Alaska Studies

Analyze the following Alaskan indigenous peoples, prior to western contact: Iñupiat, Yup’ik, Aleut, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and a number of Northern Athabascan cultures. (They are often defined by their language groups.)

Analyze the effects of boarding schools on Indigenous Alaska Natives.

Understand Alaska Native worldview: literature, dance, music and art.

Understand the development and purpose of Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) and Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA).

Describe the effects of disease, Russian colonization, missionaries, and globalization.

Analyze the effect of the U.S. purchase of Alaska.

Analyze the impact of the Aleut internment.

Recognize and evaluate the economic, social, and political challenges for Alaska Native peoples, past and present (Molly Hootch case, subsistence, and Howard Rock/Tundra Times, Alaska Federation of Natives, Molly of Denali, Elders and Youth Conference, Generations Indigenous, Native Vote, etc.).

Describe the process and impact of creating the Anti-Discrimination Act of 1945 (e.g., Elizabeth Peratrovich/ Alberta Schenck).

Describe the purchase of Alaska and the U.S. colonization era.

Analyze earliest forms of government under U.S. control.

Recognize the significance of the First and Second Organic Acts.

Describe the causes and consequences of the Gold Rush era.

Analyze effects of U.S. policies concerning education and boarding schools on Alaska Native peoples.

Identify U.S. assimilation and segregation policies, like Jim Crow, and analyze the impact past and present.

Analyze economic impact of mineral and marine industries.

Evaluate the role of natural resources in the economic development of Alaska, specifically statehood.

Analyze the impact of World War II on Alaska (e.g., Alaska/Canada Highway, Aleut Internment, Lend/Lease Act, and Territorial Guard).

Explore the impact of Alaska’s strategic location in the circumpolar north on the Cold War.

Evaluate the development of the post-war statehood movement.

Explain how World War II impacted Alaska statehood.

Explain the impact of the Alaska Railroad, Matanuska Colony, and military bases.

Explain the Great Depression and New Deal Programs that impacted Alaska (e.g., Matanuska Colony, Indian Reorganization Act).

Analyze the Civil Rights movement in Alaska and the effect of the Alaska anti-discrimination law.

Identify Project Chariot and the role of freedom of press and association in thwarting it.

Describe the development and diversification of Alaska’s economy (e.g., timber, fisheries, and tourism).

Describe the Constitutional Convention and ratification.

Recognize challenges of early state government (e.g., funding government, state land selection).

Understand federalism through Alaska governmental institutions: legislative, executive, and judicial branches.

Identify the powers of the borough and city governments, and compare and contrast with the state and national governments.

Examine the unique features of Alaska’s economy and the relationship between state government and the economy.

Explain the role of Tribal governments and conduct mock tribal council meetings, or attend an Alaskan Native Corporation meeting.

Define and diagram federalism.

Identify unique parts of Alaska’s constitution, such as the role of government in education, natural resources, and enumerated rights.

List the responsibilities of individual Alaskans versus the responsibility of the Alaskan government.

List the limits of the Alaskan government.

Identify individual rights and responsibilities of Alaskans.

Identify the development of Alaska’s natural resources and the impact it had on Alaska’s statehood: furs, mining, timber, fish, and oil.

Evaluate the impact of fish traps and other resource issues on Alaskans advocating for statehood.

Trace the development of the oil industry and pipeline construction.

Identify the impact of the Alaska Pipeline on Alaska’s economy.

Explain how to change Alaska’s constitution by exploring the history and development of the Permanent Fund and the Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD).

Describe the development and diversification of Alaska’s economy (e.g., timber, fisheries, tourism).

Create and interpret maps that include:

• • Physical regions

  • Circumpolar region

  • Political maps

  • Ecoregions

  • Alaska Native culture/ language

  • Mineral resources and their impact on urban and rural economies

  • Modes of transportation: planes, trains, automobiles, and boats

Define subsistence hunting and fishing and evaluate the impact of Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA).

Analyze the connection of Alaska to other nations and people in the circumpolar region; include the role of the Arctic Council and indigenous members of the council.

Analyze current events from the lens of urban/rural perspectives:

• • Education issues in rural and urban Alaska.

  • Social issues: suicide, domestic violence, and the opioid crisis.

  • Economic: travel, cost of food and necessities, and healthcare.

  • Climate change: erosion, permafrost melting hunting/fishing, and different impacts on urban/rural populations.

  • Political: law enforcement issues in rural Alaska (e.g., Village Public Safety Officer (VPSO)).