Paġlagivsi!

Ukpiaġvik, meaning ‘the place where we hunt snowy owls,’ was one of several ancient villages in the Barrow area where ancestors settled primarily to hunt bowhead whales while also supplementing their diet with other gifts of nature, including the highly valued snowy owl. Even with the conveniences of the 21st century, the gathering and sharing of Native foods binds families, friendships, and spirits together. The mounds are the two thousand year-old remains of semi-underground sod homes whose thick earthen walls held heat from whale oil lamps and kept out bitter arctic winds, with a sunken tunnel-like entrance designed to keep cold air from entering the warm interior and a roof supported by the long jawbones of the bowhead.

Utqiagvik, Alaska · United States