Helen, Leon and Kevin during Iḷisaġvik’s ivory carving workshop.
Alaska Native students in the Arctic Circle have the chance not just to learn about their cultures but also to immerse themselves in them, thanks to a grant from the American Indian College Fund that enhances curriculum with culture. While students learn about the practices of their elders and ancestors, program leaders at Iḷisaġvik College (IC), which serves the Iñupiaq community, record and document the art forms and processes and add the practices to their curriculum. As a result, art forms and traditional practices such as creating scrimshaw work with walrus tusks (ivory carving), sewing parkas, making durable leather from fish skins, crafting traditional dolls, and creating medicines from traditional plants are being revitalized and passed down for generations to come.
Jerica Leavitt is a member of her community who first cultivated an interest in the traditions and practices of her people as a student 13 years ago, when she was studying in the college’s Iñupiaq Studies department. After graduating, Leavitt says she held many different positions in the department until she worked her way up to her position as an associate professor today. She is excited to be part of a project which is recording, preserving, and archiving cultural arts and traditional medicine-making using Arctic plants, increasing professional development in the Native arts for key IC staff, passing on cultural arts knowledge to students in the classrooms, and expanding the arts capacity of the college.
Helen teaching Annabel to sew a parka during Iḷisaġvik’s dollmaking workshop.
The learning experience is immersive. Previous participants worked in classrooms on their projects while enjoying traditional treats such as tuttu (caribou soup) and uunaalik (boiled bowhead whale skin/blubber). They also enjoyed learning on the land—an outdoor classroom filled with lessons waiting to share with its people—just as their ancestors did.
Leavitt says students from the North Slope villages were flown on two small bush planes to camp on the land for a cultural camp in 2024. Participants still talk with excitement about their experience camping, learning about traditional ways of using land and resources, catching and cutting fish, preparing skins for leather, and spending time working together in the traditional way.
Students who are enrolled in the Iñupiaq Studies program and those who are working towards language and culture certificates and degrees can take classes in the program. Several programs were also open to members of the community who were not enrolled at the college.
And for future generations, the college created a video library. Instructors shared their valuable knowledge on the how-to’s of the arts and healing projects and storytelling. In the meantime, the college is incorporating knowledge gained from the program into coursework and is creating a new course on Traditional Healing, further expanding its cultural offerings.
Students and instructors after Iḷisaġvik’s ivory carving workshop.
