Fusion subsistence: the diverse foodscape of the Aleutians

Abstract

ABSTRACT Both the practice and study of subsistence in Alaska are circumscribed by state and federal legislation and management that obscures broad engagement with a diverse foodscape. Through two decades of ethnographic research and three comprehensive subsistence studies carried out in the Aleutians between 2008 and 2021, this article describes a complex “fusion” food culture that needs both acknowledgment and support. The many cross-cultural manifestations of foods inspired by colonization, migrant labor, technology, and the American food system, must be made visible in order to understand and protect them. Conclusions suggest that the predominant research concern over degree of subsistence use and dependency in the face of a growing cash economy or environmental change obscures the realities of an extensive yet fragile foodscape that includes fusions of historical and multicultural influences, foods, and technologies.