Utqiagvik sits at the very tip of the United States, saddled against the Arctic Ocean. The Alaska Native Iñupiat are set apart from other Indigenous peoples by their subsistence hunting of the bowhead whale. Even today, this unique, centuries-old practice determines the social structure, reflects community values, and supplements the people’s nutrient-rich diet. Nearly all of Utqiagvik’s roughly 5,000 residents, the majority of whom are Iñupiat, rely on hunting to support their way of life. Which is why Harry Brower Jr., an Iñupiaq whaling captain and Arctic Alaska mayor, finds…
