“Where I have to learn the ways how to live:” Youth resilience in a Yup’ik village in Alaska

Stacy M. Rasmus, James Allen, Tara Ford

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

31 Scopus citations

Abstract

What is it like to grow up Yup’ik and come of age today in a traditional hunting-gathering community setting located in a remote region of Alaska? Current research describes a contemporary experience often laden with trauma and crisis. Youth in Yup’ik communities today face threats to their very survival as they encounter, early on, things that their ancestors never faced—including alcohol-related deaths, violence in many forms, and high rates of suicide among their young peers. Yet all is not despair for the youth growing up in these remote indigenous communities. Many youth grow-up to become skilled hunters, strong leaders, and able parents. This paper reports findings from the Alaskan Yup’ik site of the Circumpolar Indigenous Pathways to Adulthood (CIPA) study. The goal of this study is to identify strengths and resilience in youth living in a Yup’ik community in southwest Alaska. Interviews were conducted with 25 youth age 11–18, currently residing in a southwest Alaska community. Qualitative analysis revealed important connections between local stressors, community-level protective resources, and youth-driven, solution-focused strategies for overcoming hardship and learning the “ways how to live.” Findings from this study contribute critical information on indigenous youth protection and resilience, including community and cultural resilience processes beyond the individual level, and enhance our understanding of the types of resources that can lead to improved outcomes for Alaska Native youth.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)713-734
Number of pages22
JournalTranscultural Psychiatry
Volume51
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2014

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This research was funded by the National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs ARC-00756211 and ARC-00756211 Amendment 001 and 002, and the National Center for Research Resources (P20RR061430).

Keywords

  • Alaska Native
  • indigenous
  • resilience
  • social change
  • youth

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