Welcome to the AK-CSS Members Forum! Please sign up to join the discussions.

Webinar #2: Cultures Collide- Discussion Questions

In Alaska Native Cultures and Issues, in the section titled, “What is important to know about Alaska Native cultures?” The author points out that,

"To a casual observer Alaska Native individuals appear to be “Americanized” in that they use modern tools, clothes, machinery, and speak English. But the bulk of Alaska Native identity is beneath the surface."

What do you think the author meant by this statement?

 

How might you discuss different ways in which cultures exchanged ideas and information throughout Alaska history?  Can we experience the product of those encounters today?

You need to be a member of Alaska Council for the Social Studies to add comments!

Join Alaska Council for the Social Studies

Email me when people reply –

Replies

  • In Alaska Native Cultures and Issues, in the section titled, “What is important to know about Alaska Native cultures?” The author points out that,


    "To a casual observer Alaska Native individuals appear to be “Americanized” in that they use modern tools, clothes, machinery, and speak English. But the bulk of Alaska Native identity is beneath the surface."


    What do you think the author meant by this statement?

    The idea of being “Americanized” comes from the intentional effort by/of the United States to “integrate” the indigenous people of North America. Tribes experiences with the United States Government vary, but within Alaska we saw intentional efforts to dismantle historical power structures within villages, separation of families by way of forced western education. Also, the use of boarding schools outside of villages, and discrimination of basic rights due to their language, dress and religion.

    The idea that one can zip up a North Face jacket, speak english and therefore lose all of the cultural experiences and knowledge, is absurd. Alaska native culture does not reside in the clothing worn, tools used or language spoken. Although, I know many who would disagree on the language point, understanding your traditional language is integral to understanding your culture. It is a culmination of shared values, experiences and societal norms that, defines the cultural experience of Alaska Natives and is at the heart of what the author is stating in the above passage.

    How might you discuss different ways in which cultures exchanged ideas and information throughout Alaska history? Can we experience the product of those encounters today?

    The answer to this question truly depends on the exchanges being discussed.

    You discuss interactions within your classroom between the Western world and indigenous people of the world, hopefully without a eurocentric view. Understand that while monetary gain was driving the Russians, Americans (and the Spanish explorers thought to have made it to South East), there were many civilizations that existed and prospered before their interactions with the “western” world.

    I would also like to add that we are enlightened enough to understand that the story told to my mother in history class about “savages” being tamed through religion is also not one that should be repeated. You can argue that the Russian Orthodox Church was a positive influence in the lives of Alaskan natives for a number of different reasons, alphabet translation or the integration of Alaska native MEN within the church, but the church did wipe out traditional belief systems that had survived successfully for thousands of years. Again, we must strive as an educators to step outside the eurocentric view of history.

    We can experience the product of different cultural exchanges today, by using guest speakers within our classrooms, select readings of the initial interactions between the Russians and the Koniag as well as exhibiting artifacts. Allowing students to learn from multiple resources with help further engage them within our classrooms.
  • #1:

    Honestly, I think the quote is fairly self-explanatory. If I use the example of Yup'ik people that I interact with regularly if you were to see many of them walking down the street, or have a brief interaction with them, you would think they have been pretty well assimilated into mainstream American culture. They do often speak English, they often wear "normal" American clothing, and often have the expected accessories (smart phones, headphones, tablets, etc.). But there is quite a lot that is not readily noticeable. There are plenty of aspects of a "normal" Yup'ik person's life that are quite a bit different from mainstream America, but not always easy to see if you only have casual contact with their culture. The obvious ones are the subsistence lifestyle - most of my students and their families gather, hunt, catch, and harvest a large portion of their food. Furthermore, they gather and harvest other important materials in their lives (such as wood for their steam houses, and then other materials for crafts, clothing, etc.). You can look at the predominantly (in the villages I have lived) Russian Orthodox religion which is far from the mainstream church experience for most Americans. Many of my students spend a good amount of time speaking Yup'ik. The social interactions are also quite different, especially the feasts and throw parties. These are all things that are quite a bit different from what we think of as mainstream American culture, but not things that you would ever pick up on just walking through the grocery store and seeing a Yup'ik family doing some shopping. In fairness, the bulk of most people's identity is below surface regardless of their ethnic background, but I get the point the author is making, trying to point out that even though Alaska Natives have been "conquered" and colonized by outside cultures, they have still retained large and important aspects of their native cultures.

