The Canadian Western Arctic: A Century of Change

Abstract

The Alaskans, numbering somewhat over 5,000,2 were divided into two separate but interdependent ecological orientations: the whale hunting people of the coast, concentrated between Point Barrow and Point Hope, and the inland caribou hunting peoples of the Brooks Range. The Alaskan coast between Point Barrow and Barter Island was uninhabited, although in summer it was a meeting ground where Mackenzie and Alaskan Eskimos came to trade. To the east of the Mackenzie Eskimo territory, the coast was similarly uninhabited as far as Stapylton Bay, The Copper Es kimos, numbering as many as 1,000,3 inhabited the shores of Dolphin and Union Strait, Coronation Gulf and the eastern margins of Amundsen Gulf.