Alaska trip

About Native Alaskan Cultures

Yesterday was a full day. We spent most of the day at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks photographing musk ox bones and hides and many Eskimo artifacts.

We also had lunch with Helen Howard, who has been involved with the Musk Ox Farm and Oomingmak Co-op since they were first started in the 60s. She told us a lot of fun stories, and showed us notes on lace knitting from a workshop she attended with Dorothy Reade.

Looking through the baskets, ivory carvings, and household tools from the various Native Alsakan groups was very interesting. You can clearly tell which items come from each culture and time period because the styles of construction and decoration are so unique.

Native Alaskans are very diverse, with many different cultural and geographic groups and about twenty different languages. There are three main groups:

Eskimo -- Most of the knitters in the co-op are Eskimos from the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta area on the western coast of Alaska. The people towards the south are known as Yup'ik. The nothern groups are known as Inupiat. While their cultures have many similarities, these two groups speak separate languages, with many different dialects. Unlike the Eskimos in the far-north, the Yup'ik and Inupiaq people who live near the Bering Sea did not live in ice igloos. Fish are more prominent in their diets than sea mammals (especially to the south and inland), and they also eat many of the plants and berries that grow wild in Alaska. Today, many of the coastal villages are also filled with backyard gardens in the summer months.

Aleut -- The co-op has had a few Aleutian knitters in the past, but they are not actively involved today. The Inupiat peoples live on the Aleutian Archipelago at the southwest tip of Alaska.

Indian -- The Native Alaskans who live in the southeast parts of the state include the Eyak, Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian Indians. The Athabascans live in the interior of the state. There are many sub groups of Athabascan including the Gwinich'in and Koyukon.

A map showing where different languages are spoken is very helpful.