Dinner with Leroy Oenga Jr. and family, part 1 of 7: When you hear the traditional Iñupiat drum, you hear the sound of the bowhead whale
Sunday, November 17, 2013 at 9:30PM 
On Thursday, those who read my blog met Leroy Oenga Jr. and learned how his mother refused to pull the plug on him when the doctors told her it was time, but prayed and sang hymns for him instead. Leroy invited me over for dinner with his family this afternoon. He had heard his mother, Caroline Cannon, call me, "my brother," so now he calls me "uncle" and I call him "nephew," and her, "sister." Leroy is a Dallas Cowboys fan and was catching up on the day's football scores when I arrived.
Very shortly, he pulled out a new drum Joe Sage had made for him. The skin cover came from the liver membrane of a bowhead whale landed this fall by Edward Itta and crew. When you hear Iñupiat people singing and dancing to the beat of traditional drums made in this way you literally hear the sound of the bowhead whale.
Barrow, Leroy Oenga in Alaska, Dining, Hunting and fishing, dance, whaling
Reader Comments (2)
That is a truly beautiful photograph!
Thank you, Mary Ann. See you soon - if all goes as planned.