by Olivia Ramirez
Abstract
This project examines the role of bear hunting in the United States’ imperial society, specifically the Alaskan frontier, and how American ideals of rugged masculinity promoted by imperialism coupled with state encouragement to eradicate the bear population facilitated reciprocity between indigenous Alaskans and American trophy hunters in the early twentieth century. The need for guidance by indigenous Alaskan hunters precipitated an exchange of culture and aided in the construction of identity for American and indigenous hunters. This project will explore the exchange of various cultural forms―language, hunting norms, ideas of wilderness and material goods―that resulted from increased bear hunting in Alaska following its purchase by the United States in 1867. I will explore how the newly acquired American territory provided hunting tourists the ability to exchange with the indigenous population of the region. I argue that American hunters, guided by cultural expectations of rugged masculinity, formed these bonds out of necessity and created a reciprocal relationship that resulted in a clash of cultural values between indigenous populations that utilized hunting for subsistence and ritual. I aim to describe how the relationship between the oppressor and oppressed changed over time, and place this relationship into historical context. I will display how indigenous populations reclaimed segments of power through bear hunting that resulted in the creation of a cultural composite of indigenous Alaskan needs and American trophy hunters’ wants. In order to create my claim, I will utilize the first hand account writings of American trophy hunters that interacted with indigenous Alaskans.