Cross Cultural Issues in Village Administration: Observations on Water and Sanitation Operations and Management in Western Alaska

Abstract

The villages of Western Alaska are in various stages of transition from hauling water and human waste by hand, to technologically sophisticated Arctic design piped systems. The transition involves not only technological change and adaptation, but also the development of new institutions and work relations appropriate to the administration and management of complex systems. The implicit norms of these new institutional relations and culture of work are based in Anglo-Saxon Protestant culture; in very many respects these norms are alien to traditional Yup'ik Eskimo people. Bi-cultural Natives are in a unique position to meet these challenges and facilitate the transition by modeling an adaptive synthesis of the two cultures, providing culturally sensitive leadership, and facilitating relations between villages and outside agencies.