Canenermiut lifeways and worldview and western fish and wildlife management

Abstract

The Canenermiut inter-generational worldview embodies the proper use and conservation of the resources necessary to sustain life from time immemorial. The classical Yupiaq conservation ethics in the utilization of subsistence resources are well established and practiced to this day by Canenermiut that is geared to the survival of their culture and community. When western fish and wildlife managers promulgate regulations from urban areas of Alaska on the taking of subsistence resources in rural Alaska they often find out that rural residents such as the Canenermiut ... are unwilling to follow the regulations. Caneneq is a coastal area between Kusquqvak (Kuskokwim) Bay up to Qaluyaaq (Nelson Island). Canenermiut is made up of two Yupiaq words, Caneneq as defined earlier and the suffix miut is a Yup'ik word defined as occupant of that geographic area or a place. The people from these villages see the imposition of the western precepts of fish and wildlife management systems as efforts by outsiders to control their way of life. They see this effort as inconsistent with their worldview of how a human should fit within the creation of a higher being. These people do not participate in the formulation of public policies or the promulgation of the regulations that affect their lives and as a consequence do not have a sense of ownership of them. The Canenermiut worldviews are fundamentally different from the worldview of the people of European origin who brought with them concepts of lifeways foreign to Alaska's indigenous people. The author of this thesis is one of Canenermiut from the Native Village of Kipnuk, who was raised by his parents the traditional Yupiaq way of life and taught by his uncle the art of hunting and fishing. He is also one who was also educated in schools of the dominant western society. As one of many other Alaska Native children who were subjected to the assimilation effort of the United States government in the image of the Other, the author is very cognizant of both the Other's lifeways and the classical Yupiaq lifeways ... The author having lived in both worlds, the world of Canenermiut in the Native Village of Kipnuk and in Anchorage will attempt to articulate the major components of Canenermiut worldview. This is a worldview that western fish and wildlife managers do not understand but ones that may help in enhancing the conservation and utilization of these subsistence resources. Secondly, the author will attempt to articulate the degree of the paradigm shift in the Canenermiut indigenous value system that has occurred among this generation. The desire of the Canenermiut to retain their cultural value system and to control their destiny is affirmed by the author. In addition, as the precepts of fish and wildlife management systems are accepted over time by Alaska Native people outside of the geographic area of Caneneq, the Canenermiut do not want to be left behind and have a strong desire to- participate in these management systems.