community
THE PEOPLE AND POINT LAY, ALASKA
Early inhabitants of the Point Lay area hunted and fished along the Chukchi Sea coast and the local river systems. These small groups gradually congregated in the Point Lay area. In the late 1920s a trading post was established and, as the population continued to grow, a school building was constructed in 1930. The original name of the community was Kali. The village was initially located on a barrier island and then on the banks of the Kokolik River before finally moving to its current location. The village of Point Lay, whose population is 88% Iñupiat Eskimo–is located on a low coastal bluff on the Chukchi Sea coast. Kasegaluk Lagoon protects the community from the open ocean. Located152 miles southwest of Barrow, Point Lay is part of the North Slope Borough and is one of the eight villages in the Borough. Cully, or Kali (the Iñupiat name for the village,) means “mound” and refers to the elevated mound on which it stands. Point Lay lies within close proximity of the Northern Alaska Coal Province, which is believed to contain one-ninth of the world’s known coal reserves, and one-third of the U.S. reserves. Point Lay is also nearest to the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) leases which are set to begin exploring for oil.The residents traditionally hunt beluga, seal, walrus, caribou and fish. Recently village residents, after over 70 years, were able to celebrate a successful harvest of a Bowhead whale. The whaling crew, led by Julius Rexford, shared the spoils with the community–as is traditionally done in Eskimo Culture.
