Nathaniel Wilder was in trouble. He had taken a trip out on sea ice with a group of young Alaskan men for what was supposed to be a duck-hunting expedition. Instead, it turned into a party, and when most of revelers took off, he found himself stranded with his buddy who had a loaded shotgun and was in no condition to drive the snowmobile.

Wilder eventually drove the sled back to town with his friend holding onto the rails, but for him, the experience was emblematic of some of the complicated issues facing the northwestern Alaskan community of Point Hope.

Located on the Chukchi Sea, Point Hope has a rich history of traditional subsistence hunting, but climate change and modern distractions are