[1960s HOME MOVIE VISIT TO ALASKA POINT BARROW / UTQIAGVIK INUIT TRIBE]

Genre: home movie

Year Published: 1960s

Description: This 1960s film follows a group of Americans traveling through Point Barrow and Fairbanks, Alaska to experience traditional Alaskan Inuit culture and the natural landscape. It features scenes of a visit to a traditional home, a celebration with singing, dancing, and storytelling performances. The film also includes extensive footage of Alaska's mountains, snowy landscapes, and a few scenes from the central town of Fairbanks. It concludes with aerial footage of a plane flying over San Francisco, suggesting the family's journey ends there. A young Inuit boy holds an unidentified item (00:08). An Inuit woman sews cone-shaped pieces (00:17). She and a man are seated, smiling at the camera (01:04). Children play blanket toss (Nalukataq in Iñupiaq) using a blanket traditionally made from walrus or seal skin, an activity especially associated with spring whaling festivals (01:10). A children's choir sings traditional songs, with children in the front row playing large, round, hand-held drums made from stretched animal skin over wooden or bone frames (01:38). Children and adults dance traditional dances to the songs (01:49). Alternating clips show solo and group dances (03:10). A performance, presented alongside the choir, features a man with wings on his arms and a woman who appears to be hunting him (03:35). A woman places her baby under her coat and onto her back (03:53). She ties a belt around her chest (04:05), spins around (04:10), and then removes the belt to take the baby out again (04:20). She holds her baby and smiles at the camera (04:34). They walk away, revealing a dog lying behind them (04:39). Five people stand in a line against the outer wall of a house (04:42). POV footage from the window of a flying plane follows (04:56). A house built from wooden logs is shown on a residential street (05:26), followed by another log house (05:35). Additional footage features houses in the residential area, some built from wooden logs, others from wooden planks (05:46). More POV footage from the window of a flying plane appears (06:31), including the plane descending onto a landing strip (06:42) and additional aerial views (06:50). Snowy mountain tops are seen (07:10), followed by footage of the plane flying above the clouds with snowy peaks in view (07:18). Views of Alaska’s snowy landscape continue (08:08), along with more plane footage (08:13). The historic and still-active Fairbanks Alaska Railroad Station, located in central Alaska, is shown (08:21), followed by general footage from Fairbanks (08:43). POV footage from a train traveling through Alaska captures scenes of a small town, crop fields, a track winding through a mountain tunnel, mountainous landscapes, and various bodies of water (08:44). Later, POV footage from a plane shows views over clouds, snowy mountain peaks, and more bodies of water (10:35). The plane flies over the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California (14:46), followed by views of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge (15:09), and a sunset seen from the window of the flying plane (15:13).

Online Copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqNKBLCJsOo

Metadata Source:YouTube