>> this is apple jack like has been made in these mountains for many years. >> this is my first product endorsement. apple jack moonshine. >> apple jack, of course, just means it is made with moonshine. you can make raisin jack, apple jack, peach jack. it is good, isn't it? >> it is good. >> it is better than the acorns. >> it is. it takes the acorns right out of your mouth and some of your tastebuds too. it takes those out too.

i really feel weird about not knowing if it's racist or not because i'm the black guy who's supposed to know what is racist or not. i found out i have a lot to learn about alaska. so i packed up the bag, got my all-weather jacket and i went to alaska and bought some new clothes. my name is w. kamau bell. as a comedian i've made a living finding humor in the parts of america i don't understand. and now i'm challenging myself to dig deeper. i'm on a mission to reach out and experience all the cultures and beliefs that add color to this crazy country. this is "the yubt united shades america." alaska. natives have survived this brutal environment for thousands of years. today its unique wildlife, remote location, natural beauty,

and severe winters all contribute to its reputation as america's last frontier. and as a californian and avid indoorsman the last frontier is the last place i want to be. but here i am in anchorage, alaska, the state's biggest city, to find out more about the culture and to get an experience more authentic than watching an alaskan reality show. maybe the locals can tell me if i'm getting the real alaskan experience. >> what's your name, ma'am? >> casey. >> casey, nice to meet you. >> nice to meet you, kamau. >> this is my first trip to alaska. am i getting a typical alaskan experience right now? >> no. >> because to me this seems like any town usa right here. >> this is tourist area. >> this is tourist area. >> yeah. >> so i'm 2349 tourist district. >> yes. >> this is my first time in alaska. >> okay. >> i did not expect to see -- what's the word i'm looking for? black people. what's it like to be black in alaska? >> interesting, i guess.

>> let's just say walking around the streets on a typical day how many black people do you see? >> three. >> oh, okay. that's more if you pass mirrors? >> yeah. >> so what does it mean to be an alaskan native? >> that you can handle the cold. >> clearly. >> obviously. >> if somebody asks where i'm from, i always lead with alaska because people just lose their minds. of course the inevitable you know sarah palin question comes up. >> do you know sarah palin? >> i've met her on a few occasions and i've spoken with her. and i know her sister. >> i asked a dumb question, do you know sarah palin, but you actually do know sarah palin. >> well, there's only so many people in the state. >> so you're a native of alaska. >> yes. my mom's inupiak and my dad's aliut. >> natives are actually broken into 11 regionally and language-defined tribes though most americans seem to think you

can call them all eskimos. which they're not. so you can't. >> are you guys thinking of taking the power back? is there a revolution on the way? if there is, i want in. that's all i'm saying. because we turn on the tv and it's like the alaska show. it's not this. >> in the lower 48 we talk about alaska we think of frozen tundra and polar bears. where do i need to go to get tundra and polar bears and -- >> far north. >> really far north? >> yeah. >> like where? >> barrow. >> you can hit barrow if you want some polar bears. >> so if i go to barrow i will get that alaskan experience i see on television? >> yes. you'll see people shooting random things for the fun of it. >> we get that in the states. i don't know if i need that. >> i guess i'm leaving anchorage and heading to barrow. which means it's time for our recurring segment. "kamau wonders why the hell he's doing this." and if you're wondering yiem so ske so skeptical, here are some barrow facts.

one, there are no roads and in and out of town. two, it goes completely dark for two whole months of the year. and three, it's 320 miles into the arctic circle. which means it's 320 miles past where i'm supposed to be. landing in barrow, it certainly looks more like i'm on the path to the real alaska. and also the path to frostbite. >> i often joke about being in the middle of nowhere. but this is actually the middle of nowhere. >> it's so cold i'm actually afraid my afro's going to break. i'm headed to the appropriately named top of the world hotel. and thankfully this airport taxi line isn't like the one at l.a.x. >> hello. >> hi. >> can you take me to the top of the world? >> okay. top of the world hotel. okay. welcome to barrow. >> thank you. what's your name, sir? >> c.j. >> c.j. >> r.j. >> my name's kamau.

