Thursday, Feb 17 2011 3:20PM

Located near the arctic circle, Inupiat eskimos are still very much isolated and connected to their traditional cultural practices.

At a recent meeting of Alaska's North Slope Borough Assembly and Board of Education, assembly members said more local, native teachers were necessary in the rural region, which largely consists of the state's native Inupiat Eskimos, reported the Alaska Dispatch.

Located in the most northern part of the continent, the borough has experienced massive changes and improvements in recent years. While the school district continues to expand, the paper said that at the meeting, some assembly members were concerned that the district lacks enough local, native teachers, causing some to fear their culture and traditions will not be a sufficient part of the Borough's curriculum.

Native customs are an important part of the region's educational curriculum, with the Dispatch reporting that part of the Borough's mission statement reads, "Learning in our schools is rooted in the values, history and language of the Inupiat."

Some school board members were also concerned about the area's limited ability to lobby the state legislature on rural issues, according to the source, while others said it was difficult to attract native teachers due to the limited salary the profession awards.

The U.S. Department of Education awards grants to rural school districts in the state through its Alaska Native Education Equity program, which provides funding for Native American programs in the Last Frontier, with the overall purpose of meeting their unique educational