Iñupiat Heritage Center facts for kids
The Iñupiat Heritage Center is a special museum. It is located in Utqiaġvik, a town in Alaska, USA. This center opened in February 1999. It works with the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park. This park is far away in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The Heritage Center helps everyone learn about Alaska Natives. It shows how they helped with the history of whaling.
Inside the center, you can find many interesting things. There are exhibits and collections of old artifacts. You can also visit a library and a gift shop. A special "traditional room" is there too. In this room, people show and teach traditional crafts. The North Slope Borough owns and runs the Heritage Center. They do this for all the whaling villages in the North Slope area.
The Iñupiat Heritage Center (IHC) brings people together. It helps share and keep alive Iñupiat history, language, and culture. This center helps people understand the Iñupiat way of life. It shows how the Iñupiat people interact with their environment. This knowledge is passed down from older generations to younger ones.
A Look Back at History
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, many whaling ships sailed from New Bedford. More than 2,000 voyages went to hunt bowhead whales. These whales lived off Alaska's Arctic coast. The whalers followed a long route for their journey. It was over 20,000 miles long!
Their route took them to the Azore islands near Africa. Then they sailed around Cape Horn. This is the very tip of South America. Next, they went to the Hawaiian Islands. Finally, they reached the Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean. These trips often lasted for years. The whalers processed the whales right on their ships.
Many Iñupiat Eskimo people helped with commercial whaling. They worked as crew members on American ships. They also hunted for food for the whalers. The Iñupiat provided warm fur clothing. They even gave shelter to many crews. These crews were often shipwrecked on the Alaska coast.
