The Tikiġaġmiut (), an

Iñupiat The Iñupiat (or Inupiat, Iñupiaq or Inupiaq;) are a group of Alaska Natives, whose traditional territory roughly spans northeast from Norton Sound on the Bering Sea to the northernmost part of the Canada–United States border. Their current ...

people, live two hundred miles north of the Arctic Circle, southwest of Utqiagvik,

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

, in the village of

Point Hope Point Hope ( ik, Tikiġaq, ) is a city in North Slope Borough, Alaska, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 674, down from 757 in 2000. In the 2020 Census, population rose to 830. Like many isolated communities in Alaska, the c ...

( ik, Tikiġaq). The Tikigaq are the oldest continuously settled Native American site on the continent. They are native whale hunters with centuries of experience co-existing with the Chukchi Sea that surrounds the Point Hope cape on three sides. "Tikiġaq" means "resembles an index finger (point of land)" in the

Iñupiaq language Iñupiaq Iñupiaq : , Inupiaq, Iñupiat , Inupiat, Iñupiatun or Alaskan Inuit is an Inuit language, or perhaps languages, spoken by the Iñupiat people in northern and northwestern Alaska, as well as a small adjacent part of the Northwest Ter ...

History

About 1,500 years ago, when Tikiġaġmiut first settled the Point Hope area, they did not depend on whale hunting. Instead, early Tikiġaġmiut were notable for producing elaborate and beautiful art in an artstyle called ''Ipiutak'', after the place where archaeologists first found the artwork. But the Tikagaq's past is a present-day mystery with no explanation for where the ideas for the art came from, nor how a large population was sustained during their earliest centuries without whale dependence. The Tikigaq relied on berries and roots for food, local willows for house frames, and moss or grass for lamp wicks and insulation. Today, distribution and movement of game, especially the

beluga The beluga whale (/bɪˈluːɡə/) (Delphinapterus leucas) is an Arctic and sub-Arctic cetacean. It is one of two members of the family Monodontidae, along with the narwhal, and the only member of the genus Delphinapterus. It is also known as the wh ...

, bowhead whale, caribou,

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to imp ...

walrus The walrus (''Odobenus rosmarus'') is a large flippered marine mammal with a discontinuous distribution about the North Pole in the Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. The walrus is the only living species in the fami ...

, fur-bearing animals, polar bear and grizzly bear, directly affect the lives of Tikigaq.

Daily life

While ancillary health care is provided by the local volunteer fire department, the closest physician is in Kotzebue, Alaska, away. About one in three Tikiġaġmiut homes lack running water or sewer connections.

Culture

Also known as ''Tikigaqmuit'' or ''Tikigaqmiut'', the Tikiġaġmiut people used to live close together for half the year in underground whale-bone, driftwood, and dirt houses that were connected by tunnels. The men's unit was called the ''

qargi Qargi (), Qasgi or Qasgiq (by the Yup'iks), Qaygiq (by the Cup'iks), Kashim (by the Russians), Kariyit, a traditional large semi-subterranean men's community house' (or "communal men's house, men's house, ceremonial house, council house, dance ...

''. Tikigaqmiut today live in modern houses. Their connections include the spirits of ancestors, the sun, the moon, and animal worship. Tikiġaġmiut sustain myths about their homeland once being a great whale killed by a shaman's harpoon. Their year involves storytelling, rituals, dances, shamanic seances, puppet shows, divinations, spirit guests, encounters with animal souls, and lunar rites, culminating in the spring with the annual whale hunt. Tikiġaġmiut people have complex kinship and alliance webs.

Education

Tikigaq School, part of the

North Slope Borough School District North Slope Borough School District (NSBSD) is a school district headquartered in Utqiaġvik, Alaska (formerly Barrow). It serves all areas of the North Slope Borough. Text list/ref> Schools K-12 schools: * Alak School ( Wainwright) * Kali Sch ...

, is the second largest K-12 in Alaska, serving more than 250 children. Notable to the school's curriculum is a three-week whaling class where a small group of students learn specific whaling traditions and skills.

Notes

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