David Levinson

Eskimos are the indigenous peoples of Alaska and are closely related to the Asiatic Eskimos of Siberia and the Inuit of Canada and Greenland. Eskimos of the United States numbered 57,000 in the 1990 census and fall into three general geographic-cultural groups: Alutiiq (South Alaskan Eskimos), Iñupiat (Pacific Eskimos), and Yup’ik (North Alaskan Eskimos).

Largely because of their isolation, Eskimos have been able to preserve much of their traditional culture into the 20th century. However, the rich mineral deposits in their region brought in outsiders, and the Eskimos were drawn into White society, mainly through the use of White technology and White encroachment on their traditional hunting and fishing lands.