Inupiaq Bird Carvings

When I arrived in Alaska, I began collecting bird carvings made by a group of Inupiaq people who lived on an island called Ugiuvak( King Island) which is located in the Bering Sea, west of Nome, Alaska. The island protrudes dramatically out of the ocean, the village buildings constructed on stilts on a very steep and rocky cliff side. The carvings are made out of walrus tusk and colored with watered down cigarette ash, ochre, iron, and ink. For me, these pieces embody a very strong and timeless energy that is hard to describe. Each one seems to be a portal to a time and culture so much earlier than now. I had a conversation with an elder bird carver at one point. He said to me, “You know, Steve. When I was a boy on King Island, we were Stone Age People…….” I paused for more than a moment. The realization that this man who was sitting with me at a Starbucks in a grocery store was and is a direct conduit to a 10,000 year old culture…..this just doesn’t happen…..