On the Topic of Food Part 1

In Alaska, there is an Eskimo tribe called the Yupiks.  The Yupik people live in a village named Kasigluk, on the banks of the Johnson River, close to the Bering Sea.  About  540 people live in Kasigluk.  Until about 50 years ago, they weren't in touch with the rest of the world, making them one of the last tribes to know anything about the rest of the world and the "progress" it had made.  The closest highway to the village is 400 miles away.

 The Yupik were hunter/gatherers, that is until the 20th century rolled around.  From an early age they were taught to set traps for small game such as rabbits and gather fruits from the right plants.  Their was no school because it was more important to learn about gathering food.  When it got to dark to gather food in the winter, they spend a lot of time having festivals, with lots of music and dancing.  This time was called Cauyarvik, or "the time for drumming".  People made ceremonial masks and wrote poetry.  They believed that all peoples' souls were connected, even to those of the animals and plants they got their food from. 

In 1959, when Alaska became the 49th of the United States, people were building roads like crazy.  One of these roads stumbled upon Kasigluk.  People started coming into the village and development took over.  A school was built in all of this development, and people started using U.S. dollars.  They bought televisions, and moved out of their traditional homes.

At this point, the hunter/gatherer lifestyle was still rather strong.  But when McDonald's representatives started rolling in, they asked if the school would serve their food in the cafeteria.  The school was hesitant, but the decision came down to the fact that the school was rather poor, and they could use the extra money. 

This was a huge threat to this culture, who's religion is based around resourcefulness, and gathering your own food.