Photographer Page

Juan Herrero

Dogs play on the skin of a polar bear, which was shot last winter. Sage Ahkinga, the grandson of the current tribal chief, Robert Ahkinga, wanders on the right.

Russians arrive for a family reunion in Little Diomede. During the Cold War, Russia relocated Big Diomedians to the mainland to turn that island into a military base. The border became known as the 'Ice Curtain'. Now, they don't remember each other and can't understand each other except for a few lingering Inupiaq words. But, this summer, they had a reunion for the first time since the early 1990s.

Cousins Justin and Samuel Ahkinga steam wood to make a traditional drum. They bend the softened wood into a circle and stretch parts of a walrus stomach across the opening.

Little Diomede is one of the few places in the U.S. where people (natives only) are allowed to hunt using live decoys. Here, Ed Soolok tied an auklet to a decoy line by its beak. This lures other birds to the area for hunting.

Teenagers play late into the summer evening, when it doesn't get dark until after midnight.

Teenagers huddle on the school porch to get Wi-Fi, which is turned on every afternoon (often between 4 and 9 pm).

The weekly 'Eskimo Dance' at Saint Jude Catholic Church.

Henry Soolook, the 'chopper guy' holds down the supplies while the helicopter takes off back to Nome. A subsidised helicopter brings the mail every Wednesday, weather depending.

Kevin Ozenna relaxes at home in the island's sole village, which is home to about a hundred people. Woodrow Koosiq looks at his phone as children play.

Little Diomedians going crabbing. On the days when the ocean waters calm down, the men go check their crab pots along the coastline.