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Nuniwarmiut Land Use, Settlement History And Socio-Territorial Organization, 1880--1960 Item Type Thesis Authors Pratt, Kenneth L. Download date 07/10/2021 18:59:57 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/11122/9016 NUNIWARMIUT LAND USE, SETTLEMENT HISTORY AND SOCIO-TERRITORIAL ORGANIZATION, 1880-1960 A THESIS Presented to the Faculty of the University of Alaska Fairbanks in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By Kenneth L. Pratt, B.A., M.A. Fairbanks, Alaska May 2009 © 2009 Kenneth L. Pratt Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 3374746 Copyright 2009 by Pratt, Kenneth L. INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI Microform 3374746 Copyright 2009 by ProQuest LLC All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. NUNIWARMIUT LAND USE, SETTLEMENT HISTORY AND SOCIO-TERRITORIAL ORGANIZATION, 1880-1960 By Kenneth L. Pratt RECOMMENDED: Advisory Committee Chair Cnair, Department of Anthropology APPROVED: I Dean, Cojlege of Liberal Arts A Sean of the Graduate School Date Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Abstract Prior efforts to identify traditional socio-territorial groups among the Central Yup’ik Eskimos of southwestern Alaska have been primarily theoretical in nature, examined the subject from very restricted temporal perspectives, and were heavily reliant on a small body of written historical accounts—none of which were informed by contacts with indigenous populations across the entire region. The collective results are inconsistent and largely unverifiable; hence many basic details about Yup’ik socio territorial organization remain obscure. This study deviates from its predecessors in geographical focus, temporal scope and methodology. The geographical focus is on theNuniwarmiut (or Nunivak Eskimos), both the most isolated and best documented of all Central Yup’ik populations. Its temporal scope covers a period of 80 years, the earliest point of which marks the practical limits of reliability of the available ethnographic data. Finally, the study’s methodology is ethnohistorical; it employs a rich array of complementary historical, ethnographic and archeological data to produce a far more detailed account of socio territorial organization than has been compiled for any other population in the region. The findings indicate socio-territorial organization amongNuniwarmiut the took the form of local groups organized around winter villages. The functional stability of each group was susceptible to various natural and cultural factors; in fact, such groups ranged in number from as many as 30 to as few as 7 over the course of the study period. TheNuniwarmiut society was a level of identity above the local group; it was comprised of the totality of local groups that existed at any point in time, but was not itself a socio-territorial unit. Overall, the study demonstrates that socio-territorial organization among theNuniwarmiut was substantially more complex and dynamic than previously recognized. 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Table of Contents Page Signature Page..................................................................................................................................i Title Page.........................................................................................................................................ii Abstract.......................................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents..........................................................................................................................iv List of Figures................................................................................................................................ix List of Tables...................................................................................................................................x Acknowledgements............................................................................................................... xi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION................................................................................................ 1 Research Question..........................................................................................................................3 Methodology and Data...................................................................................................................5 Analytical Concerns.......................................................................................................................9 Time Frame................................................................................................................................... 13 Organization of the Study............................................................................................................14 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. 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CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK....................................................................16 General Background on Hunter-Gatherer Societies..................................................................19 Socio-Political/Socio-Territorial Organization.........................................................................29 Family Hunting Territories............................................................................... 37 Land Ownership and Boundaries...............................................................................................44 Summary Observations............................................................................................................... 56 CHAPTER 3: CULTURAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL CONTEXT..................................... 61 The Central Yup’ik Eskimos ......................................................................................................61 Regional Contact History.................................................................................. 67 Ethnographic Data on Historic Land Use and Social Relations..............................................70 Socio-Territorial Considerations................................................................................................76 Local and Regional Group Identification........................................................78 Assessments of Territoriality............................................................................87 Data Constraints...........................................................................................................................97 CHAPTER 4: THE NUNIWARMIUT..................................................................................... 99 Physical Environment................................................................................................................100 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. vi Prehistory.....................................................................................................................................105 Contact History.......................................................................................................................... 108 Historical Context of Anthropological Research on Nunivak Island................................... 123 Population....................................................................................................................................126 Cultural Distinctions..................................................................................................................132 Conclusion...................................................................................................................................144 CHAPTER 5: LAND USE AND SETTLEMENT HISTORY.............................................145 Resource Availability and Variability......................................................................................146 Local Variations in Subsistence and Settlement Patterns...................................................... 152 Place Names Documentation.................................................................................................... 154 Chronologies and Seasonal Site Affiliations of Principal Winter Villages..........................156 Co-Utilization of Sites.....................................................................................182 Messenger Feasts.............................................................................................185 Connecting Kin to Place............................................................................................................188