An official website of the United States government
ABSTRACT. Indigenous Peoples and salmon in the lands now called Alaska have been closely entwined for at least 12,000 years. Salmon continue to be central to the ways of life of Alaska Natives, contributing to physical, social, economic, cultural, spiritual, psychological, and emotional well-being. Salmon have also become important to Alaskan settlers. Our research and advisory team conducted a synthesis of what is known about these diverse human–salmon relationships, drawing on 865 published scientific studies; Indigenous knowledge; state, federal, and tribal data; archival materials; oral histories; and cross-cultural dialogs at working group meetings. Two important socio-cultural dimensions of salmon–people systems emerged from this synthesis as fundamentally important but largely invisible outside of Indigenous communities and the social science disciplines that work closely with these communities: (1) the deep relationships between Indigenous Peoples and salmon and (2) the pronounced inequities that threaten these relationships and stewardship systems. These deep relationships are evident in the spiritual, cultural, social, and economic centrality of salmon across time and cultures in Alaska. We describe Indigenous salmon stewardship systems for the Tlingit, Ahtna, and Central Yup'ik. The inequities in Alaska's salmon systems are evident in the criminalization and limitation of traditional fishing ways of life and the dramatic alienation of Indigenous fishing rights. The loss of fish camps and legal battles over traditional hunting and fishing rights through time has caused deep hardship and stress. Statewide, the commodification and marketization of commercial fishing rights has dispossessed Indigenous communities from their human and cultural rights to fishing ways of life; as a result, many rural and Indigenous youth struggle to gain access to fishing livelihoods, leaving many fishing communities in a precarious state. These deep relationships and relatively recent fractures have motivated a concerted effort by a group of committed Indigenous and western scholars to better understand the root causes and opportunities for redress, as well as to document the breadth of research that has already been conducted, in an effort to improve the visibility of these often-overlooked dimensions of our salmon systems.
more »
« less
Changes in Sharing and Participation are Important Predictors of the Health of Traditional Harvest Practices in Indigenous Communities in Alaska
Abstract The well-being of Indigenous communities in Alaska is inextricably linked to traditional harvest practices (THPs) such as hunting, fishing, and gathering local wild foods. Regional trends in the health of THPs have not been quantitatively evaluated in Alaska. Therefore, we surveyed Indigenous residents in the Western Coastal (n = 623) and Interior (n = 437) Regions of Alaska to estimate perceptions of the extent and cause of change in the health of THPs over the last ten years. We found that THPs improved in Western Coastal and declined in Interior Alaska. The best predictors of improvement or decline in the health of THPs were 1) change in the ability to share the harvest, 2) change in participation in hunting and fishing activities, and 3) extent of challenges caused by climate change. The odds of a decline in the health of THPs were 8 to 13 times higher for households that reported a decrease in sharing of traditional foods.
more »
« less
- Award ID(s):
- 1636476
- PAR ID:
- 10399345
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Human Ecology
- Volume:
- 50
- Issue:
- 4
- ISSN:
- 0300-7839
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 681 to 695
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
Moon, T.A.; Druckenmiller, M.S.; Thoman, R.L. (Ed.)This essay discusses impacts of COVID-19 on food access for Indigenous individuals in Alaska, drawing on a collaborative study initiated by the Indigenous Foods Knowledges Network. Key lessons include: • The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing challenges for Alaska Natives in accessing traditional and store-bought foods. • The strength of Indigenous cultural and economic practices such as food sharing networks helped mitigate these challenges. • Policies and programs that support access to traditional foods and Indigenous sovereignty strengthen the ability of individuals and communities to respond to significant events that break down supply chains and restrict mobility.more » « less
-
Arctic Indigenous coastal communities sustain rich environmental knowledge for subsistence activities, yet their knowledge and observations of changing conditions remain underrepresented in scientific datasets. This dataset documents local Sivuqaq Yupik Indigenous hunters’ observations of environmental conditions and associated subsistence activity based out of Sivuqaq (Gambell), St. Lawrence Island, Alaska. Two community research leads and experienced Sivuqaq Yupik Hunters (Ungott and Kaningok) compiled a series of regular observations over the course of three sea ice seasons from 2023 to 2025. These included quantitative measurements made with a handheld weather meter and visual assessments of specific categories of weather, ice and ocean conditions, and subsistence activities. Specifically, the quantitative observations include wind speed, direction and air temperature, while visually assessed weather conditions include cloud cover, precipitation, and visibility. Reported categories of ice and ocean conditions include current direction, state of waves, Akuzipik ice type terminology, the presence and state of shorefast ice, and the distribution of ice and open water both near the beach and further offshore. Categories related to subsistence activities noted whether any community members were participating in hunting, fishing, or crabbing, and the number of boats in the water. These observations were accompanied by narrative commentary and often photographs to add context to each record. Observations were focused between the months of December and June, in relation to local ice presence, and ice-associated subsistence hunting. The range of data for each observed day enables comparison with other large-scale datasets while remaining grounded in the applied local context of subsistence hunting. This dataset was developed as part of the NSF Arctic Robust Communities – Navigating Adaptation to Variability (ARC-NAV) project. For further information see arcnav.orgmore » « less
-
null (Ed.)Traditional values, motivations, and expectations of seclusion by moose (Alces alces) hunters, more specifically their distributional overlap and encounters in the field, may exacerbate perceptions of competition among hunters. However, few studies have quantitatively addressed overlap in hunting activity where hunters express concern about competition. To assess spatial and temporal characteristics of competition, our objectives were to: 1) quantify temporal harvest patterns in regions with low (roadless rural) and high (roaded urban) accessibility, and 2) quantify overlap in harvest patterns of two hunter groups (local, non-local) in rural regions. We used moose harvest data (2000–2016) in Alaska to quantify and compare hunting patterns across time and space between the two hunter groups in different moose management areas. We created a relative hunter overlap index that accounted for the extent of overlap between local and non-local harvest. The timing of peak harvest was different (P < 0.01) in urban and rural regions, occurring in the beginning and middle of the hunting season, respectively. In the rural region, hunter overlap scores revealed a concentration in 20% of the area on 16–20 September, with 50% of local harvest on 33% of the area and 54% of non-local harvest on 18% of the area. We recommend specific management strategies, such as lifting the air transportation ban into inaccessible areas, to redistribute hunters and reduce overlap and concerns of competition in high-use areas. We also encourage dissemination of information about known hotspots of hunter overlap to modify hunter expectations and subsequent behavior. Our hunter overlap index should prove useful in regions where similar concerns about hunter competition, hunter satisfaction, and related management dilemmas occur.more » « less
-
In-season management of salmon harvest requires real-time data. Specifically, following a brief period of open fishing, knowledge of harvest outcomes is useful when deciding the nature of subsequent fishing periods. This in-season management strategy is relatively new to the lower Kuskokwim River of western Alaska, where depressed salmon runs have caused restrictions to the subsistence fishery. We have developed an in-season monitoring program to rapidly inform managers about fishery outcomes from short-duration (6–24 h) fishery openings. Completed trip information and one or more aerial surveys are combined to estimate daily effort and harvest from drift gillnet fishers spanning 11 communities and ~130 river kilometers. We present a re-analysis of the 40 monitored openers in June–July 2016–2023, and validate harvest estimates of Chinook, chum, and sockeye salmon by comparing them to post-season estimates derived from an independent long-term monitoring program. Our results indicate that the program has produced estimates of sufficient quality to inform in-season managers, although it will likely need alterations to be successful in years with less restricted fishing.more » « less
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
-
Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-022-00342-4
