Inupiaq

Inupiaq refers to both the Inupiaq people and the Inupiaq language of Arctic Alaska. The Inupiaq are Indigenous people of the Arctic regions of northern and northwestern Alaska and are part of the larger Inuit family. They traditionally subsisted on hunting large and small game, including seals, whales, caribou, and fish, and practiced seasonal migrations between coastal and inland camps.

Communities are concentrated along the North Slope and Seward Peninsula, with notable populations in Utqiagvik (Barrow), Point Hope, Kotzebue, and Golovin.

The Inupiaq language belongs to the Inuit branch of the Eskimo-Aleut language family. It comprises several dialects, such as Northern Inupiaq, Northwest Inupiaq, and inland varieties, which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. In modern times, the language is written using a Latin script and is taught in schools and community programs to support language immersion and intergenerational transmission. Like many Indigenous languages, Inupiaq faces endangerment due to language shift to English, though revitalization efforts continue through language nests, bilingual education, and language documentation projects.

Inupiaq culture includes a rich tradition of storytelling, oral histories, carving, drum dancing, and harvesting knowledge passed down through generations. The language is central to conveying ecological knowledge, traditional laws, and cultural identity for Inupiaq communities.