@article {Crowell1, author = {Aron L. Crowell and Estelle Oozevaseuk}, title = {The St. Lawrence Island Famine and Epidemic, 1878{\textendash}80: A Yupik Narrative in Cultural and Historical Context}, volume = {43}, number = {1}, pages = {1--19}, year = {2006}, doi = {10.1353/arc.2011.0105}, publisher = {University of Wisconsin Press}, abstract = {A collaborative study of the Smithsonian Institution{\textquoteright}s ethnology collections has inspired the narration of Alaska Native oral traditions, including Yupik Elder Estelle Oozevaseuk{\textquoteright}s re-telling (in 2001) of the story of Kukulek village and the St. Lawrence Island famine and epidemic of 1878{\textendash}80. The loss of at least 1,000 lives and all but two of the island{\textquoteright}s villages was a devastating event that is well documented in historical sources and archaeology, as well as multiple Yupik accounts. Yupiget have transmitted memories of extreme weather, bad hunting conditions, and a wave of fatal contagion that swept the island. The Kukulek narrative, with origins traceable to the late nineteenth century, provides a spiritual perspective on the disaster{\textquoteright}s underlying cause, found in the Kukulek people{\textquoteright}s disrespect toward the animal beings that sustained them. This paper explores the cultural and historical contexts of this narrative, and contrasts it with Western perspectives.↵Aron L. Crowell, Arctic Studies Center, Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, 121 W. 7th Ave., Anchorage, Alaska 99501↵Estelle Oozevaseuk, General Delivery, Gambell, Alaska 99742}, issn = {0066-6939}, URL = {https://aa.uwpress.org/content/43/1/1}, eprint = {https://aa.uwpress.org/content/43/1/1.full.pdf}, journal = {Arctic Anthropology} }