One With the Whale

The Apassingoks are a typical American family. They watch the NBA, have a dog named Blue, and are often glued to social media. They live on St. Lawrence, a tiny Alaskan island in the Bering Sea, with their son Chris, a shy teenager. But, unlike mainland kids, he must regularly cut school and head out in -20°F into the deadly waters to provide food for his family and his village. Because on this island, if you don’t hunt you die.

In Gambell, Chris is one of the few subsistence hunters of his generation, an ancient practice of providing food for the entire community, but a way of life which is becoming infinitely more difficult due to climate change. So, when Chris becomes the youngest person to ever harvest a whale, the village is ecstatic. He is providing a heroic service and continuing an important cultural and spiritual legacy. His proud mother posts photos of the hunt on social media to share with other Alaska Native communities. But, to their horror, instead of praise, this vulnerable kid receives thousands of hate messages and death threats from Paul Watson and his international army of environmental activists. 

Emotionally distraught and struggling to graduate high school, Chris falls into a dangerous tailspin and looks to his family, especially his older sister Nalu, for help to counter these attacks.  But Nalu faces her own challenges, she is secretly gay and must leave the island and its restrictive religious morality to find love and happiness.  

ONE WITH THE WHALE unravels the multiple challenges that Chris, Nalu, and their family face. Caught in the crosshairs of climate change, food security, online bullying and centuries of racially motivated attacks from outsiders, the Apassingoks and their entire village are desperately trying to hold on to their culture and traditions. To survive, they will need to find a way to navigate these precarious times and strike a balance between their Indigenous Lifeways and being modern Americans.