A Yupiaq world view : implications for cultural, educational, and technological adaptation in a contemporary world ...

• Main Author: Kawagley, Angayuqaq O.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2008
• Subjects: eskimo*; Kuskokwim; Alaska
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0098864; https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0098864

This case study examines some of the cultural and educational implications of the intersection of a Western world view and a Yupiaq world view in a remote Yupiaq Eskimo village on the Kuskokwim River in southwestern Alaska. The study examines how the contemporary Yupiaq people have adapted their belief system, educational practices and subsistence lifestyle to accommodate a mix of Western and indigenous cultural traditions and technologies. It involves the documentation of Yupiaq practices in a traditional fish camp and science education in a school setting. The most important vehicle for data gathering was the role of participant-observer, because it was congruent with the way Yupiaq people learn. In addition to patient observation, emphasis was placed on document analysis, informal conversations, and interviews as the primary sources of data from the fieldwork. The study addresses the aspirations of Yupiaq people for self-determination and self-reliance by providing a pedagogical framework which attempts ...