Foote, Don Charles, 1931-

Don Charles Foote was born in 1931. He received an M.A. and a Ph. D. in Human Geography from McGill University in 1958 and 1965 respectively. Foote moved to Alaska in 1959 and spent two years in Point Hope employed as a researcher for the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, and a third year researching the history of the Point Hope area, particularly as it related to whaling. His research for the AEC convinced him of the dangers of a proposal to use nuclear weapons to blast a harbor near Point Hope. In 1963, Foote accepted a position at McGill University as a lecturer, and continued his research into whaling. He returned to Alaska in 1965, working in Shungnak, studying Kobuk Valley land use. He began work at the University of Alaska's Institute of Social and Economic Research in 1968, where he worked until his death. Foote died after an automobile accident in March of 1969.