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Objectives This paper outlines the unique culturally driven cyclical migration of Alaska Native (AN) Elders, distinct from previously described migration patterns in that Elders spend extended time in more than one community. We describe this Indigenous cyclical migration of AN Elders and its influence on their identity and later life health and well-being. Methods Interviews with 124 AN Elders were conducted across 5 regions of Alaska: Bristol Bay, Interior, Norton Sound, Aleutian Pribilof Islands, and Southcentral. Within this sample, 87 participants engaged in cyclical migration. Thematic analysis was employed to identify themes related to Elders' cyclical migration between rural and urban communities and the impact on their identity and later life health and well-being. Results We identified 2 distinct patterns of Indigenous cyclical migration—Elders living primarily in rural communities migrating to urban communities and Elders living primarily in urban communities migrating to rural communities. Elders engaged in these 2 patterns of cyclical migration to maintain cultural practices, access social, and health care services to maintain their physical health and well-being, and continue their community roles contributing to their AN Elder identity. Discussion This study builds upon existing migration theories by introducing a cyclical pattern uniquely driven by AN identity, culture, and traditional practices. Findings illustrate how AN communities can support Elders who experience cyclical migration patterns to ensure they age successfully in both locations. Future research should explore cyclical migration patterns among other Indigenous populations with migration histories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the United States of America grapples with one of the worst addiction crisis of all time, the American Indian and Alaska Natives are reportedly the population affected most by drug and alcohol addiction? Notably, American Indians are championing recovery from addiction by integrating their unique cultural practices into the criminal justice system, yet, the nature and impact of Indigenous cultural interventions has not been a focus of much legal scholarly attention.21 3T 4his paper delineates the ethos and efficacy of Indigenous cultural interventions, as exemplified by the Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians Healing to Wellness Court (Waabshki-Miigwan as in the Odawa language Daawaamwin). The paper further argues that Indigenous cultural practices should also be incorporated into Western European-based biomedical practices to promote American Indians' right to health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultural humility in trauma informed practice is of paramount importance when working with underserved minority populations. Societal structures and systems of oppression, such as disproportionate representation of American Indian/Alaska Native children in state foster care systems, intergenerational poverty or overrepresentation of people of color in the justice system, are often sources of trauma for marginalized populations. To practice with cultural humility and implement trauma informed practices, systems of care (e.g. child welfare, justice, school, mental health) must attend to structural inequality and tailor treatment accordingly. This paper will describe cultural considerations for systems, organizations and individuals working with American Indian/Alaska Native individuals, families and communities. Recommendations for infusing cultural humility into trauma informed practice will be provided using the ten implementation domains of trauma informed practice as outlined in SAMHSA's Concept of Trauma and Guidance for a Trauma-Informed Approach. Content will include an application of the ten domains with examples specific to service delivery with American/Indian Alaska Native populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the development of a Yup'ik Alaska Native approach to suicide and alcohol abuse prevention that resulted in the creation of the Qungasvik, a toolbox promoting reasons for life and sobriety among youth. The Qungasvik is made up of thirty-six modules that function as cultural scripts for creating experiences in Yup'ik communities that build strengths and protection against suicide and alcohol abuse. The Qungasvik manual represents the results of a community based participatory research intervention development process grounded in culture and local process, and nurtured through a syncretic blending of Indigenous and Western theories and practices. This paper will provide a description of the collaborative steps taken at the community-level to develop the intervention modules. This process involved university researchers and community members coming together and drawing from multiple sources of data and knowledge to inform the development of prevention activities addressing youth suicide and alcohol abuse. We will present case examples describing the development of three keystone modules; Qasgiq (The Men's House), Yup'ik Kinship Terms, and Surviving Your Feelings. These modules each are representative of the process that the community co-researcher team took to develop and implement protective experiences that: (1) create supportive community, (2) strengthen families, and (3) give individuals tools to be healthy and strong.

