Central Alaskan Yup'ik people
Encyclopedia
The Yup'ik people are an Eskimo
people of western and southwestern Alaska
ranging from southern Norton Sound
southwards along the coast of the Bering Sea
on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta
(including living on Nelson
and Nunivak Island
s) and along the northern coast of Bristol Bay
as far east as Nushagak Bay
and the northern Alaska Peninsula
at Naknek River
and Egegik Bay.
They are one of the four Yupik peoples of Alaska and Siberia
, closely related to the Alutiiq
(Pacific Yupik) of southcentral Alaska, the Siberian Yupik
of St. Lawrence Island and Russian Far East, and the Naukan of Russian Far East. The Yupiit speak the Central Alaskan Yup'ik language
. The people of Nunivak Island
, speakers of the Nunivak Island dialect of Central Alaskan Yup'ik, call themselves Cup'ig (plural Cup'it); the people of Hooper Bay
and Chevak
, speakers of the Hooper Bay-Chevak dialect, call themselves Cup'ik (plural Cup'it).
Yupiit are the most numerous of the various Alaska Native
groups and speak the Central Alaskan Yup'ik language
, a member of the Eskimo-Aleut
family of languages. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the Yupiit population in the United States
numbered over 24,000,, of whom over 22,000 lived in Alaska, the vast majority in the seventy or so communities in the traditional Yup'ik territory of western and southwestern Alaska.
The use of an apostrophe in the name “Yup’ik”, compared to Siberian “Yupik,” exemplifies the Central Yup’ik’s orthography, where “the apostrophe represents gemination [or lengthening] of the ‘p’ sound” .
, arriving in the Bering Sea area about 10,000 years ago. Research on blood types suggests that the ancestors of American Indians
reached North America
before the ancestors of the Eskimos and Aleuts, and that there were several waves of migration from Siberia to the Americas by way of the Bering land bridge
. which became exposed between 20,000 and 8,000 years ago during periods of glaciation. By about 3,000 years ago the progenitors of the Yupiit had settled along the coastal areas of what would become western Alaska, with migrations up the coastal rivers—notably the Yukon
and Kuskokwim
—around 1400 C.E., eventually reaching as far upriver as Paimiut on the Yukon and Crow Village
on the Kuskokwim.
Prior to and during the mid-19th century, the time of Russian exploration and presence in the area, the Yupiit were organized into at least twelve, and perhaps as many as twenty, territorially distinct regional groups tied together by kinship — hence the Yup'ik word tungelquqellriit, meaning "those who share ancestors (are related)." These groups included:
While Yupiit were nomadic, the abundant fish and game of the Y-K Delta and Bering Sea coastal areas permitted for a more settled life than for the many of the more northerly Inuit
peoples. Under normal conditions, there was little need for interregional travel, as each regional group had access to enough resources within its own territory to be completely self-sufficient. However, fluctuations in animal populations or weather conditions sometimes necessitated travel and trade between regions.
Eskimo
Eskimos or Inuit–Yupik peoples are indigenous peoples who have traditionally inhabited the circumpolar region from eastern Siberia , across Alaska , Canada, and Greenland....
people of western and southwestern Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
ranging from southern Norton Sound
Norton Sound
Norton Sound is an inlet of the Bering Sea on the western coast of the U.S. state of Alaska, south of the Seward Peninsula. It is about 240 km long and 200 km wide. The Yukon River delta forms a portion of the south shore and water from the Yukon influences this body of water...
southwards along the coast of the Bering Sea
Bering Sea
The Bering Sea is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It comprises a deep water basin, which then rises through a narrow slope into the shallower water above the continental shelves....
on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta
Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta
The Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta is one of the largest river deltas in the world, roughly the size of Oregon. It is located where the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers empty into the Bering Sea on the west coast of the U.S. state of Alaska. The delta, which mostly consists of tundra, is protected as part of the...
