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[[File:PointHopeHousesUSGSric00682.jpg|thumb|Semi-underground men's community house (''[[Qargi]]'') with bowhead whale bones, Point Hope, Alaska, 1885]] |
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The '''Tikiġaġmiut''', an [[ |
The '''Tikiġaġmiut''' ({{IPA-ik|tikeʁɑɴmiut|lang}}), an [[Iñupiat]] people, live two hundred miles north of the [[Arctic Circle]], {{convert|330|mi|abbr=on}} southwest of [[Utqiagvik, Alaska|Utqiagvik]], [[Alaska]], in the village of [[Point Hope, Alaska|Point Hope]] ({{lang-ik|Tikiġaq}}).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tikigaq.com/point_hope.shtml |title=Point Hope, Alaska |accessdate=September 30, 2007 |publisher=tikigaq.com |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070806173547/http://www.tikigaq.com/point_hope.shtml |archivedate=August 6, 2007 }}</ref> The Tikigaq are the oldest continuously settled Native American site on the continent. They are native [[Whaling|whale hunters]] with centuries of experience co-existing with the [[Chukchi Sea]] that surrounds the [[Point Hope (cape)|Point Hope cape]] on three sides. "Tikiġaq" means "resembles an index finger (point of land)" in the [[Iñupiaq language]]. |
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==History== |
==History== |
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About 1,500 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.akhistory.org/index.cfm?FuseAction=viewbottomframe&PageID=69&OpenMenu=178&NavID=187 |title=Tikigaq: A Permanent Settlement for More than 1000 Years |accessdate=September 30, 2007 |publisher=akhistory |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20021112011835/http://akhistory.org/index.cfm?FuseAction=viewbottomframe&PageID=69&OpenMenu=178&NavID=187 |archivedate=November 12, 2002 }}</ref> |
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The Tikigaq relied on berries and roots for food, local willows for house frames, and moss or grass for lamp wicks and insulation. |
The Tikigaq relied on berries and roots for food, local willows for house frames, and moss or grass for lamp wicks and insulation. |
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Today, distribution and movement of game, especially the [[Beluga |
Today, distribution and movement of game, especially the [[Beluga whale|beluga]], [[bowhead whale]], [[Reindeer|caribou]], [[Pinniped|seal]], [[walrus]], fur-bearing animals, [[polar bear]] and [[grizzly bear]], directly affect the lives of Tikigaq.<ref name="tikigaqcom">{{cite web |url=http://www.tikigaq.com/inupiaq_people.shtml |title=Tikigaq |accessdate=September 30, 2007 |publisher=tikigaq.com}}</ref> |
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==Daily life== |
==Daily life== |
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While ancillary health care is provided by the local volunteer fire department, the closest physician is in [[Kotzebue, Alaska]], 180 |
While ancillary health care is provided by the local volunteer fire department, the closest physician is in [[Kotzebue, Alaska]], {{convert|180|mi|abbr=on}} away. |
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About one |
About one in three Tikiġaġmiut homes lack running water or sewer connections. |
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==Culture== |
==Culture== |
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[[ |
[[File:PtHpe Bns.JPG|thumb|Whale bones at ceremonial site]] |
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Also known as ''Tikigaqmuit'' or ''Tikigaqmiut'',<ref name="tikigaqcom" |
Also known as ''Tikigaqmuit'' or ''Tikigaqmiut'',<ref name="tikigaqcom"/> 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. The men's unit was called the ''[[qargi]]''. Tikigaqmiut today live in modern 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.<ref name=barnesandnoble>{{cite web |url=http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9781860465758 |title=Ancient Land, Sacred Whale |author=[[Tom Lowenstein]] |accessdate=September 30, 2007 |date=January 2000 |publisher=Barnes and Noble}}</ref> |
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Tikiġaġmiut people have complex kinship and alliance webs. |
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==Education== |
==Education== |
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Tikigaq School, part of the [[North Slope Borough |
Tikigaq School, part of the [[North Slope Borough School District]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.schoolsk-12.com/Alaska/Point-Hope/TIKIGAQSCHOOL.html |title=TIKIGAQ SCHOOL QUICK REPORT |accessdate=September 30, 2007 |publisher=schoolsk-12.com |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716014427/http://www.schoolsk-12.com/Alaska/Point-Hope/TIKIGAQSCHOOL.html |archivedate=July 16, 2011 }}</ref> is the second largest K-12 in Alaska, serving more than 250 children. Notable to the school's curriculum is a three-week whaling class where a small group of students learn specific whaling traditions and skills.<ref name="tikigaqcom"/> |
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==References== |
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{{ |
{{reflist|30em}} |