What is it like to grow up Yup’ik and come of age today in a traditional hunting-gathering community setting located in a remote region of Alaska? Current research describes a contemporary experience often laden with trauma and crisis. Youth in Yup’ik communities today face threats to their very survival as they encounter, early on, things that their ancestors never faced—including alcohol-related deaths, violence in many forms, and high rates of suicide among their young peers. Yet all is not despair for the youth growing up in these remote indigenous communities. Many youth grow-up to become skilled hunters, strong leaders, and able parents. This paper reports findings from the Alaskan Yup’ik site of the Circumpolar Indigenous Pathways to Adulthood (CIPA) study. The goal of this study is to identify strengths and resilience in youth living in a Yup’ik community in southwest Alaska. Interviews were conducted with 25 youth age 11–18, currently residing in a southwest Alaska community. Qualitative analysis revealed important connections between local stressors, community-level protective resources, and youth-driven, solution-focused strategies for overcoming hardship and learning the “ways how to live.” Findings from this study contribute critical information on indigenous youth protection and resilience, including community and cultural resilience processes beyond the individual level, and enhance our understanding of the types of resources that can lead to improved outcomes for Alaska Native youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has established connection between indigenous culture—often described in terms of cultural identity, enculturation, and participation in traditional activities—and resilience, the process by which people overcome acute and ongoing challenges. Despite correlations between culture and resilience, research has seldom described the ways these concepts are linked in indigenous people’s narratives. Furthermore, little attention has been paid to the affect of historical trauma on different generations’ understanding and deployment of “culture” in the context of hardship. This project, conducted in the summer of 2008 in an indigenous Arctic community, focuses on narratives from three generations who have experienced different degrees of cultural suppression in their lifetimes. From this starting point, the study explores how individuals make meaning and take strength from particular notions of culture, and illuminates the ways each generation accesses and deploys their cultural understandings in the face of hardship. By identifying the similarities and differences in both the challenges and sources of strength for each generation, the paper highlights how understandings of culture are shaped by historical experiences and modified through time. The differing ways that culture fosters strength, purpose, and fortitude (or does not) in indigenous young people’s, adults’ and Elders’ life stories provide clues for enhancing indigenous youth resilience. Findings suggest that “culture” can galvanize Inupiaq people’s sense of identity, feeling of commitment, and purpose, all of which are protective. However, young people need support in developing particular ideas around cultural identity and group membership that can contribute to resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focus group research was conducted to examine indigenous conceptions of wellness among the Yup'ik Eskimos of southwestern Alaska. The dialogue on wellness emphasized the importance of living a traditional lifestyle, seeking creative solutions to manage drastic cultural change, and fostering connection within the communities and the native landscape. These themes mesh well with existing characterizations of Alaska Native experiences and worldviews, and reflect substantial links between enculturation, acculturation and health. The data underscores the importance of comprehending local conceptions of wellness in order to effectively work toward promoting optimal health. This paper represents part of an ongoing dialogue in which researchers and native communities co-direct the investigation into healthy ways of being in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthropological and ethnohistorical accounts of the Northwest Coast and Southeast Alaska have underemphasized the early and thorough industrialization of the area. This paper describes the transformation of Native fan. lies and community forms by small scale salmon-canning firms m the late 19th and early 20th century, beginning with the building of the first salmon cannery in Klawock, Alaska, in 1878. Attention to the unmaking of past forms of obligation and expectation leads to an understanding of the volatility of specifically local histories in Native villages. Totem poles and tricycle races are both locations of ambiguous cultural production that are tied to these histories in overlapping and complex ways, and as such, they serve as metaphors for the larger processes at work in these towns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid changes experienced by non-Western ethnic groups as they become "acculturated" to Western life-styles are frequently associated with disintegration of the traditional cultures and psychosocial dysfunction of the groups' members. How culture changes lead to maladaptation remains a mystery. As a first step in clarifying this relationship, this paper proposes a method for analyzing the interaction of cultural change and psychosocial maladjustment. It uses Native Alaskans as a paradigmatic example of a group that is undergoing rapid changes and describes in detail a maladjusted subgroup of