Nation IN BRIEF : ALASKA : Traditional Events Call Native Athletes
About 150 athletes gathered in Fairbanks, Alaska, to tug each others’ ears, skin seals or devour whale hide at the World Eskimo-Indian Olympics. Athletes, who must be at least one quarter Aleut, Indian or Eskimo, compete in 17 events. In the ear-pull, two competitors face each other with a string tied to one of each contestant’s ears. At a judge’s signal, both pull their heads backward until one of the contestants gives up. Other contests include the greased pole walk, in which the athletes must walk on a thin, greased pole with bare feet, and the muktuk eating contest, a race to consume a chewy piece of whale skin first.
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