found that there were many lineages shared between villages along the coast, suggesting that women traveled frequently between these communities. In fact, when we compared the genetic composition of all the communities in the North Slope, we found that they were all so closely related that they could be considered one single population.


This fits well with what the elders and other community members told us about Iñupiat history,” added Northwestern’s M. Geoffrey Hayes. Future studies will examine the genetic markers on the male Y-chromosome.
Sources : Arch.org
discover.northwestern.edu

June Klengenberg celebrated her 102nd birthday in Gjoa Haven, Nunavut, on Wednesday by singing a traditional Inuit song.

CBC asked Klengenberg if she had any advice to share about life on her birthday. She said she wasn't sure how to answer the question, but added she has always loved to sing and dance. She then sang a traditional song about dancing.

Klengenberg was born on June 1, 1914, on Victoria Island in the Northwest Territories. She later moved off the island to Kugluktuk, Nunavut.

Nurse Jolie Trenholm helps to look after Klengenberg at the Continuing Care Centre in Gjoa Haven. She said Klengenberg is the mother of one child and adoptive mother of five children. All of Klengenberg's children have passed away.

She has 16 grandchildren and 45 great-grandchildren.

Trenholm said Klengenberg is much loved by everyone at the centre, and her singing warms their hearts.