This reprint of a 10 day report, published in the "Anchorage Daily News," January 10 to January 20, 1988, examines Alaskan native alcohol use, and attendant suicide, homicide, and accident. In the village of Alakanuk, a town of 550, for example, there were eight suicides, dozens of suicide attempts, two murders, and four drownings in 16…

Native American tribes and nations have lost their ancestral way of life. Open warfare, broken treaties, and well-intended programs to "save the Indians" have contributed to the demise of tribal Indian lifestyles. Many federal government programs for education, transportation, economic development, job training, and land management as…

Compared crime rates of Alaska Native villages operating under Western social control with those of villages maintaining sovereign control (Yupi'it Nation villages). Hypothesized a link between degree of assimilation into Western culture and social disorganization. Rates for felonies and misdemeanors were lower in Nation villages, except for…

The role of the school as it relates to the Alaskan American Indian community and its components (teacher, student, and parent) is discussed, especially in terms of the sociocultural milieu of the school and community. (FF)

Eskimo youth in Bristol Bay, Alaska, caught between the clash of native and white cultures, have difficulty identifying with either culture. The curriculum in Indian schools in the area, geared primarily to white middle-class standards, is not relevant to the students, Textbooks and standardized tests, based on experiences common to a white…

Reviews research on Native education in northern Canada and Alaska, focusing on historical, cultural, and political contexts; student behavior, student evaluation, and academic achievement; cultural differences between Native students and White teachers; and government policies related to curriculum. Contains 68 references. (SV)

Examines a pair of critical challenges to the cultural integrity of Alaskan Natives around 1960 as pivotal episodes in the process of native resistance to U. S. dominance. Historically evaluates the fragility of native culture in terms of the political, scientific, and economic interests expressed in the mainstream Alaskan press, particularly the…

Traditional Inupiat society was, and is, about knowing the right time to be in the right place, with the right tools to take advantage of a temporary abundance of resources. Sharing the necessary knowledge about the natural world with the next generation was critical. The example of learning to hunt is used to demonstrate features of traditional…

This article attempts to showcase how one particularly financially endowed organization is seeking to modify its instructional and organizational practice to better serve its Inupiat (Eskimo) target/client population. This is an extreme and instructive situation of socio-cultural tension that provides interesting contrasts with the issues of…

Describes Alaska village culture and gives five examples of ways that ignorance about the culture can interfere with a teacher's effectiveness in the community. Suggests a coping strategy of "skillful inaction" by which the newcomer can prepare for accomplishment by settling into the village and learning by listening and watching. (JHZ)

Developed through in-depth interviews with experienced "bush" teachers from interior Alaska, this booklet is the product of a five-day workshop in the design of vocational education curriculum materials for rural Alaskan secondary schools. The statements in this booklet represent the edited responses of experienced teachers to the…

This study is a "teaching case." It is a description of events written to help education students understand the complex, ambiguous situations which arise in rural teaching. The limitations of scientific rules and principles for teacher training are especially obvious in rural Alaska schools--where teachers who are typically Caucasian…

The detailed description and analysis of how "pace" and "flow" affect the quality of interaction in five filmed cross-cultural classroom situations amongst the Alaskan Yupik Eskimos provide illustrations of how the educational process can be helped or hindered by the manner in which students and teachers come together. The film…

As William Beltz (1912-1960) grew up in the mining towns of northern Alaska, he observed the unequal treatment of the native Indians and Eskimos in the territory of Alaska. Part Eskimo himself, Will worked to improve conditions and to obtain equal rights for his people. As a member (and later president) of the Alaska Carpenters Union and as a…

Illustrates complexities involved in establishing school-community partnership in a cross-cultural setting--an Alaskan village of 500 inhabitants. Analyzes outcomes of a three-week multidisciplinary program developed jointly by high school students and teachers which utilized Native community members and resources to study kayak and boat building,…