Factors Associated with Subsistence and Wage Employment Among Inupiat
Fifty years ago, Van Stone (1960) proposed that the Northern "mixed" economy consisted of a combination of traditional subsistence and wage work, allowing Native Inupiat living in Northern Alaska to "retain their aboriginal methods of obtaining food and satisfy the wants that have been created by contact with the outside world". Today it is more necessary than ever for Inupiat to obtain wage employment to purchase basic necessities and modern conveniences, resulting in a substantial segment of the population participating in and desiring employment within the economic sector (Poppel et al 2007). There remains, however, a fierce loyalty among Natives to traditional ways of life, with past predictions of an eventual transition to Southern culture largely proving incorrect thus far (Kruse 1991). It has been established that despite modernization arriving at the doorstep of arctic communities, subsistence work, such as hunting, fishing, whaling and gathering, remains an integral component of the day-to-day existence of Natives (Condon et al 1995; VanStone 1960).
This work aims to identify and analyze factors contributing to employment and subsistence aspirations in Alaskan villages and towns inhabited by Native Inupiat. Data from the multinational Survey of Living Conditions in the Arctic (SLiCA) survey conducted in 2004 in Alaska and elsewhere will be used to answer the following questions:
What factors affect whether Inupiat residing in Northern Alaska aspire to be involved in subsistence, and what factors are associated with desiring work in the wage economy?
Are there community-level differences in subsistence and employment aspirations?
By examining factors contributing to employment and subsistence aspirations between communities, this research will contribute to the understanding of work (both traditional and modern), culture, and class structure in the North. This, in turn, will advance the field of indigenous study within the Arctic and elsewhere, and will add further dimension to the existing body of literature on culture and the economy within Native populations.
