Bibliography of 'Arctic Social Science' Theses and Dissertations

355 Pages·2006·2.67 MB·English

by  Jack Hicks

Bibliography of ‘Arctic Social Science’ Theses and Dissertations – 2006 Aug. 7

Big thanks to Birger and Mariekathrine Poppel, Marianne Stenbaek, Navarana Beveridge and Daniel Cuerrier for
their assistance with translations, and to everyone who has contributed references.
This is very much a work in progress, and despite the fact that it contains 1,160 entries this bibliography is
undoubtedly missing a great many theses and dissertations – especially those written in languages other than
English. Notification of omissions (and of typos and other errors) would be oh-so-greatly appreciated! Please send
them to Jack hicks at [email protected].
The abstracts are those prepared by the authors of the theses and dissertations. The spellings of some words have
been standardized to facilitate searching.

Abadian, Sousan. (1999) "From wasteland to homeland: Trauma and the renewal of indigenous peoples and their
communities." Ph.D. Dissertation, Harvard University. 524 pp.
Why is it that the descendants of the original peoples of North America living today on reserves and
reservations continue to suffer disproportionately from poverty, poor health, violence, alcohol and substance
abuse? What are effective means of bettering substandard conditions?
This study suggests that unresolved or poorly resolved individual and collective trauma is an often
overlooked, key causal variable which helps explain present-day conditions in many indigenous communities.
Parts I and II explore the ‘trauma thesis’ and suggest that the experience of trauma may profoundly distort
individual perceptual filters, values, and behaviour, with damaging social ramifications. Prolonged and
extensive trauma can distort institutions and destroy productive social capital, fostering the antithesis of a
‘civic culture’ -- a ‘subculture of trauma’ -- with dire implications for economic and political life.
Multiple generations of native peoples have experienced individual-level trauma in the context of massive
collective traumatization. This coupling of individual and collective trauma is particularly deadly because,
among other things, it cripples the capacity of individuals to heal. Under these circumstances, trauma is
likely to be replicated through time and space, and manifest in substandard conditions.
In addition to exploring root causes, this study has aimed to provide some insight into possible means of
reversing substandard conditions and enhancing well-being. To this end, Part III utilizes psychological
theory on the processes of healing from trauma as well as field cases from North American native
communities. Part III suggests that a set of interventions employed by increasing numbers of aboriginal
communities in various guises, described as ‘culture as treatment,’ are effective means of countering
traumatically-induced social pathologies on reserves and reservations today (the ‘culture as treatment
thesis’).
I conclude with an accounting of what culture as treatment might ideally entail: psychological, cultural and
spiritual renewal. Renewal does not mean mere restoration of what was lost, even if that were possible, but
may require a degree of adaptation to the changed realities of present-day circumstances.
Moreover, I suggest that cultural renewal/psychological healing and economic development are not
necessarily at odds with one another. The economic and sociocultural imperatives can go hand-in-hand: they
are compatible and indeed may support one another.
Abel, Kerry M. (1981) "The South Nahanni River Region, NWT (1820-1972): Patterns of socioeconomic transition in
the Canadian north." M.A. Thesis, University of Manitoba (The).
———. (1985) "The drum and the cross: An ethnohistorical study of mission work among the Dene, 1858-1902."
Ph.D. Dissertation, Queen’s University at Kingston.
While studies of the Indian role in the northern fur trade have become an important part of the historical
literature, less attention has been paid to the era of mission work in the Canadian north. It is popularly
believed that missionaries forced massive cultural changes upon the acquiescent Dene, thus contributing to
their modern problems of dislocation and uncertainty. This study examines the Indian response to the work of
the Oblates of Mary Immaculate and the Church Missionary Society in the Mackenzie Valley, and rejects a
number of previously held assumptions and theories, including the argument that these native people turned
to Christianity as an alternate solution when their own spiritual systems no longer seemed effective in
dealing with new problems, and the argument that the Dene were easily and rapidly Christianized because
their own religious beliefs were weak and ‘undeveloped.’ The Dene, in fact, exhibited a range of

