Artist and boatwright Henry “Hanko” Koonook at work on an umiak in his shop. The keel, thwarts and each wooden rib is hand fashioned and precisely fitted. When the frame is finished, it will be covered with the stretched skin of an ugruk (bearded seal). This will be the boat’s hull. Traditional skin boats such as these are still used by Inupiat whaling crews in Point Hope and other villages of the far north. Long may it be so. Point Hope, Alaska, March 21, 2013.
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