Outside the economic sphere, separation of the sexes in village social life was more pronounced. Couples seldom went visiting together, although in the course of an evening social round, both husband and wife might find themselves in the same house. Nor did they entertain friends jointly. In gatherings which were predominately female, men were usually ignored except for an occasional comment or joke. If several women entered a home, the men often got up and left. In situations which were predominantly male, the women assumed a passive role and remained in the background. A woman whose husband was entertaining friends would serve tea or coffee, listen to the conversation, laugh at appropriate occasions, and perhaps ask a question; but she rarely became actively engaged in the discussion. If the group was more or less evenly mixed, as when people were invited to hear a recorded tape-letter from a friend or relative, companionable exchanges most commonly took place among members of the same sex.
Still, informal visiting was an important feature of day-to-day family life. A friend would drop in on a neighbor, perhaps stand around for a few minutes, and then leave with little or no announcement of her or his departure. Visitors might enter a house, and, after giving an initial greeting, ignore its occupants. Or they might sit and read a mail-order magazine or religious tract, or simply watch the activities of the household. Though efforts to entertain the guest were minimal, one could always expect the offer of a cup of tea, coffee, or crackers.
In conclusion, given the immense changes that had occurred in Arctic Alaska in the century leading up to the 1950s, Inupiat kin ties had remained surprisingly strong. Indeed, as the anthropologist Robert Spencer wrote following his study of North Slope villages in 1951-52, “It would appear that only if the family system is disrupted will community disorganization on a large scale occur. For despite the cash income, the social organization of the aboriginal Eskimo is still a significant force.”
Unfortunately, a little over a decade after his research was completed, that evaluation could no longer be made for Barrow. By the early 1960s, the ability of kin networks to cope with emerging social problems was strained to the limit. There were several contributing factors: One concerned the swelling of Barrow’s population brought on by the sharp increase in the birthrate and the desire of more distant Inupiat to take advantage of seasonal wage employment in construction and at the nearby military DEWLine radar site. Newcomers also wanted better access to the local Public Health Service hospital for themselves, and better education for their children. The influx of these new residents from as far away as western Canada, some of whom had few if any close relatives in the village, was an important factor limiting the ability of the once tight-knit kinship system to deal with its new-found stresses.
At this same time, Barrow was also faced with a steady increase of White male military personnel, construction workers, scientists, and other outsiders who were assigned to Air Force installations, weather stations, and the Naval Arctic Research Laboratory – all of which had been built only a short distance from the town. These outsiders, more than a few of whom had little interest in or respect for the Inupiat and their culture, simply saw the community as a place to unwind, seek bootleg liquor, “look at the Natives,” and perhaps establish a relationship with one of the local women. As these disparaging tanik stereotypes of the Inupiat became more widespread, earlier linkages based on mutual respect and common understanding diminished sharply. Eventually, interracial tensions reached the point where members of the two groups lived in their own separate worlds, each largely ignoring the other. While it is important not to overemphasize the negative quality of these relationships, nor to disregard those examples of positive ties that were maintained between Inupiat and Whites, the generally hostile atmosphere was nevertheless present in almost all spheres of local social life.
As Barrow’s internal problems multiplied, its community leaders sought new ways of dealing with them. By the late-1960s, it became clear to all that traditional kin relations were seriously weakened – along with the growth of inapplicable socialization practices. Nor was sufficient attention being given to larger questions having to do with cultural enrichment and political self-determination, both of which were essential to promoting a renewed feeling of pride, purpose, and worth. In fact, only by thoroughly addressing these latter problems could the basis be laid for a new Inupiat sense of well-being. The task was substantial; and so was the need.