Yup'ik Environmental Knowledge Project Atlas

Yup'ik Environmental Knowledge Project map area
Product Type
Atlas
Product Status
Ongoing
Data Type
Indigenous terminology
Local observations
Maps
Photos
Sound/audio
Video
Topics
Community-based monitoring
Environmental features & use
Place names
Indigenous knowledge
Oral history
Stories
Youth involvement
Geographic Area
United States
Alaska
About this product

Since 2000, Calista Education and Culture (CEC) has worked with elders from the Alaskan communities of Kotlik, Emmonak, Alakanuk, Nunam Iqua, Newtok, Tununak, Toksook Bay, Nightmute, Chefornak, Kwigillingok, and Kongiganak to document Yup'ik place names. This work was initiated and encouraged by CEC's Board of Elders as well as community members and funded by the National Science Foundation. Elders showed a strong desire to teach young people the rich history and named places of their homeland, including camp and settlement sites, rivers, sloughs, rocks, ponds, even sandbars and underwater channels. During our work together community members shared more than 3,000 names as part of three ongoing CEC projects and two previous regional place name projects.