Community Gathering in Point Hope

Elders sing and play their drums during a community meeting and dance at Point Hope, North Slope Borough, Alaska. The skins of the Inupiat drums are made of liver membrane from the bowhead whale. Music is important for the Inupiat people living in the Arctic: most families have their own songs and dances that have been handed down from their ancestors.
Point Hope is one of the oldest continually occupied sites in North America. The community and the surrounding ocean habitat are threatened by offshore oil drilling, as well as industrial fishing fleets.