Introduction

Abstract

Abstract This book examines the subsistence discourse and practices of Central Alaskan Yup’ik Eskimos (hereafter Yupiit, the plural of Yup’ik) and non-Natives in South western Alaska. Subsistence discourse is a dynamic arena of social action in which identities and ideologies are constructed and negotiated. It ranges from informal exchanges in which subsistence is the perennial topic to formal public hearings on various governmental and commercial aspects of subsistence, wildlife, and their regulation. I suggest that their discourse is itself a vital form of practice and that through this situated discourse personal, ethnic, and gender identities are constructed, negotiated, and publicly validated. For Yupiit, talk about subsistence both presupposes traditional subsistence ideologies and serves as a locus of social and political negotiation. Concurrently, subsistence activity and discourse have also become a key arena in which Euro-Americans-many new to South western Alaska-have sought to achieve and validate a “local” identity, modelled on Yup’ik subsistence practices or Euro-American perceptions of them. But as with new kinds of Yup’ik subsistence identity, the practice and achievement of this Euro American local identity differs widely among individuals.