Native Alaskans--mentally ill criminal offenders. It compares 567 Native Alaskan criminal offenders who were referred to mental health professionals (from 1977 thru 1981) to 939 White Alaskan offenders. We find that alcohol abuse, the dominant social problem for Native Alaskans, is not clearly associated with the degree of sociocultural change. Residence in larger communities and higher educational achievement are associated with greater psychosocial maladjustment. The region of residence (i.e., Native Corporation) has a stronger influence on the rate and type of maladjustment than the ethnic group (i.e., Eskimo, Indian, or Aleut) or the "ethnic density" of the community of residence (i.e., the proportion of Native Alaskans in the population). We emphasize the importance of using such quantitative findings to focus the questions that should be addressed by ethnographic research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a critical discussion of the definitions, conceptual models, and methodological issues that researchers should consider in studies of sociocultural influences on drinking practices and problems. In particular, these concerns are related to studies of American Indian and Alaskan Native people. In an effort to avoid overgeneralized explanatory statements, it is recommended that efforts be made to study more specific aspects of such loosely defined terms as culture, alcoholism, and "Indianness." Research in this area might usefully be guided by parsimonious conceptual models developed and investigated in the dominant culture; however the extent to which relationships observed within one group generalized to another group remains an empirical question. While there may be a common set of operationalizing variables and collecting valid data cannot be assumed to have equal applicability with different subgroups. By remaining sensitive to the methodological implications of sociocultural differences, investigators can more accurately clarify the processes by which complex biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors influence alcohol use and misuse in any individual or group.

Research by Alaska Natives (ANs) and non-Natives alike shows that integration of a client's traditional culture into mental health and substance abuse treatment increases engagement and positive outcomes. This article seeks to expand the clinician's cultural sensitivity and awareness in working with ANs by offering tools that were accepted by the majority of clients with whom I worked during a three-year time period in Alaska's Bering Strait region. Multiple resources are included to help increase treatment efficacy with Alaska Native (AN) youth and adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Allen McCartney's career of northern field research began in 1962 in the Aleut region of Alaska, an area to which he has returned many times over the next four decades. During that time, he worked throughout the region, from the Alaska Peninsula to the far western Aleutians, to the isolated Pribilof Islands, and at sites spanning the entire range of human occupation. The depth and breadth of his experience and interests have yielded important insights concerning the Aleut area, specifically, and the circumpolar region, generally. His efforts have also influenced the research goals and careers of many other northern scholars and have assisted in some unforeseen and unacknowledged ways in matters of Aleut land ownership and cultural heritage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The life satisfaction of the indigenous population in Arctic Alaska is quite high, perhaps higher than that of the U.S. population in general. Is wage employment brought by modern economic growth responsible for their high life satisfaction? Probably not. Interestingly, we find that household wage income and job opportunities per working-age Native are negatively associated with their life satisfaction. In contrast, non-wage income, which does not involve the sacrifice of time that can be used for subsistence activities, is positively associated with life satisfaction. A household's involvement in these traditional activities is found to be positively associated with life satisfaction as well. The findings challenge the common preconception about the effects of modernization and point to the importance of the non-wage subsistence activities as a preferred substitute for wage employment to this indigenous population. A combination of Christian religious beliefs and indigenous spiritual beliefs is also positively associated with their life satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Norton culture (ca. 740 BC–AD 1000) sites are ubiquitous across the western Arctic. Based on artifact and settlement data, it is generally agreed that Norton culture south of Seward Peninsula possessed a mixed marine-focused economy dominated by seasonally available Pacific salmon. However, the few direct studies of Norton subsistence, thus far, have suggested an emphasis on marine mammals rather than salmon. We present the results of a zooarchaeological midden analysis from the large Norton site of Difchahak (49-NOB-005) near Shaktoolik on Norton Sound, Alaska. We argue the faunal remains recovered from this site reflect its local estuarine system. Inhabitants were able to maintain year-round occupation of the region through an expansion of netting technology to non-salmon prey species. The economic focus at Difchahak was on mass capture of several seasonally available taxa, including salmon, mussels, saffron cod, ptarmigan, ducks, geese, and seal. Comparison of these faunal remains to those from Norton culture deposits at the neighboring site of Iyatayet suggests that differences between the localities are largely driven by geographically dependent prey-species distributions, and these two sites may represent complementary parts to a broad logistical foraging system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

