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Objective. The incidence of hospitalization for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection among Alaska Native children is much higher than among non-Native populations in the United States. We conducted this study to better understand factors associated with hospitalization attributable to RSV infection in this high-risk population. Design. Case-control study, including collection of cord blood for RSV-neutralizing antibody measurement. Setting. Remote region of southwest Alaska served by 1 regional hospital and 2 referral hospitals. Subjects. Case-patients identified through surveillance for RSV infection and matched control subjects without acute respiratory infection hospitalization. Results. Breastfeeding was associated with a lower risk of RSV hospitalization (odds ratio: 0.34), whereas underlying medical conditions (primarily prematurity) were associated with increased risk (odds ratio: 6.25). Environmental factors associated with a higher risk of hospitalization included household crowding (4 or more children in the household and crowding index [greater than or equal to] 2). The level of maternal RSV-neutralizing antibody was not associated with the risk of hospitalization. Conclusions. In this region with extremely high risk of RSV hospitalization, several measures, such as encouraging breastfeeding and reducing household crowding, could reduce the risk of hospitalization attributable to RSV. Pediatrics 2002;109:210-216; respiratory syncytial virus, Alaska Natives, breastfeeding., ABBREVIATIONS. RSV, respiratory syncytial virus; ARI, acute respiratory infection; YK, Yukon Kuskokwim; YKDRH, YK Delta Regional Hospital; JHU, Johns Hopkins University; OR, odds ratio; BPD, bronchopulmonary dysplasia; LRI, lower respiratory [...]

The health status of female Alaskan natives is examined. The author maintains native Alaskan women have high incidences of smoking and drinking, consume high fat diets and are more likely to be obese than other women in the United States, and have high rates of diabetes, and argues that more research should be conducted in order to establish effective intervention programs.

A history is presented on native Alaskan workers in the region's whaling industry, from 1888 to the present. The article focuses on the benefits brought to the Inupiats by American whalers, such as supplies of food during an epidemic, improved living conditions fostered by new equipment and materials, and an expansion of trade.

Records from a school established for Alaskan Native Americans in Bethel between 1884 and 1947 show how such schools differed from those in the American West. Village schools trained students to support themselves in trades and eventually became integrated with white students.

Cancer currently ranks as the second leading cause of death among American Indians (AI) and Alaska Natives (AN) though it was an uncommon occurrence among these populations at the turn of the century. A series of national surveys was conducted to provide a comprehensive overview of the limited cancer control programs organized to aid AI/AN populations. Results show that the rate ratios for cancer incidence among AIs were 0.41, for males, and 0.51, for females from 1988 to 1992 compared to non-Hispanic whites. The cancer incidence rate within the same period for AN were 0.77 and 0.98 in males and females, respectively.

Deaths from injury were more common among Alaska Natives in remote villages where alcohol was unrestricted. Alcohol is prohibited in about half of small, remote villages in Alaska. Researchers reviewed 200 injury deaths between 1990 and 1993 and found that 65% of the dead had a significant blood alcohol concentration, independent of alcohol laws. The rate of injury death was higher, however, among Native Alaskans from villages where alcohol was readily available. Local alcohol restrictions appear to have reduced alcohol-related injuries in this population., Context.--Injury is a major public health problem in Alaska, and alcohol consumption and injury death are associated. Objective.--To determine the association between injury death, particularly alcohol-related injury death, and alcohol availability in remote Alaska. Design, Setting, and Participants.--Survey using death certificate data and medical examiner records to compare mortality rates for total injury and alcoholrelated injury during 1990 through 1993 among Alaskans aged 15 years and older who had resided in remote villages of fewer than 1000 persons. Main Outcome Measures.--Rate ratios of injury death among residents of wet villages (de, those without a restrictive alcohol law) as compared with injury death among residents of dry villages (de, those with laws that prohibited the sale and importation of alcohol). Results.--Of 302 injury deaths, blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) were available for 200 deaths (66.2%). Of these, 130 (65.0%) had a BAC greater than or equal to 17 mmol/L ([is greater than or equal to] 80 mg/dL) and were, therefore, classified as alcohol related. The total injury mortality rate was greater among Alaska Natives from wet villages (rate ratio [RR],1.6; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.3-2.1), whereas this difference was not present for nonnatives (RR, 1.1; 95% CI, 0.3-3.8). For Alaska Natives, the alcohol-related injury mortality rate was greater among residents of wet villages (RR, 2.7; 95% CI, 1.9-3.8) than among residents of dry villages. The strength of this association was greatest for deaths due to motor vehicle injury, homicide, and hypothermia. Conclusions.--Although insufficient data existed to adjust for the effects of all potential confounders, residence in a wet village was associated with alcoholrelated injury death among Alaska Native residents of remote Alaska villages. These findings indicate that measures limiting access to alcoholic beverages in this region may decrease alcohol-related injury deaths. JAMA. 1997;278:1755-1758

Alcohol abuse has been a problem among Native Americans in Alaska since the 19th century, and associated problems include suicide, accidental death and homicide. Alcohol control has failed to tackle the problem. Alcohol abuse has been linked to depression arising from culture conflict, and it has been linked to helplessness resulting from colonization. Alcohol binges may also be linked to seeking to escape from cultural norms, a practice indulged in by miners and whalers, who set an example to Native Americans in Alaska. Suicide is seen as heroic in Native American culture in Alaska, which helps explain its prevalence.

Human-environment interactions can affect the sex ratios of resource-dependent societies in a variety of ways. Historical and contemporary data on Alaska Native populations illustrate such effects. Some eighteenth and early nineteenth century observers noted an excess of females, which they attributed to high mortality among hunters. Population counts in the later nineteenth century and well into the twentieth found instead an excess of men in many communities. Female infanticide was credited as the explanation: since family survival depended upon hunting success, males were more valued. Although infanticide explanations for the excess of males have been widely believed, available demographic data point to something else: higher adult female mortality. Finally, in the postwar years, the importance of mortality differentials seems to have faded - and also changed direction. Female outmigration from villages accounts for much of the gender imbalance among Native populations today. Natural-resource development, particularly North Slope oil, indirectly drives this migration. In Alaska's transcultural communities, the present gender imbalances raise issues of individual and cultural survival.

The indegenous Peoples of Alaska have long known that natural balance, indeed their very subsistence lifestyles, depends mUch upon how the land is treated. Whereas the western philosophy of environmental [...]

The misuse of social science in the case filed by Native Americans against the Exxon Corporation for damages caused by the Mar. 1989 oil spill is analyzed. It is argued that the natives lost their case because the social scientists testifying on their behalf claimed that the spill resulted in the loss of their culture. It is shown that the arguments presented by these social scientists should have focused not on the natives' culture, but on their responses to the consequences of the spill.

The term, "Alaska Native" refers to the Indigenous People of Alaska who are Eskimos, Indians, and Aleuts. Within these three major ethnic groups, multiple linguistic and cultural subgroups can be […]

Although significant intermingling of Alaska Natives with 'outsiders' has occurred since Russian colonization from the mid-1700s, relatively little literature addresses the effect of population admixture on ethnic identity of Alaska's indigenous people. The straight-line theory of assimilation purports that intermarriage and loss of mother tongue herald the demise of a distinct sociocultural group. Loss of usage of most of Alaska's Native languages and the high rate of Native-non-Native intermarriage, particularly following World War II, conform to conditions suggestive of assimilation. The dearth of research on this subject in urban Alaska seems to point to tacit agreement with the straight-line theory by social scientists. This article juxtaposes content areas for inquiry from two recent studies of ethnicity with data from a pilot study of 12 Alaska Natives in Anchorage to provide a broader context for the study's results and as a means to ponder more fruitful areas for future research. The Anchorage data revealed scant content on specific Native traditions or customs, but indicated the presence of many aspects of 'symbolic' culture and social affiliation, resonant with Keefe's (1992) view that such features reflect the tenacity of ethnic groups rather than signaling their end. Key words: Alaska Natives, ethnicity, population admixture

Chukchi News Service, a student writing project founded in 1988, is an attempt to represent Native Alaskan life through greater journalistic participation of the Natives themselves. Cultural journalism, such as that practiced by the writers of Chukchi, focuses on the day-to-day aspects of living rather than the bizarre or unusual. Because their voices need to be heard, Natives proficient in English should resist other monetarily attractive jobs in non-journalistic fields.

Discrimination against natives persisted in Alaska until the enactment of the Equal Rights Act of 1945. From Alaska's beginning as a territory in the 19th century the white minority had enforced many Jim Crow laws that denied political rights to Indians and Eskimos and forced them to go to separate schools, movie theaters and stores. The anti-discriminatory movement, led by the Alaskan Native Brotherhood and Sisterhood, gained momentum from the social upheavals brought on by World War II. Governor Ernest Gruening helped win passage of the Equal Rights Act and signed it into law on Feb 16, 1945.

Haemophilus influenzae type b is a bacteria that can cause serious illnesses, such as bacteremia (bacterial infection of the blood), meningitis, septic arthritis, pneumonia, and death in young children. Most of the 20,000 people who contract this infection each year in the United States are children under 5 years of age. Several groups of Native North Americans, including Indians, Eskimos, and Aleuts, have been found to have a significantly increased rate of infection and complications from Haemophilus influenzae. While there have been many theories as to the underlying reasons for the elevated risk of Haemophilus influenzae type b infections in these groups, there have been no conclusive studies on the subject. As antibiotic therapy is not expected to reduce the illness or deaths from this bacteria, the major means of reducing the virulence of the disease is by immunization. A vaccine which recognizes specific sugars on the bacterial coat has been developed, but it is not very effective against the bacteria in children under 18 months of age, which is the population at greatest risk. A new vaccine which is produced against a carbohydrate-protein viral extract coupled to diphtheria toxin has been found to be more effective in certain groups of children. This study evaluates the efficacy of this polysaccharide-diphtheria toxoid conjugate vaccine in protecting Alaska Native infants from Haemophilus influenzae type b. A total of 2,102 infants were either given the vaccine at 2, 4 and 6 months of age or they were given an inactive placebo injection. The rate of Hemophilus influenzae infection in both groups was recorded, and no difference in infection rate was found between the two groups. Despite studies in other groups showing the great effectiveness of this vaccine in preventing disease in infants, the current study found no evidence of protection in this North American population. Blood antibody levels in response to the vaccine, although higher than in the control group, were inadequate. This failure to produce enough antibodies paralleled the inability of the vaccine to protect these children. The results of this study fail to confirm the significant protection of young children which has been previously reported in European groups. Possible explanations include racial differences, experimental design, degree of exposure to the bacteria, social differences, and different strains of bacteria. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Urban schools in Alaska have mainly non-Native students, while rural schools are predominantly Native. Urban schools are now enrolling larger numbers of Natives than ever before, but this does not mean that Natives are acculturating out of the rural village and into expanding cities. Indeed, aspects of both the rural and the urban setting influence the structure and meaning of education for Natives in Alaska. Cultural strategies are being developed by Alaska Natives to exploit their rural links, rather than sacrifice them.