(including living on Nelson
Nelson Island (Alaska)
Nelson Island is an island in the Bethel Census Area of southwestern Alaska. It is 42 miles long and 20–35 miles wide. With an area of 843 square miles , it is the 15th largest island in the United States...
and Nunivak Island
Nunivak Island
Nunivak Island , the second largest island in the Bering Sea, is a permafrost-covered volcanic island lying about 30 miles offshore from the delta of the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers in the state of Alaska, at about 60° North latitude...
s) and along the northern coast of Bristol Bay
Bristol Bay
Bristol Bay is the eastern-most arm of the Bering Sea, at 57° to 59° North 157° to 162° West in Southwest Alaska. Bristol Bay is 400 km long and 290 km, wide at its mouth...
as far east as Nushagak Bay
Nushagak Bay
Nushagak Bay is a large estuary covering over 100 km2 in southwest part of the U.S. state of Alaska. It opens to Bristol Bay, a large body of water in the eastern Bering Sea north of the Alaska Peninsula....
and the northern Alaska Peninsula
Alaska Peninsula
The Alaska Peninsula is a peninsula extending about to the southwest from the mainland of Alaska and ending in the Aleutian Islands. The peninsula separates the Pacific Ocean from Bristol Bay, an arm of the Bering Sea....
at Naknek River
Naknek River
Naknek River is a 56-km-long river in the Bristol Bay Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. It flows westward from Naknek Lake, draining it into the Kvichak Bay arm of Bristol Bay...
and Egegik Bay.
They are one of the four Yupik peoples of Alaska and Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
, closely related to the Alutiiq
Alutiiq
The Alutiiq , also called Pacific Yupik or Sugpiaq, are a southern coastal people of the Native peoples of Alaska. Their language is called Sugstun, and it is one of Eskimo languages, belonging to the Yup’ik branch of these languages. They are not to be confused with the Aleuts, who live further...
(Pacific Yupik) of southcentral Alaska, the Siberian Yupik
Siberian Yupik
Siberian Yupiks, or Yuits, are indigenous people who reside along the coast of the Chukchi Peninsula in the far northeast of the Russian Federation and on St. Lawrence Island in Alaska. They speak Central Siberian Yupik , a Yupik language of the Eskimo–Aleut family of languages.They were also...
of St. Lawrence Island and Russian Far East, and the Naukan of Russian Far East. The Yupiit speak the Central Alaskan Yup'ik language
Central Alaskan Yup'ik language
Central Alaskan Yup'ik or just Yup'ik is a Yupik language of the Eskimo language family, in turn a member of the Eskimo–Aleut language group, spoken in western and southwestern Alaska. Both in ethnic population and in number of speakers, Central Alaskan Yup'ik is the largest of the languages...
. The people of Nunivak Island
Nunivak Island
Nunivak Island , the second largest island in the Bering Sea, is a permafrost-covered volcanic island lying about 30 miles offshore from the delta of the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers in the state of Alaska, at about 60° North latitude...
, speakers of the Nunivak Island dialect of Central Alaskan Yup'ik, call themselves Cup'ig (plural Cup'it); the people of Hooper Bay
Hooper Bay, Alaska
Hooper Bay or Naparyarmiut is a city in Wade Hampton Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 1,014. The Boards of Canada EP Hooper Bay was named after the city....
and Chevak
Chevak, Alaska
Chevak is a city in Wade Hampton Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 765....
, speakers of the Hooper Bay-Chevak dialect, call themselves Cup'ik (plural Cup'it).
Yupiit are the most numerous of the various Alaska Native
Alaska Natives
Alaska Natives are the indigenous peoples of Alaska. They include: Aleut, Inuit, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Eyak, and a number of Northern Athabaskan cultures.-History:In 1912 the Alaska Native Brotherhood was founded...
groups and speak the Central Alaskan Yup'ik language
Central Alaskan Yup'ik language
Central Alaskan Yup'ik or just Yup'ik is a Yupik language of the Eskimo language family, in turn a member of the Eskimo–Aleut language group, spoken in western and southwestern Alaska. Both in ethnic population and in number of speakers, Central Alaskan Yup'ik is the largest of the languages...
, a member of the Eskimo-Aleut
Eskimo-Aleut languages
Eskimo–Aleut is a language family native to Alaska, the Canadian Arctic, Nunavik, Nunatsiavut, Greenland, and the Chukchi Peninsula on the eastern tip of Siberia...
family of languages. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the Yupiit population in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
numbered over 24,000,, of whom over 22,000 lived in Alaska, the vast majority in the seventy or so communities in the traditional Yup'ik territory of western and southwestern Alaska.