American Indians/Alaska Natives/Native Hawaiians (AI/AN/NHs) disproportionately experience higher rates of various health conditions. Developing culturally centered interventions targeting health conditions is a strategy to decrease the burden of health conditions among this population. This study analyzes characteristics from 21 studies currently funded under the Interventions for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention in Native American (NA) Populations program among investigators currently funded under this grant mechanism. Four broad challenges were revealed as critical to address when scientifically establishing culturally centered interventions for Native populations. These challenges were (a) their ability to harness culture-centered knowledge and perspectives from communities; (b) their utilization of Indigenous-based theories and knowledge systems with Western-based intervention paradigms and theories; (c) their use of Western-based methodologies; and (d) their cultural adaptation, if based on an evidence-based treatment. Findings revealed that qualitative methodologies and community-based participatory research (CBPR) approaches were very commonly used to finalize the development of interventions. Various Indigenous-based theories and knowledge systems and Western-based theories were used in the methodologies employed. Cultural adaptations were made that often used formative mixed qualitative and quantitative methods. Illustrative examples of strategies used and suggestions for future research are provided. Findings underscored the importance of CBPR methods to improve the efficacy of interventions for AI/AN/NH communities by integrating Indigenous-based theories and knowledge systems with Western science approaches to improve health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Reduction of risky drinking in women of childbearing age is 1 strategy that may be employed to prevent fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, a sequela of prenatal alcohol exposure. Communities differ in risk and protective factors, necessitating culturally informed interventions for maximal efficacy. This article describes the modification of an existing web-based screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment intervention to reduce risky drinking among American Indian Alaska Native ( AIAN) women of childbearing age in Southern California into a peer-to-peer-based intervention using motivational interviewing (MI). Methods The modification process was iterative and included various community focus groups, interviews, and a final review. Results Intervention modification was required for cultural congruence. Components of the peer-to-peer intervention designed by this project included a flip chart used to guide the motivational interviewing, charts of the financial and physical costs of alcohol consumption, revised baseline and follow-up questionnaires, and guidance regarding the application of MI techniques. Conclusions This study may inform the modification of future interventions among AIAN communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article builds on the People Awakening (PA) Project, which explored an Alaska Native (AN) understanding of the recovery process from alcohol use disorder and sobriety. The aim of this study is to explore motivating and maintenance factors for sobriety among older AN adult participants (age 50+) from across Alaska. Ten life history narratives of Alaska Native older adults, representing Alutiiq, Athabascan, Tlingit, Yup'ik/Cup'ik Eskimos, from the PA sample were explored using thematic analysis. AN older adults are motivated to abstain from, or to quit drinking alcohol through spirituality, family influence, role socialization and others' role modeling, and a desire to engage in indigenous cultural generative activities with their family and community. A desire to pass on their accumulated wisdom to a younger generation through engagement and sharing of culturally grounded activities and values, or indigenous cultural generativity, is a central unifying motivational and maintenance factor for sobriety. The implications of this research indicates that family, role expectations and socialization, desire for community and culture engagement, and spirituality are central features to both AN Elders' understanding of sobriety, and more broadly, to their successful aging. Future research is needed to test these findings in population-based studies and to explore incorporation of these findings into alcohol treatment programs to support older AN adults' desire to quit drinking and attain long-term sobriety. Sobriety can put older AN adults on a pathway to successful aging, in positions to serve as role models for their family and community, where they are provided opportunities to engage in meaningful indigenous cultural generative acts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We used community-based participatory research with four tiers of governance and grounded theory methods to examine the lives of Alaska Native grandparents rearing grandchildren in a rural community. We explored the reasons Native grandparents reared or are rearing their grandchildren, challenges rearing grandchildren, and the joys of grandparenthood. We used their words to broaden the grandparenting research by focusing solely on Native People