This map of North America illustrates the political divisions of the United States, Canada, and Russia during the period of time when the whaling industry was ongoing. Full-scale whaling in the Arctic did not get underway until the mid-1800's, however.
The Inupiaq people of Barrow, Alaska, located in the region on the upper left corner of this map, right above the word "Russian", have lived in Alaska for about 4,000 years. Without understanding the resources at hand, they could not have survived in the Arctic climate. As the map illustrates, the northern Inupiaq live near the Arctic Ocean where life is not easily sustained and an understanding of both climate and environment are the key to one's survival. The sea provides them with their primary sources of food and more, while hunting land animals supplements their diet. It is in this area where the whaling industry thrived on hunting bowhead whales, at least for a period of time. This is also where the Inupiaq thrived on whaling prior to the decimation brought about by the whaling industry.
Figure Caption: The Map of North America,1860. Wellington Williams, engraver, Samuel Agustus Mitchell, publisher, Mapping the Arctic Collection, Osher Map Library and Smith Center for Cartographic Education, University of Southern Maine.
