History & Culture

Cape Krusenstern National Monument invites you to look into the past. The Monument was established to protect a series of more than 100 beach ridges preserving 5,000 years of Inupiaq Eskimo culture in the Arctic.

While Congress specifically set aside the monument for these archeological treasures, Cape Krusenstern is a place where modern Inupiat continue to live and practice a subsistence lifestyle. Berry picking, greens gathering, seal and caribou hunting, and fishing are important subsistence activities taking place within the park today.

The beach ridge complex at Cape Krusenstern National Monument is the focus of a multi-year interdisciplinary research project. Scientists seek to definitively identify, map, test, and document cultural resources at the complex.

The Cultural Resource program at the Monument documents people in the parks, past and present, and serves to preserve places with unique history. To learn more about cultural resources, visit our program page.