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individualistic and highly personal responses to the mission teaching, but the fact that today the majority call
themselves Roman Catholic does not constitute proof that they have been completely drawn into the Euro-
Canadian value system. Rather, the persistence of their traditional world view is traced. The Dene made use
of the missionary presence for their own ends, and were not passive recipients of mission instruction or
demands. While the focus of this study is on the Dene response, part of that response can be understood only
through a better awareness of the methods and purposes of the missionaries themselves. The strictly
Evangelical approach of the Anglicans and the more flexible aspirations of the Roman Catholics, who hoped
to create a society of Christian hunters, are also examined. The ethnohistorical approach must not neglect
either side of the culture contact situation. Hence it is concluded that the period of missionary work in the
Canadian north was a complex exchange of ideals and values, in which the Dene made active choices on the
basis of a strong cultural tradition. Both persistence and change have combined in what may be a situation
unique among North American Indian societies.
Abele, Frances. (1983) "The Berger Inquiry and the politics of transformation in the Mackenzie Valley." Ph.D.
Dissertation, York University. 332 pp.
The unusual prominence and resonance of the Berger Inquiry into the construction of a Mackenzie Valley
pipeline may be explained by the Inquiry’s role in the transformation of the fundamental social relations of
native societies in the Mackenzie Valley. The Berger Inquiry period comprises one crucial phase in the long
process of transformation which began when native societies were first contacted by emissaries of European
capitalism during the 18th century. Successive exogenous influences shaped changes in Mackenzie Valley
social relations, but these influences did not decisively draw the Dene into capitalist society. The expansion
of the Northwest Territories regional government and the post-Prudhoe Bay oil rush in the late 1960s
threatened to achieve this resolution, by legally and practically separating the Dene from the material basis
of non-capitalist productive activity -- that is, from the land. Apprehension of this prospect, together with new
opportunities for communication and organization (provided by the Berger Inquiry and in other ways)
prompted the self-organization of Mackenzie Valley native people and their emergence into modern ‘politics.’
The details of this process, and of the Inquiry’s influence, are explored at length. A subsidiary theme of the
thesis is that certain analytical tools developed by Karl Marx in his study of the emergence of capitalism in
Europe may be used to comprehend both the transformation of Dene social relations, and the role of the
Canadian state in this development. A general conclusion is that because the Dene confront a liberal
democratic capitalist state, they may build upon the basis of traditional social relations a new society which
preserves significant elements of older ways, including a special relationship to the land.
Acheson, Ann W. (1977) "Nomads in town: The Kutchin of Old Crow, Yukon Territory." Ph.D. Dissertation, Cornell
University. 358 pp.
Adams, Dennis L. (1978) "Inuit recreation and cultural change: A case study of the effects of acculturative change on
Tununirmiut lifestyle and recreation patterns." M.A. Thesis, University of Alberta. 255 pp.
Adams, Michelle A. (1997) "Environmental impact of Arctic municipal landfills as contaminant point sources: Case
study: Tuktoyaktuk Solid Waste site." M.Eng. Thesis, Royal Military College of Canada. 216 pp.
The scientific investigation of the Tuktoyaktuk Solid Waste site was carried out in 1996 during site visits from
June 18 to July 17. The environmental assessment of the site addressed the physical condition of the site,
contaminated soil and contaminant migration away from the site. An emphasis has been placed on the
evaluation of environmental impact on the surrounding ecosystems, and the potential for chemical
contaminants to enter the food chain. Data provided by this study allowed for an evaluation of the
environmental risk associated with Arctic municipal landfills acting as point source contamination.
A total of 118 soil and sediment samples, and ten water samples were collected from the interior of the site
and from the surrounding area. These samples form the basis of the chemical contamination part of the site
assessment. They can be divided into the reconnaissance assessment samples (82) which were collected in
previously uninvestigated areas, and detailed assessment samples (36) which were collected around areas
where elevated concentrations of some inorganic elements had been detected in the field, using an X-ray
fluorescence test kit. 30 plants and 17 fish were collected in or in close proximity of the landfill in order to
assess whether contaminants had previously -- or were currently -- migrating off site into the terrestrial and
marine food chains.
Soil samples were screened for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), inorganic elements, polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons (PAHs), pesticides and total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH). Water was analyzed for the same

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contaminants within the exception of PAHs. Plants and fish were analyzed for inorganic elements and PCBs,
as these substances are the most indicative of contaminant loading.
Ten assessment samples collected at the Tuktoyaktuk solid waste site contained at least one analyte at a
concentration exceeding any applicable criterion. Zinc, lead and copper were the most common
contaminants. PCBs were found at nominal levels throughout the site but were not found at concentrations
above the most stringent criterion (Tier 1) of 1 ppm. Pesticides and PAHs levels were below criteria and in
many cases were not detectable. Elevated levels of TPH were found in a small number of samples, but this
contamination appeared to be very localized and concentrations did not exceed the GNWT criteria of 2,500
ppm.
The levels of contaminants found in water ponded within the landfill -- landfill lagoon -- were below the
guidelines for the ‘Discharge of Municipal Wastewater in the NWT.’ Therefore it is permissible for the
landfill lagoon to be discharged in the Kugmallit Bay inlet adjacent to the site.
Many plants taken from within the landfill site contained at least one inorganic element in excess of the
impact criteria, but these were sampled from areas that did not appear to be used for grazing, and so do not
pose a threat to local wildlife. Plants were from drainage pathways contained levels that were within the
range found in background plants, indicating that, at present, there is no adverse impact on the terrestrial
ecosystem outside of the landfill.
The assessment of the surrounding marine environment indicated that it has not suffered any adverse effects
from the landfill. PCBs were undetectable in the marine sediment and fish collected from the inlet adjacent to
the landfill site, and inorganic element concentrations were comparable to background levels.
Remedial recommendations include the segregation of different kinds of wastes, the removal of all ponded
water from the centre of the landfill site and the continuation of proper fill-covering of the active area, at
least on a seasonal basis. The proposed modifications will improve present site conditions, will allow the
continued safe use of the landfill, and will prevent future contamination of the surrounding ecosystem.
The overall conclusion of this thesis is that the Tuktoyaktuk landfill, while aesthetically unpleasant, does not
pose an environment threat at this time. As the Tuktoyaktuk landfill is representative of the worst case
scenario of northern landfills, this conclusion can be expanded to incorporate typical northern facilities as a
whole.
Ager, Lynn P. (1975) "Alaskan Eskimo children’s games and their relationship to cultural values and role structure in
a Nelson Island community." Ph.D. Dissertation, Ohio State University (The). 149 pp.
Agger, Helen O. (1996) "Interaction between government officials and native people: Past and present." M.P.A.
Thesis, University of Manitoba (The). 129 pp.
Primary factors which influenced interactions between native people and government officials began with the
emergence of British mercantilism, capitalism, and colonialism. A conjunction of these economic and
political variables with beliefs about racial superiority, a perceived mission to convert all non-Christians to
Christianity, and conclusions based on studies by social Darwinians and eugenicists resulted in behavioural
modes characterized by paternalism toward, fear of, or hatred against the native people. These negative
behaviours became reinforced by native people’s responses, that is, secondary factors, as they attempted to
cope with the changing milieu.
Policies formulated by government officials, reflecting the values of the dominant culture of which they are
the product, have largely failed to protect the interests of native people. Examples of this negligence on the
part of officials appeared in the events which surrounded the hydro-electric power project of northern
Manitoba.
Agren, Goran. (1998) "Transfer of radiocaesium to the Swedish population and subgroup of special interest." Ph.D.
Dissertation, Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet. 52 pp.
As a result of the fallout from atmospheric nuclear weapon tests, whole body measurements of radiocaesium
in the population of Sweden were started in the late 1950s. In the 1960s the Sámi population was recognised
as a subgroup of the Swedish population with a greater risk than the general population of receiving high
doses caused by their larger intake of reindeer meat. In 1986, a new deposition of radiocaesium from the
Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident occurred. The deposition from Chernobyl was, unlike the deposition
from the atmospheric nuclear weapon tests, inhomogeneous with a higher deposition in areas where
population groups depending on food products from semi-natural ecosystems can be found.
Since 1986, whole body measurements have been used to monitor the effects from the Chernobyl accident on
several different subgroups of the Swedish population. The group with the highest whole body contents of

