Yupik Transitions

Book excerpt: The Siberian Yupik people have endured centuries of change and repression, starting with the Russian Cossacks in 1648 and extending into recent years. The twentieth century brought especially formidable challenges, including forced relocation by Russian authorities and a Cold War “ice curtain” that cut off the Yupik people on the mainland region of Chukotka from those on St. Lawrence Island. Yet throughout all this, the Yupik have managed to maintain their culture and identity. Igor Krupnik and Michael Chlenov spent more than thirty years studying this resilience through original fieldwork. In Yupik Transitions, they present a compelling portrait of a tenacious people and place in transition—an essential portrait as the fast pace of the newest century threatens to erase their way of life forever.