Fusion subsistence: the diverse foodscape of the Aleutians

ABSTRACT

Both the practice and study of subsistence in Alaska are circumscribed by state and federal legislation and management that obscures broad engagement with a diverse foodscape. Through two decades of ethnographic research and three comprehensive subsistence studies carried out in the Aleutians between 2008 and 2021, this article describes a complex “fusion” food culture that needs both acknowledgment and support. The many cross-cultural manifestations of foods inspired by colonization, migrant labor, technology, and the American food system, must be made visible in order to understand and protect them. Conclusions suggest that the predominant research concern over degree of subsistence use and dependency in the face of a growing cash economy or environmental change obscures the realities of an extensive yet fragile foodscape that includes fusions of historical and multicultural influences, foods, and technologies.

KEYWORDS:

• Aleut/Unangan
• fusion food
• diet
• subsistence
• mixed economies
• migrant labor

Funding

This work was supported by grants and contracts from the Office of Subsistence Management, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (Grant#12-450 and Grant #16-452), the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (Contract #M08PC20053), and the Aleutians East Borough.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Aleut is the most common ethnonym for the region’s indigenous people but is a relic of Russian contact. It beginning to be regularly replaced by researchers and Aleutian residents with Unangan (in the Eastern Aleutian dialect) and Unangas (in the Atkan dialect).

2. Several communities are part of a subsea fiber project currently underway to improve internet services (https://www.gci.com/aleutianfiberproject).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Katherine L. Reedy

Dr. Katherine Reedy is professor and chair of the Anthropology Department at Idaho State University. She holds a Ph.D. in Social Anthropology from the University of Cambridge and is the author of Aleut Identities: Tradition and Modernity in an Indigenous Fishery (McGill-Queen's University Press, 2010).