THE WHALE AND THE CUPCAKE REVISITED: STORIES OF NIQIPIAQ (NATIVE FOOD) AND IÑUPIAT SOVEREIGNTY IN ARCTIC ALASKA

ABSTRACT

Inspired by Julia O’Malley’s The Whale and the Cupcake (2019), which portrays the contemporary foodscape in Alaska, this study explores Alaska Native foodways as a source of future cultural resiliency to cope with increasing climatic and socio-environmental uncertainties. Foregrounding the importance of niqipiaq (Native food or “real food” in Iñupiatun), this article investigates the interplay of the tradition and renovation of the Iñupiat foodscape in Utqiaġvik, Alaska. In so doing, this article sheds light on the potential of niqipiaq—both its types and provenance—that contributes to the future of Iñupiat sovereignty. While tradition remains the foundation of Iñupiat identity, the diversifying list of niqipiaq today exemplifies the elasticity of Iñupiat values infused in modernity. The juxtaposition of these food items—both the old and new—provides a window into interlinked social and environmental crises, and attempts to solve them through conscious and unconscious adjustments on the community level, which enhances the sense of community sheltered by hope.

Keywords::

• Alaska
• foodscape
• Indigenous futurism
• Iñupiat
• niqipiaq (Native food)
• resilience
• sovereignty
• subsistence
• tradition

Acknowledgments

This article is dedicated to the late Esther Kowunna Frankson (1937–2017), my long-term mentor and dear friend who was deeply respected as Lady Whaling Captain in Point Hope, Alaska. Her faith in me opened many doors that would have otherwise stayed closed in my life. I am also deeply thankful to many community collaborators whose encouragements and wisdom have informed and inspired this work, especially the late Reverend Roy Maloney Nageak, Sr. (1951—2021), Eileen Boskofsky, Mae Ahgeak, Kate Kiogak, and Nasuġraq Rainey Hopson. Bill Hess and Jessica Jelacic both generously granted me permission to reproduce their images in this manuscript. I would also like to acknowledge the support from Dr. David Kaplan, Editor-in-Chief of the Geographical Review, and the anonymous reviewers throughout the review and editorial process. Special thanks are due to my colleagues and students in the Department of Geography and the Environment and Center for Global Indigenous Studies and Environmental Justice at Syracuse University.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).