History





There are two histories in Kaktovik: the people’s history, which lives within the lives and culture of the Kaktovikmiut, and the history that was brought about by outside forces.  The people’s history is in our culture and the stories we pass down from one generation to another.  It is on this land we call home and within the animals we harvest. This history is most apparent when visiting Kaktovik.  It becomes clearer the more time one spends here, talking with people and taking in all that this place has to offer. 

The second history is the story of what has happened to this place at the hands of outsiders.  This history is difficult to see inside Kaktovik, but continues to have an enormous impact on our way of life.  The Kaktovikmiut do not write history, so we generally have little use for written history, especially that which comes from other people who attempt to explain this area we call home.  Much of what is considered the recent history of this place actually happened somewhere else and without our knowledge.  Keeping in mind both of these histories and what purposes they aim to serve, here is a brief outline of the modern history of this place from the Kaktovikmiut perspective.

In the mid1800s, British traders began to press into what is now Alaska, setting up posts along the Yukon and Mackenzie Rivers.  As a result, the United States government became concerned with this encroachment and decided to make a deal with the Tsar of Russia.  The deal was to purchase what is now the state of Alaska.  From a native perspective this exchange was elusive, because up to this point in time we Kaktovikmiut had never seen Russians, let alone ceded our land to them.  Without our knowledge or consent, it appeared that our land had been appropriated by an outside force, and then subsequently appropriated by another.



As a result, other people in places far from here drew lines and mapped points, one of these lines marking the edge of Canada, where it confronts the now expanded United States on the northwest side.  For centuries our people freely crossed this line to harvest food and visit family in nearby villages. Now we were told this was other people’s land as well. 

Then Alaska became a state.  Along with this declaration came an entirely new set of rules regarding this place, and again we were not consulted.

Around this same time another set of lines were drawn, outlining what was to be called the Arctic National Wildlife Range.  This time the designation was made by presidential decree of the United States.  As before, we were left out of these decisions even though this so-called range encompassed most of our homelands, lands not yet alienated in any way by anyone.

Not long after this time oil was discovered near the Sagavanirktok River on the west side of our homelands.  However, again without our knowledge or consent, the State of Alaska claimed this land and called it Prudhoe Bay.  It wasn’t until this point in time, when it became clear that our lands now had monetary value, that the new State and federal governments decided they had to finally settle with the native Alaskans who owned the land.  This brought about a massive legal battle that resulted in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, a 1971 act of Congress that finally attempted to address our being here. 



As a result Kaktovik was assigned a village corporation, the Kaktovik Inupiat Corporation and told to sign up shareholders in it and in a regional corporation, the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation.  We were told to select lands from what were once our homelands, the rest going to everyone else.  Next we became a City and a Borough, both handed to us, after some effort on our part, by the State of Alaska.  Throughout all of this we were also considered a Tribe, another federal label that came from a far away place; a convenient term outsiders used to group together native people of different areas, and assumed it would apply here.

Then came the issue of ANWR, whether to drill for oil and gas on what was once our homelands.  That proved the biggest storm of all, and it has been raging here for well over two decades now.  In that time Secretaries and Legislators, most of Congress, reporters, photographers and video crews from all over the world have come rushing in, asking us questions and sharing concerns that are all conceived in places far away from here. 

Regardless of all these outside interests, we Kaktovikmiut have still been able to maintain our own sense of history.  Living on the land as we do it is relatively simple.  We have been able to keep our focus in this place we call home, providing for ourselves and taking care of the land, the animals and one another, just as we have for thousands of years.  Through all of this excitement that is one thing that has remained constant in Kaktovik and always will. Our history here in our place.
City of Kaktovik, Alaska.
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