two youngsters practice cutting fish with ulu knives while another looks on
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Each fall for the past 15+ years, students, elders, teachers, and community members from the Iñupiaq village of Selawik have celebrated their connection to land and culture at a Science-Culture Camp. Every morning for two weeks, rain or shine, participants eagerly climb aboard boats for the 15-minute ride to the camp. Highlights from camp include catching and processing fish for drying into paniqtuq (a local food staple), picking berries, hunting caribou, exploring the area's ecology and learning survival skills.

The Selawik National Wildlife Refuge is happy to have a working partnership with the Native Village of Selawik and the Northwest Arctic Borough School District to collectively put on the camp, a much anticipated opportunity for local students in grades 1-12 to get outdoors and learn about the area’s natural and cultural history. 

Contact Information

Programs

A bright blue sky obstructed by fluffy white clouds reflected off of a stream shot from inside a kayak
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service manages an unparalleled network of public lands and waters called the National Wildlife Refuge System. With more than 570 refuges spanning the country, this system protects iconic species and provides some of the best wildlife viewing opportunities on Earth.
Program
Washington,DC

Facilities

Eight caribou stand in a row in the snow on Selawik Refuge. Behind them, blue and white mountains emerge.
Selawik National Wildlife Refuge
Straddling the Arctic Circle in a remote corner of northwestern Alaska lies Selawik Refuge, a special place of extreme climate, free-flowing rivers, and abundant wildlife. Here where the boreal forest of interior Alaska meets the Arctic tundra, thousands of waterfowl, shorebirds, fish, insects and...
National Wildlife Refuge
Kotzebue,AK