Barrow: breaking the government habit.

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Barrow: breaking the government habit.

The area now known as Barrow has a cultural memory that stretches back into pre-history. Utkeagvik, the Inupiat name for the area meaning "place to hunt the snowy owl," has been inhabited for thousands of years. Bodies that date back 400 to 800 years often emerge from the eroding cliffs along the town's shoreline. Barrow's modern economic history, however, only dates back to 1972, the year the North Slope Borough was incorporated.

With its ability to impose a property tax within its boundaries - boundaries that include the Prudhoe Bay industrial complex - the borough quickly became the 900 lb. gorilla in the North Slope's new cash economy. For Barrow in particular, the impact was loud, direct and left far-reaching repercussions.

Prior to t...

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