Inupiaq
The Inupiaq people most nearly fit the stereotype of Eskimo. The land is frozen much of the year, and ocean ice is continuous from the north Alaskan shore across the North Pole much of the year. Traditionally, Inupiaq people hunted polar bear, walrus, seal, musk-ox, and whales, and fished for salmon, cod, and Arctic char. They also gathered berries, and other vegetation during the short summer season.
The Inupiaq people are among the few indigenous who utilized whale. Whales spend the winters further south in the Pacific, and then come to the Arctic Ocean in the summer, when feed is plentiful. Before contact with Europeans, Inupiaq people built boats of walrus skin on wooden frames. There are no trees in this part of the world, however enough drift wood was available for boat building.
They hunted bowhead whales. They used harpoons and ropes made from skins. Several boats would hunt together and if one crew harpooned a whale, the others would come and help. The Inupiaq people developed a tradition for how a whale was to be divided. If a whale was killed, the captain and the crew of the boat that first struck the whale received choice parts of it. Everyone in the community helped and everyone shared the whale.
Whales have dark rich meat. The most prized part of the whale however, was the thick black skin and the layer of fat under it. The skin and fat are cut into small strips called "muktuk."
Until the Makah Indians on the Olympic peninsula in Washington revived whale hunting in 1998, the Inupiaq where the only indigenous people in the world who continued to the present time to hunt whales. In the present time, the have adapted western technology to whale hunting. They now use outboard motors and explosive harpoon heads. Some still prefer skin boats, because aluminum and fiberglass are too noisy.
Whaling is controlled by the International Whaling Commission(IWC). Some environmental groups have opposed Eskimo whaling, and that raised a great controversy. Ultimately, however, the IWC permitted the continuation was whaling. The number of strikes and the number of whales to be taken by each community is strictly limited.
Traditionally clothing was ma
Inupiaq people continued to hunt and utilize tradition foods and clothing, however, their life styles have greatly changed since contact with Europeans. Whalers from New England had the first extended contact with the Inupiaq. Some of the whalers settled and intermarried with the Inupiaq. At present, several Inupiaq families have surnames brought in by the whalers.
In the 1960's, change was accelerated, by the discovery of oil at Prudhoe Bay, which is in the middle of Inupiaq country. Prudhoe Bay is the richest oil field ever discovered in the United States. Billions of dollars have been spent in oil exploration and development on the North Slope. In the 1970's, the Inupiaq people formed the "North Slope Borough," which is similar to county governance in other states. The North Slope Borough taxes oil development within the borough and is now the wealthiest borough/county government in the United States. The borough and the oil industry provides many jobs on the North Slope, not all of them are held by Inupiaq people, because others have been attracted by the good pay. However, the Inupiaq people have a strong economic base in western society, and have homes, cars, education similar to that of other Americans.
INDEX - Geography - Wildlife - People - Resources - Events - State Facts
Fast Facts - History - Government - Transportation - Climate - Communication
