**REPORT TITLE:** Beaufort Sea Region Sociocultural Systems.

**STUDY TITLE:** Beaufort Sea Region Sociocultural Systems (TR-09).

CONTRACT NUMBER(S): BLM: CT6-61; MMS: 14-12-0001-29002

SPONSORING OCS REGION: Alaska.

APPLICABLE PLANNING AREA(S): Beaufort Sea.

FISCAL YEAR(S) OF PROJECT FUNDING: 1976.

COMPLETION DATE OF REPORT: 1978.

COST(S): FY 1976: \$23,453; CUMULATIVE PROJECT COST: \$23,453.

PROJECT MANAGER(S): R. Worl.

AFFILIATION: Worl Associates.

ADDRESS: 3407 Seppala, Anchorage, Alaska 99503.

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR(S)\*: R. Worl.

KEY WORDS: Beaufort Sea; Alaska; cultural impacts; Inupiat; historical
review; subsistence; sociocultural; sociocultural change; Alaska Region.

ACCESS NUMBER: 29002

**BACKGROUND:** Communities within the Beaufort Sea Petroleum
Development Region along the Arctic Slope can be described as
transitional societies which maintain a persistence of a transitional
culture. The Beaufort Sea Region illustrates how a traditional society
reorganized itself with its older social and cultural forms in a modern
setting. In an attempt to understand the contemporary society, it was
necessary to analyze the traditional society, economic and cultural
systems, and to assess the impacts and responses by the aboriginal
society to the external influences which were exerted by the development
activities during the historical period. This report was prepared under
the auspices of the Alaska Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Socioeconomic
Studies Program, a multi-year research effort designed to predict and
evaluate effects of Alaska OCS petroleum development on the unique
physical, social, and economic environments in the State.

**OBJECTIVES:** (1) To promote an understanding of the sociocultural
dynamics of the Beaufort Sea Petroleum Development Region; and (2) To
demonstrate that the social, cultural, and psychological values are as
important as the economic values of the environment to the regional
population.

**DESCRIPTION:** This report examines aboriginal, social, and cultural
organizations from both historical and contemporary views. A brief and
simplistic introduction to the origins and cultural evolution of the
Inupiat people and their inhabitation of the Arctic Slope is designed to
provide a key for understanding the adaptations made during the
historical phase (or period) which correlates with the time of contact
with early explorers beginning in 1826. This is followed by a
description of political and regional development of the region during
the contemporary period, which began with early attempts by the Inupiat
to politically organize themselves on a regional basis in the 1960s.
Inupiat socioeconomic patterns, including subsistence issues and
elements, are discussed and followed by a multifaceted discussion of the
areas of contemporary conflict and impact.

**SIGNIFICANT CONCLUSIONS:** The reduction in available natural
resources upon which the Inupiat depended and their involvement in
economic development activities resulted in a modification in the degree
of their autonomy. However, the end of each period of economic
development has been marked with an intensification of traditional
subsistence pursuits. Cash economy was installed into Inupiat culture
with the onset of the petroleum exploration activity. Based on data
gathered through 1976, the Inupiat subsistence lifestyle appears to be
more threatened than it has during any other period of time. Since 1969,
the population of small traditional villages has grown, largely due to
settlement of Alaska Native land claims in 1971, the formation of the
North Slope Borough in 1972, and the population\'s preference for a more
traditional lifestyle. The history of contact between Inupiat and
Western cultures involves several key areas of negative social impact,
including alcohol and drugs, family discord and violent behavior, and
suicide and mental illness. Indicators of positive change include the
ability to form new organizations in response to recent events and the
improvement of economic situations which have created many attractive
employment opportunities.

**STUDY RESULTS:** The Beaufort Sea Region is the aboriginal homeland of
two distinct but interrelated groups of the Inupiat. One Inupiat group,
the Tagiugmiut, occupy the Region\'s coastal areas. The second Inupiat
group, the Nunamiut, occupy the Region\'s inland areas. These two groups
are considered as a single cultural unit because of the economic
interrelationships between inland caribou hunters and coastal whalers,
and the similarities between their social and cultural systems. Both
groups had permanent communities with scattered satellite colonies which
continued to identify with the parent group. Structured trade occurred
within established formal partnerships between inland and coastal
groups. Intermarriage was rare, with no recognized kinship ties between
the two groups.

The history of Inupiat acculturation is complex and demonstrates the
incorporation of alien cultural elements, the elimination of previously
existing elements, and the modification and reorganization of others.
The viability of the Inupiat culture can be attributed to their social
solidarity and their continuing relationship to their land and
traditional way of life through the periods of economic development, and
demonstrates that acculturation may occur without a subsequent change in
values and without a change in the reference group.

The historical period is initiated with the onset of yearly exploration,
followed by the rise and fall of commercial whaling and fur industries,
and ends with the onset of petroleum exploration activity. The periods
of economic development served to alter the Inupiat from strictly
subsistence to a trade or cash economy. However, it is noted that they
increased their dependence upon subsistence resources following the
close of the development periods. The 1960s found the Inupiat engaged in
what has been described as a dual economy, consisting of a combination
of cash and subsistence. The contemporary period began with early
attempts by the Inupiat to politically organize themselves on a regional
basis in the 1960s in response to State selection of Native land, under
the Alaska Statehood Act, the Native land claims effort, and the
State\'s sale of oil leases at Prudhoe Bay. These village organizations
provided the base for regional awareness and development of the North
Slope. Political organization began with the formation of village
councils, based on traditional law, ways, and values. These were
followed by the formation of an autonomous economy and political
institution provided by the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) of 1934, and
based upon the U.S. Constitution.

Recent subsistence issues indicate the decline of the caribou population
and resulting restrictive regulations, the bowhead whale controversy,
interests of environmentalists (which often conflict with subsistence
needs), current Section D-2 land legislation, and conflicts created by
oil and gas exploration and development. The most notable and emotional
issues were the caribou and whaling crises. The Inupiat sociocultural
system is endangered by limitations on subsistence harvests imposed by
caribou and bowhead whale hunting restrictions, and potential damage to
the environment, wildlife, and fisheries posed by offshore and onshore
petroleum exploration and development together with increasing traffic
to the North Slope.

Areas of economic conflict include economic, social, and institutional
factors. Economic factors involve the shift in Native hunting patterns
from game which could be eaten to furbearers for trading purposes, a
shift which disrupted traditional economy. Social factors were usually a
result of the lack of a mutually intelligible language and lack of
concern of white (Caucasian) traders to existing Native cultures.
Institutional factors included the appearance and incorporation of the
church, schools, and hospitals to traditional Native communities.
Literature clearly indicates that the Inupiat were quick to adopt
technological and institutional changes from outside their culture to
meet their own needs. However, as contact with the outside world
increased after the turn of the century (particularly after the oil and
gas development along the North Slope became nationally significant),
these conflicts intensified at the interpersonal and institutional
level.

**STUDY PRODUCT(S):** Worl Associates. 1978. Beaufort Sea Region
Sociocultural Systems. A final report for the U.S. Department of the
Interior, Bureau of Land Management Alaska OCS Office, Anchorage, AK.
NTIS No. PB‑281634/AS. Social and Economic Studies Program Technical
Report No. 9. Contract No. 14-12-0001-29002. x + 168 pp.

\*P.I.\'s affiliation may be different than that listed for Project
Manager(s).