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radiocaesium has been the Sámis. Studies of 137 Cs in different ecosystems have shown that population
groups living on food products from the forest ecosystem could receive significant committed doses since the
effective ecological half times here have been found to be close to the physical half life of 137 Cs (30 years).
However, whole body measurements of hunters, which is one such group, have still not confirmed these long
half times.
In all studied populations the transfer of radiocaesium to man was found to decrease with increasing ground
deposition and men were found to have about twice as high whole body content of radiocaesium as women.
For adults, the whole body content increases slightly with age with a maximum around the age 50-70 years.
The committed collective 50-year internal dose to the total Swedish population after Chernobyl will be 1100
personSv of which about half (500 personSv) will be to hunter families and originate in the forest ecosystem.
The committed 50-year collective dose to the Sámi population will be less (25 personSv) while the individual
doses to the Sámi population will be higher. The committed internal dose to the general population will be
less than the external dose while for Sámis the internal dose will contribute more.
Aguilera, Dorothy E. (2003) "Who defines success: An analysis of competing models of education for American
Indian and Alaskan Native students." Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Colorado at Boulder. 430 pp.
My dissertation work is a comparison of success indicators in 14 case studies of innovative schools serving
American Indian and Alaskan Native students. The 14 cases are divided between schools that implemented
state mandated Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration model programs and schools which developed
an indigenous or tribally controlled reform model. School size ranged from 65 to 1050 students. My study
targeted seven key areas of research priority indicated by the review of literature (e.g., Swisher and
Tippeconnic, 2001; Demmert, 2001; Strang and von Glatz, 1998). These included: (1) to examine
educational processes that support and provide opportunities for students to fully participate in achieving
individual and community goals; (2) to focus on research in public, private, and parochial schools because
90% of Native students attend these schools, yet studies primarily are conducted in BIA/Tribal
Grant/Contract schools; (3) to study effective instructional practices (i.e., teaching approaches, models) and
relationship building among teachers and Indian students; (4) to investigate effective school leadership and
school improvement efforts; (5) to examine partnership building to improve schooling; (6) to study reform
efforts to improve instructional practices in schools serving American Indian students; and (7) to examine
effects on student outcomes for culturally compatible curricula and culturally relevant learning
environments. The research design included qualitative and quantitative analysis informed by four years of
field work and concluding with an analysis of documents from archives, internet, and state and local sources.
Data collection methods included observations in schools and classrooms, school community archival
material, demographic data banks, and interviews with teachers, students, community members, and
administrators. A coding system to quantify the qualitative data was created to assess the cultural
responsiveness of the fourteen case schools. Comparisons were made across the schools based on three
predictor variables, including culturally compatible curricula, effective pedagogy, and indigenously
controlled reform. School communities that adopted indigenously-controlled or locally-directed reform
initiatives were characterized by a predominance of indigenous leaders involved in decision making roles,
typically in the capacity of advisory boards rather than tribal school boards. In addition, these schools had
adequate funding, stable leadership, developed partnerships between teachers and elders, supported
acquisition of language and cultural knowledge among students, families, community members and school
staff, and jointly developed curriculum resources. Family and community involvement in academic and
cultural activities ranged from language resources and ceremonial events to early childhood and after school
programs. Assimilationist models of education continue as the predominant model in schools serving
indigenous communities. In some cases, Tribal leaders involved in the management and operation of schools
serving their communities also implemented teacher education programs for community members which
provides employment for adults, and brings indigenous teachers into classrooms. An assessment rubric is
available in this document, as well as the Integrated Culture and Academic Model for American Indian and
Alaskan Native students.
Aikio, Marjuy H. (1988) “Saamelaiset kielenvaihdon kierteessa: Kielisosiologinen tutkimus viiden saamelaiskylan
kielenvaihdosta, 1910-80.” Ph.D. Dissertation, Oulun Yliopisto. 374 pp.
[‘The cycle of language shift among the Sámi: A sociolinguistic study of language shift in five Sámi villages,
1910-80.’]
The present study deals with the Sámi, the indigenous people of northern Fenno-Scandinavia. It analyzes the
process of language shift in five Reindeer Sámi villages from 1910 to 1980. Its purpose is two-fold: a

