Research Questions
What are Place-Making Efforts in the Islands?
We’re a Native people, we’re a tribe… our ancestors have been here thousands and thousands of years. We live here because our culture and our tradition is important to us, our island is beloved… this is our home. St. George resident?
It's all about the people and the closeness, the love. You’ll never have to worry about going hungry or having a roof over your head because we take care of our own. And that's what our parents instill in us and that's what we instill in our children and we’ll keep that going for generation after generation. St. Paul resident
Place-making efforts between the two islands were very similar and centered on residency in their communities and the lifestyle this afforded them. Residents also felt that both halibut and crab fisheries were important to long-term community sustainability. In particular, residents of both communities strongly valued the ability to participate in a halibut day fishery, coming home each night after a day’s work. This is very different from the relationship Aleuts in the Aleutian Chain have with fisheries (Reedy-Maschner 2009).
How do place-making efforts interact with economic development projects?
Do these interactions differ between the Pribilof Island communities?
St. George
In St. George residents selectively embraced development. While residents recognize that development is desperately needed for their community, they have very specific desires for the shape of local development. For the most part, they feel their input is ignored by developers. This causes a great deal of frustration and sometimes leads to the implementation of projects that are poorly designed to fit local needs.
St. Paul
In St. Paul, residents have achieved a hegemonic equilibrium with regard to fish resources. That means that local residents have gained control of their fish resources. Rather than having to struggle with outsiders, locals have the power and autonomy to implement their own development projects. This gives residents a sense of control over their own fate that greatly increases local well-being.