living in a rural, arctic climate. Culture, values, and traditions explain the unique reasons grandparents cared for their grandchildren; values and common concerns of all grandparents describe the challenges of grandparenthood; pride and joy, the value of love, and traditional ways of living made clear the joys of Alaska Native grandparents rearing their grandchildren. After the discussion, we offer considerations for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) remain underrepresented in the academic medicine workforce and little is known about cultivating AI/AN medical students' interest in academic medicine careers. Five structured focus groups were conducted including 20 medical students and 18 physicians. The discussion guide explored factors influencing AI/AN trainees' academic medicine career interest and recommended approaches to increase their pursuit of academia. Consensual qualitative research was employed to analyze transcripts. Our research revealed six facilitating factors, nine dissuading factors, and five recommendations towards cultivating AI/AN pursuit of academia. Facilitators included the opportunity to teach, serving as a role model/mentor, enhancing the AI/AN medical education pipeline, opportunities to influence institution, collegiality, and financial stability. Dissuading factors included limited information on academic career paths, politics, lack of credit for teaching and community service, isolation, self-doubt, lower salary, lack of positions in rural areas, lack of focus on clinical care for AI/AN communities, and research obligations. Recommendations included heighten career awareness, recognize the challenges in balancing AI/AN and academic cultures, collaborate with IHS on faculty recruitment strategies, identify concordant role models/mentors, and identify loan forgiveness programs. Similar to other diverse medical students', raising awareness of academic career opportunities especially regarding teaching and community scholarship, access to concordant role models/mentors, and supportive institutional climates can also foster AI/AN medical students' pursuit of academia. Unique strategies for AI/AN trainees include learning how to balance AI/AN and academic cultures, collaborating with IHS on faculty recruitment strategies, and increasing faculty opportunities in rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative meta-synthesis of materials from three national projects that had examined more than 75 American Indian/Alaska Native child welfare programs sought to articulate how culture is expressed within tribal child protective services (CPS)work and to uncover whether there are cultural elements of tribal child welfare practice that are distinct from practice in non-tribal settings. Through the meta-synthesis, a framework emerged outlining a cultural approach to practice that incorporates: (a) a culturally-distinct definition of Native child well-being; (b) tribal values that form a foundation for practice; (c) practice intentions linking child protection with cultural and community health; and (d) two specialized worker skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indigenous circumpolar youth are experiencing challenges of growing up in a context much different from that of their parents and their grandparents due to rapid and imposed social change. Our study is interested in community resilience: the meaning systems, resources, and relationships that structure how youth go about overcoming difficulties. The research reflects an understanding that social and cultural ecologies influence people’s available and meaningful options. The in-depth, qualitative study of 20 youth from the same Arctic community shows Inupiat (Alaska Native) youth are navigating challenges. Findings from this research suggest that Inupiat youth reflect more flexible patterns of resilience when they are culturally grounded. This cultural foundation involves kinship networks that mediate young people’s access to cultural and material assets. Our participants emphasized the importance of taking care of others and “giving back to the community.” Being “in the country” linked youth to traditional ontology that profoundly shifted how youth felt in relation to themselves, to others, and the world. The vast majority of participants’ “fulfillment narratives” centered on doing subsistence and/or cultural activities. In relation to this, young people were more likely to demonstrate versatility in their resilience strategies when deploying coherent self-narratives that reflected novel yet culturally resonant styles. Young women were more likely to demonstrate this by reconfiguring notions of culture and gender identity in ways that helped them meet challenges in their lives. Lastly, generational differences in understandings signal particular ways that young people’s historical and political positioning influences their access to cultural resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives.American Indians and Alaska Natives (ANs) report among the lowest levels of physical activity in the USA, but there is very little systematic research examining the determinants of physical activity patterns in these populations. This study investigated the relationships between enculturation (or cultural traditionality), psychosocial stress, and physical activity in a community-based sample of Yup'ik women and men living in rural AN communities. Associations between these variables and several metabolic risk factors were also examined. Design.A sample of 488 Yup'ik participants (284 women and 204 men) from six villages in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region