>> nice to meet you. >> nice to meet you. thanks for giving me a ride. >> okay. >> now i'll never be able to say that a black man can't get a cab in alaska. and where are you from? >> from thailand. >> thailand. what brought you here? >> to work. >> this is very different than thailand. >> yeah. completely. >> would it be bad if i decided to walk from the airport to downtown? >> too cold. >> what would happen to me if i decided to walk? >> in five minute, ten minute you -- >> uh-oh. does that mean dead? is that thai for dead? what is this? is this downtown? >> yeah, this is downtown. >> this is downtown. >> okay. >> this is the top of the world hotel? >> yes, sir. >> thanks for the drive. thanks for the tour. >> have fun in barrow. >> thank you.

>> standing outside my hotel, looking at the frozen tundra, thousands of miles away from home. there's darkness as far as the eye can see. my thoughts on barrow are crystallizing, and all i keep thinking is -- >> holy shit.

♪ now the forecast for the northern arctic coast including barrow. today through friday mostly cloudy skies. highs today around 5 above. highs on thursday and friday around 10 below. lows through the rest of the week around 15 below. >> i'm from the bay area. so when i hear 15 below, i assume we're talking about 15 below 60 degrees. oh, god. just right up ahead a little bit. that'll be a great place to lay down and die. this will be great for ratings.

dying. oh, god. >> my first stop is the local weather station. if this is the real alaska, i want to find out how cold it actually gets here. even though i'm sure the answer is you don't even want to know. >> dave anderson. welcome to the weather service in barrow. >> it's cold outside, sir. >> yes, it is. but are you enjoying the weather, though? >> no. not at all, actually. like most people when they don't enjoy the weather, they blame the weatherman. >> that's right. that's what we're here for. >> all right. well, what else do you do here besides get blamed by random people who walk into your office? >> well, our primary function is augmenting aviation weather observations. and one of our more important and fond things we do is laich a weather balloon. >> can i launch a weather balloon? >> we can launch a weather balloon. we're all set up. let's go do it. >> let's do it. >> so what we're going to do is actually inflate the balloon and get it set up. we're using helium gas to do this. the balloon will get about 21

miles high. be about 40 feet across. >> 40 feet across? and what is the balloon made of? >> a material called totex. it's a latex rubber. >> i'm not mature enough to not laugh at you calling this a latex rubber. >> so here we go. >> once it's up there, what is it doing? >> it's sending back information on temperature, humidity, pressure. this is the very beginning of all your weather forecasts right here with this balloon. >> i live in northern california. it's not really the kind of weather that you're dealing with up here. >> no. quite a bit different. the coldest we've had up here has been 55 below with about a 90 to 100 below wind chill. >> wait a minute. so people when it's that cold they still go outside? >> still go outside. activity doesn't stop up here. >> all right, dave, let's launch this bad boy. >> let's get her set up. >> yay. >> with the left hand? >> left hand. and here we go. >> while this isn't exactly nasa

launching apollo 11, a countdown feels appropriate. t minus three, two, one! >> whoa. >> there she goes. >> like that, huh? >> that's it. >> and that's a good time in this town, huh? >> yes. this is our exciting time of day. >> still cold. don't die. don't die. don't die. >> finding out that locals remain active when it's 90 degrees below zero brought several questions to my mind. though most of them i can't say because they have too many curse words. still, i need to know what drives me to live in barrow instead of not barrow. you know what? let me talk to some locals and find out what they've got to say about all this.

>> this is ridiculous. it's so cold. >> how long have you lived in barrow? >> this is my home. i was raised there. and i choose to live here. >> i like you say i choose to live here. ignorant people like this guy come into this town and go how do people do it? >> my mother and my father did it. and my grandparents did it. and so i'm doing it. >> so does the cold bother you? >> no. this is balmy weather. i'm wearing my shorts. >> you're wearing shorts. >> it's life in the arctic. you've got to be tough. or you've got to be crazy. okay? >> so your name's mike schultz. >> absolutely. >> and how long have you lived here in barrow? >> 42 years. i came up when i was 19. i'm 61. >> what's sneer what's good? >> some of the nicest people in the whole world here. >> how long have you two lived in barrow? >> i moved up october 2009. >> so you're a newbie. >> yeah. we're originally from american samoa. >> so this is completely different. >> yeah. >> do you like this, the cold? >> yeah. we actually moved up for

