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Frank "Frankie" Akpik, Sr.

Frank Mitchak “Frankie” Akpik, Sr. was born in Barrow, Alaska in 1934. He grew up hunting and whaling, and learned to understand the sea ice and how to travel and hunt safely on it. He was married to Jeanette Brower and they had seven children. Frank worked at the Naval Arctic Research Laboratory (NARL) for over twenty years as a mechanic and carpenter, on the ice island research stations, and assisted many research projects. He was a keen observer who assisted scientific researchers by sharing what he knew about arctic animals and their environment, and became a well-respected science partner. In 1978 and 1979, he conducted oral history interviews and translated for UAF researchers Dr. Lewis Shapiro and Ron Metzner on the project Historical References to Ice Conditions Along the Beaufort Sea Coast of Alaska (Scientific Report, Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 1979). Frank Akpik, Sr. died on January 26, 2002.

Date of Birth:

Apr 13, 1934

Date of Death:

Jan 26, 2002

Frank "Frankie" Akpik, Sr. appears in the following new Jukebox projects:

As Interviewer

Interview Title	Archive #: Oral History	Project	Abstract
Leo Attungowruk	97-64-13_PT.1	Sea Ice in Northern Alaska	Leo Attungowruk was interviewed on January 4, 1980 by Ron Metzner and Frank Akpik, Sr. in Point Lay, Alaska for a project related to potential oil development of the Alaskan continental shelf. Amos Agnasagga was also present during the interview. The original interview was in Inupiaq. The interview was translated into English in August 2014 by Ronald H. Brower, Sr. and appears below synced with the Inupiaq audio. The audio quality on this interview is poor, so parts of it can be hard to hear and understand. The last thirty minutes of the interview were not translated as they are more about whales and whaling than about sea ice, so only the English portions appear for that portion of the transcript. Other interviews for this project appear in Historical References to Ice Conditions Along the Beaufort Sea Coast of Alaska (Scientific Report, Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 1979), but this interview with Atuungowruk is not in the final report. In this interview, Leo talks about sea ice conditions around Point Hope and Point Lay, effects of wind and current on the ice, a flood that occurred in Point Lay in the early 1940s, and living a subsistence lifestyle off the land and sea around Point Lay.