Educational film about Eskimos. Follows an Eskimo family as they
go about their day-to-day existence: hunting, visiting the general
store, doing chores at home. (In material culture, these Eskimos,
from Alaska in the 1940s, are somewhere between traditional and
modernized.) A nice film, gentle and curious in tone.
ws Hunting sequence: Three Eskimos walk across snowy
wasteland; two Eskimo children in parkas; Eskimo man shoots rifle
at seal swimming in ocean; uses grappling-hook to retrieve dead
seal; hunter shoots loon (sea bird), retrieves it; Eskimo family
drags dead seal across ice.
vs Eskimo family eating dinner at home (raw fish dipped in
seal oil); mother cooks at stove, using blubber for fuel.
ws Eskimo paddles umiak boat in ocean, as others watch from
shore.
vs The Eskimos at home: father uses bone drill to make an
ornament; mother prepares hide for shows; girl sews; man and boy
examine harpoon; Eskimos put their parkas on; Eskimo family walks
to general store; store INT, traditional Eskimo trades goods with
Westernized Eskimo.
ws Hunting sequence: Eskimo family packs dog sled; dog sled
crosses snowy expanse; Eskimo cemetery with fence made of whale
ribs; huskies pulling sled; two Eskimos build temporary shelter out
of ice (not quite an igloo); herd of caribou; Eskimo man fires
rifle; man and boy butcher dead caribou, pack meat and hides on dog
sled; sled arrives in wind-swept Eskimo village.
vs Eskimo celebration, schoolhouse INT: men beat drums and
sing, children dance to lurching rhythms