Dating from approximately 600 B.C.E., Point Hope has one of the longest documented, continuous occupations of Iñupiaq marine mammal hunters in the Arctic. Layer upon layer of archeologic remains have provided a window into the lifestyles and traditions of the region’s people.

Point Hope ancestors crossed the Bering Land Bridge from Siberia in one of two Beringian migrations (10,000 to 5,000 years ago). The first group was the Na-Dene speaking Indians, and the second the Esk-Aleut linguistic family, which separated into Aleut and Eskimo. The Eskimo maritime-oriented group further divided into Inupiaq and Yup’ik, separating at the border of the Yukon River.

The famous Ipiutak site at Point Hope — a large village of over 600 houses and a cemetery — has been a rich source of archeological information. When Ipiutak was at its peak, members of the Old Bering Sea Culture occupied other coastal villages on Cape Prince of Wales, Saint Lawrence Island and the Siberian shore. Ipiutak lasted until the Thule Tradition appeared around 500 CE. The Birnirk Culture (part of Thule Tradition), first coexisted with Late Ipiutak, then eventually replaced it.
The Thule Tradition

Progressive regional specialization characterized the Thule Culture, a trend leading eventually to the formation of several specific regional groups at the beginning of the historic period. The Point Hope People were one of these regional groups, the Tikirarmiut

The Thule Tradition —from 2,000 to 400 years — includes the Old Bering Sea, Okvik, Punuk, Birnirk and Thule Cultures. Thule was based on large sea mammal hunting in open water. Innovations included the use of polished slate tools, skin boats, drag floats and dog traction. During the winter, people subsisted on stored surplus of sea mammals, primarily bowhead whales and lived in semi subterranean houses constructed with rafters of whale jawbones.

Thule people spread from northern Alaska across northern Canada to Greenland. They exploited a wide range of resources, kept up extensive trade networks and social relationships and were the people to encounter European explorers.

Birnirk disappeared by 1000 CE, leaving behind a legacy of the Thule lifestyle of large whaling villages, skilled boatmen and hunters, open sea hunting and dog sleds. Evolving skills also resulted in better housing, clothing and tool efficiencies. The Arctic coastal villages of Point Barrow, Point Hope and Wainwright became major whaling communities and local Inupiat continue to harvest marine and land mammals for subsistence uses.