Etymology of name
Yup'ik (plural Yupiit) comes from the Yup'ik word yuk meaning "person" plus the post-base -pik meaning "real" or "genuine." Thus, it means literally "real people." The ethnographic literature sometimes refers to the Yup'ik people or their language as Yuk or Yuit. In the Hooper Bay-Chevak and Nunivak dialects of Yup'ik, both the language and the people are given the name Cup'ik.The use of an apostrophe in the name “Yup’ik”, compared to Siberian “Yupik,” exemplifies the Central Yup’ik’s orthography, where “the apostrophe represents gemination [or lengthening] of the ‘p’ sound” .
Origins
The common ancestors of Eskimos and Aleuts (as well as various Paleo-Siberian groups) are believed by archaeologists to have their origin in eastern SiberiaSiberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
, arriving in the Bering Sea area about 10,000 years ago. Research on blood types suggests that the ancestors of American Indians
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
reached North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
before the ancestors of the Eskimos and Aleuts, and that there were several waves of migration from Siberia to the Americas by way of the Bering land bridge
Bering land bridge
The Bering land bridge was a land bridge roughly 1,000 miles wide at its greatest extent, which joined present-day Alaska and eastern Siberia at various times during the Pleistocene ice ages. Like most of Siberia and all of Manchuria, Beringia was not glaciated because snowfall was extremely light...
. which became exposed between 20,000 and 8,000 years ago during periods of glaciation. By about 3,000 years ago the progenitors of the Yupiit had settled along the coastal areas of what would become western Alaska, with migrations up the coastal rivers—notably the Yukon
Yukon River
The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. The source of the river is located in British Columbia, Canada. The next portion lies in, and gives its name to Yukon Territory. The lower half of the river lies in the U.S. state of Alaska. The river is long and empties into...
and Kuskokwim
Kuskokwim River
The Kuskokwim River or Kusko River is a river, long, in Southwest Alaska in the United States. It is the ninth largest river in the United States by average discharge volume at its mouth and seventeenth largest by basin drainage area.The river provides the principal drainage for an area of the...
—around 1400 C.E., eventually reaching as far upriver as Paimiut on the Yukon and Crow Village
Crow Village, Alaska
Crow Village is an unincorporated village on the Kuskokwim River in the U.S. state of Alaska. There are currently six residents. As of the 2010 census, it will become a Census Designated Place .- Geography :...
on the Kuskokwim.
Regional groups
- Unalirmiut (Unaligmiut), inhabiting the Norton Sound area. The name derives from the Yup'ik word Unaliq, denoting a Yup'ik from the Norton Sound area, especially the north shore villages of ElimElim, AlaskaElim is a city in Nome Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 313.-Geography:Elim is located at ....
and GolovinGolovin, AlaskaGolovin is a city in Nome Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 144.-Geography:Golovin is located at ....
and the south shore villages of UnalakleetUnalakleet, AlaskaUnalakleet is a city in Nome Census Area, Alaska, United States, in the western part of the state. At the 2000 census the population was 747. Unalakleet is known in the region and around Alaska for its salmon and king crab harvests; the residents rely heavily on caribou, ptarmigan, oogruk , and...
and St. MichaelSt. Michael, AlaskaSt. Michael is a city in Nome Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 368.-Geography:St. Michael is located at on the east side of St...
. Unalirmiut were speakers of the Norton Sound Unaliq subdialect of Yup'ik. - Pastulirmiut, inhabiting the mouth of Yukon River.. The name derives from Pastuliq, the name of an abandoned village of southern Norton SoundNorton SoundNorton Sound is an inlet of the Bering Sea on the western coast of the U.S. state of Alaska, south of the Seward Peninsula. It is about 240 km long and 200 km wide. The Yukon River delta forms a portion of the south shore and water from the Yukon influences this body of water...
near the present-day village of KotlikKotlik, AlaskaKotlik is a city in Wade Hampton Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 591.-Geography:Kotlik is located at...
at one of the mouths of the Yukon RiverYukon RiverThe Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. The source of the river is located in British Columbia, Canada. The next portion lies in, and gives its name to Yukon Territory. The lower half of the river lies in the U.S. state of Alaska. The river is long and empties into...