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==Further reading== |
==Further reading== |
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{{refbegin}} |
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<div class="references-small"> |
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* [http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/24391 Short Sketches of Oldest America] by [[John Beach Driggs]] |
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* [http://worldcatlibraries.org/wcpa/oclc/25507848?page=frame&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.loc.gov%2Fcatdir%2Fbios%2Fucal051%2F92006319.html&title=&linktype=digitalObject&detail= Asatchaq, Jimmie Killigivuk] and Tom Lowenstein |
* [http://worldcatlibraries.org/wcpa/oclc/25507848?page=frame&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.loc.gov%2Fcatdir%2Fbios%2Fucal051%2F92006319.html&title=&linktype=digitalObject&detail= Asatchaq, Jimmie Killigivuk] and [[Tom Lowenstein]], ''[http://worldcatlibraries.org/wcpa/oclc/25507848?page=frame&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.loc.gov%2Fcatdir%2Fdescription%2Fucal041%2F92006319.html&title=&linktype=digitalObject&detail= The Things That Were Said of Them: Shaman Stories and Oral Histories of the Tikiġaq People]''. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992. {{ISBN|0-520-06569-7}} |
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</div> |
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{{refend}} |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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* [http://www.tikigaq.com/ |
* [http://www.tikigaq.com/ Tikigaq official website] |
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* [http://www.tikigaq.com/photo_gallery/album-1/49.shtml Tikigaq photo gallery] |
* [http://www.tikigaq.com/photo_gallery/album-1/49.shtml Tikigaq photo gallery] |
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* Pulu, Tupou L., Ruth Ramoth-Sampson, and Angeline Newlin. [http://www.alaskool.org/projects/traditionalife/WhalingAWOL/WHALING-English.html "Whaling: A Way of Life."] ''University of Alaska.'' 2004. Tikiġaġmiut Lifeways |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Tikigagmiut}} |
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[[Category:United States communities with Native American majority populations]] |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:Alaska Native ethnic groups]] |
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[[Category:Inuit groups]] |
[[Category:Inuit groups]] |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:Inupiat]] |
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Latest revision as of 03:59, 24 April 2023
The Tikiġaġmiut (Inupiaq: [tikeʁɑɴmiut]), an Iñupiat people, live two hundred miles north of the Arctic Circle, 330 mi (530 km) southwest of Utqiagvik, Alaska, in the village of Point Hope (Inupiaq: Tikiġaq).[1] 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 the Point Hope cape on three sides. "Tikiġaq" means "resembles an index finger (point of land)" in the Iñupiaq language.
History
[edit]About 1,500 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.[2]
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.[3]
Daily life
[edit]While ancillary health care is provided by the local volunteer fire department, the closest physician is in Kotzebue, Alaska, 180 mi (290 km) away.
About one in three Tikiġaġmiut homes lack running water or sewer connections.
Culture
[edit]
Also known as Tikigaqmuit or Tikigaqmiut,[3] 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. The men's unit was called the qargi. Tikigaqmiut today live in modern 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.[4]
Tikiġaġmiut people have complex kinship and alliance webs.
Education
[edit]Tikigaq School, part of the North Slope Borough School District,[5] is the second largest K-12 in Alaska, serving more than 250 children. Notable to the school's curriculum is a three-week whaling class where a small group of students learn specific whaling traditions and skills.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ "Point Hope, Alaska". tikigaq.com. Archived from the original on August 6, 2007. Retrieved September 30, 2007.
- ^ "Tikigaq: A Permanent Settlement for More than 1000 Years". akhistory. Archived from the original on November 12, 2002. Retrieved September 30, 2007.
- ^ a b c "Tikigaq". tikigaq.com. Retrieved September 30, 2007.
- ^ Tom Lowenstein (January 2000). "Ancient Land, Sacred Whale". Barnes and Noble. Retrieved September 30, 2007.
- ^ "TIKIGAQ SCHOOL QUICK REPORT". schoolsk-12.com. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved September 30, 2007.
Further reading
[edit]- Short Sketches of Oldest America by John Beach Driggs
- Asatchaq, Jimmie Killigivuk and Tom Lowenstein, The Things That Were Said of Them: Shaman Stories and Oral Histories of the Tikiġaq People. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992. ISBN 0-520-06569-7
External links
[edit]- Tikigaq official website
- Tikigaq photo gallery
- Pulu, Tupou L., Ruth Ramoth-Sampson, and Angeline Newlin. "Whaling: A Way of Life." University of Alaska. 2004. Tikiġaġmiut Lifeways