The third and final prehistoric migration to Alaska was of people who spoke a family of languages known as Eskaleut (Eskimo and Aleut languages). These people moved into Alaska 5,000 to 8,000 years ago, settling in areas in which earlier groups had trouble surviving. With highly developed technology focused on living off the northern ocean, these people were able to spread along the coast of Alaska, Canada, and Greenland.  These people are the ancestors of the Aleut, Inupiaq, Yupik, and Alutiiq of modern Alaska.

While the land of the Arctic and Bering Sea coasts they settled was often barren, the oceans around them were rich in marine life, especially marine mammals, such as whales, seals, and walruses.  These groups possessed technologies and hunting strategies that enabled them to thrive where earlier groups had not.  Highly developed tools, such as kayaks, skin boats, harpoon systems, and winter clothing, enabled them to hunt marine mammals and survive in the extreme Arctic climatic conditions. 

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