. The village name comes from the root paste- meaning to become set in a position (for instance, a tree bent by the wind). Pastulirmiut were speakers of the Norton Sound Kotlik subdialect of Yup'ik, and are also called pisalriit (sing. pisalria) denoting their use of this subdialect. in which s is used in many words where other speakers of Yup'ik use y. - Kuigpagmiut (Ikogmiut), inhabiting the Lower Yukon River.. The name derives from Kuigpak, meaning "big river," the Yup'ik name for the Yukon RiverYukon RiverThe Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. The source of the river is located in British Columbia, Canada. The next portion lies in, and gives its name to Yukon Territory. The lower half of the river lies in the U.S. state of Alaska. The river is long and empties into...
. - Marayarmiut (Mararmiut, Maarmiut, Magemiut), inhabiting the Scammon Bay area.. The name derives from Marayaaq, the Yup'ik name for Scammon BayScammon Bay, AlaskaScammon Bay is a city in Wade Hampton Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 465.-Geography:...
, which in turn derives from maraq, meaning "marshy, muddy lowland". Mararmiut, deriving from the same word, denotes flatland dwellers in general living between the mouth of the Yukon and Nelson Island. - Askinarmiut, inhabiting the area of the present-day villages of Hooper BayHooper Bay, AlaskaHooper Bay or Naparyarmiut is a city in Wade Hampton Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 1,014. The Boards of Canada EP Hooper Bay was named after the city....
and ChevakChevak, AlaskaChevak is a city in Wade Hampton Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 765....
. Askinarmiut is an old name for the village of Hooper Bay. (DCED). - Qaluyaarmiut (Kaialigamiut, Kayaligmiut), inhabiting Nelson Island. The name derives from Qaluyaaq, the Yup'ik name for Nelson IslandNelson Island (Alaska)Nelson Island is an island in the Bethel Census Area of southwestern Alaska. It is 42 miles long and 20–35 miles wide. With an area of 843 square miles , it is the 15th largest island in the United States...
, which derives in turn from qalu, meaning "dipnet." - Akulmiut, inhabiting the tundra or "Big Lake" area north of the Kuskokwim River. The name denotes people living on the tundra — as opposed to those living along the coastline or major rivers — such as in the present-day villages of NunapitchukNunapitchuk, AlaskaNunapitchuk is a city in Bethel Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 466.-Geography:Nunapitchuk is located at ....
, KasiglukKasigluk, AlaskaKasigluk is a census-designated place in the Bethel Census Area in the U.S. state of Alaska. At the 2000 census the population was 543...
, or AtmautluakAtmautluak, AlaskaAtmautluak is a census-designated place in Bethel Census Area, Alaska, United States. The population was 294 at the 2000 census.-History:The area has been traditionally been inhabited by Yup'ik Eskimo....
. The name derives from akula meaning "midsection," "area between," or "tundra". - Caninermiut, inhabiting the lower Bering Sea coast on either side of Kuskokwim BayKuskokwim BayKuskokwim Bay is a bay in southwestern Alaska, at about . It is about long, and wide.The Kuskokwim River empties into Kuskokwim Bay. The bay got its name from the river. The largest community on the bay is the city of Quinhagak....
, including the area north of the bay where the modern-day villages of ChefornakChefornak, AlaskaChefornak is a city in Bethel Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 394.-Geography:Chefornak is located at ....
, Kipnuk, Kongiganek, Kwigillingok are located and south of the bay where the villages of and Eek and Quinhagak are located (Goodnews Bay?). The name derives from canineq, meaning "lower coast", which derives in turn from the root cani, "area beside." - Nunivaarmiut (Nuniwarmiut, Nuniwagamiut), inhabiting Nunivak IslandNunivak IslandNunivak Island , the second largest island in the Bering Sea, is a permafrost-covered volcanic island lying about 30 miles offshore from the delta of the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers in the state of Alaska, at about 60° North latitude...