ministry. >> it's interesting you say you work for the ministry because because i've been so cold i feel like i've seen jesus a couple times. i appreciate that. that was genuine. thank you. how long have you lived in barrow? >> two years. >> what brought you here in? there's better work opportunities here. >> than where? >> in california. >> i live in california. i can get you a job. >> but it's different. it's like a culture shock, it's different but we like it. >> maybe we should all think about moving to barrow. their median household income is $25,000 higher than the national average. but that disparity is partially to compensate for the high price of goods due to barrow's costly reliance on air and sea shipping. the high salaries are also meant to entice workers to the numerous openings in barrow's leading industries including oil field production, passenger air transportation, civil services, and selling overpriced winter coats to travel show hosts. the wage opportunities have people from around the globe willing to brave the cold. >> we're very much a melting pot at transportation.

i have tongans, samoans, vietnamese, filipinos, white, mexican. a little bit of everything. trinidadis. >> i didn't hear black. you have black? >> yes. >> who? >> dwayne. my dwayne is good. >> 75% of the time dwayne is a black guy. >> when i came to barrow there was 75% non-native. now it's 6262% native and 38% everybody else. >> ethnic diversity has expanded beyond the inupiaq natives to over 20 race that's call barrow home today. >> it's only 62 personative. how do you feel about that? >> well, i know the mighty dollar brings everybody in. they come and they go. but for us we're here to stay. >> thank you for talking to me. >> you're welcome. >> now go put some pants on. >> after learning that people are moving to barrow for its surprisingly robust economy, i set up a meeting with long-time resident and my new best friend

mike schultz to find out how barrow has changed overt years. he told me to meet him at the local pool hall behind the photo shop. maybe this sign post will point me in the right direction. >> haiti, new york, peru. i just want to know which way is the hell up out of here. >> i finally found it. conveniently located between snow and more snow. >> oh, just like it happens every time. >> well, you've got to start someplace. you've left me lots of shots. >> so is this the closest thing barrow has to look a sports bar? >> pretty much. and there's no alcohol in here. so it's like sports bar light. >> so it's just the sports. >> yeah. you can own and possess alcohol within the city limits. you just can't buy it or sell it. >> when you moved here, how many non-natives were here in barrow? >> six of us. everybody else was native. when i first came up here if they dropped me out of town i'd be dead. >> i feel like if you leave me

three blocks from here i'd be dead. >> what i did is learned from them. they've been living on the tundra for probably 10,000 years wp. >> a lot of the reason people move here is to get jobs in the oil industry, right? >> oil industry or just the infrastructure jobs that make barrow what it is. >> so when you think about the future of barrow, like what does the future hold for this place? >> when i got up here kids would go out and hunt ptarmigan. now they've lost the ability to go out and fend for themselves. have you shot a caribou? i don't need to. i can go to the store and get a hamburger. have you learned how to survive if you fall through the ice? well, i heard about it but i've never been out camping for three years because i just don't want to, i want to play video games. and a lot of the younger kids now they don't speak the inupiaq language. they don't learn what they used to learn from the adults from their elders. and so they're missing a big part of growing up. it makes it really difficult to watch a culture kind of disappear. it's just not right. i hope it works out because it's an unbelievable culture. >> listening to mike, i can't help but wonder, in a land so

deadly and remote can the natives of barrow afford to lose the ways of their culture that's kept civilization here going for thousands of years? it also made me realize, uh-oh, my camera crew is going to be pissed that they can't buy alcohol up here. asis. be the you who shows up in that dress. who hugs a friend. who is done with treatments that don't give you clearer skin. be the you who controls your psoriasis with stelara® just 4 doses a year after 2 starter doses. stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections and cancer. some serious infections require hospitalization. before treatment, get tested for tuberculosis. before starting stelara® tell your doctor if you think you have an infection or have symptoms such as: fever, sweats, chills, muscle aches or cough. always tell your doctor if you have any signs of infection, have had cancer, if you develop any new skin growths or if anyone in your house needs or has recently received a vaccine. alert your doctor of new or worsening problems, including headaches, seizures, confusion and vision problems these may be signs of a rare, potentially fatal brain condition. some serious allergic reactions can occur. do not take stelara® if you are allergic to stelara®

