Northern Waterways Reference Collection

Author: Larsen, Helge Eyvin and Froelich G. Rainey

Title: Ipiutak and the Arctic Whale Hunting Culture

Year: 1948

Publisher: New York: Published by order of the Trustees of the American Museum of Natural History.  Anthropological papers of the American Museum of Natural History ; v. 42.

Pages: 486

Source: American Museum of Natural History

Description: Excavation of the Ipiutak village site near Point Hope, Alaska. "The location of the settlement was probably chosen because the great baleen whales pass close inshore around the point of the spit during their yearly migrations, and the open leads caused by wind and current at the point produce favorable winter seal hunting conditions.  Enormous herds of walrus also haul up on the spit during the spring when they follow the ice pack northward. The small hair seal is hunted during all that part of the year when the ice pack lies against the point, but baleen whales, bearded seals, beluga, and fish are taken only during the spring and early summer" (1948:25).

"As a background for our study of the prehistory of arctic Alaska, we have tried to give a picture of the country and the possibilities it offers to human occupation. We have seen how the different geographical conditions of the coast and the interior are reflected in the culture of two Eskimo groups, the Tareormiut and the Nunatarmiut. In our opinion the cultural difference between these two groups is deeply rooted and cannot be explained by the geographical conditions alone. One factor which undoubtedly is responsible for some of the differences … contact of the Nunatarmiut with their neighbors to the east, the Athapascan" (1948:36).