Iñupiat

From Vero - Wikipedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Template:Short description Template:Redirect Template:Original research Template:Infobox ethnic group Template:Infobox ethnonym

The Inupiat<ref name="anlc">Template:Cite web</ref> (singular: Iñupiaq<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>), also known as Alaskan Inuit, 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Their current communities include 34 villages across Iñupiat Nunaat (Iñupiaq lands), including seven Alaskan villages in the North Slope Borough, affiliated with the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation; eleven villages in Northwest Arctic Borough; and sixteen villages affiliated with the Bering Straits Regional Corporation.<ref name=medicine>"Inupiaq (Inupiat)—Alaska Native Cultural Profile." www.nnlm.nlm.nih.gov National Network of Libraries of Medicine. Retrieved 4 Dec 2013.</ref> They often claim to be the first people of the Kauwerak.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Semi-underground men's community house (Qargi) with bowhead whale bones, Point Hope, Alaska, 1885

Name

Inupiat (Template:IPA) is the plural form of the name for the people (e.g., the Inupiat live in several communities.). The singular form is Iñupiaq (Template:IPA) (e.g., She is an Iñupiaq), which can also refer to the language (e.g., She speaks Iñupiaq).<ref name=anlc/> In English, both Iñupiat and Iñupiaq are used as modifiers (e.g., An Inupiat/Iñupiaq librarian, Inupiat/Iñupiaq songs).<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The language is called Iñupiatun in Iñupiatun and frequently in English as well. Iñupiak (Template:IPA) is the dual form.

The roots are iñuk "person" and -piaq "real", i.e., an endonym meaning "real people".<ref>Frederick A. Milan (1959), The acculturation of the contemporary Eskimo of Wainwright Alaska via books.google.com</ref><ref>Johnson Reprint (1962), Prehistoric cultural relations between the Arctic and Temperate zones of North America via books.google.com</ref>

Groups

Ethnic groups

The Inupiat are made up of the following communities Template:Div col

Template:Div col end

Regional corporations

Iñupiaq high-kickball, ca. 1910, Utqiaġvik, Alaska, collection of the NMAI

In 1971, the Alaskan Native Claims Settlement Act established thirteen Alaskan Native Regional Corporations. The purpose of the regional corporations were to create institutions in which Native Alaskans would generate venues to provide services for its members, who were incorporated as "shareholders".<ref name=":0">Template:Cite journal</ref> Three regional corporations are located in the lands of the Iñupiat:

Tribal governments

Prior to colonization, the Iñupiat exercised sovereignty based on complex social structures and order. Despite the transfer of land from Russia to the U.S. and eventual annexation of Alaska, Iñupiat sovereignty continues to be articulated in various ways. A limited form of this sovereignty has been recognized by Federal Indian Law, which outlines the relationship between the federal government and American Indians. The Federal Indian Law recognized Tribal governments as having limited self-determination. In 1993, the federal government extended federal recognition to Alaskan Natives tribes.<ref name=":02">Template:Cite book</ref> Tribal governments created avenues for tribes to contract with the federal government to manage programs that directly benefit Native peoples.<ref name=":02" /> Throughout Inupiat lands, there are various regional and village tribal governments. The tribal governments vary in structure and services provided, but often are related to the social well-being of the communities. Services included but are not limited to education, housing, tribal services, and supporting healthy families and cultural connection to place and community.

The following Alaska Native tribal entities for the Iñupiat are recognized by the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs:

