Dissertation Research: Dance, Language, and Power among the Yup'iks and the Inupiat in Alaska

这个论文研究项目由Hiroko Ikuta，PI莫莉李，将比较舞蹈和歌曲表演和种族认同的发展之间的因纽特人和阿拉斯加的Yup'ik。 本研究将探讨因纽特人和尤皮克人的审美表现形式、土著语言能力和传统意义的性质和结构如何在歌舞中表现出来，并受到政治、经济和历史事件的影响。现代尤皮克人和阿拉斯加的因纽特人爱斯基摩人在地理区域、生存模式、语言和文化方面形成鲜明对比。对于这两个群体来说，歌舞长期以来一直是传播历史、传统和文化价值观的载体。 今天，舞蹈也是一种表达民族身份，解释传统和在政治话语中代表文化的方式。在阿拉斯加州巴罗的因纽特人中，舞蹈将文化美学与环境知识相结合。对他们来说，过去的舞蹈和歌曲表达了他们作为少数民族的身份。相比之下，Yup'ik舞蹈的方向是现在，而不是过去。 这些比较的情况下，刺激几个研究问题：如何濒危语言保护计划，社会经济状况和政治话语与占主导地位的社会连接到当代爱斯基摩人的传统理解？ 一些土著群体将自己的身份定义为从旧传统中产生的，而另一些土著群体，如Yup'iks，则将传统作为结合现代文化的新风格的起点？ 这项研究将促进更好地了解爱斯基摩人的审美表达形式的性质和结构，土著语言的保留，他们的传统性，以及政治，经济和历史事件所造成的传统的意义。 我假设，舞蹈表演是人们对自己和更广泛的观众再生、重新诠释和重新谈判他们的传统的关键领域。 比较研究将为我分析舞蹈、歌曲和传统的意义，特别是表达文化、知识体系和环境感知之间的关系提供基础。我将集中讨论语言濒危如何与通过传统舞蹈和伴随的歌曲创造仪式语言有关。 通过比较Yup'ik和Inupiaq社区在语言维护，殖民历史和经济发展方面的差异，该项目将在以下几个方面为人类学理论做出贡献：1）舞蹈和歌曲作为实用物质活动的作用; 2）歌曲与语言濒危之间的关系; 3）土著人民定义的传统和不对称的权力关系。

This Dissertation Research project by Hiroko Ikuta, PI Molly Lee, will compare dance and song performance and the development of ethnic identity among the Inupiat and the Yup'ik of Alaska. The research will examine how the nature and structure of Inupiat and Yup'ik peoples' aesthetic forms of expression, indigenous language proficiency, and meanings of traditions are manifested in song and dance and shaped by political, economic, and historical events.The modern Yup'ik and Inupiaq Eskimos of Alaska contrast provocatively as to geographical area, subsistence patterns, language, and culture. For both groups, song and dance have long been vehicles for transmitting history, traditions, and cultural values. Today, dance is also a way of articulating ethnic identity, interpreting tradition, and representing culture in political discourse. Among the Inupiat of Barrow, Alaska, dance combines cultural aesthetics with environmental knowledge. For them, dance and song from the past express their identity as an ethnic minority. By contrast, the orientation of Yup'ik dance is to the present, not the past. These comparative situations stimulate several research questions: How are endangered language preservation programs, socio economic situations, and political discourses with the dominant society connected to contemporary Eskimo understandings of tradition? Whereas some indigenous groups define their identity as emergent from old tradition, while others like the Yup'iks use tradition as a starting point for incorporating new styles evocative of modern culture? This study will foster a better understanding of the nature and structure of Eskimo peoples' aesthetic forms of expression, indigenous language retention, their traditionality, and the meanings of tradition wrought by political, economic, and historical events. I hypothesize that dance performances are the key sphere where people regenerate, reinterpret, and renegotiate their traditions to themselves and to wider audiences. Comparative research will provide the basis of my analysis of the meanings of dance, song, and tradition, particularly the relationships between expressive cultures, knowledge systems, and perception of the environment. I will focus on how language endangerment relates to the creation of ritual language through traditional dances and their accompanying songs. By comparing Yup'ik and Inupiaq communities varying as to language maintenance, colonial history, and economic development, this project will contribute to anthropological theory in several ways: 1) role of dance and song as pragmatic, material activities; 2) relationship between song and language endangerment; and 3) tradition defined by indigenous peoples and asymmetrical power relationships.