Born of the Ice
The village of Tikigaq, located at the farthest northwest point of North America, is the longest continually inhabited place on the continent. It is the remote and icy home to Inupiat people, who over millennia have respected & kept it sacred, and who hunt bowhead whales as part of their subsistence living and spiritual practice.
Melding poetic cinematography, rare archival footage and narration from Inupiat elders, Born of the Ice tells a layered story of arctic survival that is both historic and modern. At the heart of this telling is the whale, whose symbolic and physical presence is woven into every aspect of village life – its food supply, clothing, housing, ceremony, and creation myth. And even into its gender roles, for it is the Tikigaq women who have critical influence on the hunt’s success.
Credits
Director Stephanie Alton
Writer Stephanie Alton
Editor Stephanie Alton
Producer Steve Oomittuk
Producer Stephanie Alton
Narrator (English) CH’IGGIIOONTA
Narrator (Inupiat) Doreen Simmonds
Interviewee
Lillian A. Lane
Steve Oomittuk
Camera Footage
Stephanie Alton
Cale Green
Atkaan Kowunna Sr.
Natural Sounds
Kathy Turco
Technical supervisor
Cyrus Smith
Editing Consultants
Bea Geller, Dan Geiger, Len Kamerling ,Pam Roberts
Author
Tom Lowenstein “Ancient Land: Sacred Whale the Inuit Hunt and its Rituals”
Copy Writer
Dianne Hammer
Special thanks to
Mark Buckley, Tom Gorai, Phyliss Frankson, Sarah Janicki, Laura Waddington
Stock Footage
Archive.org
“Eskimo Artist” Kenojuak Directed by John Feeney 1964
“Eskimos (Winter in Western Alaska) Encyclopedia Britannica By Frederick Machetanz 1950
“Alaska the New frontier 1960’s” Produced by KTCA- TV St. Paul Minneapolis
“The Earth and Its People: Eskimo Hunters (Northwestern Alaska) Directed by W. Kay Norton 1949.
Adobe Stock
Stock Audio
Sound Dogs
Music
Pond 5
“Venus in Orbit” Norman Lamont
“Plankton” Marc Bressler
“Cinematic Dreams” Marc Bressler
“Arctic Soul” Marc Bressler
“Alaska” Serge Quadradov
Tikigaq Dancers and Drummers
Thanks to the village of Tikigak , AK and everyone that took part in the film