Inupiat

Iñupiaq language revitalization efforts continued at a summit held Jan. 24-25 in Kotzebue.

The Iñupiaq summit in Kotzebue aimed to serve as a meeting of Iñupiat largely from the North Slope, Northwest Arctic and Bering Straits regions. The summit differs from “Ilisaqativut,” a two-week long learning intensive held in Nome, in that it primarily stressed relationship building across regions.

The Alaska Dispatch News reports Edward Itta, a prominent North Slope leader, died Sunday of cancer. Itta was mayor of the North Slope Borough from 2005 to 2011, when Shell was seeking oil leases and permits for offshore Arctic development.