Native Cultures and Language: Challenges for Land Managers in Alaska 1

• Main Author: Thomas J. Gallagher
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: eskimo*; inuits; Alaska
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.224.5322; http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/publications/documents/psw_gtr132/psw_gtr132_02_gallagher.pdf

traditional lifestyle. Eighty-eight percent of the land they use for subsistence activities, however, is managed by federal or state agencies. Clear communication across cultures is essential if Native people are to be represented in agency land management decisions. Problems in communication relate to the differences between Native and Western cultures and language. Five solutions are proposed: defensible participation program, support of translator training, terminology workshops, term glossary, and use of Native terms on maps and in reports. A majority of the Native people of Alaska — Aleuts, Inuits (Eskimos), and Indians — continue living traditional ways, at least in part. Before 1971 they occupied and used the expansive lands of Alaska without title or treaty. This changed in 1971 with the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act which set aside 44 million acres, or about 12 percent of the state, for Native people; the remaining 320 million acres being distributed among state