Inupiat Whaling Areas

Many Indigenous Alaskan Inupiat and Yupik communities are very proud to continue to practice traditional subsistence bowhead whale hunts often using traditional skin boats (umiaks) and distributing the meat and maqtaq (blubber) throughout the entire community. Efforts to preserve these traditions include buffer zones around whaling communities and areas, as well as ‘quiet zones’ where development is not permitted during key bowhead migration and hunting periods.

###Importance Hunting, fishing, and trapping continue to be an important part of Inuvialuit and Inupiat culture and livelihood today. Many of these regions are essential to successful whale migrations and hunting for whaling communities.

###Potential impact of an oil spill Harvest areas compromised by an oil spill could become unusable for many years, making it more challenging for the Inupiat to ensure adequate harvests to support local communities’ livelihoods and well-being. An oil spill’s long-term impacts (some harvest species have yet to recover after the Exxon-Valdez spill over 25 years ago) could compromise the Inupiat’s ability to pass on important knowledge and cultural traditions to future generations.

Sources

• Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission
• MAP DATA: Audubon - Alaska