Storage and Status in Precolonial and Colonial Coastal Western Alaska

Colonialism redefined indigenous cultural orders, especially the meaning and value of gendered production. The differential gender effects of and responses to processes of colonialism are apparent in the difference in location and style of storage between two coastal western Alaskan sites. The late‐...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Current anthropology 2007-06, Vol.48 (3), p.349-374
Main Author: Frink, Lisa
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alaska
Authority
Coastal areas
Coasts
Colonial history
Colonialism
Commercial production
Commodification
Food
Gender differentiation
Houses
Market economy
Men
Precolonial history
Quadrants
Storage
Storage facilities
Villages
Warfare
Women's status
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Summary:Colonialism redefined indigenous cultural orders, especially the meaning and value of gendered production. The differential gender effects of and responses to processes of colonialism are apparent in the difference in location and style of storage between two coastal western Alaskan sites. The late‐prehistoric‐to‐historic shift of storage from inside the dwelling to outside can be interpreted as a decline of women’s exclusive control over surpluses during the early‐colonial market period, when subsistence products were reclassified as valued market‐bound commodities. This redefinition and concomitant loss of full productive authority put women on a path from producers to auxiliary processors in the colonial market economy.
ISSN:0011-3204
1537-5382
DOI:10.1086/512997