Alaska Native Studieshttp://hdl.handle.net/11122/44332024-03-21T19:31:34Z2024-03-21T19:31:34ZProtecting the Right to Exist as a People: Intellectual Property as a Means to Protect Traditional Knowledge and Indigenous CultureCollin, SeanCollin, YvetteKoskey, Michaelhttp://hdl.handle.net/11122/105842020-03-06T02:13:59Z2018-01-01T00:00:00ZProtecting the Right to Exist as a People: Intellectual Property as a Means to Protect Traditional Knowledge and Indigenous Culture
Collin, Sean; Collin, Yvette; Koskey, Michael
The dominant Western culture has created a legal system premised upon an individualistic
and commercial foundation for intellectual property rights (IPR). This system necessarily
excludes the protection of traditional knowledge and other components of Indigenous
cultures, as well as concepts of communal responsibility for the keeping and transfer of
such ideas and knowledge. These concepts are foundational to Indigenous knowledge
systems in Alaska, as well as throughout the world. Today, a focus on this issue is critical to
the preservation of indigenous cultures and their ways of knowing. We examine where
national and international intellectual property rights systems are in addressing
Indigenous cultural and intellectual property rights (Indigenous CIPR). We also examine
opportunities for expansion of such rights in Alaska and around the world.
2018-01-01T00:00:00ZDancing in the air, standing out at sea: An analysis of Nalukataq, the blanket tossRobinson, Elizabethhttp://hdl.handle.net/11122/97312020-03-06T01:52:22Z2018-01-01T00:00:00ZDancing in the air, standing out at sea: An analysis of Nalukataq, the blanket toss
Robinson, Elizabeth
This paper is a movement analysis of the blanket toss (nalukataq), an event currently manifested at the World Eskimo Indian Olympics (WEIO). First, I examine the tradition’s history and development over time as portrayed in scholarly literature on the Iñupiat whale festival. Then, I examine the blanket toss as one of many Iñupiat and Alaska Native games sharing common characteristics. Finally, I investigate the blanket toss as a WEIO competitive event, now shifted from its original site specificity and traditional context. In particular, I look at the essential components of a successful toss as defined by WEIO criteria, employing a phenomenological approach in my analysis in order to focus on the primacy of realization and reveal the ways in which aspects of the modern competitive performance may embody traditional Alaska Native cultures and values.
2018-01-01T00:00:00ZIt’s more than just dollars: Problematizing salary as the sole mechanism for recruiting and retaining teachers in rural AlaskaDeFeo, DaynaHirshberg, DianeHill, Alexandrahttp://hdl.handle.net/11122/83232020-03-05T15:18:23Z2018-01-01T00:00:00ZIt’s more than just dollars: Problematizing salary as the sole mechanism for recruiting and retaining teachers in rural Alaska
DeFeo, Dayna; Hirshberg, Diane; Hill, Alexandra
Staffing rural Alaska schools with a stable workforce of qualified teachers has been perennially challenging, and the failure to do so harms student achievement. In the spring of 2014, the Alaska Department of Administration contracted with the Center for Alaska Education Policy Research to produce a uniform salary schedule and community cost differentials with the objective of attracting and retaining highly-qualified teachers to Alaskan communities. In this paper, we summarize the findings of that study, including opportunities for significant teacher salary increases. However, we discuss the role of salary in teachers’ decisions to stay or leave rural communities, noting that other working conditions are stronger predictors of teacher attrition. We argue that salaries alone will not ensure a stable and qualified teacher workforce, instead positing that efforts to improve Alaska’s rural schools and teacher retention outcomes will require both adequate compensation and attention to the working conditions.
2018-01-01T00:00:00ZQuality of Life Research and Methodology: Developing a Measure for Alaska Native PeoplesCrouch, Mariahttp://hdl.handle.net/11122/80262020-03-28T01:16:05Z2017-01-01T00:00:00ZQuality of Life Research and Methodology: Developing a Measure for Alaska Native Peoples
Crouch, Maria
Quality of life (QOL) is often complicated by global measures that ignore the uniqueness of culture and context. The research is inundated with Western influence and colonized approaches, and indigenous ways of knowing are often overlooked and devalued. Diverse methodologies are a first step in stakeholder collaboration; mixed-methods research and Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) are a means of capturing the lived realities and worldviews of indigenous populations. These approaches allow for Alaska Native (AN) voice to be present in all aspects of the research process. A culturally relevant and sound measure of QOL for AN peoples must incorporate the voice of the stakeholders and the indigenous knowledge and traditional values that contribute to the beautiful and invaluable cultures of AN peoples.
2017-01-01T00:00:00Z