Community Native tribal entities Native village corporation Native regional corporation
Alatna (Alaasuq) Alatna Village None Doyon, Limited
Ambler (Ivisaappaat) Native Village of Ambler None NANA Corporation
Anaktuvuk Pass (Anaqtuuvak/Naqsraq) Village of Anaktuvuk Pass Nunamiut Corporation Arctic Slope Regional Corporation
Atqasuk (Atqasuk) Native Village of Atqasuk Atqasuk Corporation Arctic Slope Regional Corporation
Brevig Mission (Sitaisaq/Sinauraq) Native Village of Brevig Mission None Bering Straits Native Corporation
Buckland (Nunatchiaq/Kaŋiq) Native Village of Buckland None NANA Corporation
Council (Akauchak/Kaułiq) Native Village of Council None Bering Straits Native Corporation
Deering (Ipnatchiaq) Native Village of Deering None NANA Corporation
Diomede (Iŋaliq) Native Village of Diomede None Bering Straits Native Corporation
Elim (Nivviaqhchauġluq) Native Village of Elim None Bering Straits Native Corporation
Golovin (Siŋik/Chiŋik) Chinik Eskimo Community None Bering Straits Native Corporation
Kaktovik (Qaaktuġvik) Kaktovik Village Kaktovik Inupiat Corporation Arctic Slope Regional Corporation
Kiana (Katyaaq) Native Village of Kiana None NANA Corporation
King Island (Ugiuvak) King Island Native Community King Island Native Corporation Bering Straits Regional Corporation
Kivalina (Kivalliñiq) Native Village of Kivalina None NANA Corporation
Kobuk (Laugviik) Native Village of Kobuk None NANA Corporation
Kotzebue (Qikiqtaġruk) Native Village of Kotzebue Kikiktagruk Corporation NANA Corporation
Koyuk (Kuuyuk) Native Village of Koyuk None Bering Straits Native Corporation
Mary's Igloo (Qawiaraq/Iglu) Native Village of Mary's Igloo None Bering Straits Native Corporation
Noatak (Nuataaq) Native Village of Noatak None NANA Corporation
Nome (Sitnasuaq) Nome Eskimo Community Sitnasuak Corporation Bering Straits Native Corporation
Noorvik (Nuurvik) Noorvik Native Community None NANA Corporation
Nuiqsut (Nuiqsat) Native Village of Nuiqsut Kuukpik Arctic Slope Native Corporation
Point Hope (Tikiġaq) Native Village of Point Hope Tikiġaq Corporation Arctic Slope Regional Corporation
Point Lay (Kali) Native Village of Point Lay Cully Corporation Arctic Slope Regional Corporation
Selawik (Akuliġaq/Siiḷivik) Native Village of Selawik None NANA Corporation
Shaktoolik (Saqtuliq) Native Village of Shaktoolik None Bering Straits Native Corporation
Shishmaref (Qigiqtaq) Native Village of Shishmaref Shismaref Native Corporation Bering Straits Native Corporation
Shungnak (Isiŋnaq) Native Village of Shungnak None NANA Corporation
Solomon (Aaŋuutaq) Village of Solomon None Bering Straits Native Corporation
Teller (Tala/Iġaluŋniaġvik) Native Village of Teller Teller Native Corporation Bering Straits Native Corporation
Unalakleet (Uŋalaqłiq) Native Village of Unalakleet Unalakleet Native Corporation Bering Straits Regional Corporation
Utqiaġvik Native Village of Barrow Inupiat Traditional Government Ukpeagvik Corporation Arctic Slope Regional Corporation
Wainwright (Ulġuniq) Village of Wainwright Olgoonik Corporation Arctic Slope Regional Corporation
Wales (Kiŋigin) Native Village of Wales None Bering Straits Regional Corporation
White Mountain (Nachizrvik) Native Village of White Mountain None Bering Straits Native Corporation

Languages

Inuit, the language and the people, extend borders and dialects across the Circumpolar North. Inuit are the Native inhabitants of Northern Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. The Inuit languages form a dialect continuum and have differing names depending on the region it is spoken in. In Northern Alaskan, the Inuit language is called Iñupiatun.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite book</ref> Within Iñupiatun, there are four major dialects: North Slope, Malimiut, Bering Straits, and Qawiaraq.<ref name=":1" /> Before European contact, the Iñupiaq dialects flourished. Due to harsh assimilation efforts in Native American boarding schools, Natives were punished for speaking their language.<ref name="medicine" /><ref name=":02"/> Now only 2,000 of the approximately 24,500 Inupiat can speak their Native tongue.<ref name=":1" />

Revitalization efforts have focused on Alaskan Native languages and ways of life. Located in Kotzebue, Alaska, an Iñupiaq language immersion school called Nikaitchuat Iḷisaġviat was established in 1998. The immersion school's mission is to "instill the knowledge of Iñupiaq identity, dignity, respect and to cultivate a love of lifelong learning".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> June Nelson Elementary school is another school in Kotzebue that is working to include more content into their curriculum about Iñupiaq language and culture.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Nome Elementary School in Nome, Alaska has also put in place plans to incorporate an Iñupiaq language immersion program.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> There are many courses being offered at the various campuses a part of the University of Alaska system. University of Alaska Fairbanks offers several course in the Iñupiaq language. University of Alaska Anchorage offers multiple levels of Elementary Iñupiaq Language and Alaskan Native language apprenticeship and fluency intensive courses.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Since 2017, a grassroots group of Iñupiaq language learners have organized Iḷisaqativut, a two-week Iñupiaq language intensive that is held throughout communities in the Inupiaq region.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The first gathering was held in Utqiaġvik in 2017, Siqnasuaq (Nome) in 2018, and Qikiqtaġruk (Kotzebue) in 2019.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2014, linguist and educator Edna Ahgeak MacLean released an Iñupiaq-English dictionary after three decades of research, compiling over 19,000 entries. Kawerak, a nonprofit organization from the Bering Strait region, has created a language glossary that features terms from Iñupiaq, as well as terms from English, Yup'ik, and St. Lawrence Island Yupik.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Several Iñupiat developed pictographic writing systems in the early twentieth century. It is known as Alaskan Picture Writing.<ref name=medicine/>

History

Along with other Inuit groups, the Iñupiaq originate from the Thule culture. Circa 300 B.C., the Thule migrated from islands in the Bering Sea to what now is Alaska.