completed a wellness survey and an array of physiological assessments [e.g., body mass index (BMI), blood pressure]. A subset of 179 participants also completed a 3-day pedometer assessment of physical activity. Results.Multivariate linear regression models indicated that participants who were more enculturated (i.e., living more of a traditional lifestyle) and who experienced lower levels of psychosocial stress were significantly more physically active. In turn, both lower levels of psychosocial stress and higher levels of physical activity were associated with lower BMI, lower percent body fat, and lower waist circumference. Conclusions.Findings underscore the importance of gaining a culturally specific understanding of physical activity patterns in indigenous groups in order to inform effective health promotion strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background. Alaska Native (AN) college students experience higher attrition rates than their non-Native peers. Understanding the factors that contribute to quality of life ("what makes life good") for AN students will help inform supportive programs that are congruent with their culture and college life experiences. Objectives. Co-develop a conceptual model and a measure of quality of life (QOL) that reflects the experiences of AN college students. Methods. Six focus groups were conducted with 26 AN college students. Within a community-academic partnership, interactive data collection activities, co-analysis workgroup sessions and an interactive findings forum ensured a participant-driven research process. Findings. Students identified and operationally defined eight QOL domains (values, culture and traditions, spirituality, relationships, basic needs, health, learning and leisure). The metaphor of a tree visually illustrates how the domains values, culture and traditions and spirituality form the roots to the other domains that appear to branch out as students navigate the dual worldviews of Native and Western ways of living. Conclusions. The eight QOL domains and their items identified during focus groups were integrated into a visual model and an objective QOL measure. The hope is to provide a useful tool for developing and evaluating university-based programs and services aimed toward promoting a positive QOL and academic success for AN students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a population, American Indian and Alaskan Native people have poorer overall health status when compared to other Americans. Due to a history of colonization and continued marginalization, a movement to bring forth traditional knowledge and practice, while reaffirming power over how a people are researched, has evoked a new orientation to researching wellness among indigenous people. The aim of this article is to situate the oral tradition of storytelling in the digital era as a research technique and intervention that can help Native and non-Native investigators meet American Indian health needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: HIV/AIDS is a critical and growing challenge to American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) women’s health. Conceptually guided by the Indigenist Stress-Coping Model, this paper explores the historical and contemporary factors implicated in the HIV epidemic among AIAN women and the co-occurring epidemics of sexual violence and substance abuse. The authors also outline multiple indicators of resiliency in AIAN communities and stress the need for HIV prevention interventions for AIAN women to capitalize on cultural and community strengths. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Purpose: Alaska Natives (ANs) view aging from a holistic perspective, which is not typical of the existing successful aging literature. One of the challenges of conducting research with cultural groups (e.g., ANs) is the lack of data, or research, on culture and aging and its impact on how we view successful aging. This research explores successful aging from an AN perspective or what it means to reach “Eldership” in rural Alaskan communities, which is an area of successful aging where there is very little research. Design and Methods: Data were gathered from 26 elders aged 61–93 years in 6 Bristol Bay communities in Southwest Alaska. An Explanatory Model approach was used and adapted to gain a sense of the beliefs about aging and establish an indigenous understanding of successful aging or what it means to attain “Eldership.” Results: Rather than establishing a definition of successful aging for AN Elders, this study highlights the four elements of “Eldership” or what AN Elders believe are important characteristics to becoming a respected elder. The four elements of “Eldership” are emotional well-being, community engagement, spirituality, and physical health, which are the characteristics of ANs who have reached “Eldership” and become a respected Elder in their community. Implications: This research seeks to inform studies on indigenous aging that prioritizes the perspectives of elders to affect positively on the delivery of health care services in rural Alaska. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The purpose of this study was to unpack notions of class, culture, and race as they relate to multidisciplinary team (MDT) professionals and their perceptions of prevalence in child sexual abuse cases in Native and non-Native rural Alaska communities. Power and privilege within professional settings is significant for all social work professionals and influences the ways in which systemic issues of power and privilege mediate decision making. Fifteen MDT participants from two separate rural communities were interviewed. Emergent themes include perceptions on incidences and reporting of child sexual abuse, cultural dissonance, and systemic challenges. Policy and practice implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2006 British Petroleum oil spill on Alaska's North Slope was the largest pipeline incident in a decades-long operating system. The spill and subsequent discovery of extensive pipeline corrosion resulted in a partial system shutdown, significant revenue losses, and environmental degradation. The event left stakeholders asking a number of questions. How could such a catastrophe have occurred? Why was government regulatory oversight not more aggressive? What happened to the industry's commitment to zero accidents and environmental protection? This study suggests that answers can be found though an examination of the relationship between organizational culture, integrity, and a weak regulatory regime. It provides lessons for both practitioners and scholars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many authors primarily from industrialised nations discuss human relationships with the natural environment in the context of global environmental issues, and highlight the close relationships that 'traditional' societies have with nature. There is a growing trend among indigenous people in North America to restore such a connection with the land through place-based education. This article reports on progress on such a programme at Russian Mission School in rural Alaska in the period 2002-2007 and its implications for sustainability. The programme actively seeks to integrate the community's cultural values and activities into their curriculum. This has resulted in raising pupils' academic skills and confidence, and seems to be bridging a gap of distrust between the school and community. An ethnographical approach was adopted with a mixed research design based primarily on participant observation, supported by semi-structured interviews, written surveys, and conversations with stakeholders, student writings and secondary sources. The initial fieldwork in 2002 was followed up five years later. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the past two decades, one of the authors (Robert Morgan) has been involved in the development and implementation of culturally based outpatient, inpatient, and aftercare programs for Alaskan native and American-Indian populations in Alaska. After years of observation, it was concluded that the best efforts of our clinicians were inadequate to the task at hand, i.e., that of resolving the social and physical ills that have ravaged the Alaskan peoples since the occupation. Morgan and others sought to create a new model of diagnosis and treatment that combined the cultural strengths of the people with the technical and treatment skills of the conventional medical profession. The model was grounded in a clear understanding of the factors causing disease in the people, and that understanding came from the people themselves. Before the growth of the “healing plant” that Uncle Walter spoke of could be nurtured, it was necessary to first examine the question of cause and effect. Much of the cause is rooted in the “historical trauma” experienced by the Alaska Native People. The effects are numerous, but one of the most obvious symptoms is substance misuse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photosynthesis and respiration of three Alaskan Porphyra species, P. abbottiae V. Krishnam., P. pseudolinearis Ueda species complex (identified as P. “ pseudolinearis” below), and P. torta V. Krishnam., were investigated under a range of environmental parameters. Photosynthesis versus irradiance ( P– I) curves revealed that maximal photosynthesis ( Pmax), irradiance at maximal photosynthesis ( Imax), and compensation irradiance ( I c) varied with salinity, temperature, and species. The Pmax of Porphyra abbottiae conchocelis varied between 83 and 240 μmol O2 · g dwt−1 · h−1 (where dwt indicates dry weight) at 30–140 μmol photons · m−2 · s−1 ( Imax) depending on temperature. Higher irradiances resulted in photoinhibition. Maximal photosynthesis of the conchocelis of P. abbottiae occurred at 11°C, 60 μmol photons · m−2·s−1, and 30 psu (practical salinity units). The conchocelis of P. “pseudolinearis” and P. torta had similar Pmax values but higher Imax values than those of P. abbottiae. The Pmax of P. “pseudolinearis” conchocelis was 200–240 μmol O2 · g dwt−1 · h−1 and for P. torta was 90–240 μmol O2 · g dwt−1 · h−1. Maximal photosynthesis for P. “pseudolinearis” occurred at 7°C and 250 μmol photons · m−2 · s−1 at 30 psu, but Pmax did not change much with temperature. Maximal photosynthesis for P. torta occurred at 15°C, 200 μmol photons · m−2 · s−1, and 30 psu. Photosynthesis rates for all species declined at salinities <25 or >35 psu. Estimated compensation irradiances ( I c) were relatively low (3–5 μmol · photons · m−2 · s−1) for intertidal macrophytes. Porphyra conchocelis had lower respiration rates at 7°C than at 11°C or 15°C. All three species exhibited minimal respiration rates at salinities between 25 and 35 psu. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the significance of sport hunting and how it affects enforcement and disposition of game violation and the wounded Alaskan culture. Subsistence and sport hunters have utilized the country's natural resources for generations. The traditions tied to both groups represent vital public policy interests that embrace a plethora of diverse factors. Competing interests create legislative tension, and the two cultural enclaves frequently become unwitting adversaries in court.