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barrow, alaska is way out there. it is far. like literally to get to barrow

you can't get there unless you go on a plane. it's so remote that it feels like anything can happen there. like walking around barrow, the streets of barrow, it feels like you could walk into jim morrison, tupac-a meelia earhart and elvis. sharing a four-bedroom house. just like what up? what? we've been here the whole time. nobody comes up here. and it feels like in barrow that's kind of the culture. nobody would tell you they're there. it feels like alaska's america's no snitching state. nobody's talking. it's another beautiful but brutally cold morning in barrow. and instead of walking around town risking hypothermia i decided to reunite with an old front. >> c.j., am i ever glad to see you. >> okay. >> i don't know if you know. but it's cold outside this car. >> 7 below today, huh? >> 7 below. >> yeah. >> with the wind chill factor i think it's a million below. c.j., you know what i'm doing

today? i'm going dog sledding. have you ever been dog sledding? >> no, no, no. >> no, no, no. wait a minute, the way you keep laughing, c.j., i feel like it might be a bad idea. >> i'll wait for you to come back. >> you're going to wait for me. i appreciate that. >> in my conversation with mike schultz he spoke of how the native people of barrow are losing their traditions. i discovered no better example of this than dog sledding. >> hello. >> and i'm here at the home of geoff carroll, the last musher in town, which sounds like a great title for a disney movie. >> you are the last dog sledder in barrow. >> yes. sad but true. kind of slowly whittled down over the years. only running team in barrow at this point. >> how long have you lived in barrow? >> since 1986. >> so when you got eyre in '86 were there other dog sledders? >> yeah, other teams. lots of guys who spent half their lives rung dogs but they kind of switched over to snow machines. and i hope you don't take in the wrong way but you're the last

dog sledder and you seem to be, how do i say this, not a native. >> well, yeah, it's kind of ironic. the natives were the ones that invented dog sledding. dogs were absolutely vital to the culture. >> geoff's right. the four-legged companions were used for nomadic traveling, carrying supplies for hunts, tracking prey, and keeping their owners alert for dangerous animals. >> so geoff, any tips for me when i get oh, you know, just h tight. i'll teach you the commands. you yell g, they tern right, holla they tirn left. whoa they stop sometimes. and to take off we yell kita. >> gee is right, ha is left, keyta is go. and whoa is please, please stop, please. >> there you go. and then if they don't stop you say stop goddamn it. >> all right. >> i'll show you how to put on a harness. >> me or the dogs?

>> i think the dogs. >> okay. >> this guy's name is midnight. he's got some wild blue eyes. >> do dogs like this? >> they love it. this is what they live for. >> oh, yeah? and that noise they're saying right now is "this is going to be awesome." >> yeah, let's go, let's go. >> are you sure that's not the sounds of the dog revolution? >> they're excited. >> a dog just peed on my cameraman. >> hold on. i'm the only one that gets to pee on my cameraman. >> we've got everybody all harnessed up. now we start hooking them to the line. got him? >> yeah. whoa. let's go this way. this way. whoa. there you go. whoa. >> there you go. next week we'll be coming to you from the beaches avenue ruba talking about which tequila tastes better. >> okay. they're ready to take off. >> okay. now this part i like.

>> okay. when i say now you yell kita real loud. >> kita! whoa! ooh. ♪ >> ah. >> gee! >> i think i just lost my virginity on that last bump. >> gee! gee! >> oh, yeah. this is the life. >> as much as i love my keanine chauffeurs, it's clear they aren't as practical as snow machines in terms of effort and speed. but hopefully the ingenuity of preindustrial man doesn't get left behind in a cloud of frozen dust. speaking of frozen, i still am from yesterday. so i'm sticking with the comfy confines of my man c.j.'s taxi.

