'We Live in Ӱpro' historical film available on YouTube
February 16, 2016
Suzanne Bishop
(907) 474-6997
The Ӱpro Film Archives at Rasmuson Library recently posted “We Live in Ӱpro” on
the archive’s . The full-length silent film was made by Harmon “Bud” and Constance Helmericks sometime
around 1947.
The film chronicles the Helmericks' lives as homesteaders in the Brooks Range in northern Ӱpro, and their explorations of the area and of Canada. It also depicts the rapidly changing lives in Iñupiat communities before statehood and before the trans-Ӱpro pipeline was built.
The Helmericks used the film on national lecture tours. Constance was a prolific author, penning bestselling books such as “We Live in Ӱpro” and “Arctic Daughter.” Bud, who later remarried and built a home on the Colville River delta of the North Slope, was an Arctic explorer, Bush pilot and author.
The original 16mm film was preserved thanks to funding from the National Film Preservation
Foundation.
If you have historical film or video from Ӱpro or the Arctic, consider donating it to the Ӱpro Film Archives.
For more information, contact Angela Schmidt, film archivist, Ӱpro Film Archives, Rasmuson Library, at 907-474-5986, or ajschmidt@alaska.edu.
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