History

History & Culture

Kobuk Valley National Park is home to the famous Onion Portage archeological site (NHL) but more importantly the cradle of the Arctic Woodland Culture defined by pioneering archeologist J. Louis Giddings.

Recent archeological work conducted by NPS archeologists have found evidence of human usage of the Kobuk Sand Dunes Complex, settlements along the main course of the Kobuk River, and most recently a temporary camp high in a mountain pass between the Kobuk and Noatak valleys.

The Cultural Resources program at Kobuk Valley National Park documents people in the parks, now and in the past, and helps preserve places with special history.

Collections

The museum collection of Kobuk Valley National Park contains a range of natural history specimens and cultural artifacts representing several disciplines and specialties such as biology, paleontology, archeology, history and archives.

Although referred to as a "museum collection," a more accurate description would be "research collection," as the vast majority of the cataloged objects are specimens resulting from scientific studies. The archives are largely administrative records.

As of 2005, items in the collection include -

Total items: 4,767

Archeologist J.L. Giddings

J. Louis Giddings dedicated his professional life to understanding the people and prehistory of Northwest Alaska. During a quarter-century of prolific archeological fieldwork from 1939 to 1964, he made discoveries that greatly changed prevailing views on the antiquity and complexity of Arctic cultures. His anthropological fieldwork on the Kobuk River began in 1940, when he set off on foot from the village of Allakaket and traveled over uncharted territory with only a pack and a rifle to arrive six days later at a Kobuk River fish camp. With the help of a family in residence at the fish camp, and local men from the village of Shungnak, he recorded ethnographic accounts and discovered eight abandoned village sites that summer.

After a four-year stint in the military during World War II, Giddings returned to the Kobuk in 1947 and eventually published the results of his fieldwork in two books, The Arctic Woodland Culture of the Kobuk River (1952) and the Kobuk River People (1961). Gidding's most well known accomplishment on the Kobuk River, however, was the discovery of the Onion Portage archeological site. Beneath the upper house pits, Giddings, his student Douglas Anderson, and crew of local residents from nearby villages, found eight layers of human occupation dating back over 10,000 years. Onion Portage is one of the most important sites in Alaska for documenting the progression of cultural change over time and has been designated a National Historic Landmark.

Western Arctic National Parklands

In 1980, as part of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, the U.S. Congress established Bering land Bridge National Preserve, Cape Krusenstern National Monument, Noatak National Preserve, and Kobuk Valley National Park. The four areas contain unaltered landscapes, vast populations of animals and plants in intact ecosystems, and archeological sites dating back to the first habitation of North America.

As with other NPS-managed lands, Congress set aside the areas for their preservation and enjoyment short of the point of impairment. ANILCA permits some uses that would not be permitted in most other NPS areas, particularly sport hunting in the two preserves and subsistence uses by local residents in all four areas.

The four units are distinct in character but united in their interrelated resources and values. Resources and values include the natural, geological, historical, archeological, recreational, educational, cultural, scenic, and scientific. Today, they are managed by the National Park Service collectively as Westem Arctic National Parklands. They provide residents with the opportunity to maintain a subsistence way of life as an integral part of a dynamic ecosystem.. They provide all people with the chance to enjoy a variety of activities --boating, sport fishing, hiking, winter travel --in true wilderness.

We, the staff of Western Arctic, are committed to cooperative stewardship for the conservation and understanding of Northwest Alaska's natural and cultural resources. We work cooperatively with the Inupiat people, local communities and governments, landowners, and other land management agencies to ensure the perpetuation of resources both within and around the parks. We provide excellent public service and hope to inspire others to join us as partners in our mission.

Cultural Resource Program

The Cultural Resource program at Kobuk Valley National Park documents the lives and activities of people in the parks, past and present, and strives to preserve places with unique history.

Humans have made their homes in Kobuk Valley National Park for at least 9,000 years. Inupiaq Eskimo peoples call this area home. In the past, Athapaskan Indians also traveled and traded in the upper Kobuk region. The Inupiaq name for the local population is kuuvaum kayiagmiut. "Kobuk River People" Burch, P. 123.

In Alaska, as in the rest of the United States, the National Park Service recognizes and manages five basic types of cultural resources:

• Archeological Sites: Physical evidence of past human occupation or activity (the National Park Service recognizes two basic subcategories; prehistoric and historic archeological sites).
• Cultural Landscapes: Geographic areas associated with a historic event, activity, or person; or that exhibit other cultural or aesthetic values (this category includes designed, vernacular, and ethnographic landscapes). Cultural landscapes encompass both cultural and natural resources as well as any wildlife or domestic animals that have historic associations with the landscapes.
• Ethnographic Resources: Sites, structures, objects, landscapes, or natural features of traditional importance to a contemporary cultural group.
• Museum Objects: Material things that possess scientific, historical, cultural or aesthetic values (usually movable by nature or design).
• Historic Structures: Constructed works created to serve some human activity (usually immovable by nature or design – buildings, bridges, earthworks, roads, rock cairns, etc. – prehistoric or historic).

The authentic remnants of our nation's cultural legacy give us an irreplaceable tangible link to our past that cannot be replaced by a book or an article. These authentic places and objects are material touchstones to a past that we experience for ourselves. They serve as material anchors to our past and reference points to our future that cannot be easily erased or eliminated. We can see them, touch them, connect with them in such a way that we can know the past actually happened. Each generation can learn from the ruins, the buildings, and the objects of the past; these are the landmarks that link us over time and space and give meaning and orientation to our lives.