Caribou Herds of NortHwest alaska, 1850–2000 Caribou Herds of NortHwest a laska, 1850–2000 by ernest s. burch Jr. Edited by Igor Krupnik and Jim Dau University of Alaska Press Fairbanks © 2012 University of Alaska Press All rights reserved University of Alaska Press P.O. Box 756240 Fairbanks, AK 99775-6240 ISBN 978-1-60223-178-8 (cloth); 978-1-60223-179-5 (paper); 978-1-60223-180-1 (electronic) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Burch, Ernest S., 1938–2010. Caribou herds of northwest Alaska, 1850–2000 / Ernest S. Burch, Jr. ; edited by Igor Krupnik and Jim Dau. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-60223-179-5 (paper : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-1-60223-178-8 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-60223-180-1 (electronic) 1. Caribou—Alaska—History. 2. Reindeer—Alaska—History. 3. Wolves—Alaska—History. 4. Natural history—Alaska. 5. Alaska Natives—History. 6. Herding—Alaska—History. 7. Human ecology—Alaska—History. I. Krupnik, Igor. II. Dau, J. (Jim) III. Title. QL737.U55B823 2012 599.65’809798—dc23 2012005465 The production of this book has benefitted from contributions by John R. Bockstoce, Matthew L. Ganley, Erica D. Hill, and Kenneth L. Pratt. Cover design by Dixon Jones Cover illustrations: front cover photos by Jim Dau. Back cover photo by Geoff Carroll and Jim Dau. Photo of Ernest S. Burch courtesy of Deanne Burch. This publication was printed on acid-free paper that meets the minimum requirements for ANSI / NISO Z39.48–1992 (R2002) (Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials). Printed in the United States Contents List of Maps vi List of Figures vii List of Tables viii Part I: Reading Tiger Burch Foreword by Igor Krupnik xi Preface by Jim Dau xv Acknowledgments xix Part II: Caribou Herds of Northwest Alaska Chapter 1. Introduction 3 Chapter 2. Caribou versus Reindeer 17 Chapter 3. Predators 37 Chapter 4. The Western District 61 Chapter 5. The Northern District 91 Chapter 6. The Reindeer Era 113 Synopsis of Chapter 6 117 Synopsis of Chapter 7 119 Part III: Postscripts Postscript by David R. Klein 125 A Life Well Lived, A Story Well Told by Polly Wheeler 129 Appendix 1: Memorandum (E. S. Burch Jr. to Bockstoce, Dau, Hill, Krupnik, and Pratt, February 26, 2010) 133 Appendix 2: Ecoregions of Northwest Alaska by E.S. Burch Jr. 135 Appendix 3: Historical Sources by Ernest S. Burch Jr. 139 Appendix 4: Sources of Information by Ernest S. Burch Jr. 144 Appendix 5: Notes on the Consumption of Caribou at Herschel Island During the Whaling Era by E.S. Burch Jr. 147 Abbreviations 151 Works Cited 153 Index 197 v list of Maps Map 1.1 General orientation 5 Map 1.2 Primary ranges of late twentieth-century caribou herds of Northwest Alaska 6 Map 1.3 Ecoregions of Northwest Alaska 9 Map 1.4 Districts and borders 10 Map 2.1 Seasonal ranges of the Western Arctic herd 24 Map 2.2 Reindeer range permits on the Seward Peninsula, late twentieth century 26 Map 3.1 Indigenous language areas of Northwest Alaska and Northwestern Canada 38 Map 3.2 National borders in Northwest Alaska, ca. 1800–1820 39 Map 3.3 Western outposts in the study region, 1848–1854 42 Map 3.4 Villages and towns with populations over fifty people, 1997–2002 45 Map 4.1 Major geographic features of the Western District 62 Map 4.2 The Western District showing locations mentioned in the text 64 Map 4.3 Kotzebue Sound drainage and the northern Seward Peninsula 69 Map 4.4 Southern sector of the Western District 70 Map 4.5 Northern sector of the Western District 80 Map 5.1 Major geographic sectors of the Northern District 91 Map 5.2 The approximate range of the modern Teshekpuk Lake herd 92 Map 5.3 Range of the modern Central Arctic herd 94 Map 5.4 Range of the modern Porcupine River herd 96 Map 7.1 Reconstructed calving areas and ranges of historical caribou herds 119 vi list of figures Frontispiece—Ernest S. Burch Jr., 1938–2010 Fig. 1.1 A shed caribou antler 4 Fig. 2.1 Bull caribou crossing river 18 Fig. 2.2 Two bull caribou crossing river 18 Fig. 2.3 A cow and two young bull caribou migrating 20 Fig. 2.4 A mature bull caribou of the Western Arctic herd 20 Fig. 2.5 Western Arctic herd caribou densely aggregated 27 Fig. 2.6 Caribou in summer insect relief habitat 27 Fig. 2.7 A mature cow with her four-month-old male calf 30 Fig. 3.1 Wolves: predator of caribou 46 Fig. 3.2 Grizzlies prey on reindeer 55 Fig. 4.1 Caribou impound corral (or kangigaq) 81 Fig. 5.1 Gwich’in camp, Porcupine River, ca. 1910 110 Fig. 6.1 Alaska Native reindeer camp 114 Fig. 6.2 Iñupiat herder near Nome, Alaska 114 Fig. 6.3 Large reindeer herd near Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska 115 Fig. 6.4 Alaska reindeer—Kotzebue herd no. 2 115 Fig. 7.1 Poster for Burch’s public presentation on the Caribou Herds book 122 vii list of tables Table 2.1 Definitions for various types of caribou aggregations 26 Table 3.1 Western outposts in the study region, 1848–1854 43 Table 4.1 Oral sources for Map 4.3 69 viii Part i readiNG tiGer burCH