The Alaska North Slope Inupiat and Resource Development: Why The Apparent Success?

Abstract

The apparently positive experience of the Alaska's North Slope Inupiat Eskimo with the massive Prudhoe Bay and Kuparuk oil field developments stands out among the generally grim experiences of indigenous peoples. The North Slope experience would thus seem to offer an excellent comparative case. To the extent that the positive image of the North Slope experience holds up, we can turn to the factors which appear to shape the relationship between resource development and indigenous people. The primary objective of the comparison is to take a small step towards the construction of a general conceptual framework.