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Living on Thin Ice

Living on Thin Ice

Steven C. Dinero

(2016)

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Abstract

The Gwich’in Natives of Arctic Village, Alaska, have experienced intense social and economic changes for more than a century. In the late 20th century, new transportation and communication technologies introduced radically new value systems; while some of these changes may be seen as socially beneficial, others suggest a weakening of what was once a strong and vibrant Native community. Using quantitative and qualitative data gathered since the turn of the millennium, this volume offers an interdisciplinary evaluation of the developments that have occurred in the community over the past several decades.


“The book is an excellent presentation of multidisciplinary methods focused steadily on the people and on their perceptions of what is going on. Most interesting for the future is that the internet may be the way to keep members of the Gwich’in diaspora connected to the village and their ‘Gwich’inness’…Highly Recommended. .All academic levels/libraries.” · Choice


Steven C. Dinero is the Carter and Fran Pierce Term Chair for the Liberal Arts at Philadelphia University, Pennsylvania. His research addresses the social and economic concerns related to the settlement of formerly nomadic populations.


Table of Contents

Section Title Page Action Price
Contents 7
Illustrations, Maps, and Tables 8
Acknowledgments 11
A Note on Methodology 14
Introduction 19
Section I 25
Chapter 1 — How Did We Get Here? An Overview of the First Century 29
Chapter 2 — Episcopalianism Comes to Nets'aii Country 41
Chapter 3 — Cleanliness, Hygiene, and Civilization Discourse: The Educational System, Past and Present 68
Chapter 4 — The Village, Service Provision, and Economic Development 94
Section II 119
Chapter 5 — The Evolving Role of Subsistence in Nets'aii Gwich'in Life 121
Chapter 6 — The Environment and a Changing Climate 138
Chapter 7 — The Youth Are the Future 158
Chapter 8 — We Don't Know Where We Are Anymore 186
Postscript 203
Bibliography 205
Index 214