Life Tables for Alaska Natives

Abstract

pIFE TABLES are used to compare the longevity of different populations. Several measures may be used, the most common being the average duration of life, also called the expectation of life at birth. This measure gives more weight to the relatively large number of deaths occurring in the first year of life. A second measure is to compare the expectation of life remaining to those members of the cohort surviving to age 1 year. A third measure is to compare the median length of life, or the probable lifetime, which is the age at which half of the original members of the cohort have died. This measure is the age to which exactly 50,000 persons survive when the life table starts with a cohort of 100,000 births. Abridged life tables 1 and 2 at the end of this paper are for the Native population of Alaska (Aleuts, Eskimos, and Indians) for 1959-61, by sex and ethnic group; they have been calculated by the method Reed and Merrell have described (1). According to the 1960 U.S. Census, there were 42,500 Natives in Alaska, of whom 5,800 were Aleuts, 22,300 Eskimos, and 14,400 Indians. The death rate in Alaska per 1,000 population in 1959-61 was 9.8 (10.8 for males and 8.6 for females). It was 7.6 for Aleuts, 10.0 for Eskimos, and 10.4 for Indians. In 1960, the death rate among the total U.S. white population was 9.5; among the U.S. nonwhite population, it was 10.1 (2).