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description of the language shift process, and development of and experimentation with the methods needed
for such description. The subjects of the study are a colony of Sámi and their descendants who moved from
Norway to Finnish Lapland at the end of the 1800s. All potential speakers of Sámi in the area still living
between 1970 and 1980 were interviewed; there were 84. The subjects interviewed evaluated their language
choice for each decade from 1910 to 1980 and for each Sámi-speaking inhabitant in the five villages (384 in
all). The survey yielded over 56,000 responses concerning language choice. The theoretical point of
departure adopted was the diffusion of innovation over time. Various qualitative and quantitative methods
were developed for analyzing the material. The language shift process was measured from the point of view
of both speaker and listener by village, individual, contact network and generation as well as in interaction.
The change in language use (relationships) proceeded in accordance with diffusion theory. Language shift
was more rapid from one generation to the next than within a single generation, in fact far more rapid than
previously assumed. The actual crux as far as language change is concerned occurred between 1930 and
1950. Language shift took place in the family, the domain most important to language survival, and the shift
was total. Differences were noted in the rate of language shift between sexes. The Sámi language was
retained longest among men. Dense, protected contact networks as well as the remoteness of the community
protected the language from shift. Social changes, including changes in the system of values of the speaker
community brought about rifts in the contact networks. The changes were reflected in language choices as
well. The Sámi today do not enjoy linguistic human rights. The language has no linguistic motherland.
Language shift among the Sámi in this case has meant loss and death of the language.
Airoldi, Adele. (1989) "The European Communities’ legislation and its consequences for Arctic sealing." M.Phil.
Thesis, University of Cambridge, Scott Polar Research Institute. 101 pp.
Albrechtsen, Bo. (2001) "Hvalerne i Nuussuaq -- delingsprincipper, udveksling og social samhørighed blandt
fangerbefolkningen i det nordlige Upernavik-distrikt." M.A. Thesis, University of Copenhagen, Department
of Eskimology.
[‘Whales in Nuussuaq: Principles of sharing, exchange and social solidarity amongst the hunting population
in the northern Upernavik district’]
This M.A. thesis explores questions about sharing, reciprocity and social belonging. On the basis of
fieldwork, done in the northern Upernavik district in a three-year period, data are analysed on the sharing
procedures, which follow the yearly beluga hunt in the vicinity of Nuussuaq. In the historical analysis of these
sharing procedures the social part of the hunt is perceived to be closely related to the hunters’ collective.
This collective is regarded as owner of the larger animals as well as the centre for redistribution of whale
products. There is a parallel to Kotzebue Sound, Alaska: in both places the hunt has become an individual
pursuit rather than a collective one. In this process the advent of motorized boats may have been a catalyst in
bringing about increased economic independence within each household.
A secondary concern of the thesis is to record general data on sharing from this part of Greenland. These
data shows a widespread system of sharing between households. In these networks of sharing the social
relationship between the different parties are described. The final conclusion is that when all possible
relationships of sharing are considered, the overall system of reciprocity, in this specific community, can be
classified as balanced. This conclusion is made after extensive descriptions and analysis of different types of
reciprocity. The overall system of sharing shows a profound common understanding within the community
and must be accepted as an essential part of the maintenance of the social bonds which ties the whole
population together.
Alfredsson, Gudmundur S. (1982) "Greenland and the right to external self-determination." J.D. Dissertation, Harvard
University.
Alix, Claire. (2001) "Exploitation du bois par les populations néo-eskimo entre le nord de l’Alaska et le haut-Arctique
canadien." Ph.D. Dissertation, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne. 619 pp.
[‘Wood exploitation by Neo-Eskimo populations from north Alaska to the Canadian High Arctic]
In the Arctic milieu, tundra dominates. Neo-Eskimo populations established themselves along the coast lines
far from the tree line. The wood that was used for architecture and cultural objects, did not grow locally. Its
main source was from driftwood of tree trunks from the boreal forest which were carried by North American
and Siberian rivers. Around AD 1000, early pioneer Thule people left the northern coast of Alaska to occupy
the Canadian Central Arctic (Chap. I). If one considers the wood variability inherent to the environmental
variations (Chap. II and III), they left from regions where wood was relatively abundant to get to regions

