In 1958, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission planned to detonate thermonuclear bombs near Point Hope, North America’s oldest continually inhabited settlement.

“History of the Iñupiat: Project Chariot” tells the dramatic story of an Iñupiaq village that stopped the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, the most powerful government agency of its time. The film is directed by Iñupiaq/Norwegian filmmaker Rachel Naninaaq Edwardson, Barrow.

“History of the Iñupiat: Project Chariot” premieres at 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 14 in the Anchorage Museum auditorium. A Skype Q&A with Edwardson follows. Admission is free; seating is limited and on a first come, first served basis.

The Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center organized this film’s premiere in anticipation of the Alaska Federation of Natives conference Oct. 18-20 in Anchorage.

PROJECT CHARIOT

In 1958, as the Cold War arms race entered the nuclear age, the United States Atomic Energy Commission planned to detonate eight thermonuclear bombs at Cape Thompson, which is 25 miles from Point Hope, North America’s oldest continually inhabited settlement. A small village of Iñupiaq people, with the help of courageous scientists, stopped the commission and prevented massive nucleardevastation in Alaska. Learn more here.