A sociological investigation of the Alutiiq people of the Kodiak archipelago

            The Alutiiq culture holds firm values, practices and conducts that are based on the traditional. The Alutiiq people are traditional designed individuals and they are organized in community form in their societies.  This is because the community’s values the form of working together which helps in accomplishing the social activities. The people are based on traditional practices because they still practice traditional festivals such as weaving and dancing which are conducted annually.  The social relation of the Alutiiq people between different groups helps in ensuring that the community is connected and lives as one (Steffian & Laktonen, 2008).  The relation of the Alutiiq with other external groups is good though not socially expressed because most of the groups are not based on their traditional values as the values have been eroded by advancement.  The organization of people in groups is crucial to maintaining and sustaining they are social, economic and spiritual beliefs.  The religious activities help in keeping the people together since the activities are conducted on repeated basis.  The social, economic and political conducts of the Alutiiq people are influenced by the communal corporation where the economic activities are driven by clusters (Steffian & Laktonen, 2008). 

            The Alutiiq societies’ operations are guided by traditional principles as, there exist clear and defined tasks and individuals are therefore required to come together in order to accomplish specific tasks. Therefore, the social institutions of the Alutiiq people are completely governed by the cultural rules (Steffian & Laktonen, 2008). This can be described as the principles and the expectations that clearly regulate and provide guidance on the daily life behaviors of individuals in the society.  Understanding the roles that one is supposed to play in the community as well I as in the family helps the groups in staying together (Steffian & Laktonen, 2008). The values of the Alutiiq individuals are expressed in the social activities in that they come together and conduct the traditional activities such as dancing which is crucial in ensuring that the value of togetherness is sustained.  In additional they ensure that every individual understands how the social activities are conducted and the importance of conducting them together which is done in groups. The community is based on collectivism which ensures that the individual communication with the groups is effective and this is achieved through good communal relations. The culture therefore encourages people to work in  clusters in order to achieve better results (Steffian & Laktonen, 2008).

            The Alutiiq culture is characterized by  Ethnocentrism which can  be explained as the mode of making wrong assumptions in regard to the experience limitation.  This is the principle in which people believe that their cultural values of beliefs are better than others (Steffian & Laktonen, 2008). Individuals who are ethnocentric tend to judge others in relation to their ethnic of a cultural group with concern to their customs, religion, practices and languages. Because of the Eskimos cultural values most individuals use the term Eskimo in reference to different sets of relative cultures (Steffian & Laktonen, 2008).  The term Eskimo is, used in reference of the Alutiiq people because of their traditional practices. The term is used in regard of their behaviors, language and conduct. This is based on the fact that people believe that Eskimo eat raw meat thus making their cultural practices unvaried (Steffian & Laktonen, 2008).

            The Alutiip culture changed due to the availability of European exports.  This transformed their economic activities which lead them to adopt different economic practices.  Activities such as clothing and adaptation of the European clothing have gradually changed the lifestyle of the Alutiiq people (Steffian & Laktonen, 2008).  The innovational economic advances have also been adopted as the economic activities because of the availability of good infrastructure, airlines as well as commercial activities.  These activities have thus replaced the hunting and weaving activities. Farming is still depended on by the Alutiiq people though it is done is a smaller portion compared to before (Steffian & Laktonen, 2008).

            The Alutiiq culture is under Transformation because the values have not completely been changed or influenced by the growing factors and they are therefore based on traditional laws. This is in that the values are still rooted in old practices (Steffian & Laktonen, 2008). Most of the societies today do not practice activities such as festival like the Alutiiq people. In addition, the Alutiiq cosmology is slowly developing because of the traditional beliefs which are based on social and spiritual practices. In addition, the cultural rules of the Alutiiq individuals encourage collectivism which promotes accomplishing of activities as a group. In modern society individualism is highly encouraged in order to establish the potential of individual and this makes their cosmology be undeveloped (Steffian & Laktonen, 2008).

            The social structure of the Alutiiq people is crucial in defining the gender roles were women take care of the families while the men are responsible for the well-being of their families (Steffian & Laktonen, 2008). The material culture of the Alutiiq culture is the resources, physical objects and spaces utilized by the Alutiiq people in defining their culture (Steffian & Laktonen, 2008). The Alutiiq material culture is represented by the family structure, community structures, and religious institutions. Their nonphysical culture is represented by their cultural rules which are founded on tradition, language, values and religious beliefs. Modern economic activities are therefore practiced in the generation of income. The adaptation of technology is also reflected in their calendars as those instruments that were used before have thus been overcome by fresh ones like the modern knives and clothing’s.  In respect to the Alutiiq culture, this is represented by their regular religious practices and festivals which help in sustaining their cultural values (Steffian & Laktonen, 2008).

           

 

            Reference

Amy F. Steffian & April G. Laktonen. (2008). Alutiiq Tradition. An Introduction to the Native     Culture of the Kodiak Archipelago.