ARCUS invites registration for the next Arctic Research Seminar featuring Kaare Sikuaq Erickson. Sikuaq’s presentation, titled “Ingenious Indigenous Technology and Inuit History,” will be held via Zoom.
Registration is required for this event.
Abstract
This presentation will provide an introduction to the history of human settlement in northern Alaska as represented in archaeological resources and Inuit oral histories. Following the historical introduction, Sikuaq will focus on one piece of ingenious technology developed exclusively in the Arctic thousands of years ago, the toggling harpoon head. To this day, the toggling harpoon head is an extremely important piece of technology used by all Inuit hunters to retrieve large marine mammals (e.g. walrus, seals, whales, etc.) that would otherwise sink to the bottom of the ocean. Utilizing miniature fully-functional replica ivory harpoons and bananas (to replicate the marine mammal skin and blubber), Sikuaq will demonstrate how the harpoon works and why it is so unique and effective. This activity has been developed at UIC Science and has been shared with dozens of classrooms across Alaska.
Speaker Details
Kaare Sikuaq Erickson was raised in several villages in western and northern Alaska, and has family scattered from Unalakleet to Utqiaġvik. Sikuaq is very passionate about education and orientation, which includes both K-12 educational outreach as well as teaching scientists about the social, cultural, and historical contexts of the rural areas they work.