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where it is less frequent and where its arrival is less foreseeable. Did this migratory movement and the
different access to resources bring about a change in wood exploitation? With this question in mind, a
comparative approach was used to do taxonomic, dendrologic, and xylologic analyses (Chap. IV) of wood
objects from 10 sites dated from Birnirk to Classic Thule and localized between the north coast of Alaska and
the east coast of Ellesmere Island (Chap. V and VI). We demonstrated that driftwood packs were indeed the
main supply of the Thule. However, from one site to the other, some light variation in the wood
characteristics and the presence of rare taxons attests possible differences in wood availability and the
inclusion of more complex methods of getting wood. These secondary methods were motivated by the
concern, even the necessity, to get best quality material rather than due to wood shortage. They implied the
movements of Thule groups in forested zones or trade with other Thule groups and possibly with groups from
different cultural backgrounds (Chap. VII and VIII).
Allen, Kristiann E. (2000) "Negotiating health: The meanings and implications of ‘building a healthy community’ in
Igloolik, Nunavut." M.A. Thesis, McGill University. 92 pp.
At the intersection of institutional, local and personal perspectives, this thesis explores what it means to build
a ‘healthy community’ in the Canadian Arctic hamlet of Igloolik, Nunavut. It observes that neither the
dominant concepts of critical theory nor those of institutional health promotion can sufficiently account for
the ways in which ‘healthy community’ discourse and values are adopted and engaged locally.
Contextual semantic analysis is used to examine the health promotion values of ‘community,’ ‘participation’
and ‘empowerment’ in the narratives of Inuit interview participants. Along with historical and ethnographic
data, these narratives suggest the ways in which health promotion and wellness values are variously adopted,
redirected or infused with particular meaning in the context of both personal and political experience.
By destabilizing the consensus implied by institutional health promotion discourse and by recognizing the
multiplicity of meanings and practices surrounding the ‘healthy community,’ it can continue to inspire
innovation in healthcare strategies.
Allen, Shanley E. M. (1995) "Acquisition of some mechanisms of transitivity alternation in Arctic Québec Inuktitut."
Ph.D. Dissertation, McGill University. 308 pp.
This thesis discusses the first language acquisition of three morphosyntactic mechanisms of transitivity
alternation in Arctic Québec Inuktitut. Data derive from naturalistic longitudinal spontaneous speech
samples collected over a nine-month period from four Inuit children aged two years to two years and ten
months at outset. Both basic and advanced forms of passive structures are shown to be used productively by
Inuktitut-speaking children at an early age relative to English-speaking children, but consistent in age with
speakers of non-Indo-European languages reported on in the literature; potential explanations of this
difference include frequency of caregiver input and details of language structure. Morphological causatives
appear slightly later in the acquisition sequence, and their first instances reflect use of unanalyzed routines.
Lexical causatives are present from the earliest ages studied. Evidence of a period of overgeneralization of
lexical causatives in one subject at the same time as the morphological causative shows signs of being
productively acquired suggests that the seeming overgeneralization may reflect nothing more than as yet
unstable use of the morphological causative. Noun incorporation structures are shown to be used
productively by Inuktitut-speaking children at an early age relative to Mohawk-speaking children; potential
explanations of this difference include details of language structure and relative language use in the
environments of the learners. Findings are considered in light of current debates in the literature concerning
continuity versus maturation of grammatical structure, and concerning the functional categories available to
the child at early stages of acquisition. Data presented argue against maturation, and suggest that all
functional categories can be accessed by the Inuktitut-speaking child early in the acquisition process.
Allred, Christine E. (2001) "Harper’s Indians: Representing native America in popular magazine culture, 1893-1922."
Ph.D. Dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles. 363 pp.
From the emergence of Turner’s frontier thesis in 1893 to the annus mirabilis of literary modernism, 1922,
national American identity was invariably bound to representations of American Indians. Although others
have studied this relationship, this dissertation analyzes the representation of Indians within an enormously
influential cultural arbiter -- Harper’s Monthly Magazine. Harper’s editorial impulse to construct itself as
the reader’s cultural homeland while allowing for the proliferation of imagined Indians within its pages
complicated the formation of a national identity dependent, initially, upon the exclusion of the indigenous.
During a subsequent disillusionment with American modernity, Harper’s autobiographies, ethnographies,
serialized novels, cartoons, and regional fictions disallowed its readers an uncomplicated embrace of Indian

