North Slope artists have until Monday to design the logo for Kivgiq 2027

North Slope artists have until 5 pm Monday, Nov. 16, to send the North Slope Borough a logo for Kivgiq 2027, the Iñupiat Messenger Feast set for Feb. 10-13 in Utqiaġvik.

The design has to carry the 2027 theme, Iłuanmuktuqta Qapiŋaiḷḷuta, or "Aim to do Right, Without Wavering." The borough calls it a reminder of the strength of convictions, the importance of doing what is right and providing a good foundation for future generations.

The borough describes Kivgiq as a tradition in which villages celebrate harvest, trade and renewed kinship and partnerships. In its older form, a whaling captain hosted the feast and sent messengers to invite nearby communities to gather for gift exchange, trade, dancing and storytelling, according to a 2025 research guide from the UAA/APU Consortium Library.

Those feasts faded in the early 20th century, amid the collapse of commercial whaling, pressure from missionaries, a flu epidemic and the Great Depression, the guide says.

Then-Mayor George Ahmaogak Sr. brought Kivgiq back in 1988, the first in about 70 years, after interviews with Elders about how it had been done, according to the guide. "Kivgiq, since being restarted in 1988 under the leadership of then-Mayor George Ahmaogak, is a testament to the strength of our culture," current Mayor Josiah Aullaqsruaq Patkotak said after the last one, in 2025.

That year, more than 700 people came in person and more than 9,400 watched on YouTube, from across Alaska and as far as New Zealand and the Philippines, according to the borough's press release. Dance groups from the North Slope and the King Island Dancers performed sayuun, dances with fixed motions, and young people and Elders filled the floor for the invitationals.

The last two Kivgiqs had their own themes, too. In 2023 it was Iñupiuraaġnaqsiruq, "It is time to speak Iñupiaq." In 2025 it was "Community strength through individual action."

The 2027 winner gets two round-trip Alaska Airlines tickets for travel in Alaska, and second place gets a $250 gift card. Only North Slope residents may enter, with one original design each. The borough won't accept AI-generated art, stock graphics or templates, and judges won't see the artists' names.

Entries can be emailed or dropped off at the borough's Public Works building in Utqiaġvik or at village liaison offices.