>> you know, when you're inside a heated car where it's warm, this is actually a much nicer city. >> yeah. >> when you're walking everywhere, you start to get a little angry at the city. but now it's kind of pretty. >> like geoff carroll there are other locals speaking out to keep traditions alive. and maybe the biggest voice belongs to native fanny acpick. her program teaches inupiaq customs as part of the school curriculum. and i'm meeting with fanny at the inupiaq heritage center to find out more about her and her work. >> i'd like you to look at this. different hunting tools. mainly for butchering the whale. >> in my named we call that the i wish somebody would knife. >> that is a raincoat made out of seal intestines. >> black people, we just eat the intestines, we don't turn it into raincoats. you're literally using every part of the animal. >> oh, yes. everything that is given to us from the land, the ocean and the

air is treasured. everybody thinks that it's so flat and cold and frozen. but to us it's a living world that we live in. >> that is a perspective i didn't have before i came here. so tell me, what part of your culture are you working hardest to keep? >> our language. yeah. my age group and some older than me, we were sent away to go to boarding school. i came home not myself anymore. and i almost lost the proper usage of our language. >> fanny is speaking of christian boarding schools that were opened in the early 1900s by missionaries trying to bring modern education to the north. and get ready for a shocker. missionaries working with natdives, not that cool. in fact, in 2015 an official report by the canadian

government described its role in this former practice as cultural genocide. >> we were literally punished if i accidentally said something in inupiaq. we got slapped in the hand. >> oh, yeah. >> my fourth grade teacher, i accidentally blurted out inupiaq. he put me in a tall can trash can and make me stand there. i mean, that's when i cried. >> yeah. he was telling you you were trash. >> mm-hmm. >> and so what are you doing today to keep the language alive? what have you worked on? >> i work with our school district. it's really important to teach our children who they are so that they will always feel safe and be strong knowing that they are with the real people of the north.

>> so can you teach me some words? >> alapa. >> alapa. >> now you're telling me oh, i'm cold. >> alaba. alaba like a mo-fo.

♪

after talking with fanny, i've learned that barrow's native culture is defined by a harmonious connection between nature and man. so to help me see the beauty in this stark setting i've enlisted local photographer john tidwell, who suggested taking me to point barrow, the northernmost point in town. he says it's a popular hangout for polar bears. so let's hope there's no white on black crime today. >> are you john? >> i'm john. >> should i be scared? >> i'm not but you should be. come on in. >> i'll be scared. good thing i have a head start on fear. all right. thanks, john. >> welcome aboard. >> this is an environmentalist's nightmare. chasing after polar bears in a humvee. >> we're going to hit some real rough terrain. so hang on.

>> whoa. okay. oh. >> we're going to go over this drift. >> what are the odds we survive? >> it's not survive. it's don't tip over. >> oh, okay. we both have different goals. good thing i got my life insurance renewed for active stupid. >> we're good. >> you're good. i on the other hand am going to have to get my long underwear dry cleaned. >> we're going to keep our eye out for any paw prints going across the road. >> we haven't seen a bear yet but this could be a spot where a bear could be. >> yeah, he could be sleeping behind there. >> oh, good. >> i've explained to my children, don't shoot the bear that gets me. he's just doing what comes natural. >> that's how i feel about the police. >> see how there's a bear paw print on top? see that? >> yeah. oh, wow. so john, tell me exactly where we are. >> we're almost to the end of

the peninsula that is point barrow. little-known fact. the point 500 years ago used to go two miles further out than we're now going. >> is that climate change? >> it has to be. what else would cause the ice to melt and raise the oceans? >> homosexuality? i'm just -- what i heard on the 700 club. >> come on, i'll show you something i think is interesting. >> okay. >> this is the furthest place north in america. all land is south of here. >> i can see the beauty. >> and actually, if you look, there's the water right there. >> wow. >> all these bergs along here are just waves that have frozen and been purnd up. >> this is the northernmost tip of the united states of america. >> gout it. that's it. 20 years ago we can't be standing right here. there would be 20 bears walking along the coast. nowadays lucky to see two or three bears together. you can't deny it. i'm not an environmentalist by any stretch of the imagination. but it's warming up.

