Earth Institute News posted 02/03/00 01:OO P.M. EST Tree-Ring Evidence Confirms Alaskan Inuit Saga of Climate Disaster Photos: (above two photos) tundra, with few trees, along the Noatak River to the northeast of Seward Peninsula -- similar terrain to that of the Inuit Saga salmon drying on racks by a village The salmon are one of the food sources that would have been lost due to the freezing of the rivers in the summer of 1783. William Oquilluk who, with the assistance of Laurel L. Bland, made the written record of the oral history of his people. His book is the key to Jacoby's paper. Oquilluk began writing down the stories from his grandfather and other elders when he was about 18, lost all the writings in a cabin fire about 20 years later, then after a few years started all over again. At age 71 he met Laurel Bland and she helped convert the writings into printed text. The book was completed just before he died, and published in 1973. Oquilluk, W. A. 1973. "People of Kauwerak: Legends of the Northern Eskimo". American Methodist University, Anchorage, Alaska, 242 p. with the assistance of Laurel L. Bland. Gordon Jacoby extracting a core from a white spruce tree near treeline in Alaska. One can see the core sample on the extractor coming out of the tree between the two hands. Only a small hole is left in the tree. It fills with sap and heals in one or two growing seasons. Gordon Jacoby holding the handle of his corer in front of a 350-year old white spruce in Alaska. Samples are taken from living trees and also dead trees like the horizontal one lying on the ground. Dead trees can be crossdated with the living tree samples to extend the record back in time.

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