Across the harbor are the radar domes of the DEW line — Distant Early Warning, a Cold Wart installation intended to watch for incoming Soviet missiles. Off in the distance are a few large industrial buildings, some left over from a period of oil exploration the Beaufort Sea. Both the Cold War and the oil exploration brought outsiders and economic activity to Tuk, but both have now passed on, leaving the town pretty quiet.

The people here hunt whales and seals on the Beaufort Sea, and caribou on land. They run trap lines in winter, and herd reindeer (a domesticated equivalent of the caribou, introduced from the Old World). In the winter they carve scrimshaw and make other traditional handicraft items that are in great demand by tourists and collectors.