Kiliii Yuyan is an indigenous Nanai photographer who documents native cultures and wilderness conservation issues. He spent time with the Inupiat, an indigenous community from North Slope Alaska, whose lifestyle and culture is dependent on subsistence harvest of marine mammals.
Members of the community are allowed to catch limited number of bowhead whales a year from stable populations. The first boats to harpoon the whale receive shares. The lead whaling crew divide the head between them.
Above, Flora Aiken gives a blessing to the first bowhead whale of the spring season. The Inupiat have a rich spiritual life that centres around the gift of the whale to the community.
This camp, erected miles out on the sea ice, is an Inupiat home away from home during hunting season.
Six-year-old Steven Reich examines his father's umiaq, or skin boat used for whaling. His father Tad, captain of Yugu crew, expresses excitement about taking Steven out whaling on the ice for the first time. "I am proud of my son - he's here to learn to be a hunter," he says.
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