<p> Migration choice among Alaskan Inuit in the Arctic Alaskan region is complex and multifaceted. Migration patterns are characterized by high rates of out-migration and return migration however, the factors contributing to migration choice are more nuanced. To better understand the driving factors influencing migration a mixed methodological approach is used by incorporating statistical data analyses and informal interviews collected for Nome Census Area and North Slope Borough. Determining the socio-cultural, economic, and environmental factors influencing migration choice of Alaskan Inuit in Arctic Alaska provides insight into community resiliency and adaptability to regional experiences of social and climatic change. The results demonstrate external investments, employment opportunities, climate change, Inuit cultural practices, and family are important to Alaskan Inuit lifestyle. Results of regression analysis indicate that climate, subsistence, and modern wage economy have the most significant effect on in and out migration in Nome Census Area while in North Slope Borough cultural economy and wage economy balance, family, and external funds have the most significant impact on migration. The factor loadings impacting migration between 1991-2011 explain only 41% in Nome Census Area and 21% in the North Slope Borough. Low explanatory power of the quantitative variables underscores the importance of the non-quantitative indicators, such as importance of family and culture on return migration. Personal interviews further support that the resilience of Arctic Alaskan communities relies on the health of local economy to provide jobs, health care, and education but also on the ability to participate in cultural and familial activities which perpetuates adaptability among Alaskan Inuit.</p><p>

Museums are educational institutions that, historically, have often reflected dominant-culture biases in their treatment of religious artifacts and human remains from Native societies (Bal, 1996; Bieder, 1986, 1996; Bilosi & Zimmerman, 1997; Bray, 1995; Cornell, 1988; Edwards & Sullivan, 2004). In 1989, the National Museum of the American Indian Act became law after years of sustained activism to protect basic human, cultural and civil rights for Native peoples, including the rights to religious freedom and equal protections for the sanctity of Native graves and Native dead. The Act established the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), recognized Native rights to specific categories of sensitive materials, and required Native participation and agency in the new organization, whose mission includes supporting the health and vitality of contemporary Native cultures. This dissertation is a case study of the grassroots social action of Native Americans that uses Charles Vert Willie’s theory of grassroots social action to illuminate how and why the grassroots social action of Native Americans was successful in fulfilling the goal to reform museum practice through the enactment of federal law (Willie, Ridini, & Willard, 2008). My overarching research interest is how public educational institutions can transform themselves in response to the legislative demands and court orders for social justice initiated by grassroots population groups. This historic case, examined through the lens of a well-formulated theory and involving the agency of grassroots social action and the transformation of museum policy, is of value and interest to many types of grassroots movements, both in education and in other social systems. In particular, knowledge of what obstacles activists faced and may continue to face, what strategies have successfully been employed to meet these obstacles, and what lessons have been learned by those involved in this unique case, can be of value to others who similarly seek to transform institutions in order to promote civil and human rights. / Learning and Teaching

Abstract not available.

Abstract not available.

Abstract not available.

Abstract not available.

Abstract not available.

Abstract not available.

Abstract not available.

Abstract not available.