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This paper investigates how dictator giving varies by social context and worthiness of the recipient. We conduct lab-in-the-field experiments in Kamchatka, Russia, and Western Alaska, as well as a lab experiment with university students, in which we vary social distance and recipient characteristics across treatments. We ask what motivates individuals to share and whether offers from a dictator game, where dictators give from own-earnings, can tell us something more fundamental about social norms and sharing. Results indicate that subjects living in rural Indigenous communities, in both Russia and Alaska, who depend heavily on wild food harvests and possess strong sharing norms, are significantly more likely to give positive amounts compared to university students. We also find that in Indigenous communities, family relations and financial needs are prioritized in giving decisions. We suggest that treatment differences correspond to social norm differences in our study areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study employs a strengths-based approach to assess food access in remote Alaska during the COVID-19 pandemic, identifying both the negative consequences of the pandemic on store-bought and subsistence/traditional food access and compensatory strategies used. Design: As a part of a larger study on the impacts of COVID-19 on daily life remote Alaskan communities, study data presented here were collected through key informant interviews (KII) and state-wide online surveys from 21 September 2020 to 31 March 2021 among remote Alaska community members. Setting: This study was conducted with residents of remote communities in Alaska, defined as those off the road system. Remote communities often have small or no grocery stores and rely on subsistence or traditional sources of food. Participants: KII participants (n 36) were majority female (78 %) and Alaska Native (57 %). Survey participants (n 615) were also majority female, 25–54 years old and most had had some post-secondary education or training. Results: Survey and interview data revealed that the pandemic had significant negative impacts on store-bought food access in remote Alaskan communities. Individuals also shared that locally available and wild harvested foods acted as a buffer to some of the loss of access to these store-bought foods, with some people sharing that the harvesting of wild and traditional foods served as a coping strategy during times of pandemic-related stress. Conclusions: The results from this study demonstrate that the remoteness of some Alaskan communities has been both a source of vulnerability and protection in terms of food access. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The well-being of Indigenous communities in Alaska is inextricably linked to traditional harvest practices (THPs) such as hunting, fishing, and gathering local wild foods. Regional trends in the health of THPs have not been quantitatively evaluated in Alaska. Therefore, we surveyed Indigenous residents in the Western Coastal (n = 623) and Interior (n = 437) Regions of Alaska to estimate perceptions of the extent and cause of change in the health of THPs over the last ten years. We found that THPs improved in Western Coastal and declined in Interior Alaska. The best predictors of improvement or decline in the health of THPs were 1) change in the ability to share the harvest, 2) change in participation in hunting and fishing activities, and 3) extent of challenges caused by climate change. The odds of a decline in the health of THPs were 8 to 13 times higher for households that reported a decrease in sharing of traditional foods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Indigenous food sovereignty is subject to global and local stressors. • Colonialism has reconfigured time in Indigenous communities. • The wage economy and formal schooling require time demands that limit food harvesting. • Natural cycles and human-induced environmental changes affect harvesting time. • We propose a framework "time imperialism" to describe the restructuring of time. Food sovereignty, which goes beyond food security to include culture, knowledge systems, labor practices, and ecosystem dynamics, is critical to Indigenous self-determination. Yet the reconstruction of time according to colonial values and the capitalist political economy constrains the ability of Indigenous peoples to exercise food sovereignty. In three case studies of coastal Indigenous harvesters from Alaska, USA; Palau; and Indonesia, we document how the social, cultural and political aspects of time restrict food sovereignty. Using interviews, participant observation and surveys, we found that: 1) food harvesting and the intergenerational sharing of Indigenous ecological knowledge was constrained by the time demands of the capitalist wage economy and formal schooling; 2) harvesting of wild foods was often already limited to narrow windows by natural constraints such as tides and weather systems; and 3) human-induced environmental changes further increased the time required for harvesting. We also found that Indigenous harvesters are meeting these challenges by reprioritizing and reimagining the harvest of Indigenous foods. These cases show that the dominant construction of time is intertwined with capitalism and tangibly limits the exercise of Indigenous food sovereignty. We propose a new framework to describe this phenomenon, which we call "time imperialism." We contend that this unrecognized form of imperialism imposes unique constraints to Indigenous self-determination and call for policies that explicitly address the impact of time on food sovereignty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arctic warming, manifested as thawing permafrost, loss of coastal sea ice, sea level rise, and climate-related extreme events, is particularly challenging for Indigenous people relying on wild food to sustain their livelihood and culture. The adoption of new technologies could provide specific capabilities to confront vulnerabilities associated with fishing and hunting activities, but it could also accentuate existing vulnerabilities of the communities and undermine the generic (i.e., non-specific) adaptive capacities to respond to rapid environmental and socioeconomic changes. We investigated the role of technology for building capacity to respond to challenges posed by climate change in