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Bruce "Nukapiqqaq" Nukapigak
Bruce Nukapigak was born in 1900 at the head of Kuuguq ravine southeast of Barrow, Alaska. He grew up at Ualiqpaa on the coast south of Barrow and in Barrow, living a traditional subsistence lifestyle of whaling, hunting, fishing, trapping and traveling by dog team. As a whaler and seal hunter, he learned to understand the sea ice and how to travel and hunt safely on it. After he was married, he moved to Barter Island (Kaktovik), and learned about the local ice conditions as far west as Cross Island from his father-in-law (Uqumailaq’s father). Also, starting in 1932, he lived at Point McIntyre and Beechey Point for eighteen years where he again learned about the sea ice in the area where he went hunting. Bruce Nukapigak was known as an expert whaler and hunter, and had vast knowledge of the whole north coast having lived in such a variety of places. Bruce Nukapigak died on April 1, 1979.