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cultures. This dissertation explores the intersection of literary representation and cultural anthropology in
the works of Charles Eastman (Ohiyesa), Henry Blake Fuller, Vilhjalmur Stefansson, Laura Ingalls Wilder,
and Willa Cather. In his autobiographical writings, Eastman assumes ethnographic and literary authority to
disrupt belief in a unilinear evolution that established Euro-American civilization as the acme of high
culture. Fuller’s ‘The cliff-dwellers’ ironically juxtaposes Chicago’s high society and the cliff-dwellers of the
American southwest to suggest similarity where anthropologists insisted upon difference. Vilhjalmur
Stefansson’s Copper Inuit ethnography offers a critique of magazine ethnography through its resistance to
the ‘literary truth’ of writings that valorized anthropologists’ adventures while positing the inevitable
disappearance of native communities. Pursuing Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little house on the prairie to its
origins in Harper’s regional literatures reveals the novel’s intent to recreate regional difference not as a
haven for disillusioned Euro-American moderns but as a haven for an independent Indian culture. Willa
Lather’s Indian fictions critique literary modernism’s preoccupation with primitivism, recasting the
proliferation of Indian artefacts in Euro-American homes as cultural clutter, a gesture evident in Harper’s
editorial columns as the serious study of Indians in the ‘Editor’s study’ is reduced to comic consideration in
the Editor’s ‘drawer.’ This dissertation investigates the contention of high culture with Indian cultures, the
intersection of literary arts and ethnographic sciences, and the significance of the popular press within the
formation of a distinctly American identity.
Alton, Thomas L. (1998) "Federal policy and Alaska Native languages since 1867." Ph.D. Dissertation, University of
Alaska Fairbanks. 386 pp.
Researchers and the general public have often contended that punishment of children for speaking their
native languages in schools is the cause of the decline of those languages. But native language loss in Alaska
is rooted also in the choices Natives made themselves to accept English for its social, economic, and political
opportunities. Since the United States purchased Alaska in 1867, English has replaced native languages as
the first language learned by children in nearly all homes. Although none of Alaska’s 20 native languages is
yet extinct, most are at a point of peril as English has replaced a pattern of linguistic diversity that existed
from time immemorial. This study documents the history of language decline and the role of federal
government policy in that process.
Congress extended federal policies to Alaska in 1884 when it established civil government in the territory. In
1885 the Bureau of Education assumed responsibility for running rural schools. Federal policy during that
era grew out of America’s desire for uniformity of culture, religion, and language, and as a result schools
often forcibly suppressed native American languages and punished students for speaking them. Yet Alaska
Natives have been active participants in change, not passive victims of an overwhelming bureaucracy. The
switch to English occurred as Natives responded to the influx of American population with its systems of
economy, society, politics, and justice. Natives abandoned their old languages when they became convinced
through pressures from the outside world that English held more prestige and advantage than their native
languages.
Government policies defined the choices that were available, and Natives adopted English for the
opportunities it afforded them in a modern system that was not of their own making. Once families began
using English as the language of the home and thus interrupted the continuity of native language use from
one generation to the next, the decline of native languages was assured. Punishment of school children for
speaking their native languages, along with American social, economic, and political systems, created an
environment in which Alaska Natives made the constrained choice to adopt English as the language of the
home and community.
Ammondsen, Siverth. (1993) "Grønlandsk børnelitteratur." M.A. Thesis, Ilisimatusarfik (The University of
Greenland).
[‘Greenlandic children’s literature’]
Amsden, Charles W. (1977) "A quantitative analysis of Nunamiut Eskimo settlement dynamics." Ph.D. Dissertation,
University of New Mexico (The). 391 pp.
Archaeologists have had a longstanding need for detailed models of the dynamics of subsistence-settlement
change among hunting and gathering societies. A potentially valuable source of information for such models
occurs in the ethnographic record of contemporary hunter-gatherers, but most traditional studies lack the
time depth and detail necessary for modeling changes. What is needed is a set of data documenting a large
number of specific camps over a period of several decades. These data can then be analyzed quantitatively in
such a way as to define the range and nature of variability in subsistence-settlement patterns and to elucidate

Bibliography of ‘Arctic social science’ theses and dissertations – 2006 Aug. 7 – p. 7 of 355 [email protected]
any seasonal and temporal patterning.
As a means of achieving this objective, fieldwork was conducted in 1969 among the Nunamiut Eskimos in
Anaktuvuk Pass, northern Alaska. The Nunamiut are an especially appropriate group for study because they
are subsistence hunters whose settlement pattern has undergone considerable change during this century. By
eliciting life history information from several older men, it was possible to obtain detailed descriptions of 260
habitation camps. This provided a nearly continuous record of settlement for the period since 1898.
In analyzing the data pertaining to these camps, more than 20 separate variables were isolated. These relate
to the general categories of settlement location, intersite mobility, basic resources exploited, and community
pattern. For each variable, the central tendency and range of variation were summarized quantitatively for
all camps occupied in each season of each of several time periods. These measures are used to define the
extent of variability, systematic seasonal patterns, and trends through time characteristic of each variable. In
order to elucidate the dynamics of change in the Nunamiut subsistence-settlement system, the system is
resynthesized by considering the interrelationships of the separate trends in the context of changing
conditions of the natural and social environment.
The documented changes in Nunamiut settlement patterns during this century can be seen as the result of
processes through which the population attempted to adapt to a critical resource shortage, returned to a state
of equilibrium with improving conditions, and finally became fully sedentary. In a preliminary attempt
toward explanation of these processes, several general propositions are posited which relate settlement
change to minimization of effort strategies.
The results of this case study have implications for archaeology insofar as research designs and field
techniques are concerned. It is further implied that, in attempting to reconstruct prehistoric settlement
patterns, archaeologists must comprehend the dynamic nature of subsistence-settlement systems, both past
and present.
Anders, Gerhard. (1972) "On the economic development of Canada’s North West Territories." Ph.D. Dissertation,
Texas A&M University. 215 pp.
The Canadian government has in recent years spent up to $80 million annually to develop the North West
Territories, an area of about one and a quarter million square miles. No systematic study of the economic
problems involved has to date been undertaken.
This dissertation is an attempt to remedy this deficiency. Firstly, the problem of wide-spread native
unemployment is considered. The study traces the way in which the high level of attenuation of private
property rights prevailing in traditional native society affects the slope of indifference curves become income
and leisure. It is shown to result in a negatively sloped labour supply curve. The effect of selected welfare
measures among groups characterized by differently sloped indifference curves is shown to explain the
behaviour of natives in the labour market.
Secondly, the influence of different basic world views -- immanentism and transcendentalism -- upon the way
in which development models are constructed and in which policy constraints are determined is discussed. A
table is set forth which provides an overview of the way in which the two basic world views are related to
questions of the methodology used in development economics, the justification of development policy, and the
determination of policy constraints. Some of the major development theories are then discussed in the light of
these considerations.
Thirdly, an appendix provides, for the first time, the basic geographic, geological, meteorological,
demographic and economic data bearing upon problems of northern development as far as such data are
presently available. This is supplemented by three original maps.
Andersen, Rikke Kolbech, and Anne Mette Christiansen. (2000) "Carving out Nunavut in cyberspace: Cultural
identity on the internet." Cand.Merc.Int. Thesis, Copenhagen Business School, Institute of Intercultural
Communication and Management.
Anderson, David G. (1995) "National identity and belonging in Arctic Siberia: An ethnography of Evenkis and
Dolgans at Khantaiskoe Ozero in the Taimyr Autonomous District." Ph.D. Dissertation, University of
Cambridge, Scott Polar Research Institute. 321 pp.
The growth of national rivalry has been one of the most unexpected consequences of the dissolution of the
Soviet Union. The mixed Evenki and Dolgan settlement of Khantaiskoe Ozero has been no exception to this
tendency. Although muted by comparison to other regions of the former Soviet Union, the awareness of
national identity in this settlement is an important factor in the formation of alliances, marriages, the
allocation of territories and resources, and in occasional tragic brawls. The existence of nationalist rivalry in

