Indigenous Iñupiat PeopleMadeline Hall

Michaela HernandezMichael PryerChris Ramirez

Iñupiat

• Traditional clothing: outer and inner pullover tops (Parkas ,Kuspuks/qiipaghaq)

• Outer and inner pants• Socks, Boots• Tops/Pants=Caribou Skin

with fur• Fur faces inside on inner

garments, outside on outer garments

The name "Inupiaq," means "real or genuine person”

Where do they reside?

• Historically, Inupiat people can be found in North Western Alaska within the artic circle, but they also previously conquered the Circumpolar North(Canada, Siberia, and Alaska).

• They are currently located all over the world.

1,820 Bering Strait Inupiat3,675 Kotzebue Sound Inupiat1,850 North Alaska Coast Inupiat 1,050 Interior North Inupiat

Demographics and Language• Barrow, (population 4,434) and Kotzebue,

(3,107), are the region's largest cities where the population is mostly Inupiat Eskimo.

• Alaskan Inupiaq includes two major dialect groups: North Alaskan Inupiaq and Seward Peninsula Inupiaq.

• Alaska is home to about 13,500 Inupiat, of whom about 3,000, mostly over age 40, speak the language.

Houses and Settlement

• Traditionally, homes are usually made from sod blocks, laid over driftwood or whale bone and walrus bone frames (dome-shaped).

• Usually hold 8 to 12 people

Resources• Their lives evolve

around the whale, walrus, seal, polar bear, caribou and fish.

• Birds and Eggs are important part of diet.

Video Iñupiaq Whale Hunt

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAqEK7K5oCQ

Traditional Tools• Variety of stone,

wood, bone, and ivory

• Bow Drill: starts fires, drills holes

• Hunting equipment and tool kits are separate

Traditional Transportation

• Umiaq is a large open skin boat, 15 - 25 feet long (carried up to 15 people)

• Kayaks• Baset sled• Snowshoes

Inupiat Cultural Patterns• Cyclical annual

activities and traditions• Winter months with

little to no sunlight• Summer activities• Fall harvest and

preparations for winter

Historically Rural

• Traditionally and historically live in arctic tundra and sub-arctic areas

• The only plants that thrive are small shrubs and lichen

• Mammals that survive on land are compact and stocky to retain heat

Western Contact

Poverty & Wealth• Pre-contact Inupiat societies were stable with

their own economic structure• Post-contact Inupiat societies have been

impoverished– Social problems– Loss of culture– Apathy

Education

• Western education ignores traditional Inupiat education and knowledge– Forced ‘special education’ programs– Mind vs. Body

• Low motivation to complete education• Lack of tools/finances to go onto college• Urbanized and assimilated youth

War and Peace

• Historically divided and at war within Inupiat society– Alliance and Conflict by Ernest Burch Jr.– Ten separate nations– Stereotype of docile and submissive Eskimos

• Assimilation post-contact

Minority Status

• Alaska Natives are 15% of the population within Alaska

• Inupiaq are only a fraction of this number• With historical and ongoing assimilation

culture is disappearing

Oppression

• Children forced into boarding school system• Missionaries/Christianization• Enforced destruction of language and religion• Subsistence-restricting laws• Forced urbanization/modernization

Segregation/Forced Integration

• Boarding schools• JOM program• Separate health care• Absorbed into growing urban centers and

Missionary towns

Darlene WilsonAge 21Juneau, AK September 2012

CURRENT ISSUES WESTERNIZATION URBANIZATION

Lack of education Depression Alcoholism Domestic Abuse Racism

IÑUPIAT & GLOBAL WARMING

Many Iñupiat people depend on subsistence living.

It is becoming harder to hunt the whales, seals, and walrus that are needed for survival.

http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTSOCIALDEVELOPMENT/0,,contentMDK:21951825~pagePK:210058~piPK:210062~theSitePK:244363,00.html

Ontological What exist???Roots in AnimismSpirits Supernatural Existence

Epistemological Reincarnation and recycling of spirit Deceased members names given to

newborns

Religious/ Spiritual Animism Natural Physical Entities Christianity MissionsHolidays

Ethical Teachings RelationshipReciprocal Responsibility Redistrubtion Respect Elder CareCommunity

Core Values/ Social Beliefs Immediate kin Endogamous Kinship ties Umialik Extended family Importance of children

Relation to Society Manifest Destiny Global Warming Protestant Missions

Rituals/ Ceremonies/ Practices Qargi club houses North Slope Festival Messenger Feast Qatizut s

Sources

• http://www.akhistorycourse.org/articles/article.php?artID=196

• http://library.thinkquest.org/22550/inupiaq.html

• http://www.uaf.edu/anlc/languages/i/