Local Institutions for Subsistence Harvesting in Western Alaska: Assessing their Adaptive Role in the Context of Global Change
This article identifies key types of local institutions rural Alaska Native communities use to manage subsistence resources such as fish, game, and edible plants. Local institutions are the informal rules and norms communities use to manage these and other natural resources. Other scholars have most...
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ftunisfloridatam:oai:digitalcommons.usf.edu:jea-1001 2023-05-15T17:05:40+02:00 Local Institutions for Subsistence Harvesting in Western Alaska: Assessing their Adaptive Role in the Context of Global Change West, Colin Thor Ross, Connor 2012-01-01T08:00:00Z application/pdf https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/jea/vol15/iss1/2 https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=jea unknown Digital Commons @ University of South Florida https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/jea/vol15/iss1/2 https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=jea Journal of Ecological Anthropology article 2012 ftunisfloridatam 2021-10-09T07:13:58Z This article identifies key types of local institutions rural Alaska Native communities use to manage subsistence resources such as fish, game, and edible plants. Local institutions are the informal rules and norms communities use to manage these and other natural resources. Other scholars have mostly discussed them in the context of how they help subsistence users cope with ecological fluctuations in the abundance of certain species. The study presented here discusses them within a larger context of social and economic change. These local institutions were identified based on personal interviews with 62 active subsistence users in six different Yup’ik communities in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region of Western Alaska. Participant-observation in subsistence activities like fishing and gathering supplemented the interview material. The key local institutions involve resource harvesting, resource processing, and resource sharing. The analysis of interview and observation data show that local institutions help households and communities cope with fluctuations in harvest amounts due to ecological perturbations, formal management regulations, and high fuel prices. Although local institutions can be fragile in the face of market pressures, and rationale for some institutions are not known by the younger generation, the strong role of sharing suggests that Yup’ik local institutions are expected to persist as climatic, environmental, economic, and social change continues. Article in Journal/Newspaper Kuskokwim Alaska Yukon Digital Commons University of South Florida (USF) Yukon |
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This article identifies key types of local institutions rural Alaska Native communities use to manage subsistence resources such as fish, game, and edible plants. Local institutions are the informal rules and norms communities use to manage these and other natural resources. Other scholars have mostly discussed them in the context of how they help subsistence users cope with ecological fluctuations in the abundance of certain species. The study presented here discusses them within a larger context of social and economic change. These local institutions were identified based on personal interviews with 62 active subsistence users in six different Yup’ik communities in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region of Western Alaska. Participant-observation in subsistence activities like fishing and gathering supplemented the interview material. The key local institutions involve resource harvesting, resource processing, and resource sharing. The analysis of interview and observation data show that local institutions help households and communities cope with fluctuations in harvest amounts due to ecological perturbations, formal management regulations, and high fuel prices. Although local institutions can be fragile in the face of market pressures, and rationale for some institutions are not known by the younger generation, the strong role of sharing suggests that Yup’ik local institutions are expected to persist as climatic, environmental, economic, and social change continues. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
West, Colin Thor Ross, Connor |
spellingShingle |
West, Colin Thor Ross, Connor Local Institutions for Subsistence Harvesting in Western Alaska: Assessing their Adaptive Role in the Context of Global Change |
author_facet |
West, Colin Thor Ross, Connor |
author_sort |
West, Colin Thor |
title |
Local Institutions for Subsistence Harvesting in Western Alaska: Assessing their Adaptive Role in the Context of Global Change |
title_short |
Local Institutions for Subsistence Harvesting in Western Alaska: Assessing their Adaptive Role in the Context of Global Change |
title_full |
Local Institutions for Subsistence Harvesting in Western Alaska: Assessing their Adaptive Role in the Context of Global Change |
title_fullStr |
Local Institutions for Subsistence Harvesting in Western Alaska: Assessing their Adaptive Role in the Context of Global Change |
title_full_unstemmed |
Local Institutions for Subsistence Harvesting in Western Alaska: Assessing their Adaptive Role in the Context of Global Change |
title_sort |
local institutions for subsistence harvesting in western alaska: assessing their adaptive role in the context of global change |
publisher |
Digital Commons @ University of South Florida |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/jea/vol15/iss1/2 https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=jea |
geographic |
Yukon |
geographic_facet |
Yukon |
genre |
Kuskokwim Alaska Yukon |
genre_facet |
Kuskokwim Alaska Yukon |
op_source |
Journal of Ecological Anthropology |
op_relation |
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/jea/vol15/iss1/2 https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=jea |
_version_ |
1766060355326312448 |