https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02208424">
 

Abstract

Human-environment interactions can affect the sex ratios of resource-dependent societies in a variety of ways. Historical and contemporary data on Alaska Native populations illustrate such effects. Some eighteenth and early nineteenth century observers noted an excess of females, which they attributed to high mortality among hunters. Population counts in the later nineteenth century and well into the twentieth found instead an excess of men in many communities. Female infanticide was credited as the explanation: since family survival depended upon hunting success, males were more valued. Although infanticide explanations for the excess of males have been widely believed, available demographic data point to something else: higher adult female mortality. Finally, in the postwar years, the importance of mortality differentials seems to have faded-and also changed direction. Female outmigration from villages accounts for much of the gender imbalance among Native populations today. Natural-resource development, particularly North Slope oil, indirectly drives this migration. In Alaska's transcultural communities, the present gender imbalances raise issues of individual and cultural survival.

Department

Sociology

Publication Date

1-1997

Journal Title

Population and Environment

Publisher

Springer

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02208424

Document Type

Article

Rights

© 1997 Human Sciences Press, Inc.

Comments

This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following article: Hamilton, L.C., Seyfrit, C.L., Bellinger, C. Environment and sex ratios among alaska natives: An historical perspective. (1997) Population and Environment, 18 (3), pp. 283-299, which has been published in final form at https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02208424. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.

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