    #2:

    I think when you're looking at exchanges of ideas between cultures, you start with the big ones - Trade, Conflict, Colonization/Domination. Initial knowledge of new culture is generally gained through these experiences. After that, then you get things like religion, education, anthropological study, and so on. Throughout their histories, Alaska Native groups have traded and fought with each other spreading ideas, tools, technology, genes, and countless other cultural characteristics. When Europeans arrived, the same sort of things happened, though Europeans focused more on the colonization and domination of the natives. We can experience these products today all over - and not just in Alaska. Some obvious examples are religion (we can see how Alaska Natives adopted - maybe a mild term - and adapted Christianity), clothing (Natives adopting western clothing, and Europeans utilizing many native styles & manufacturing/materials practices), language (the prevalence of English, native place names, both sides borrowing words), and technology (the use of western technology such as guns, motors/engines, and the adoption of native technology by Europeans - I'm thinking of the kayak, in particular). But that's just how things go - when groups of people meet no matter who proves to be the "dominant" culture, both sides borrow and adapt ideas from the other.

  • Question #1

    I think it comes down to values. People see the natives hunt with motorized boats or with iron dogs without realizing they are doing so as a way to preserve important aspects of their culture. Modern technology is a way for them to keep those principles alive. For instance, Barrow incorporates cultural skills like ice fishing into their formal curriculum. 

    For example, a person with a jigging stick or hook is lowered into a hole. When the fish bites, the line is lifted out of the water. The fish is then stunned with a club or stick. Language skills like simple phrases for ice fishing, or words for tools and equipment (like tuuq, or an auger) are taught. Weather and geography (dressing warmly in cold weather, and where to go fishing), cooking (how to prepare food, and knowing about the nutritious value of fish), science (recognizing if the ice is too thin or thick for fishing), and math (measuring the length of fishing line and using their feet and hands as measuring tools). Again, although Native Alaskans may be seen using modern technology like fishing rods, snow-machines, and rifles, etc., they are doing so in a way that preserves and in some cases enhances their cultural values. 

    Question #2

    When the Russians first came to Alaska in the eighteenth century, they considered Alaska Natives to be uncivilized savages. In no time the fur traders did not hunt the animals; instead forced Aleut hunters to do the work. The Russians also brutalized Aleuts and spread their disease killing many natives.

    The Russians also prohibited animistic celebrations of dance and songs by the Aleuts. Soon the Russians had them embrace Orthodoxy and to accept Christian names and baptism. Once again, intolerance and injustice prevailed among them.

    When the United States purchased Alaska in 1867, the Natives were viewed as being the bottom of the ladder of civilization. The United States government proclaimed the Aleuts “freemen” and were receiving slave wages for long and demanding hours.

    Then you had the Federal Government (BIA) forcing the Alaska Natives to be educated with American culture and values. The goal of many educators at the time of were mandatory boarding schools designed to give struggling students support or to set high expectations. However, the cost for many was physical or sexual abuse, forbidden to speak their native language which resulted in the loss of their language, culture and identity. Many of the students who returned home were not accepted. These natives missed out on learning important traditional skills which led to drugs, alcohol, and suicide.

    Today, the past is almost forgotten. It is so sad and painful to know how these first inhabitants have been treated throughout time. These are all example how Russians have forced their opinions and beliefs on another culture. Within the last 50 years (With the signing of the Native Land Claims Act) Alaska Native finally have the power to express their own beliefs and values as a culture.

