The first Aleut ethnography in over three decades, Aleut Identities provides a contemporary view of indigenous Alaskans and is the first major work to emphasize the importance of commercial labour and economies to maintain traditional means of survival. Examining the ways in which social relations and the status formation are affected by environmental concerns, government policies, and market forces, the author highlights how communities have responded to worldwide pressures. An informative work that challenges conventional notions of "traditional," Aleut Identities demonstrates possible methods by which Indigenous communities can maintain and adapt their identity in the face of unrelenting change.

A contemporary portrait of an Indigenous commercial fishing society in the Arctic.

Describes the fisheries as they relate to the expression of individual and community relations and to the development of Aleut identity in the Aleut fishing village of King Cove, Alaska.

Translation from Russian