Bibliography of ‘Arctic social science’ theses and dissertations – 2006 Aug. 7 – p. 8 of 355 [email protected]
this Arctic community is surprising since the people of these sparsely populated regions lack a tradition of
exclusive access to land, commodities, and alliance. Furthermore, Russian and Western scholars alike have
thought that the major challenge facing these nationalities was the preservation of their identity against the
onslaught of Russian culture and not the task of moderating outbursts of national pride. Drawing on
ethnographic, archival, and comparative sources, this thesis argues that nationalist rivalry was not only
fostered by varied aspects of soviet rural development policy but that this rhetoric has become particularly
effective in mobilising resistance to the loss of the territories, civic privileges, and cultural status once
underwritten by the state. It is demonstrated how Soviet reforms have instilled three senses of belonging: to a
people, a territory, and a kollektiv; senses which now overlap to produce a nationalist sentiment. It is
hypothesised that the three senses of belonging demonstrated in this case can be used to understand
nationalist rivalry within the post-Soviet territories generally. This is the first monograph devoted to the lives
of Evenkis living the lower Yenesei valley of eastern Siberia. It is also the first ethnography composed in
English on the ethnographic region between the Yenisei and Lena watersheds.
Anderson, Malcolm J. (1986) "Tourism development in the Baffin region: An examination of tourism development in
Canada’s Eastern Arctic." M.A. Thesis, Carleton University. 180 pp.
Early studies of tourism development in Canada’s Northwest Territories show a consistent appreciation of
the problems which must first be overcome for a successful tourism strategy in the north. Presently, tourism
development in the Baffin region of Canada’s Arctic is based upon two strategies -- the Baffin Region
Tourism Strategy (1982) and the Community Based Tourism Strategy of the Northwest Territories (1983).
Both strategies are reviewed and considered inappropriate to the Baffin region.
Based upon a review of previous tourism studies on Canada’s Northwest Territories, fieldwork, and
literature reviewed concerning tourism impacts, development and planning, an alternative strategy outline
for future tourism development in the region is presented.
This alternative strategy considers tourism development in the region for the benefit of the local communities.
A gradualist approach to tourism development, which stresses slow growth on a small scale, is recommended
for the Baffin region. This approach would be augmented by tourism planning that is appropriate,
comprehensive, integrated and continuous (these factors have been absent in the past), and research which
utilizes past tourism studies concerning impacts, development and planning.
Anderson, Myrdene. (1978) "Sámi ethnoecology: Resource management in Norwegian Lapland." Ph.D. Dissertation,
Yale University.
Anderzén, Sölve. (1992) ""Begrepp om salighetens grund, ordning och medel": Undervisningen i en
Lappmarksförsamling Jukkasjärvi forsamling, 1744-1820." Teol.D. Dissertation, Uppsala Universitet. 332
pp.
['Comprehension of the cause, order and means of divine blessedness: Education in the parish of Jukkasjärvi
in Lapland, 1744-1820']
The Royal Decree of 1723 and the 1738 parliamentary resolution provided Christian education to be
improved in Lapland. "Permanent" Lapp schools were opened and itinerary lay catechists were appointed.
The present thesis has an educational perspective and investigates the implementation of Christian education
in the parish of Jukkasjarvi in northern Lapland 1744-1820.
The parish is first described in c. 1745, emphasizing four aspects: its structure, which determined the local
form of the schooling; the organization of pastoral care; the level of attainment and teaching; the language
of instruction. Most parishioners were speakers of Sámi, but few usable Sámi books existed. Finnish therefore
became the language of instruction and divine services.
A case study of Jukkäsjarvi Lapp school is presented, analyzing its goals, methods and results. The
reconstructed pupil register shows that most pupils left school with good attainments, such as "fluent"
reading from Finnish text books, "satisfactory" reading by rote and "satisfactory" understanding of the
"Cause, Order and Means of Divine Blessedness".
Other educational efforts are studied using the vicars' annual reports, the inspection reports and the registers
from the parish catechetical meetings. Opportunities were created for laymen teachers. During the intensely
progressive period (1766-1803), the schooling was particularly efficacious and parishioners born 1740-79
became good readers, using Finnish books.
Finally, the situation in the parish at the end of the investigation period in c. 1820 is analysed.
The concluding chapter sums up and discusses the results.

