Living on Thin Ice

The Gwich'in Natives of Alaska

Steven C. Dinero

• Publisher: Berghahn Books
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781785331626
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Anthropology
• Index: Social Sciences

The Gwich'in Natives of Arctic Village, Alaska, have experienced intense social and economic changes for more than a century. In the late 20th century, new transportation and communication technologies introduced radically new value systems; while some of these changes may be seen as socially beneficial, others suggest a weakening of what was once a strong and vibrant Native community. Using quantitative and qualitative data gathered since the turn of the millennium, this volume offers an interdisciplinary evaluation of the developments that have occurred in the community over the past several decades.

SECTION I

At the turn of the new millennium, many felt it was time to stop and take stock of where humanity had been and, more importantly, where it was heading. From theoreticians like David Harvey and Francis Fukuyama to New York Times writer Thomas Friedman, from CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and every source in between—men and women of every political persuasion expressed the belief that the turn of the century and the millennium seemed to coincide with a major social, economic, and political paradigm shift. Such a shift signaled the end of something that could never be recovered and the beginning of something perhaps great, perhaps wonderful, but all the more likely frightening, sinister, and worthy of concern. Thus, in the early twenty-first century, we are repeatedly bombarded with cataclysmic images of melting icecaps, exploding buildings, and seemingly unprecedented levels of conflict, violence, and hatred that threaten every species on the planet, including us, and ultimately the planet itself.

Within this context of major global change, fear, and uncertainly is where the following case study must be situated. In an ever-globalizing world where overpopulation, scarcity, and social and economic injustice are common watchwords, the study of a small indigenous population living at the edge of the subarctic, in what was once total obscurity, can now take center-stage. No community large or small is immune today, if ever, from the powers that swirl around us. Indeed, that is what I hope to show in the following pages. While many politicians, academics and policymakers seem to be preoccupied with global change as if it is some new and distant process that only arrived on North America’s shores one sunny September 11^th morning, there is nothing new here for the indigenous peoples of this continent. Imposed social and economic change is a given—ongoing, familiar, and to be expected. Moreover, as will be demonstrated in the following narrative, imposed change can be resisted, adapted to, accommodated, and, if need be, rebuffed altogether.

In this context then, it is only fair to begin here by asking some basic questions: who are (were) the Nets’aii Gwich’in of Arctic Village? Where did they come from? And, above all, why, in an age of globalization—when major social, economic, and political shifts seem to be overtaking the planet at astronomical speed—should an outsider even really care about such a small community of Alaska Natives living hundreds of miles from what many would even consider civilization? The chapters in this section will address these questions and more. These very forces demand that communities such as that under study now draw our attention, for they are to a great degree the canaries in the coal mine. What is happening in—and to—communities like Arctic Village, Alaska, is but a harbinger of things to come in neighborhoods, villages, towns, and communities large and small across the globe today.

This, in fact, is what this book will address: change. Whether that change is for good, bad, or otherwise is up for debate. But if nothing else is certain about the Nets’aii Gwich’in and Arctic Village, they, like everyone in the world today, are changing but in directions largely unpredictable and at such an accelerated rate that the dizzied outcome is at best an exciting new adventure and at worst a terrifying, out-of-control, brakeless ride over unknown, treacherous, and potential deadly terrain.

But is change new per se? The Nets’aii Gwich’in would of course tell us otherwise. Indeed, the Nets’aii Gwich’in’s story that follows should teach us that the perspective expressed of present events is largely Eurocentric. If globalization in the new millennium is to be viewed as a set of processes that, when combined, allow for increased socioeconomic integration as a result of improved communications and transportations systems that overcome the “friction of space” (Harvey 1996: 422), then one must reassess the whole conceptual framework as it applies to the Nets’aii Gwich’in. Truly, there is nothing new here under the midnight sun, as this popular story, told orally for generations, illustrates:

Many years ago the Kutchin [Gwich’in] Indians fought with their neighbors. The Kutchin were afraid of other people. When the people were fighting they hurt each other. Many people were killed. One Indian began to think about how it would be if there were no war. His name was Dacheltee.

