Native peoples of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska

Grade 7 Social Studies Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Alaska Native peoples of the north and west

   Nation (own name)	Homeland	Traditional ways of life	Changes and hard history	Today
   Iñupiat	northern Alaska along the Arctic coast, including Utqiaġvik	whaling for bowhead whales, which they had done for about a thousand years before commercial whalers came	from the late 1800s, more than 2,000 commercial whaling voyages from New Bedford sailed into Arctic waters; many Alaska Natives worked with the crews	the Iñupiat Heritage Center in Utqiaġvik, opened in 1999, teaches Iñupiaq culture, history and language; the Native Village of Barrow is the Iñupiat tribal government of Utqiaġvik
   Yup'ik	southwest Alaska: the Yukon and Kuskokwim river deltas, Nelson Island and the Bering Sea coast	subsistence fishing and gathering, which the Yup'ik regional corporation calls the lifeblood of the region; its rivers hold five kinds of Pacific salmon	subsistence rights were left out of ANCSA before it became law in 1971; Calista, the regional corporation, works to restore them	Yup'ik is the largest Alaska Native language: about 10,000 of about 21,000 people speak it, and children grow up speaking it first in 17 of 68 villages
   Unangax̂ (Aleut)	the Aleutian and Pribilof Islands	a sea-based way of life; kayak-style skin boats called bidarkas	Russian traders colonized the islands by 1760, which devastated Unangax̂ communities; in 1942, during World War II, the US evacuated 881 Unangax̂ from nine villages to camps in Southeast Alaska for about two years	in 1988 Congress recognized the harm and paid restitution; the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association teaches Unangax̂ culture and Unangam Tunuu, the language

   Below the chart: Unangax̂ means roughly seasiders; Aleut is the name Russian explorers gave. Yup'ik means real person. In 1971 the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) transferred 44 million acres to Alaska Native regional and village corporations and paid $962.5 million for land lost; it set up 12 regional corporations owned by Alaska Native shareholders.

2. 1.

   Which islands are the Unangax̂ homeland, Bo asks?

   • The Arctic coast near Utqiaġvik
   • Haida Gwaii, off British Columbia
   • The Yukon and Kuskokwim river deltas
   • The Aleutian and Pribilof Islands
3. 2.

   How many Unangax̂ did the US evacuate in 1942, Esme asks?

   • 881 people from nine villages
   • 2,000 people from New Bedford
   • 9 people from 881 villages
   • 44 people from 12 regions
4. 3.

   About how many people speak Yup'ik, by the chart, Jun asks?

   • About 10,000 of about 21,000 people
   • About 21,000 of about 21,000 people
   • About 21,000 of about 10,000 people
   • About 17 of about 68 people
5. 4.

   Why were the Unangax̂ moved in 1942, by the chart, Kira asks?

   • Russian traders colonized their islands
   • ANCSA moved them to new corporations
   • The US evacuated them during World War II
   • They chose to move to Southeast Alaska for work
6. 5.

   What did ANCSA do in 1971, by the note, Luz asks?

   • Gave 44 million acres to Native corporations and paid $962.5 million
   • Paid $44 million for 962.5 million acres of Native land
   • Bought Alaska from Russia for $962.5 million and gave it to the corporations
   • Gave each Alaska Native person exactly 44 acres of land
7. 6.

   What changed for the Iñupiat from the late 1800s, Milo asks?

   • The Iñupiat Heritage Center opened its doors
   • Commercial whaling ships came into Arctic waters
   • The US evacuated villages to Southeast Alaska
   • The Iñupiat began whaling bowhead whales for the first time
8. 7.

   Which claim about Iñupiat whaling does the chart support, Noah asks?

   • It ended when the commercial ships arrived
   • It is far older than commercial whaling in the Arctic
   • Commercial whalers taught the Iñupiat to whale
   • Most Iñupiat families sold their whales to the commercial ships
9. 8.

   Which claim about the Yup'ik language fits the chart, Pia asks?

   • More Unangax̂ than Yup'ik people speak it as a first language
   • Children learn it first in 68 of 68 villages
   • It is spoken today, and some children learn it first
   • It was spoken long ago but is gone now
10. 9.

    Which claim about the 1942 evacuation fits the chart, Ren asks?

    • It was the Unangax̂ villagers' own choice to leave
    • It lasted about two years and took people far from home
    • It lasted about two weeks, in camps close to their own villages
    • It happened under Russian rule, before 1867
11. 10.

    Which people's Changes cell names World War II, Tala asks?

    • The Yup'ik
    • The Tlingit of Southeast Alaska
    • The Unangax̂
    • The Iñupiat