Bibliography of ‘Arctic social science’ theses and dissertations – 2006 Aug. 7 – p. 9 of 355 [email protected]
Andrews, Elizabeth F. (1989) "The Akulmiut: Territorial dimensions of a Yup’ik Eskimo society." Ph.D. Dissertation,
University of Alaska Fairbanks. 570 pp.
This monograph is an ethnohistoric and ethnographic study of 19th and 20th century land and resource use
of the Akulmiut, a Yup’ik-speaking Eskimo society that occupied the inland tundra region between the Yukon
and Kuskokwim rivers of western Alaska. The study examines the relationship between the patterns of spatial
organization and wild resource utilization and resource distribution. Ethnographic studies have shown there
is considerable variability in socioterritorial organization, which according to one recent theory, applied to
this study, can be accounted for by examining the distribution of critical food resources in terms of density
and predictability. The Akulmiut were selected for this study because of their unique situation among Alaskan
Eskimos in terms of their subsistence economy and geographic location. With an economy based on fishing,
utilizing non-salmon species of the low, marshy moist and wet tundra ecosystems, the adaptation of the
Akulmiut is distinct among Alaskan Eskimos. Using data for the Akulmiut, this study tests the hypothesis that
a territorial system occurs under conditions of high density and predictability (in time and space) of critical
resources. Between groups or societies, the Akulmiut exhibited a territorial system of land use and occupancy
as predicted when critical resources are dense and predictable. The study found that the key resource species
of whitefish (Coregonus sp.) and northern pike (Esox lucius) exhibited resource distribution parameters
characterized as predictable in time and location and were abundant or dense. Spatial organization showed
that all primary villages and storage and processing facilities were situated where pike and whitefish could
be readily intercepted during their annual migrations. The Akulmiut maintained exclusive use through overt
defence, but also by means of cultural principles of land and resource use, ceremonial activities, and naming
conventions. Dispersion of the population at other times ensured maintenance of a broader area for use in
harvesting another key resource, blackfish (Dallia pectoralis). Dispersion was an efficient means of
signalling areas used by the group, but also served to monitor incursions throughout the territory. This type
of analysis was found to hold promise for explaining the diversity of socioterritorial organization among
Alaskan Eskimos.
Angeus Kuoljok, Susanna. (1997) "Nominalavledningar pa ahka i lulesamiskan." Fil.Dr. Dissertation, Uppsala
Universitet. 266 pp.
['Nominal derivatives in ahka in Lule Sámi language']
The Sámi language offers rich possibilities for forming nouns with the help of derivational suffixes. These
suffixes are relatively well described in the variety, North Sámi, that is spoken by the majority of the Sámi
people. For the other varieties, however, there are no detailed descriptions available. This presentation
treats of derivatives in ahka in Lule Sámi, providing a formal and semantic description. The analyses is based
upon morphemes, thus differing from traditional grammars. Morpheme identification in Lule Sámi is
sometimes rendered more difficult by, for example, vowel and consonant deletions, and there is thus a
discussion as to the various ways of determining morpheme boundaries. The suffix -(C)Cahka is extremely
rarely used of people but it has many non-personal meanings that are divided into categories according to
meaning.
Aporta, Claudio. (2003) "Old routes, new trails: Contemporary Inuit travel and orienting in Igloolik, Nunavut." Ph.D.
Dissertation, University of Alberta. 223 pp.
Despite profound social and economic changes, travelling on the land and sea still plays a very significant
role in the lives of the Inuit of Igloolik, in the territory of Nunavut, Canada. For Inuit hunters, travelling
implies a comprehensive understanding of and a thorough engagement with the environment understanding
of and a thorough engagement with the environment in which they live. In this context, orienting means more
than locating one’s geographic position or one’s destination in abstract space. The activities and skills
involved in orienting and wayfinding are embedded in a particular way of approaching the territory and of
understanding people’s place in it. This thesis studies different aspects of the Inuit approach to travelling and
orienting, and some characteristics of their knowledge of the territory. It also describes how Inuit hunters in
Igloolik relate to the sea ice and how they break trails on fresh snow, recreating routes (or courses) that have
been part of the community’s memory throughout many generations. Finally it analyzes the changes brought
up by a contemporary setting, and discusses the use of Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers by Inuit
hunters in the context of a theoretical debate around technology and change.
Arbess, Saul E. (1965) "Social change and the Eskimo cooperative at George River, Québec." M.A. Thesis, McGill
University.

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