Ethnographic Research on Social Change and Native Alaskan Spirituality in the Upper Kuskokwim Region of Alaska

GSTDTAP

项目编号	1523189
	Ethnographic Research on Social Change and Native Alaskan Spirituality in the Upper Kuskokwim Region of Alaska
	David Koester
主持机构	University of Alaska Fairbanks Campus
项目开始年	2015
	2015-09-15
项目结束日期	2016-08-31
资助机构	US-NSF
项目类别	Standard Grant
项目经费	11528(USD)
国家	美国
语种	英语
英文摘要	The project investigates historical and contemporary forms of spirituality and religion in Alaska's Upper Kuskokwim River region. The focus is on the Athabascan village of Nikolai, where Russian Orthodoxy is the predominant religious practice. Study of Nikolai's historical religious traditions and villagers' traditional relations with the local environment will help to provide a better understanding of not only their spiritual practices, but of the place of human-environment relations in the study of religion and spirituality more generally. The research provides a good base of comparison for others interested in the study of religious movements in rural and indigenous contexts. At the same time it contributes to knowledge of and appreciation for Athabascan cultures and ways of life in the history of northern North America and of the challenges villagers face today as they continue to encounter dramatic social change. The goals of the project are to better understand to meaning and significance of spirituality in the contemporary lives of this Athabascan community. The community of focus is Nikolai in particular but includes also the surrounding area where community members have relatives, and travel for work, study, recreation, subsistence activities and visiting. The research will be conducted through participation in community activities and observations of practices and community events. Formal interviews will also be conducted to answer specific questions about local history and practices. Overarching questions are as follows: How have people of the Upper Kuskowkim Region incorporated new and older spiritual and religious ideas and practices? What ideas and practices are meaningful to different individuals and groups of the region today? Why and how are their varying meanings established? The proposed research project has strong comparative value to researchers of the circumpolar areas influenced by Russian Orthodoxy, including Southeast Alaska, Aleutian Islands, the Russian Far East and Siberia. Considering the well-documented sudden resurgence of spirituality and religion in post-Soviet regions, the proposed research provides a valuable comparative perspective for researchers of indigenous societies in Siberia and Russian Far East.
来源学科分类	Geosciences - Polar Programs
文献类型	项目
条目标识符	http://119.78.100.173/C666/handle/2XK7JSWQ/68772
专题	环境与发展全球科技态势
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	David Koester.Ethnographic Research on Social Change and Native Alaskan Spirituality in the Upper Kuskokwim Region of Alaska.2015.