This project will investigate the lives of women and children in two Yupik Eskimo communities on Saint Lawrence Island, Alaska, and in Chukotka, Russia. The people of both communities, Gambell and Sireniki, are close kin and still strongly identify themselves as Yupik, but they have experienced very different histories of contact with Western policies and cultures. The researchers will work with elders, with family groups, and with Yupik women in community work forces. Life histories will be recorded as well as documentation of childbearing tasks, interactions of families and in education settings. Analysis of words related to emotions and values will also be carried out. The special features of the research are the circumpolar comparisons, the combinations of multifaceted methodologies, the attention paid to women, children and family life and a focus on cultural psychology, the nature of personhood, and the socialization of emotions and values.
