The Iñupiat Heritage Center is the cultural and intellectual heart of Utqiagvik. The building houses a museum of Iñupiat life — traditional clothing, whaling implements, kayaks, baleen baskets, and detailed exhibits on the spring bowhead hunt that still structures the village calendar. Local elders sometimes sit and talk with visitors about subsistence life on the slope.
Beyond the exhibits there are working spaces for traditional crafts, a library, and a small theatre showing films on Arctic ecology and Iñupiat history. Admission is modest and the center is open most weekdays. It is the place to start any visit, especially before any tundra or whaling-related tour.