Alaska Natives compete in the World Eskimo and Indian Olympics (WEIO) over a four day period each July in Fairbanks, Alaska, attracting people from all over the world. The morning and afternoon sessions are free and I was fortunate enough to attend a few events before making it to work. On Wednesday, the opening afternoon, I saw the preliminaries for the One Hand Reach. In this event competitors must balance all of their body-weight onto their fist and reach up with their free hand to touch a ball hanging far above their heads.
David Thomas, who placed 2nd last year with 66'', prepares to reach. He effortlessly made it into the finals.
Another competitor barely misses the 6 foot high ball but was given another chance. The WEIO events are more about community building and encouraging fellow competitors than about winning.
On Friday I was fortunate enough to watch the last few minutes of the Two Foot High Kick before catching the popular Ear Pull event. In the Two Foot High Kick, a traditional Inuit jumping event considered by many to be the most demanding Arctic sport, competitors must jump up with both feet, kick a ball well above their heads with both feet and land again with both feet. At no point can their feet be separated.
This jump was disqualified.
He did better on his second try.
Right before contact with the ball, this guy made it look easy.
Now for the Ear Pull, where two people sit across from each other with a string looped around one ear each that they then pull away from each other, hoping the other person will give up first.
It's basically about pain endurance.
The ref makes sure the string is in position and then calls the match. Each match has three rounds to determine who moves on. When a person wins a round, they keep the string looped around the same ear but the loser gets to switch to a fresh ear.
Competitors stare each other down before the match starts.
It's easy to see why the woman on the left wearing the head scarf is the champion for the second year in a row.
The loser poses for a photo while nursing her bleeding ear.
There were a lot of people with paper towels on their ears.
The men's final match was seriously brutal. I had a hard time getting photos because they pulled hard and fast and blood actually spurted! They had to clean the mat between rounds. The man in the light gray shirt ended up winning the gold. This is an event I was more than happy not to compete in!
Next I caught the beginning of the native clothing regalia contest, which thankfully did not involve any bloodshed!
My vote is on her. She made this outfit herself.
A young woman stands before the judges in her traditional wedding dress.
Between the reaching, jumping, ear pulling and traditional clothes, WEIO proved an interesting event I was glad I had a chance to attend. I'm just disappointed that I missed Friday night's seal skinning and muktuk eathing contests because they would have been really awesome to watch!
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