Iñupiaq groups, in common with Inuit-speaking groups, often have a name ending in "miut," which means 'a people of'. One example is the Nunamiut, a generic term for inland Iñupiaq caribou hunters. During a period of starvation and an influenza epidemic,<ref>Template:Cite bookTemplate:Page needed</ref> most of these people moved to the coast or other parts of Alaska between 1890 and 1910. A number of Nunamiut returned to the mountains in the 1930s.

By 1950, most Nunamiut groups, such as the Killikmiut, had coalesced in Anaktuvuk Pass, a village in north-central Alaska. Some of the Nunamiut remained nomadic until the 1950s.

The Iditarod Trail's antecedents were the native trails of the Dena'ina and Deg Hit'an Athabaskan American Indians and the Inupiat.<ref>The Iditarod National Historic Trail/ Seward to Nome Route: A Comprehensive Management Plan, March 1986. Prepared by Bureau of Land Management, Anchorage District Office, Anchorage, Alaska.</ref>

Subsistence

An Inupiat family from Noatak, Alaska, 1929, photograph by Edward S. Curtis
Public Health nurse with Eskimo and dog team preparing to make a call on local residents, 1956

Iñupiat are hunter-gatherers, as are most Arctic peoples. Iñupiat continue to rely heavily on subsistence hunting and fishing. Depending on their location, they harvest walrus, seal, whale, polar bears, caribou, and fish.<ref name=ana/> Both the inland (Nunamiut) and coastal (Tikiġaġmiut) Inupiat depend greatly on fish. Throughout the seasons, when they are available, food staples also include ducks, geese, rabbits, berries, roots, and shoots.

The inland Iñupiat also hunt caribou, Dall sheep, grizzly bear, and moose. The coastal Inupiat hunt walrus, seals, beluga whales, and bowhead whales. Cautiously, polar bear also is hunted.

The capture of a whale benefits each member of an Iñupiat community, as the animal is butchered and its meat and blubber are allocated according to a traditional formula. Even city-dwelling relatives, thousands of miles away, are entitled to a share of each whale killed by the hunters of their ancestral village. Maktak, which is the skin and blubber of bowhead and other whales, is rich in vitamins A and C.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The vitamin C content of meats is destroyed by cooking, so consumption of raw meats and these vitamin-rich foods contributes to good health in a population with limited access to fruits and vegetables.

A major value within subsistence hunting is the utilization of the whole catch or animal. This is demonstrated in the utilization of the hides to turn into clothing, as seen with seal skin, moose and caribou hides, polar bear hides. Fur from rabbits, beaver, marten, otter, and squirrels are also utilized to adorn clothing for warmth. These hides and furs are used to make parkas, mukluks, hats, gloves, and slippers. Qiviut is also gathered as Muskox shed their underlayer of fur and it is spun into wool to make scarves, hats, and gloves. The use of the animal's hides and fur have kept Inupiat warm throughout the harsh conditions of their homelands, as many of the materials provide natural waterproof or windproof qualities. Other animal parts that have been utilized are the walrus intestines that are made into dance drums and qayaq or umiaq, traditional skin boats.

The walrus tusks of ivory and the baleen of bowhead whales are also utilized as Native expressions of art or tools. The use of these sensitive materials are inline with the practice of utilizing the gifts from the animals that are subsisted. There are protective policies on the harvesting of walrus and whales.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The harvest of walrus solely for the use of ivory is highly looked down upon as well as prohibited by federal law with lengthy and costly punishments.

Since the 1970s, oil and other resources have been an important revenue source for the Iñupiat. The Alaska Pipeline connects the Prudhoe Bay wells with the port of Valdez in south-central Alaska. Because of the oil drilling in Alaska's arid north, however, the traditional way of whaling is coming into conflict with one of the modern world's most pressing demands: finding more oil.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The Iñupiat eat a variety of berries and when mixed with tallow, make a traditional dessert. They also mix the berries with rosehips and highbush cranberries and boil them into a syrup.<ref>Jones, Anore, 1983, Nauriat Niginaqtuat = Plants That We Eat, Kotzebue, Alaska. Maniilaq Association Traditional Nutrition Program, page 105</ref>

Culture

Blanket toss during a Nalukataq in Utqiaġvik, Alaska

Historically, some Iñupiat lived in sedentary communities, while others were nomadic. Some villages in the area have been occupied by Indigenous groups for more than 10,000 years.

