Nunaaqqiurat Tumitchiaŋit, New Tracks for our Communities, is a quadrilateral board composed of the leadership of the North Slope Borough (NSB), the North Slope Borough School District (NSBSD), Iḷisaġvik College, and the Iñupiat Community of the Arctic Slope (ICAS). The goal of the collaboration is to maximize equity in educational, career, and technical training opportunities across the North Slope. They began meeting in January of 2022.
The group is part of an ongoing process to manifest the vision put forth in Eben Hopson Sr.’s famous education speech in 1975 where he set forth the idea of creating an Iñupiat school system, reflecting Iñupiat educational philosophies and transmitting Iñupiat values and history: “I do not want my children to learn that we were “discovered” by Columbus or Vitus Bering…. I do not want to see school planning surveys which list hunting, fishing, whaling or trapping as a “social” or “recreational” activity,” Hopson said.
Five subcommittees focus on Iñupiat Education, Broadband and Infrastructure, Student Outcomes, the Qatqiññiaġvit Program for career exploration, and the Harry Brower, Jr. Technical Training Center.
Find out more about what Nunaaqqiurat Tumitchiaŋit has been up to below: