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Measurable Benefits of Traditional Food Customs in the Lives Of MEASURABLE BENEFITS OF TRADITIONAL FOOD CUSTOMS IN THE LIVES OF RURAL AND URBAN ALASKA IÑUPIAQ ELDERS Janell Smith Institute for Circumpolar Health Studies, University of Alaska Anchorage, Anchorage, AK 99508, and 5300 East Grant Street, Orlando, FL 32812; [email protected] Brian Saylor Institute for Circumpolar Health Studies, University of Alaska Anchorage (retired), Anchorage, AK 99508; [email protected] Penelope Easton Robert Stemple School of Public Health, Department of Dietetics and Nutrition, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33199; [email protected] Dennis Wiedman Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Florida International University, Miami FL 33199; [email protected] Elders from the Alaska Villages of Buckland and Deering IRA Tribal Administrator and Elders’ Council, Buckland, AK 99727, and IRA Tribal Administrator and Elders’ Council, Deering, AK 99736 ABSTRACT The trend to move Native elderly people from rural communities to urban communities for greater access to medical care and social services prompted the researchers to compare health and nutrition parameters between rural and urban settings. This paper studied existing community-based services for Iñupiaq elders in two rural communities and found no strong evidence to recommend that urban locations are better than rural locations as these individuals age. A total of 101 Iñupiaq elders over fifty years of age were surveyed: fifty-two in the rural villages of Buckland and Deering, and forty-nine in urban Anchorage. Traditional food customs support the nutritional health of the rural Iñupiaq elders as demonstrated by higher intakes of selected nutrients, stronger food-sharing networks, and higher participation in community harvest activities than reported by urban elders. keywords: Native elderly, food-sharing networks, food intake, mental and physical health INTRODUCTION This article describes the effects of traditional food cus- (2005) in nineteen Alaska villages, Collings’s (2001) work toms in measurable terms and compares elders from two among the Inuit, and the work of Hopkins et al. (2007) rural Iñupiaq villages in northwest Alaska with Iñupiaq el- among the Yup’ik all recorded elders’ views on healthy ag- ders living in urban Anchorage. With Alaska Native older ing: the importance of being active in community activi- adults living longer, it is important to measure the role of ties, being close to family, and having access to traditional traditional food habits in their lives. Previous researchers foods. This research suggests considerable capacity for have contributed narrative data on aging in the Arctic from resiliency in the midst of change. Callaway’s (2004) assess- the elders’ perspective. Interviews by Graves and Shavings ment of health markers identified in the National Science Alaska Journal of Anthropology vol. 7, no. 1 (2009) 89 Foundation’s Social Transition in the North Study of the als were adapted to describe food customs. Instruments 1990s began quantifying health impacts on Native older were reviewed by a committee of Native individuals on adults resulting from changes in Native communities. faculty at the University of Alaska Anchorage to ensure Policy makers often suggest that Native older adults cultural appropriateness before submission of the tools should leave their historical rural home and move to ur- for Institutional Review Board (IRB) review. Prior to ban communities, where it is believed they have more ac- the nutrition survey, measures of food-sharing networks cess to nutrition, health, and social programs. Tribal lead- had been developed by Alaska Department of Fish and ers disagree and have stated, “Elders need to be near the Game (ADF&G), and rural data were collected during river where they were raised” (Branch 2005:1). Rural vil- the spring of 2005 (see Callaway 2003; Magdanz et al. lages have kept the core traits of traditional food customs 2002 for complete ADF&G protocols). Urban food shar- through the influence of their traditional governing bod- ing data were collected with the nutrition survey during ies such as the Elders Council, even though technologies the fall of 2005. Signed release forms authorizing use of around them are changing (Craver 2004). the ADF&G data were obtained at the same time consent For this essay, “food customs” includes family and forms were signed for the nutrition study. community food-related activities that result in the ob- Dietary intake data were collected using the ninety- tainment of protein, energy, and essential nutritional nu- eight-item Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) that es- trients. Iñupiaq peoples reside north of the Arctic Circle timates intake of store-bought foods eaten over the last near the Bering Sea coast in northwestern Alaska and are year. An additional page of foods harvested in Alaska characterized by their continued dependence on harvested (AK Foods) was tested by authors (Smith 2008), and then fish, game, and plants, known as a subsistence lifestyle slightly altered for the Arctic to include local species. Data (Burch 2006). Although no village today can be consid- from both the ninety-eight-item FFQ and AK Foods were ered to embody true subsistence living (i.e., that all raw tabulated by Block Dietary Associates (Berkeley, CA) materials come from the land and sea), the harvest of fish, then combined to determine the total intake. The Alaska wildlife, and plants is considered by Native peoples as a foods list included fish species by name, and items such vital connection to the land and to cultural tradition. as muktuk (whale fat and meat) and agutuq (a mixture of Native older adults are the fastest growing age group of animal fat and some combination of berries, greens, or Alaska’s population (Goldsmith et al. 2004; U.S. Census fish) that are not included in the Block FFQ protocols. All Bureau 2000). Life expectancy has increased from 64.4 known food composition data were submitted to Block to years in 1980 to 69.5 years in 1997 (Lanier et al. 2002). allow them to compute nutrient intake from the Alaska Considering that adequate nutrition is fundamental in foods recorded on the survey form. By combining the two maintaining health, this study quantifies the current ben- food frequency data sets, nutrient intakes were determined efits of food systems in rural and urban communities. for individuals. Where sample sizes were sufficient, mean Survey methodologies explored the following research data were compared by age, gender, and location. questions: A food frequency questionnaire was selected over the 1. What are the demographic differences of Iñupiaq el- twenty-four-hour food recall methodology because the ders living in rural and urban areas? advisory committee felt that the tool was more respect- 2. Are there differences in food systems in the rural and ful when younger researchers were interviewing older urban settings? Native individuals. The committee suggested that the 3. What are the differences in nutrients provided by the probing questions in using a one-day twenty-four-hour two food systems, rural and urban? food recall might be considered disrespectful to the survey participants. METHODS IRB REVIEW Villages were recruited during the summer of 2004, and data from Iñupiaq elders were collected during the sum- The research protocols of survey questions received IRB mer of 2005. Nutritional food customs survey instru- reviews by the University of Alaska Anchorage and Florida ments used by other researchers with Native individu- International University, as well as a courtesy review by the Alaska Region Indian Health Service IRB. 90 measurable benefits of traditional food customs INCLUSION OF COMMUNITIES IN the rural group, which consisted of all eligible individuals THE RESEARCH PROCESS in the villages that were willing to participate. The tribal authorities in the two survey villages negotiated that all All quantitative data collection tools and field meth- eligible participants were to be offered a small monetary ods were reviewed by the communities involved, and gift. In the urban community, a similar honorarium was their suggestions were incorporated in the final survey. offered to participants at the beginning of the interview. Community leaders in Buckland and Deering suggested that data be collected in a one-to-one setting with the re- STATISTICS searcher to show respect to their elders, as well as facilitate consistency of data collected. The research process was Data were analyzed and compared by location using t-test, conducted with community involvement and oversight X2, and Mann-Whitney U-tests depending on the type and consistent with the guidelines presented in Principles for distribution of the data. Strengths of relationships among the Conduct of Research in the Arctic by the National variables were measured by Spearman’s rho correlations. Science Foundation (1986), and the Alaska Federation of Natives Guidelines for Research (1993). Survey par- SURVEY TEAMS ticipants were instructed that they could choose to answer some, all, or none of the survey questions; thus sample Survey team members had previous work experience with sizes varied question by question. older adults, Alaska Native populations, and Alaska com- munities. The core research team consisted of the research- STUDY POPULATION AND THEIR COMMUNITIES er, Janell Smith, and Penelope Easton, professor emerita from Florida International University. Easton had worked The rural villages were isolated, and access was completely as one of the earliest territorial dietitians in 1948–1950. by air or boat. The two rural communities have popula- Her age and experience made her welcome at the Tribal tions of less than three hundred people each. Small gro- Council meetings. During the summers of 2004 and 2005, cery stores provide canned and dry goods as well as limited graduate students taking a master’s level course in pub- supplies of fresh milk, fruits, and vegetables on a periodic lic health field research methodology at the University of basis. Few nutritional support programs are available for Alaska Anchorage assisted in the collection of data.
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