Tikigaq
Encyclopedia
The Tikiġaġmiut, an Inuit
people, live two hundred miles north of the Arctic Circle
, 330 miles (531 km) southwest of Barrow, Alaska
, in an Inupiaq village of Point Hope, Alaska
(in Inupiak language Tikiġaq). The Tikigaq are the oldest continuously settled Native American site on the continent. They are native whale hunters
with centuries of experience co-existing with the Chukchi Sea
that surrounds their Point Hope Promontory on three sides. "Tikiġaq" means "index finger" in the Inupiaq language
.
The Tikigaq relied on berries and roots for food, local willows for house frames, and moss or grass for lamp wicks and insulation.
Today, distribution and movement of game, especially the beluga, Bowhead whale
, caribou, seal
, walrus
, fur-bearing animals, polar bear
and grizzly bear
, directly affect the lives of Tikigaq.
, 180 miles (289.7 km) away.
About one of three Tikiġaġmiut homes lack running water or sewer connections.
Also known as Tikigaqmuit or Tikigaqmiut, the Tikiġaġmiut people used to live close together for half the year in underground whale-bone, driftwood, and dirt houses that were connected by tunnels. Tikigaqmiut today live in modern, but sometimes out-dated houses. Their connections include the spirits of ancestors, the sun, the moon, and animal worship. Tikiġaġmiut sustain myths about their homeland once being a great whale killed by a shaman's harpoon. Their year involves storytelling, rituals, dances, shamanic seances, puppet shows, divinations, spirit guests, encounters with animal souls, and lunar rites, culminating in the spring with the annual whale hunt.
Tikiġaġmiut people have complex kinship and alliance webs.
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...
people, live two hundred miles north of the Arctic Circle
Arctic Circle
The Arctic Circle is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. For Epoch 2011, it is the parallel of latitude that runs north of the Equator....
, 330 miles (531 km) southwest of Barrow, Alaska
Barrow, Alaska
Barrow is the largest city of the North Slope Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is one of the northernmost cities in the world and is the northernmost city in the United States of America, with nearby Point Barrow being the nation's northernmost point. Barrow's population was 4,212 at the...
, in an Inupiaq village of Point Hope, Alaska
Point Hope, Alaska
Point Hope is a city in North Slope Borough, Alaska, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 757.-Geography:...
(in Inupiak language Tikiġaq). The Tikigaq are the oldest continuously settled Native American site on the continent. They are native whale hunters
Whaling
Whaling is the hunting of whales mainly for meat and oil. Its earliest forms date to at least 3000 BC. Various coastal communities have long histories of sustenance whaling and harvesting beached whales...
with centuries of experience co-existing with the Chukchi Sea
Chukchi Sea
Chukchi Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is bounded on the west by the De Long Strait, off Wrangel Island, and in the east by Point Barrow, Alaska, beyond which lies the Beaufort Sea. The Bering Strait forms its southernmost limit and connects it to the Bering Sea and the Pacific...
that surrounds their Point Hope Promontory on three sides. "Tikiġaq" means "index finger" in the Inupiaq language
Inupiaq language
The Inupiat language, also known as Inupiatun, Inupiaq, Iñupiaq, Inyupiaq, Inyupiat, Inyupeat, Inyupik, and Inupik, is a group of dialects of the Inuit language, spoken in northern and northwestern Alaska. The Iñupiaq language is a member of the Eskimo languages group. There are roughly 2,100...
.
History
1500 years ago, when Tikiġaġmiut first settled the Point Hope area, they did not depend on whale hunting. Instead, early Tikiġaġmiut were notable for producing elaborate and beautiful art in an artstyle called Ipiutak, after the place where archaeologists first found the artwork. But the Tikagaq's past is a present-day mystery with no explanation for where the ideas for the art came from, nor how a large population was sustained during their earliest centuries without whale dependence.The Tikigaq relied on berries and roots for food, local willows for house frames, and moss or grass for lamp wicks and insulation.
Today, distribution and movement of game, especially the beluga, Bowhead whale
Bowhead Whale
The bowhead whale is a baleen whale of the right whale family Balaenidae in suborder Mysticeti. A stocky dark-colored whale without a dorsal fin, it can grow to in length. This thick-bodied species can weigh to , second only to the blue whale, although the bowhead's maximum length is less than...
, caribou, seal
Pinniped
Pinnipeds or fin-footed mammals are a widely distributed and diverse group of semiaquatic marine mammals comprising the families Odobenidae , Otariidae , and Phocidae .-Overview: Pinnipeds are typically sleek-bodied and barrel-shaped...
, walrus
Walrus
The walrus is a large flippered marine mammal with a discontinuous circumpolar distribution in the Arctic Ocean and sub-Arctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. The walrus is the only living species in the Odobenidae family and Odobenus genus. It is subdivided into three subspecies: the Atlantic...
, fur-bearing animals, polar bear
Polar Bear
The polar bear is a bear native largely within the Arctic Circle encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the world's largest land carnivore and also the largest bear, together with the omnivorous Kodiak Bear, which is approximately the same size...
and grizzly bear
Grizzly Bear
The grizzly bear , also known as the silvertip bear, the grizzly, or the North American brown bear, is a subspecies of brown bear that generally lives in the uplands of western North America...
, directly affect the lives of Tikigaq.
Daily life
While ancillary health care is provided by the local volunteer fire department, the closest physician is in Kotzebue, AlaskaKotzebue, Alaska
As of the census of 2000, there were 3,082 people, 889 households, and 656 families residing in the city. The population density was 114.1 people per square mile . There were 1,007 housing units at an average density of 37.3 per square mile...
, 180 miles (289.7 km) away.
About one of three Tikiġaġmiut homes lack running water or sewer connections.
Culture
Tikiġaġmiut people have complex kinship and alliance webs.