Examines the cultural identity of the Unangax tribe as expressed through the dances they performed at the 28th Annual Festival of Native Arts in Fairbanks, Alaska. Information on the Native American tribes that participated in the festival; Types of dances performed by the Unangax at the festival; History of the tribe.

Discusses the role of culture camps that have emerged in rural Alaska. Concern for the widening gap between the older and younger generations of Yupik Eskimos; Formation of the Calista Elders Council; Opportunity for elders to transmit subsistence skills, oral history, and cultural traditions to the younger generation.

Focuses on the tradition of storytelling and its therapeutic value in the North Slope Inupiat community in Alaska. Conveyance of action and the spirit of song; Ability of storytelling to release a person from any form of addiction through its morals; Description of actual healing; Depiction of life, death and humor.

Part III. Recalls the challenges that confronted Alaskan natives when forming the Circle of Healing Program. Accreditation of native healers for the reimbursement of services; Delivery of Western and alternative medical treatment; Therapeutic value of traditional storytelling.

During the past thirty years, scholars in many fields have written voluminously on the maintenance and significance of Native languages among ethnic minorities. Language endangerment and erosion is viewed as a tragic phenomenon on a global level. Yet, it is in the circumpolar North that these losses have been especially poignantly felt. This essay will address those aspects of the history of Alaska Native languages and language loss as it has unfolded within the broad spectrum of socio-cultural forces affecting Alaska Native cultures. Evidence suggests that the legacy of language loss has been substantial. Throughout the spectrum of Alaska Native cultures, this tragedy is felt profoundly as it has brought about a sense of irreplaceable loss and left many questions unanswered. Have the outside forces working within been the primary causes of this erosion or, perhaps, have the victims of this tragedy also played a role of enablers in this process? The recognition of this condition has triggered strong, positive reactions throughout the state of Alaska and its Native communities. These culturally integrated responses indicate tenacity, courage, wisdom and hope for a renaissance. How can libraries become more sensitive and culturally responsive in this emerging milieu? We do not want to be perceived, as libraries often are, as a component of a white, European imperialist institution but rather as supportive partners in this process of cultural reassertion. Thus, our methodologies of selection, preservation, classification, access, and dissemination may need to be refashioned and explained in terms that fit into the vision and philosophy of connectivity to Alaska Native cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article focuses on a study, which seeks to further the understanding of the process of ethnic change over the course of industrial development by evaluating the comparative explanatory power of these perspectives in the context of settler/indigene relations in Alaska. Alaska represents a geographical unit in which a culturally diversified indigenous population engaged in hunting and gathering subsistence activities was penetrated by raw resource exploiting colonizers in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and in the twentieth century by settlers who brought with them the instruments and values of industrial modernization present in the U.S. The study is divided into two parts. The first part is a longitudinal analysis which compares the impact of the industrialization process on the entire indigenous and settler populations at several points in time between 1900 and 1970. The second part of the study is a cross-sectional analysis of the effect of different degrees of industrial development on indigene solidarity. Longitudinal analysis of industrial development in Alaska suggests that a cultural division of labor has played an important part in the maintenance of ethnic solidarity. More insight into the explanation of power of both the modernization and internal colonial perspective has been gained from the cross-sectional analysis of Alaska in 1970. The study concludes that a comparison of modernization theories and the internal colonial model suggests that on the whole, the internal colonial model is better able to consistently explain ethnic solidarity in Alaska.

Examines the cultural isolation and environmental changes of western Aleutians. What the review of distribution of cultural traits suggested; Effects of environmental change on the development of Aleut culture.

Focuses on the intergenerational transfer of oral culture in Kutchin Indian society. Learning and sharing of traditional stories and life experiences; Need for elders to develop the necessary skills and knowledge in transmitting oral traditions; Perspective of strength and resourcefulness.