three remote communities in northwest Arctic Alaska. We refer to technology as tools used to change how people engage or relate to landscape or society. We interviewed 35 Inuit subsistence users and used Q-sort methodologies to examine their attitudes toward technology and climate change adaptation. Communication technologies and new ways of transport have allowed harvesters to travel faster and further, and 89% of the interviewees underscored the role of technology for enhancing the specific capacity to cope with extreme weather (77%), foggy conditions (60%), and environmental changes (89%). Despite of the role technology plays in enhancing the capacity to respond to climate threats, just over half viewed technology as generally favorable for the community (54%), although most admitted there are downsides (60%), including higher financial costs (34%), increased vulnerability (23%), and time spent on maintenance (9%). Our results underscore the need to focus on generic capacity when developing climate adaptation policies for Arctic Alaska to attend to both climatic and non-climatic stressors affecting the vulnerability of Indigenous communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changing biophysical conditions due to amplified climate change in northern latitudes has significant implications for species' habitat and populations and can dramatically alter interactions between harvesters and local resources. Tribal, regional, and state governments, federal agencies, and other local planning entities have begun documenting observations of changing harvest conditions and the information necessary for communities to adapt to shifting resource availability. We identify and evaluate what stakeholders are saying about wild foods in the context of climate change information needs in Alaska through a review of published grey literature (n = 87). Documents consistently expressed that climate change was impacting habitat conditions, resource distribution, and the abundance of wild foods. They solicited more information on biophysical processes (e.g., sea ice conditions) and populationlevel responses (e.g., shift in migration patterns). They also recommended that future projects focus on information that will improve food security, travel access, and community well-being. Documents suggested that communities have successfully sustained harvest practices, but most current adaptations are localized decisions being made by harvesters to manage the risks of current climate change. Strategies include finding new areas to hunt, substituting harvest species with other wild foods, or using new modes of travel. Documents also identified several adaptation strategies that still need to be implemented, and are dependent on actions by actors at larger scales; these strategies include legal, policy, and management actions to help reduce climate change impacts to wild food harvest. This review of the grey literature complements the climate-change literature by describing information needs of Alaskan wild food harvesters as well as providing tangible suggestions about how to improve adaptation and management strategies for harvesters grappling with changing resource conditions in the Arctic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Alaska is among the fastest warming places on Earth, and the Interior region is warming the most statewide. Significant regional-scale ecosystem services disruptions are affecting Alaska Natives’ subsistence hunting and harvest success. The well-being of rural native communities is still highly dependent on access and ability to harvest wild foods such as salmon and moose (Alces alces gigas) among many others. Over the last decade communities in the Koyukuk-Middle Yukon (KMY) region of Interior Alaska report an inability to satisfy their needs for harvesting moose before the hunting season closes, citing warmer falls, changing precipitation and water levels, and the regulatory framework as primary causes. Through the integration of ethnographic methods to record indigenous observations and understanding of climate (IC) with analysis of meteorological data, we provide a comprehensive picture of vulnerability to recent warming trends in the Koyukuk-Middle Yukon region of Interior Alaska, one that captures more than statistical analysis of “norms” can provide. We will demonstrate how low exposure resulting in a small shift in seasonality has truly socially significant effects to people “on the ground” when community sensitivity is high because of the convergence of multiple social–ecological stressors. In this case, a seemingly small climatic exposure when combined with high social–ecological system sensitivity results in vulnerability to this climate change-related seasonality shift because of: (a) the effects on moose and the social–ecological dynamics of the system, and (b) the importance of this time of the year to meeting annual subsistence needs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Subsistence harvesting and wild food production by Athabascan peoples is part of an integrated social-ecological system of interior Alaska. We describe effects of recent trends and future climate change projections on the boreal ecosystem of interior Alaska and relate changes in ecosystem services to Athabascan subsistence. We focus primarily on moose, a keystone terrestrial subsistence resource of villages in that region. Although recent climate change has affected the boreal forest, moose, and Athabascan moose harvesting, a high dependence by village households on moose persists. An historical account of 20th century socioeconomic changes demonstrates that the vulnerability of Athabascan subsistence systems to climatic change has in some respects increased while at the same time has improved aspects of village resilience. In the face of future climate and socioeconomic changes, communities have limited but potentially effective mitigation and adaptation opportunities. The extent to which residents can realize those opportunities depends on the responsiveness of formal and informal institutions to local needs. For example, increases in Alaska's urban population coupled with climate-induced habitat shifts may increase hunting conflicts in low-moose years. This problem could be mitigated through adaptive co-management strategies that project future moose densities and redirect urban hunters to areas of lower conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]