    Natives.docx

    https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/7314576868?profile=original
  •             Cultures are living, breathing organisms. Every time I hear someone say some well-intended platitude about “preserving [Yup’ik] culture,” the anthropologist within cringes and I want to point out the remains of a preserved piglet on my science shelf. Do you know how it was “preserved?” It was killed. And soaked in noxious formaldehyde. I want nothing to do with that!

                Culture? That, on the other hand, is quite alive, and like all living beings, responds to the environmental stimuli in which it finds itself. I will never advocate for the preservation of Yup’ik culture, but only for its continual renewal and rebirth. When Yup’ik culture encountered Russian culture, it did not die, but was given new life. It adapted and adopted both materially and socially: Yup’ik re-incarnation was baptized by Russian Orthodox saints names; shamans became Christian readers; rites for the dead became an elaborate system of pannikhidas. Gerontocracy was preserved; patricide was prohibited (an unsustainable combination, ironically – the American answer was only titular acceptance of gerontocracy in favor of democracy). The Qasgiq/Ena relationship was maintained under the Russians, but bigamy was outlawed (the relationship was destroyed in the 1950s with the VISTA program push for nuclear familial housing in the YK Delta). Levirate marriage was present in endogamic Yup’ik culture when the Russians came, but Native interpretations of the Scriptures reinforced it; interestingly, American culture is ambivalent to it, but it still holds enough cultural value that it remains remarkably high in modern Yup’ik society. Material and social expectations with the Russians, but Yup’ik culture lived.

                How has Yup’ik culture interacted with modern American culture? Each Friday, my high school students yurraq (Yup’ik dance) in the gym. The boys who write the songs have lyrics and moves such as “cell phone” and “hootchy-cootchy dancing,” both of which are products of early 21st century America. And yet, watching the boys bounce on their knees raising their hands to their ears as if making a call reminds me that no, American boys don’t do that. Yup’ik boys do. American culture has offered much, both positive and negative, to Yup’ik culture. In many ways, government welfare has emasculated Yup’ik men, taking away their need to work and provide. Yet things like the Internet have enabled the rapid transit of knowledge and ideas, as well as previously unprecedented collaboration opportunities amongst those interested in living their culture. Although significantly hindered by its modern culture of alcohol abuse (I know that is controversial, but I would argue it is also strongly provable by both classic and modern anthropological definitions of culture.), Yup’ik culture is far from dead, and although it is in a currently precarious situation, I believe that it will not truly die, but only continue to be morphed from one living form to another.

  • #1: After that quote the author goes on to say that “each village has different relationship and communication protocols, different customs and traditions, and different worldviews with a single region of Alaska” (5). So while Alaska Natives may wear Levi jeans and be able to buy white bread (albeit at an exorbitant price if they live in the Bush), their daily lives are still infused with traditions that have been passed down by elders over the decades. One example might be the dances that each group performs, telling their stories and histories through music and movement. To my knowledge, these differ based on the various regions of Alaska, which makes sense if you think about the environment the groups inhabit. It wouldn’t make sense to have the northern Inuit telling the story of Keet Shagun, as sea lions are found mostly in the Southeast.

    #2: I like to think that Alaska has absorbed the best of the cultures it has encountered over the years, but that simply isn’t always the case. The Russians often brutalized the Aleuts and Tlingits via their wars and the promyshleniki’s enslavement of the Natives, but they also left behind a rich culture of Russian Orthodoxy which has become embedded in Alaska today. So while there have been benefits, there have also been detriments to Alaska’s original peoples. One of the core struggles throughout the state’s history seems to revolve around the culture clashes of western v. non-western beliefs. According to Alaska Native Cultures and Issues, “Alaska’s Native peoples have a deep understanding and wisdom about fish, wildlife, habitat, weather, climate, and geography that could benefit all peoples” (6). However, throughout history, those same Native peoples have had their rights steamrolled and been discriminated against, starting with the Russians and continuing with the Americans. I think we do continue experiencing those encounters today; for example, that’s why we have ANCSA and all the native corporations, to safeguard Native lands and rights. Hopefully in turn that will also protect their cultural heritage and traditions.

This reply was deleted.