.. The name derives from Nunivaaq, the name for the island in the General Central dialect of Yup'ik. In the Nunivak dialect of Yup'ikNunivak Cup'ig languageNunivak Cup'ig or just Cup'ig is a language or separate dialect of Central Alaskan Yup'ik spoken in Central Alaska at the Nunivak Island by Nunivak Cup'ig people...
(that is, in Cup'ig), the island's name is Nuniwar and the people are called Nuniwarmiut. - Kusquqvagmiut (Kuskowagamiut), inhabiting the Lower and middle Kuskokwim RiverKuskokwim RiverThe Kuskokwim River or Kusko River is a river, long, in Southwest Alaska in the United States. It is the ninth largest river in the United States by average discharge volume at its mouth and seventeenth largest by basin drainage area.The river provides the principal drainage for an area of the...
. The name derives from Kusquqvak, the Yup'ik name for the Kuskokwim River, possibly meaning "a big thing (river) with a small flow." The Kusquqvagmiut can be further divided into two groups:- Unegkumiut, inhabiting the Lower Kuskokwim below BethelBethel, AlaskaBethel is a city located near the west coast of the U.S. state of Alaska, west of Anchorage. Accessible only by air and river, Bethel is the main port on the Kuskokwim River and is an administrative and transportation hub for the 56 villages in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.Bethel is the largest...
to its mouth in Kuskowkim Bay. The word derives from unegkut, meaning "those downriver"; hence, "downriver people." and Jaelyn - Kiatagmiut, inhabiting inland regions in the upper drainages of the Kuskowkim, NushagakNushagak RiverThe Nushagak River is a river in southwest Alaska, USA. It begins in the Alaska Range and flows southwest to Nushagak Bay, an inlet of Bristol Bay, east of Dillingham, Alaska.The Mulchatna River is a major tributary...
, Wood, and KvichakKvichak RiverThe Kvichak River is a river in southwestern Alaska, located at the conjunction of the Alaska Peninsula, to the Alaska mainland at about With headwaters in Lake Iliamna, it drains the lake into Kvichak Bay, an arm of Bristol Bay. The river is about long. The communities of Levelock and Igiugig...
river drainages.. The word derives probably from kiani, meaning "inside" or "upriver"; hence, "upriver people." The Kiatagmiut lived inland along the Kuskokwim River drainage from the present location of BethelBethel, AlaskaBethel is a city located near the west coast of the U.S. state of Alaska, west of Anchorage. Accessible only by air and river, Bethel is the main port on the Kuskokwim River and is an administrative and transportation hub for the 56 villages in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.Bethel is the largest...
to present-day Crow VillageCrow Village, AlaskaCrow Village is an unincorporated village on the Kuskokwim River in the U.S. state of Alaska. There are currently six residents. As of the 2010 census, it will become a Census Designated Place .- Geography :...
and the vicinity of the 19th century Russian outpost Kolmakovskii Redoubt. By the mid-19th century, many Kiatagmiut had migrated to the drainage of the Nushagak River.
- Unegkumiut, inhabiting the Lower Kuskokwim below Bethel
- Tuyuryarmiut (Togiagamiut), inhabiting the Togiak RiverTogiak RiverTogiak River is a 48-mile-long river in the U.S. state of Alaska. It begins at Togiak Lake and flows southwest to Togiak Bay, two miles east of Togiak and 45 miles east of Goodnews Bay....
area.. The word derives from Tuyuryaq, the Yup'ik name for the village of TogiakTogiak, AlaskaTogiak is a city in Dillingham Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 809.-Geography:...
. - Aglurmiut (Aglegmiut), inhabiting the Bristol Bay area along the Lower Nushagak River and northern Alaska Peninsula.. The word derives from agluq, meaning "ridgepole" or "center beam of a structure".
While Yupiit were nomadic, the abundant fish and game of the Y-K Delta and Bering Sea coastal areas permitted for a more settled life than for the many of the more northerly Inuit
Inuit
The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...
peoples. Under normal conditions, there was little need for interregional travel, as each regional group had access to enough resources within its own territory to be completely self-sufficient. However, fluctuations in animal populations or weather conditions sometimes necessitated travel and trade between regions.