Tikigaq in Point Hope, Alaska

Two hundred miles north of the Arctic Circle lies the Far North Iñupiaq village of Point Hope, or Tikigaq as the Iñupiaq people call it, located near the tip of the Point Hope Promontory, a large gravel spit projecting several miles into the Chukchi Sea.

The finger-like peninsula that forms the western-most extension of the northwest Alaska coast between Cape Thompson and Cape Beaufort is known to local residents as Tikigaq (Tikeraq), the Inupiat word for index finger.

Tikigaq Corporation (Tikigaq) of Point Hope, Alaska, is an Alaska Native Village Corporation, which was established in 1971 under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA).

The corporation has approximately 1,000 Inupiaq shareholders. Most of these shareholders are in Point Hope and are also shareholders of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (ASRC). Tikigaq has proven arctic construction capabilities, rural and urban environmental expertise, logistics services experience, and supports local hire throughout various projects. Their resources include staff engineers, scientists, project managers, superintendents, office managers, purchasing agents, quality control personnel and safety specialists.

Tikigaq has offices and yards in Virginia Beach, Virginia; and Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Point Hope, Alaska. Tikigaq’s subsidiaries are 8(a) certified through the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and are registered Small Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBE) with the State of Alaska.

Tikigaq provides the following services:

• Construction Services (Design/Build, Commercial, and Residential)
• Information Technology/Remote Support
• Logistics Services
• Transportation Services
• Utility Infrastructure, Operation, and Development
• Fuels Distribution
• Retail Services
• Accounting Services
• Environmental Services
• Operation and Maintenance of Project Recovery and Treatment Systems
• Demolition
• Waste Handling and Disposal
• Long-term Monitoring
• UXO Removal and Disposal

I have not got time to read everything in their site, but it looks like a quite interesting project specially concerning self-sufficiency and local control of the natural resources, two main topics when talking about the survival of indigenous communities. I will keep searching for similar projects running on other northern places.