there's a big difference. and they are threatened. >> alaska has its fair share of endangered animals, but at the top of the list are six species of whales. starting in the early 1900s commercial whaling, which is the hunting of whales for profit, nearly depleted alaska's whale population before it was internationally banned in 1986. but long before commercial whaling existed barrow's native tribes hunted whales in a tradition called subsistence whaling, which is the harvesting of whales for the survival of the community. this way of hunting is still popular today. in fact, crews are allowed to harvest 25 whilales per year because not one ounce is sold. and tonight i'm going to the home of herman ashic, a local whaleboat captain, to learn about why whaling is still important in the increasingly modern barrow, and to sample a local delicacy. mm. whale blubber.

the other other other white meat. >> so this is the skin and the blubber of the bohit whale. we eat it raw and frozen. the bohit whale is our primary source of nutrition and keeps us warm in the cold winter months. >> okay. >> so if you want to try the skin and the blubber, there's your chance. you'll see what it tastes like. >> tell me what i'm about to eat. >> the black part of it is the skin, and then the pink part is the blubber. >> okay. when i was a little kid, i said one day i want to be a comedian. i never imagined i'd end up eating whale blubber. >> and it's filled with omega 3s. >> oh. so it's good for me. it tastes very -- it tastes healthy. >> and so this is the meat part. we cut them into slabs about this big. >> okay. let me try a little salt. as an african-american we kind of put salt on everything. >> so here's the salt right there. >> put a little bit -- oops. that's a lot of salt. that's how my grandmother would

have done it. yeah. i've never tasted anything like this before. you can really taste the meat. >> yeah. >> now, is this a whale you that caught in. >> the whale that we were blessed with last fall. the way we look at whaling is we don't go out and catch the whale, we're blessed with it by god. a whale will offer itself to a captain or a crew that knows will take care of it by sharing it with everybody in the community. especially the ones that aren't able to hunt for themselves. and so it's a really spiritual -- spiritual thing. >> in the lower 48 a lot of people have no idea about any of this and when they hear the word whaling they have negative connotations around it. >> mm-hmm. >> what do you think about people's other connotations of whaling? >> i have no ill feelings towards people like that. come all the way to barrow, alaska and experience it yourself. you can't plant any gardens. and most of the meat you can buy from the store it's quite expensive.

i'm just a person trying to survive. >> i wouldn't have thought about it from the side of like your people were doing it for 10,000 years and it was only when commercial fishermen came in it sounds like it got messed up. >> yeah. >> but that shouldn't stop you from being able to live your traditions. >> yes. this is what i learned from my father. he learned it from his father. and through generation and generation it just was handed down. >> mm-hmm. >> and i'm going to be doing the same thing with my twin boys that are 10. >> i don't think there's a tradition i have in my family that i've been doing with my dad since i was 10. i know that must mean a lot to you to be able to take your sons out there. >> to my last dying breath i'm going to instill whaling in them. >> all right. yeah. it's a lot going on. but i think i would have to fry it up. you are you? be the you who doesn't cover your moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. be the you who shows up in that dress. who hugs a friend. who is done with treatments that don't give you clearer skin.

be the you who controls your psoriasis with stelara® just 4 doses a year after 2 starter doses. stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections and cancer. some serious infections require hospitalization. before treatment, get tested for tuberculosis. before starting stelara® tell your doctor if you think you have an infection or have symptoms such as: fever, sweats, chills, muscle aches or cough. always tell your doctor if you have any signs of infection, have had cancer, if you develop any new skin growths or if anyone in your house needs or has recently received a vaccine. alert your doctor of new or worsening problems, including headaches, seizures, confusion and vision problems these may be signs of a rare, potentially fatal brain condition. some serious allergic reactions can occur. do not take stelara® if you are allergic to stelara® or any of its ingredients. most people using stelara® saw 75% clearer skin and the majority were rated as cleared or minimal at 12 weeks. be the you who talks to your dermatologist about stelara®.