“People can be happy if they don’t fight,” Dacheltee thought. “They will not be afraid anymore.”

Dacheltee thought and thought. At last he decided to talk to the other Indian chiefs. Sometimes Dacheltee went down the rivers in a boat made of caribou skin. In the winter he went in his sled pulled by dogs. He went across the mountains and talked to the Eskimos. He went a long way and talked to many people.

“I think we would be happy if we did not fight,” he told them.

The chiefs talked with Dacheltee about war. They talked about how people would live if there were no war. They would not be afraid if there were no war.

After Dacheltee talked with the chiefs, they decided there would be no more war. After that the Kutchin Indians did not fight with their neighbors. They traded with their neighbors for the things they needed. Dacheltee and the people were happy now.

Dacheltee helped the people in other ways too. He helped the people build a caribou fence. A caribou fence was made of logs. The logs were tied to trees. Snares made of thin pieces of skin were tied to the logs. The fence was made in a circle. There was a hole in one side of the fence. The men stood on the side that did not have a hole. They had bows and arrows ready. The women and the children drove the caribou through the fence. The men killed the caribou when they got caught in the snares. The people got many caribou this way. They had meat to eat and skins for houses and clothes.

One day Dacheltee and his family and friends were coming home from hunting. They were tired. When they got to the top of a hill they decided to rest. All the children sat down around Dacheltee.

They liked to hear him tell stories. Dacheltee liked to tell them about the sun, moon, and stars.

“Somebody must live on those things,” Dacheltee told the children. “Maybe someone made the sun and stars,” one little boy said.

The people were rested. They got their things and started on their way home.

“Maybe some day we will find out who made the world and all the things in it,” Dacheltee told the children.

The years went by. People began to trade more and more. They began to take dried meat down to Fort Yukon. The Indians traded the dried meat for tea, sugar, and other things they needed …

— Maggie Gilbert, as told to Marian Nickelson, circa 1969

The story narrated above is one of many that were once handed down from generation to generation but have recently become less familiar to many if not most in the community. Rather, a White, postcolonial version of history overshadows much of what was once common knowledge. Yet such stories clearly reveal insights into not only the past but also some of our present priorities, fears, and conundrums.

It is only logical and of necessity to carry out a study of the Nets’aii Gwich’in of the twenty-first century by first looking back in time. We must seek to understand their history—of who they are and how they came to settle at Arctic Village—not merely via convenient academic constructs but also, whenever possible, by relying on Gwich’in narrative or memory. Like any colonial narrative, the story of the Nets’aii Gwich’in has taken on a life of its own, being shaped to fit a certain set of preconceived ideas, attitudes, and beliefs.

As yet one more in a series of such observations, the story being told here also runs the risk of further reifying the colonial narrative, suggesting that globalization has brought new thoughts and behaviors to the Nets’aii Gwich’in. Yet, as the narration noted above illustrates, internecine conflict, cross-cultural trade, and a sense of intellectual curiosity about the unknown need hardly be ascribed to a twenty-first century mindset. These ideas and more are all present in this brief narrative. Every effort will be made here to acknowledge that the Nets’aii Gwich’in are not passive recipients of the impacts of White-induced “modernity” or of other similar forces acting upon them but rather active participants in their own lives and, further, in their own destinies.

CHAPTER 1

How Did We Get Here?

An Overview of the First Century

So finally they said “Let’s all live in one place and vote to have one leader, and we will see what happens.” So from around Arctic Village we went down to where the trail meets from Fort Yukon. That’s where we stayed. They say that so they can tell anyone coming along either trail about their plan. So that’s what they did.

— Maggie Gilbert, quoted in Craig Mishler (1995)

A Background Geography and History of the Nets’aii Gwich’in of Arctic Village, Alaska

The story of the Nets’aii Gwich’in’s settlement at Arctic Village has been told and retold over the years by a variety of interested outside observers (see, for example, Caulfield 1983; Hadleigh-West 1963; Lonner and Beard 1982; Mishler 1995). Still, in order to provide context, it is necessary to repeat some of this information here.

