The Akulmiut: Territorial dimensions of a Yup'ik Eskimo society Item Type Thesis Authors Andrews, Elizabeth Frances Download date 10/10/2021 12:48:41 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/11122/9314 INFORMATION TO USERS The most advanced technology has been used to photograph and reproduce this manuscript from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, whiie others may be from any type of computer printer. 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 bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. 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Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Order Number 9017193 The Akulmiut: Territorial dimensions of a Yup’ik Eskimo society Andrews, Elizabeth Frances, Ph.D. University of Alaska Fairbanks, 1989 300UMI N. Zeeb Rd. Ann Arbor, MI 48106 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. THE AKULMIUT: TERRITORIAL DIMENSIONS OF A YUP'IK ESKIMO SOCIETY by Elizabeth Frances Andrews RECOMMENDED: Dean, College of Liberal Arts Dean of^the Graduate Schbbl Date 5;km ___ Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. THE AKULMIUT: TERRITORIAL DIMENSIONS OF A YUP'IK ESKIMO SOCIETY A THESIS Presented to the Faculty of the University of Alaska in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By Elizabeth Frances Andrews, B.A., M.A. Fairbanks, Alaska May 1989 (c) Copyright 1989 Elizabeth Frances Andrews Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT This monograph is an ethnohistoric and ethnographic study of 19th and 20th century land and resource use of the Akulmiut, a Yup'ik-speaking Eskimo society that occupied the inland t .ndra region between the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers of western Alaska. The study examines the relationship between the patterns of spatial organization and wild resource utilization and resource distribution. Ethnographic studies have shown there is considerable variability in socioterritorial organization, which, according to one recent theory applied in this study, can be accounted for by examining the distribution of critical food resources in terms of density and predictability. The Akulmiut were selected for this study because of their unique situation among Alaskan Eskimos in terms of their subsistence economy and geographic location. With an economy based on fishing, utilizing non-salmon species of the low, marshy moist and wet tundra ecosystems, the adaptation of the Akulmiut is distinct among Alaskan Eskimos. Using data for the Akulmiut, this study tests the hypothesis that a territorial system occurs under conditions of high density and predictability (in time and space) of critical resources. Between groups or societies, the Akulmiut exhibited a territorial system of land use and occupancy as predicted when critical resources are dense and predictable. The study found that iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. the key resource species of whitefish (Cnvegonus sp. ) and northern pike (Esox lucius) exhibited resource distribution parameters characterized as predictable in time and location, and were abundant or dense. Spatial organization showed that all primary villages and storage and processing facilities were situated where pike and whitefish could be readily intercepted during their annual migrations. The Akulmiut maintained exclusive use through overt defense, but also by means of cultural principles of land and resource use, ceremonial activities, and naming conventions. Dispersion of the population at other times ensured maintenance of a broader area for use in harvesting another key resource, blackfish (Dallia. pectoralis). Dispersion was an efficient means of signaling areas used by the group, but also served to monitor incursions throughout the territory. This type of analysis was found to hold promise for explaining the diversity of socioterritorial organization among Alaskan Eskimos. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT.................................................... iii LIST OF FIGURES............................................ x LIST OF TABLES............................................. xv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................ xviii NOTE ON USE OF CENTRAL YUP'IK............................... xxi CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION.................................... 1 Scope of the Study....................................... 3 Conceptual Framework..................................... 7 Territoriality in Anthropological Theories of Hunting-Gathering Societies......................... 11 Territory and Alaskan Eskimo Societies............... 19 Economic Defendability Model of Territoriality......... 32 CHAPTER 2. METHODOLOGY..................................... 40 Data Collection.......................................... 40 Procedures............................................ 40 Population and Employment Census...................... 42 Fish and Wildlife Resources and Use................... 43 Public and Private Facilities and Structures........... 44 Subsistence Outputs................................... 45 Land Use and Occupancy................................ 51 Monetary Income Estimates............................. 54 Data Analysis............................................ 55 CHAPTER 3. The AKULMIUT: THE PEOPLE OF THE TUNDRA........... 60 The Natural Setting...................................... 60 Geomorphology......................................... 60 Climate............................................... 62 Plant and Animal Communities.......................... 65 The Cultural Setting..................................... 67 Language.............................................. 68 The Akulmiut: People and Territory................... 73 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Modern Use of the Term Akulmiut....................... 74 Historical Context.................................... 76 Oral Accounts and Place-Names......................... 86 Akulmiut Demography...................................... 88 Social Structure...................................... 101 Residence.......................................... 101 Village Social Composition......................... 104 Marriage........................................... 108 Kinship............................................ 110 Historical Context....................................... 113 The Russian Period to 1867 .......................... 114 The Anglo-American Period, 1867-1917 ................ 134 The Anglo-American Period After 1917................ 140 CHAPTER 4. THE COMMUNITY OF NUNAPITCHUK................... 143 Historical Development................................... 143 Christian Religious Influences....................... 143 Market Trade Influences.............................. 149 Trade with Non-Natives............................ 149 Reindeer Herding.................................. 152 Commercial Salmon Fisheries.......................... 154 Subsistence Salmon Fisheries......................... 165 Education and Settlement............................. 174 Contemporary Nunapitchuk................................... 178 Spatial Arrangement.................................... 178 Population and Household Characteristics................ 185 Social Structure....................................... 192 Land Ownership......................................... 196 Government, Public Facilities, and Services............. 199 Personal and Household Facilities and Equipment......... 208 Community Economics........................................ 211 Cost of Living......................................... 211 Income................................................. 214 Wage Employment....................................