Indigenous Social Responses to Imposed Regulations in Northern Alaska as a Measure of Resilience

This paper examines household and hunter responses to state imposed limits on caribou hunting which took effect in 1976. It also examines community-level effects of the caribou hunting ban across northern Alaska. The analysis uses household survey data from 1978 through 2008. Data indicate that in communities where caribou is the main subsistence harvest, during the ban, hunters used fewer adaptive strategies than in other communities, consuming less subsistence food, receiving more subsistence food from other households, and relying more on store bought foods. In communities where caribou makes up a smaller share of harvests, hunters reported that they performed other subsistence activities or worked for wages, continued to share harvests, and maintained household subsistence consumption. The research also documents the return of caribou hunting after the ban was lifted, and gender roles in caribou hunting.