Abstract
Household harvesting of wild fish and game contributes to food security in indigenous communities across the Arctic, and in some regions plays an important role in cultural identity of indigenous peoples. The degree to which the state regulates harvesting and restricts distribution of country foods varies widely, however, and this intervention in local economies can affect livelihood opportunities. The paper hypothesizes that where state policy has contributed to harvesting remaining a culturally embedded livelihood strategy, its contribution to the quality of life may influence people to remain in rural communities, despite potentially lower material living standards. Lacking such a cultural linkage, harvesting may become the employer of last resort for people unable to find paying jobs or leave declining communities for a better life elsewhere. The paper examines the association between Survey of Living Conditions in the Arctic (SLiCA) respondents’ intent to remain in their community of residence and household harvesting, cash income from work, and other relevant factors. The results include both similarities and differences for residents of arctic Alaska, arctic Canada, Greenland, and Chukotka. Systematic differences found appear consistent with the hypothesis about the role of household harvesting and state policy toward harvest and distribution of country foods.
Highlights
Household harvesting of wild fish and game contributes to food security in communities across the Arctic, and plays an important role in cultural identity of many Indigenous peoples [1,2,3,4,5]
At various times during the early to mid-twentieth century, Indigenous peoples around the Arctic were forced into fixed settlements, disrupting previously semi-nomadic livelihoods built around seasonal foraging and reindeer herding cycles
Results of a multivariate statistical analysis appear entirely consistent with the hypothesis that state policy plays a fundamental role in shaping mobility aspirations
Summary
Household harvesting of wild fish and game contributes to food security in communities across the Arctic, and plays an important role in cultural identity of many Indigenous peoples [1,2,3,4,5]. Might the effects on local livelihood strategies of these national differences in policy toward harvest and distribution of wild foods be sufficient to affect arctic residents’ attitudes about remaining in small rural communities? Voluntary decisions to move may result from a complex process that balances livelihood opportunities with an array of place-specific factors related to the quality of life, including public services and infrastructure, local family and social ties, and attachment to homes and landscapes [10]. The decision to move involves weighing the gain in well-being from residing in a different place against the cost of moving there, which, as Figure 1 shows, is influenced by household characteristics
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