The Nalukataq is a spring whaling festival among Inupiat. The festival celebrates traditional whale hunting and honors the whale's spirit as it gave its physical body to feed entire villages. The whale's spirit is honored by dance groups from across the North performing songs and dances.

The Iñupiat Ilitqusiat is a list of values that define Iñupiat. It was created by elders in Kotzebue, Alaska,<ref name=":2">Template:Cite web</ref> yet the values resonate with and have been articulated similarly by other Iñupiat communities.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> These values include: respect for elders, hard work, hunter's success, family roles, humor, respect for nature, knowledge of family tree, respect for others, sharing, love for children, cooperation, avoid conflict, responsibility to tribe, humility, and spirituality.<ref name=":2" />

These values serve as guideposts of how Iñupiat are to live their lives. They inform and can be derived from Iñupiaq subsistence practices.

There is one Iñupiaq culture-oriented institute of higher education, Iḷisaġvik College, located in Utqiaġvik.

Students dressed in kuspuk from Iḷisaġvik College with Senator Lisa Murkowski.

Current issues

Iñupiat have grown more concerned in recent years that climate change is threatening their traditional lifestyle. The warming trend in the Arctic affects their lifestyle in numerous ways, for example: thinning sea ice<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> makes it more difficult to harvest bowhead whales, seals, walrus, and other traditional foods as it changes the migration patterns of marine mammals that rely on iceflows and the thinning sea ice can result in people falling through the ice; warmer winters make travel more dangerous and less predictable as more storms form; later-forming sea ice contributes to increased flooding and erosion along the coast as there is an increase in fall storms, directly imperiling many coastal villages.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Inuit Circumpolar Council, a group representing indigenous peoples of the Arctic, has made the case that climate change represents a threat to their human rights.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The emergence of chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease, traditionally absent from circumpolar populations, has afflicted the Iñupiat. Obesity rates are now on par with American rates, with some 64% of adults having an at-risk BMI.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the Iñupiat population in the United States numbered more than 19,000.Template:Citation needed Most of them live in Alaska.

Iñupiat Nunaŋat (Iñupiat territories)

The North Slope Borough has the following cities Anaktuvuk Pass (Anaqtuuvak, Naqsraq), Atqasuk (Atqasuk), Utqiaġvik (Utqiaġvik, Ukpiaġvik), Kaktovik (Qaaktuġvik), Nuiqsut (Nuiqsat), Point Hope (Tikiġaq), Point Lay (Kali), Wainwright (Ulġuniq)

Map of Alaska highlighting North Slope Borough

Template:Clear

The Northwest Arctic Borough has the following cities Ambler (Ivisaappaat), Buckland (Nunatchiaq, Kaŋiq), Deering (Ipnatchiaq), Kiana (Katyaak, Katyaaq), Kivalina (Kivalliñiq), Kobuk (Laugviik), Kotzebue (Qikiqtaġruk), Noatak (Nuataaq ), Noorvik (Nuurvik), Selawik (Siilvik, Akuligaq ), Shungnak (Isiŋnaq, Nuurviuraq)

Map of Alaska highlighting Northwest Arctic Borough

Template:Clear

The Nome Census Area has the following cities Brevig Mission (Sitaisaq, Sinauraq), Diomede (Iŋalik), Golovin (Siŋik), Koyuk (Kuuyuk), Nome (Siqnazuaq, Sitŋasuaq), Shaktoolik (Saqtuliq), Shishmaref (Qigiqtaq), Teller (Tala, Iġaluŋniaġvik), Wales (Kiŋigin), White Mountain (Natchirsvik), Unalakleet (Uŋalaqłiq)

Map of Alaska highlighting Nome Census Area

Notable Inupiat

Template:Further

See also

References

Template:Reflist

Further reading

  • Heinrich, Albert Carl. A Summary of Kinship Forms and Terminologies Found Among the Inupiaq Speaking People of Alaska. 1950.
  • Sprott, Julie E. Raising Young Children in an Alaskan Iñupiaq Village; The Family, Cultural, and Village Environment of Rearing. West, CT: Bergin & Garvey, 2002. Template:ISBN
  • Chance, Norman A. The Eskimo of North Alaska. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1966. Template:ISBN
  • Chance, Norman A. The Inupiat and Arctic Alaska: An Ethnology of Development. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1990. Template:ISBN
  • Chance, N.A., and Yelena Andreeva. "Sustainability, Equity, and Natural Resource Development in Northwest Siberia and Arctic Alaska." Human Ecology. 1995, vol. 23 (2) [June]

Template:Commons category

Template:Indigenous peoples of Alaska Template:Inuit Template:Authority control

Retrieved from "https://wiki.sarg.dev/index.php?title=Iñupiat&oldid=148107"