In short, the Nets’aii Gwich’in were a nomadic hunting and gathering tribe living in the region now known as northeast Alaska and northwest Yukon, Canada, for several millennia (see Map 1.1). As elder Moses Cruikshank explains in Mackenzie’s biography of Johnny Fredson (1985: 5–6):

The Netsi Kutchin [also “Natsit Gwich’in” as it appears in Osgood 1936 or “Natsitkutchin” in Mason 1924: 12, meaning “strong people”] of the Chandalar region were Athabascan Indians who had hunted the muskeg and scrubby forests of the Yukon Flats northward toward the snowcapped Brooks Range, and traveled northeastward toward the Yukon Territory for trade with the coastal Eskimos [i.e., the Inupiat] for more than a thousand years. They didn’t own much, only what they could carry on the hunt—a knife, some baskets, snowshoes, warm skin clothing, and until white traders came, only bows, arrows and spears to hunt with … The skins of caribou and moose provided almost everything else they needed.

The environment made the Nets’aii Gwich’in people who they were in ways large and small. In turn, the Gwich’in made and remade their environment over the millennia, shaping it to conform to their needs while also responding to its strength that would ultimately, along with other social forces determine their fates.

The region that the Alaskan Gwich’in call “home” is comprised of nearly 37,000 square miles of land (Andrews 1977:103) located in the interior region of northeast Alaska known as the Northern Plateaus Province (Wahrhaftig 1965: 22). The area has historically experienced extreme temperatures—90 degrees Fahrenheit is possible in summer and –50 degrees or lower in winter. Summers are typically more moderate, however, usually in the 60s and brief in duration. Sunlight is plentiful (Illustrations 1.1 and 1.2), as are a variety of species of voracious mosquitoes. Winter lasts from mid-September, when the first snows fall, until breakup in mid-June. In reality, it can snow virtually any day of the year. Much of the winter is also enshrouded in a blue haze, not so much dark as lacking in actual direct sunlight (see Illustrations 8.1 and 8.2). The region varies from marshy lowland valleys to flats that stretch for miles beyond the Yukon River’s banks to foothills of the Brooks Range. These hills generally reach summits no higher than 1,500 to 2,500 feet. Boreal forest covers the land (Slobodin 1981: 514) comprised of permafrost. Flora is limited to lichens, conifers, and the like; fauna includes bear, moose, caribou, and small furbearers (Wahrhaftig 1965: 23).

Historically, the Nets’aii Gwich’in (also referred to in the literature as “Chandalar Kutchin”; see Slobodin 1981) were seminomadic hunters, gatherers, and fishers, structured in small groups and bands known as “restricted wanderers” (Hosley 1966: 52) whose community pattern “adapted to scattered or seasonably available food resources” (VanStone 1974: 38). Thus, the region’s severe geography dictated the lifestyle and behavior of the people. While larger mammals served as the primary food source, smaller mammals (beaver, ground squirrel, Arctic hare) were used for clothing and trade (Slobodin 1981: 515).

It is uncertain exactly when the Nets’aii Gwich’in of northeast Alaska were first contacted by Europeans. While some argue that first contact occurred in 1847, with the establishment of Hudson’s Bay Company at Fort Yukon (Hadleigh-West 1963: 21; Nelson 1986: 13; Slobodin 1981: 529), others indicate a later period, the 1860s (Caulfield 1983: 88), when the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England began sending missionaries to the region (see chapter 2). Either way, interaction occurred with those of both French and English origin beginning in the latter part of the nineteenth century. As will be seen in greater detail (chapters 2 and 3), the colonization process was rapid and thorough, and would ultimately have a long-lasting impact on the Nets’aii Gwich’in with permanent outcomes and ramifications.

Map 1.1 Arctic Village and neighboring Gwich’in villages in the Yukon Flats.