i ate whale. exactly. like mm, whoa, yes. yeah. they offered me whale. i'm not really an adventurous eater. i like all of my sushi fried. you know what i'm saying? i'm like can you tempura this? i'm the guy. i'm that asshole at the sushi

restaurant who's like can you tempura everything? my family frs alabama. we tempura everything. and what they do with the whales is they go harvest the whales and bring them in and they don't sell it. they pass it out to the community. everybody gets some of the whale. they keep it together. you know, we don't even do that shit with pizza sometimes. i bought it. that slice is mine. i bought it. that slice is mine. >> after a long night of texting my berkeley hippie friends to apologize for eating whale, it's time to catch up with c.j. >> hey, c.j., you'll never guess what i had to eat last night. >> last night? >> i had whale last night. >> really? >> yeah. i ate some whale. >> you like it? >> uh. >> okay. >> last night's meeting with whale boat captain herman has me finally feeling like i'm seeing the real alaska. to stay on the trail i've been invited by nok, a young whaler,

to observe the sewing of seal skin that will cover the whale boat, or the umiak. my presence here is no small feat. our cameras are the first to gain access to this sacred tradition. >> tell me a little about where we're at. this is the actual boat, right? >> this is the frame of the umiak. >> and tell me what is this i'm smelling? >> you are smelling the seal skin. >> the seal skin. now, to me it smells pretty thick. >> it's pretty strong. >> it's not just because i'm from the outside. this is strong to you too. >> it's supposed to smell like that. >> i feel like my clothes going back to california are probably going to smell a little bit like this. >> a little bit. every other year we have to reskin the boat, and we use bearded seal to skin the boat. >> now, my guess is that the skin is waterproof. >> the skin is waterproof. yes, it is. it's tough. it's pliable. it stretches. >> how long does it take for this process? do you know? >> a couple of days to thaw, scrape it, and then maybe a day or two to sew it.

>> is it always women who dot sewing? >> yes. the men can't go get the whale without the women preparing the boat. it takes everybody. >> wouldn't it be easier to just buy a boat? >> the way they're doing it is the way the inupiaq people have done it for thousands of years, and they want to adhere to their traditions as much as possible. >> you're a native alaskan, correct? >> yes, sir. i grew up in the interior of alaska. so i grew up in the alaskan culture. winipaqs are on the coast. they're the eskimos. we're the indians. the athabascan. i'm half aechlt aechlt thabascan. >> oh. so even though you're from a different culture, you're from the interior they've semd you up here. >> yes. the way we live is not that much different from the way they live here. togetherness. we live as i acommunity, and we want to adhere to the old ways. >> that's a big thing about community, you certainly see people with sxarz on snow machines and cell phones sxichltpads but clearly there's an effort to keep traditions.

>> and it's a proven method and it works. >> how can 10,000 years be wrong? >> how can 10,000 years be wrong? >> while this boat won't be ready for a few day, nok took me outside to show me what the finished product looks like. >> this is our boat we finished last week. >> this is your crew's boat. >> yes, sir. >> wow. >> brand new skin. >> it's got that new skin look. >> it's got that new skin smell. >> yeah, new skin smell. it seems to me nothing symbolizes the town of barrow more than whaling because it wraps up all the traditions and the language and wanting to e h teach the youth and the next generation about what the ancestors did. whaling's a thing that sums all that up. >> barrow's built around whaling. barrow's a whaling community. >> and it will always be a whaling community. >> hopefully. >> nok's enthusiasm for whaling shows he's embracing his barrow culture. but like many others in barrow he's non-native. i want to know about the dining choice these people face,

embrace the past or fall in line with the future. >> so talk a little bit about why holding on to those traditionsize so important for you. you're saying i'm going to learn the tradition for the rest of america. >> i'm an american. but i'm native american. i'm proud of that. >> what does it mean to go whaling? what is that process? >> it's a family thing that we do as a community. you know, it brings us all together. it's not like we're stockpiling it, trying to make money off it or anything. everything is distributed evenly. >> in the lower 48 if somebody hunts and kills like a deer they just take that deer home. we're selfish. that's what i'm trying to say. why is it it automatically goes back to the community? >> i'm not going to sit there and eat and watch my neighbor starve. it doesn't feel right, man. >> you're right. >> even if i don't know the person. you know? >> see, that's the big thing that we in a lot of the lower 48, if i know you, if you're my friend -- >> then you might get something. >> and i'm not busy.

