Barrow and Village Information
Barrow is located on the Chukchi Sea coast and is the northernmost community in the U.S. Barrow takes its modern name from Point Barrow, named in 1825 for Sir John Barrow of the British Admiralty. Although Barrow is a modern community, subsistence hunting, fishing, and whaling are still very important to the local community.
Anaktuvuk Pass lies about 250 miles northwest of Fairbanks and about the same distance southeast of Barrow. It is perhaps the most scenic village on the North Slope, surrounded by mountains, rivers and lakes. Anaktuvuk Pass, a historic caribou migration route, is the last remaining settlement of the inland Inupiat Eskimos, the Nunamiut.
Atqasuk is located inland from the Arctic Ocean on the Meade River, about 60 miles southwest of Barrow. Atqasuk has long been established as a hunting and fishing ground. For approximately 10 years after World War I, when Atqasuk mined coal, the village was know simply as Meade River.
Kaktovik/Barter Island is on the northern edge of the 20.3 million acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Barter Island is 90 miles west of the Canadian Border and 278 miles southeast of Barrow. The ruins of old Kaktovik can be seen from the road into the village from the airport. Hunting in this area consists of Dall sheep, moose, caribou, and fox.
Nuiqsut is located at a channel entrance to the Beaufort Sea, 136 miles southeast of Barrow. The Colville River Delta has traditionally been a gathering and trading place for the Inupiat and a good source for hunting and fishing. After 27 Barrow families moved overland to the area, the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation funded construction of the village in 1974.
Point Hope is located near the end of a spit which juts 15 miles into the Chukchi Sea about 248 miles southwest of Barrow. Some of the earliest residents came to the peninsula for bowhead whaling some 2,000 years ago after crossing the Siberian land bridge. Visitors to the area can see the remains of Old Tigara Village, a prehistoric site with the remains of sod houses. There is an even earlier site, occupied from about 500 BC to 100 AD, with house pits known as Ipiutak.
Point Lay is located on the Chukchi Sea coast and is 152 miles southwest of Barrow. Kali, the Eskimo name for the village, means "mound" and refers to the elevated mound on which it stands. It is probably the last remaining village of the Kuukpaagruk people. The deeply indented shoreline prevented effective bowhead whaling and the village never fully participated in the whaling culture. The village's traditional hunt of beluga whales is similar to the bowhead whaling culture in other North Slope villages.
Wainwright is located along the coast on the west side of a narrow peninsula which separates the Wainwright inlet from the Chukchi Sea. The village is approximately 72 air miles southeast of Barrow. Captain F.W. Beechey named the inlet in 1826 for Lt. John Wainwright. Local subsistence hunting is based primarily on caribou and whales. |