The village was founded in 1908 (Caulfield 1983; Hadleigh-West 1963) or 1909 (Lonner and Beard 1982) and named Vashr’aii K’oo, meaning “Creek with Steep Bank” (Mishler 1995: 434). The origins of the name “Arctic Village” are unknown (Hadleigh-West 1963:17). Chief Christian (1878–1947) was, in effect, the founder of the village when he built the first cabin for him and his wife, Rachel (Peter 1966; Nickelson 1969b; I. Tritt 1987a). The building of a cabin was itself an innovation; only with the introduction of the axe was log cabin construction a possibility, and the poor ventilation of the buildings, heated by wood stoves, often led to various health difficulties. Thus, more than a decade later, a few skin houses still existed in the community alongside the small log cabins (Mason 1924: 27).

Although some have reported that settlement was fostered in part by the purported murder of a White man by unknown Nets’aii Gwich’in assailants (see Stern 2005: 34), little evidence exists to substantiate this conspiratorial claim. Rather, as the more commonly known story goes, the Nets’aii Gwich’in people came to settle at the confluence of the Vashr’aii K’oo Creek and the East Fork of the Chandalar River for very rational reasons related to the access of wild food resources. The village is ideally located in the direct migration path of the Porcupine caribou herd, which is central to the tribe’s social and economic survival. Similarly, there is a wealth of fish in the area, though numerous creeks similar to the Vashr’aii K’oo that also teem with fish intersect the Chandalar. As one elder related to Mishler (1995: 457) some years ago:

There was no village [yet] but they used to gather there [at the creek] during spring break-up. So they all gathered there until break-up and also for fish. So that’s what they did. We were living there, fishing. Chief Christian was there. We really depended on him. He was not having hard times and had no children. He helped people a lot.

It was at this point that the community determined to settle in one place and to follow a single leader who would run the political and economic affairs of the community:

So that’s what they did. They told everybody what they had planned. They all thought that was a good idea. So everybody got together. In those days there was hardly any money. Our main thing was getting food to eat. So they elected Chief Christian for their leader at Arctic Village. People all helped one another. They helped one another with wood, food, and other things. They all worked hard to do this.

So that’s how Arctic Village became a village. The kids used to pack water for each household. And they did the same with wood. There used to be wood piled up in front of the houses. Those were happy times. (459)

While this version of events is certainly compelling, settlement not only hinged upon food availability, which presumably had always been a concern from time immemorial, but was also further incentivized by two social institutions imposed by the outside, namely the church and the school. The missionaries had come to the area beginning in the 1860s (Caulfield 1983: 88). Formal education was introduced thereafter, designed to teach the Nets’aii Gwich’in Western cultural values (Hosley 1966: 231) and how to follow Christian social mores (VanStone 1974: 87). As I have noted previously, “the creation of schools and the requirement that all children attend them played a direct role in the settlement process of the community” (Dinero 2003b: 143).

Integration into the regional economy via the fur trade also helped in fostering permanent settlement at Arctic Village (Hosley 1966: 153). In the early days, furs were traded at the local store for basic provisions, but in time cash became an increasing part of the village economy as villagers made the 17-to-23-day round-trip journey to Fort Yukon to acquire more specialized commodities such as ammunition and tea (Peter 1966). Since the early 1840s, during the Russian-American era, Gwich’in trappers had traveled regularly to the fort to conduct commerce, especially with coastal Alaska Natives (Inupiat) and other local peoples (Bockstoce 2009: 212–16). The cyclical dynamic of introducing fur trapping to the Nets’aii Gwich’in subsistence culture, selling furs for cash, and subsequently using cash in commercial establishments to purchase non-Native food, clothing, and other fabricated goods including firearms (Bockstoce 2009: 212; Mason 1924: 25) was a major social and economic development that would permanently alter the course of Nets’aii Gwich’in society.

The village was slow to grow to a significant size of permanent settlers. Those who settled at Arctic Village then—or even now—should be recognized as the most committed and determined of Native villagers. It is, in effect, one of Alaska’s furthermost o...