Reindeer Herding in Alaska:1900-1940
This paper examines what we believe to be a forerunner of many current livestock programs – the provision of reindeer to Native Alaskans starting in the 1890s.Ìý Reindeer were imported from Russia with the intended purpose of providing a dependable source of cash income, food and employment in rural Native Alaskan villages.Ìý Using previously unexplored household level censuses conducted at the end of the Great Depression, we provide a detailed examination of these households accounting for income sources, asset and liability holdings.Ìý In particular, we ask if those villages or households who owned reindeer were better placed at the end of the Great Depression than those households or villages that did not have access to reindeer.
please join us Feb. 8th from 12-1pm at the CNAIS cottage for this lunmch time research talkÌý