**STUDY TITLE**: Kodiak/Shumagin Socioeconomic Update.

**REPORT TITLE**: A Sociocultural Description of Small Communities in
the Kodiak-Shumagin Region.

CONTRACT NUMBER(S): MMS: 14-12-0001-30186.

SPONSORING OCS REGION: Alaska.

APPLICABLE PLANNING AREA(S): Kodiak; Shumagin; Gulf of Alaska; Shelikof
Strait.

FISCAL YEAR(S) OF PROJECT FUNDING: 1984.

COMPLETION DATE OF REPORT: August 1986.

COST(S): FY 1984: \$225,870; CUMULATIVE PROJECT COST: \$225,870.

PROJECT MANAGER(S): E. Davis.

AFFILIATION: Cultural Dynamics, Ltd.

ADDRESS: 719 N Street, Suite 3, Anchorage, AK 99501 (907) 258-6680.

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR(S)\*: N.Y. Davis.

KEY WORDS: North Pacific Ocean; Kodiak Island; Alaska Peninsula; Koniag;
Sociocultural Studies; Development, Social Effects; Ethnographic
Description; Alaska Villages; Alaska Native Land Claims.

**BACKGROUND**: The Kodiak-Shumagin region of the North Pacific
encompasses Kodiak Island and a portion of the Alaska Peninsula. Eleven
villages are located in the study area: five on the Pacific Ocean
(southeastern) side of the Peninsula: Ivanof Bay, Perryville, Chignik
Lake, Chignik Lagoon, and Chignik Bay; and six on or near Kodiak Island:
Karluk, Larsen Bay, Akhiok, Old Harbor, Ouzinkie and Port Lions.

In 1985 approximately 1700 people lived in these coastal communities:
500 in the Peninsula villages and 1200 in the Kodiak villages. The
communities ranged in size from 51 individuals at Ivanof Bay to 337 at
Old Harbor. All are physically remote, although linked by year-round air
transportation to other Alaskan communities and regional centers. They
share a tradition of commercial fishing, but the level of participation
varies importantly from one village to another. Even though located in
physically separated geographic areas, some villages have significant
historic, economic, and social connections.

**OBJECTIVES**: (1) To update information previously gathered for MMS
Alaska OCS Region Social and Economic Studies Program. (2) To gain
understanding of contemporary conditions, variations, and directions of
change in the communities. (3) To analyze the sociocultural organization
of each community and the linkages of the villages to each other. (4) To
provide basic descriptive data so the likely effects of future oil and
gas development on local residents can be more accurately assessed.

**DESCRIPTION**: All of the villages were visited between November 1984
and March 1985; four were visited a second time in May 1985. The
research was conducted by one field worker, Nancy Yaw Davis, with
additional data gathered by local research assistants. During the field
trips, 97 focused discussions were held with 146 participants; eleven
topics were used as guides, and additional information was gained beyond
the chosen topics through informal discussions. The research assistants
collected data from 450 households, including kinship relationships,
birthdates and birthplaces of each resident and counts of vehicles.

**SIGNIFICANT CONCLUSIONS**: Among the five Alaska Peninsula villages,
dual residency is a marked pattern. A separate community forms each
summer at Chignik Lagoon on the side where the Columbia Wards Fisheries
processing plant is located. Social and kinship links are clearly
reflected in continuing traditional Koniag family patterns. Local
political organization ranges from inactive village councils to vigorous
city governments. Villagers\' involvement in jobs and the use of cash is
well established, and increasing. Commitment to commercial fishing
varies greatly. In the 1970\'s some concern about OCS activities was
reported in the Kodiak Island area; in the 1980\'s this had been
replaced by concern about outdoor sportsmen and tourism. With a few
exceptions, general support for and interest in oil and gas development
was found in the study area.

**STUDY RESULTS**: Social and kinship links were greater between the
southern Kodiak Island villages and the Alaska Peninsula than between
the southern and northern Kodiak villages. Traditional family patterns
were reflected in examples of three generation households and the role
of the mother\'s brother in the raising of his sister\'s sons. In four
villages, over 50% of the adult Native males were single. At the time of
the field research, villages were not very involved in regional Native
corporation affairs. A number of leaders who played key roles in the
1970\'s dropped out of active political participation in the early
1980\'s. Increasing tension was developing over property rights,
newcomers, trespassing, and the sale of land. The villagers\' economic
activities included commercial fishing, local part-time jobs, and
subsistence undertakings. The number of winter residents holding purse
seine limited entry fishing permits ranged from one in Karluk to 29 in
Old Harbor. A total of 107 permit holders were living in the villages in
the winter of 1984-5. Canneries were located at or near 4 of the 11
villages: Chignik Bay, Chignik Lagoon, Larsen Bay, and Akhiok (Alitak).
Some non-Natives, who are recent in-migrants, appeared active in
subsistence endeavors like trapping, fishing, and hunting. In general,
villagers perceived the possibility of future OCS development in a
positive light. Even some active commercial fishermen with modern boats
and gear were amenable to industry development.

**STUDY PRODUCT(S)**: Davis, Nancy Yaw. 1986. A Sociocultural
Description of Small Communities in the Kokiak-Shumagin Region.
Technical Report No. 121 prepared for the U.S. Department of the
Interior, Minerals Management Service, Alaska Outer Continental Shelf
Region, Social and Economic Studies Program, OCS Study MMS 86-0035.

Cultural Dynamics, Ltd. 1986. A Description of the Social and Economic
Systems of the Kodiak/Shumagin Region. Technical Report No. 122. Social
and Economic Studies Program, Alaska OCS Region, Minerals Management
Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. OCS Study MMS 86-0036.

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