You can sell ice cream to Eskimos!

5 Responses to You can sell ice cream to Eskimos!

1. redpoll says:

   December 19, 2011 at 11:22 am

   I live about 300 miles northwest from that spot on the Parks Highway. Our school here has Yup’ik, Inupaiq and Athabascan (not an “Eskimo’) kids. A favorite here is something called akutuq (pronounced “ah-goo-duck”) from the Yup’ik who make it with berries, sugar, seal oil, and Crisco. It’s actually pretty good despite that ingredient list. And they even sell ice cream in Point Hope. Be well and Merry Christmas.

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   • Art Stone says:

     December 20, 2011 at 2:41 am

     That’s been on my “I wonder about list”… but I wonder about many things…

     Prior to the arrival of outside food sources (Crisco, sugar, wheat flour, etc…), I’ve wondered how natives in Alaska survived the long winters – specifically what their source of carbohydrates was. You can’t survive on a diet of only meat and fish and seal oil. My guess (without knowing) was that during the summer berries or maybe some type of native legumes were gathered and preserved and used during the winter.

     The only reason I noticed that ice cream stand was there is supposed to be a radio station tower somewhere close by – but I never really did find it.

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   • Fortenbras says:

     December 20, 2011 at 10:15 am

     I’ve heard about that stuff before. It was on an episode of Destination Truth only they made it with whale fat I think. It sounds disgusting but if you think about it, it’s not that different from ice cream. 🙂

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2. redpoll says:

   December 21, 2011 at 5:56 pm

   Hi Art! In answer to your question…. most of the Eskimoan peoples (Yup’ik, Chup’ik, Inupiaq, and Iniut) did survive on a largely all-meat diet before contact with outsiders. It was apparently a pretty healthy diet, too, considering where we live and the need for a consistent source of high-energy foods – like the energy you get from fat and seal oil. There were berries gathered, of course, and some plant materials for teas and medicines, but in general, it was all meat, all the time. The only plants that were stored were berries and, sometimes, roots – there is no native legume either in the boreal forest or out on the tundra. You’d be amazed at how healthy you feel on an all-salmon diet, too. Maybe it has something to do with the cold (they’re expecting -36 in the next two or three days).

   Thanks for all you do – Merry Christmas from Alaska.

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3. redpoll says:

   December 21, 2011 at 5:58 pm

   And I’ve been at that ice cream stand, too. Houston, Alaska, is actually in the urban center of the state. LOL Such as it is.

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