A Village's Entire Population Rides North Star Home for Winter
 Eskimos who have spent summer in Nome return to isolated Ukivok village to face long, dark nights.  They support themselves by hunting seal and walrus, and catching fish and crab.  Here Rie Munoz and her husband shared the islanders' lonely life for nine months. Walrus-hide hunting boats (Umiaks) on the ship's deck will carry supplies ashore.  Landings can be dangerous, for the village has no beach.
Sea ice will form quickly early in December.

Eskimo Children Play Hopscotch on a 
Narrow Ledge Above Ukivok Village
 Winter home of 150 people, rocky King Island lies 35 miles west of mainland Alaska in the Bering Sea.  Anchored ice clings to the shore.  Rie Munoz and her husband taught school in the building at lower right

With Alaska's Flag Hastily Flown, Rie Munoz 
Signals a Plane onto Ukivok's Red-streamered Runway
 King Islanders chopped away pressure ridges on sea ice to smooth a 1,200-foot emergency strip.  When turbulent air prevented a landing, the pilot dropped supplies from 1,000 feet.  Some, falling on floes, drifted to sea.  At the time of Rie's visit, only three airplane landings had ever been made on King Island.

King Island Fishermen Chisel Holes in Sea Ice;
with the Scoop They Remove Chips from Bitterly Cold Water
Bits of bright toothbrush handles serve as lures for bullheads.  Barbless hooks permit mittened fishermen to remove catches without exposing fingers to the cold.  Crabs, clutching bait on hookless lines, must be pulled up gently; they let go if they touch the sides of the hole.

After the Exciting Walrus Shoot
Comes the Tiresome Task of Butchering
Walrus, shot in mass attacks as they ride north on ice pans, provide King Islanders with hides, meat, and ivory.  Here two animals are stretched on the ice, another is rope-anchored, and a 200-pound calf is dragged half out of water.