Iñupiat Heritage Center facts for kids
The Iñupiat Heritage Center is a special museum in Utqiaġvik, Alaska. It opened in February 1999. This center is connected to the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park in Massachusetts. It helps people learn about how Alaska Natives helped with whaling history.
Inside the center, you can find many interesting things. There are exhibits, old artifacts, a library, and a gift shop. There is also a special room where traditional crafts are shown and taught. The North Slope Borough owns and runs the Heritage Center. They manage it for the whaling villages of the North Slope.
The Heritage Center works with other groups to share the story of commercial whaling in the United States. These groups work on their own but also team up. They create educational programs and activities together. The Iñupiat Heritage Center (IHC) brings people together. Its goal is to share and keep alive Iñupiat history, language, and culture. This helps people understand and appreciate the Iñupiat way of life. It passes this knowledge from older generations to younger ones.
History of Whaling
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, more than 2,000 whaling ships left New Bedford. They sailed to hunt bowhead whales off Alaska's Arctic coast. These ships followed a very long route, over 20,000 miles!
Their journey went like this:
- First, they sailed to the Azore islands near Africa.
- Then, they went around Cape Horn. This is the southernmost tip of South America.
- Next, they sailed to the Hawaiian Islands.
- Finally, they reached the Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean.
Whaling trips often lasted for many years. The whalers would process the whales right on their ships.
Many Iñupiat Eskimo people from Alaska took part in commercial whaling. They worked as crew members on American ships. They also hunted for food to feed the whalers. The Iñupiat provided warm fur clothing for the sailors. They even gave shelter to many crews whose ships were wrecked on the Alaska coast.
