THE PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF WILD FOOD IN WALES AND DEERING, ALASKA by James S. Magdanz, Charles J. Utermohle, and Robert J. Wolfe Technical Paper 259 Division of Subsistence Alaska Department of Fish and Game Juneau, Alaska Funded by Western Arctic National Parklands National Park Service Kotzebue, Alaska Through the University of Washington Cooperative Park Studies Unit October 2002 The study was funded primarily by the National Park Service’s Western Arctic National Park Lands through the University of Washington Cooperative Park Studies Unit (WSU #535391). Surveys were conducted under Cooperative Agreements with Kawerak, Inc, an Alaska Native non-profit corporation based in Nome whose board members represent the tribal governments of Wales and other Bering Straits Region villages, and the Deering IRA Council, a tribal government representing the Village of Deering. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game administers all programs and activities free from discrimination based on race, color, national origin, age, sex, religion, marital status, preg- nancy, parenthood, or disability. The department administers all programs and activities in compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. If you believe you have been discriminated against in any program, activity, or facility, or if you desire further information please write to ADF&G, P.O. Box 25526, Juneau, AK 99802-5526; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 4040 N. Fairfield Drive, Suite 300, Arlington, VA 22203; or O.E.O., U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington DC 20240. For information on alternative formats for this and other department publications, please contact the department ADA Coordinator at (voice) 907-465-4120, (TDD) 907-465-3646, or (FAX) 907-465-2440. James S. Magdanz Divison of Subsistence Alaska Department of Fish and Game PO Box 689 Kotzebue, AK 99752-0689 [email protected] Charles J. Utermohle Alaska Department of Health and Social Services PO Box 240249 Anchorage, Alaska 99524-0249 [email protected] Robert J. Wolfe Wolfe and Associates 1332 Corte Lira San Marcos, CA 92069 [email protected] Abstract This study describes the social organization of the production and distribu- tion of wild food for subsistence in two Iñupiaq Eskimo communities in northwest Alaska, Wales and Deering. Researchers surveyed 42 of 50 oc- cupied households in Wales, and 37 of 44 occupied households in Deering. Kinship information was collected through key respondent interviews. Several hypothesis were tested: (1) that subsistence productivity was associated with household maturity, (2) that networks of households coop- erated to produce and distribute wild food, (3) that multi-household net- works were measurably distinct from one another, and (4) that member- ship in networks could be explained by kin relationships. A method to measure cooperative relationships among households was developed to analyze these questions. Survey data showed that in 1994 Wales produced an estimated 744 pounds of wild food per person per year, on the average, while Deering produced 672 pounds. As has been observed in other small Alaska communities, about 30 percent of the households accounted for 70 percent or more of the harvest, by weight. Households’ subsistence production tended to increase with the age of household heads and with household size, as predicted by a household development model. Households occupied by an active single man were the most productive type of household on a per capita basis. In both communities, households cooperated extensively in the produc- tion and distribution of wild foods. Cooperation among households was highly patterned, and households could be sorted into multi-household networks. Deering was found to be organized into six multi-household networks; Wales into eight networks. Two methods used to identify subsis- tence networks — hand-sorting instances of production and distribution, and clustering a matrix of Kendall’s Tau-B values – produced similar re- sults. Multi-household subsistence networks resembled traditional Iñupiaq “local family” groups described by Burch for the mid-19th century. View- ing production and distribution from the perspective of extended family networks helped explain variation in wild food production, and demon- strated the roles of different individuals and different social types of house- holds in the production and distribution system. In Wales and Deering in 1994, people were free to organize most wild food production and distribution in ways that were efficient, culturally ap- propriate, and personally satisfying. That freedom was not the result of informed management by government agencies, whose regulations favored individuals and households but disadvantaged extended family networks, but of Wales’ and Deering’s remote locations. In times of shortage, govern- ment agencies tended to adopt regulations that reorganized subsistence pro- duction and distribution, disrupted family networks, and reduced subsis- tence efficiency, but which may not have reduced actual harvests. i Table of Contents Abstract .................................................................................................. i List of Figures ......................................................................................iv List of Tables ...................................................................................... vii Acknowledgments ...............................................................................ix Introduction.......................................................................................... 1 Purpose ................................................................................................. 1 Research Questions .............................................................................. 2 Social Organization and Subsistence ................................................... 3 Presentation .......................................................................................... 5 Methods .................................................................................................. 7 Sample .................................................................................................. 7 Variables ............................................................................................... 8 Methods ................................................................................................ 8 Limitations and Assumptions ............................................................. 10 Data Analysis ..................................................................................... 11 The Setting .......................................................................................... 17 Overview ............................................................................................ 17 19th Century Iñupiaq Society ............................................................ 18 Northwest Alaska 1850-2000 ............................................................. 21 Sustainable Subsistence .................................................................... 26 Managing for Subsistence .................................................................. 30 The Study Communities ..................................................................... 35 Wales History ..................................................................................... 35 Deering History .................................................................................. 40 Wales and Deering in 1994 ................................................................ 42 Production by Individuals ................................................................ 47 Sample Characteristics ....................................................................... 47 Producer Characteristics..................................................................... 49 The Teacher Factor ............................................................................. 55 ii Production by Households ............................................................... 57 Subsistence Harvest Patterns .............................................................. 57 Household Development Model......................................................... 60 Subsistence Productivity Model......................................................... 60 Single-Person Households ................................................................. 64 Subsistence Networks in Wales ....................................................... 67 Network Identification ...................................................................... 67 Genealogy of Subsistence Networks .................................................. 74 Subsistence Networks In Deering ................................................... 77 Network Identification ....................................................................... 77 Genealogy of Subsistence Networks .................................................. 84 Characteristics of Subsistence Networks .................................... 87 Networks in Wales and Deering Compared ....................................... 87 Network Case Examples .................................................................... 95 Income and Subsistence Productivity ................................................ 99