i'll help you. you have the good fortune despite everything that you still can hold on to your traditions. >> and that's why it makes it so important. barrow's a melting pot. there are people who'd rather watch tv shows. >> now, what's so wrong with tv shows? >> and emulate what they see on tv. if you were in the city you could live like that, you could do that. but to do that here and succeed is going to be difficult. o'you know? but there are a lot of people who think like i do, who want to see this culture succeed, want to see the kids out there whaling and doing what the elders want us to do. we're all going to be teachers. because we have an opportunity right now. we have an opportunity to see this to the next generation. once it's gone it's gone. if i allow my kids to let it he gorks it's going to be gone. >> and to not have that would be -- >> it would be tragic. yeah. it would suck. >> that's a good word. that just about says it.

it would suck. it seems like to me you guys are doing an incredible job. i don't know. feels like i'm in the past and the future. but i'm at the right place. you know what i mean? >> hey, man. there you go.

♪ it's my last night in barrow. and since i've spent most of my trip learning about traditions

past, nok offered me the opportunity to try the new school of travel. >> you do all of your own stunts. >> i know. nok, when i met you two days ago, i was like, i hope i end up with my life in his hands. i just lost feeling in my nose. >> it's got to be 20 below. >> i'm actually frozen in this position now. >> almost there. >> yay. >> we're headed out for one last authentic alaskan experience. seeing the northern lights. that is, if my eyes don't rip out. and i think i froze the part of my brain that remembers my birthday. >> thanks for taking me on the

snow machine. i appreciate it. >> it was a blast. >> when i first got to alaska i was in anchorage. anchorage is a small town. it's like any town usa. on tv when you turn on alaska you don't see a small town. i kept asking people is this the real alaska? people said come up to barrow. i came to barrow. and i did a bunch of stuff this week. i dog sledded and dhooid tried whale and went snow machining. and didn't find any polar bears. but i think there's something about people like me exotifying a place like this and making it seem almost magical. it's a totally different thing than i was expecting. i know it's not living here. what does living in this part of the world mean to you if. >> living in this part of the world is tough. it ain't easy. you run out of stuff you may have to wait a couple of days. you accept that. >> you have to think more about how you're living. >> yeah. it's important to know that you have a responsibility to look ute f out for others. you may not know a person but you have a responsibility as a community member to look out for one another.

make sure everybody survives. that's why we continue to whale, it's to try to preserve that. you know? >> mm-hmm. >> that sense of community and oneness. >> well, i hope you're able to continue whaling and continue that sense of community. >> thank you. i hope so too. >> and i appreciate you talking to me. but where are the northern lights? do i just not have the right eyes to see them? >> they're just hiding from you. >> one thing, nok is luckily this is television. through the magic of tv i can just go like this. ah. look at those northern lights. man, that's beautiful. aren't they beautiful, nok? >> they're beautiful. >> yeah. wow. we got so lucky on the last night we were in town, we saw the most beautiful northern lights show ever. >> snap your finger again. let's see a polar bear. >> i think -- you know what? i'm good. i'm good. >> okay. so these northern lights might not be real. but in barrow i feel like i saw the real alaska. sure, it's still partially defined by its weather and

remoteness. >> whoa! >> but it isn't the last frontier at all. it's an increasingly modern and multiethnic population whose culture is seeing the type of change that diversity brings. and while there's still an internal struggle to hold on to tradition, barrow has a sense of community unrivaled by the rest of america. >> you have a nice day. >> bye-bye. >> you know, c.j., i think i'll miss you most of all. >> good luck. i hope you come back to barrow again. >> i will. thank you. >> now it's time to go back to regular old california. where sure, i'll be lucky to get some help on the side of the road. but the wi-fi is fantastic. >> i'm not going to miss you, cold. ♪

>> this is nicer than my hotel room. bottles flying, tear gas fills the air, at euro 2016 football tournament, russia and england. and trump launches a new attack on a former presidential nominee. and iraqi troop close in on fallujah. welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i'm george howell. cnn "newsroom" starts right now. ♪