The Yup'Ik and Navajo

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The Yup'ik and Navajo Traditionally, Yup'ik were hunters and gatherers. The shallow coastline was rich in seals, walrus, beluga whales, and saltwater fish including herring, halibut, and cod. The rivers were the spawning grounds for five species of salmon. The coastal wetlands hosted millions of migratory waterfowl during the summer. Small furbearers including fox, muskrat, mink, and otter were trapped, and caribou were hunted along the river. From the establishment of Russian trading posts in the early 1800s, trapping provided supplemental income to native residents. Reindeer herding was also introduced around 1900. Commercial fishing began to play a major role in the economy of the region in the 1890s in Bristol Bay and by the 1930s along the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers. The rich salmon fishery and the relatively new herring and bottom fisheries are the most important private-sector commercial activities in the region today. For industrial art, all men carved both wood and ivory, and all women were skillful at sewing skins and weaving grass into articles for household use. Today some men continue to carve ivory jewelry and wooden fish traps and women to knit and sew skins both for home use and for sale. Men also carve decorative wooden masks, and women weave grass baskets for sale to tourists and collectors. Just as men and women lived and worked in different social spaces in the traditional winter Village, they were responsible for different productive activities. Men hunted and fished during the day. In the men's house they carved and repaired tools, kayak frames, and objects of everyday use, as well as training young men and boys in these tasks. Women's work included processing their husbands' catch, preparing food, gathering plant materials, making clothes, fashioning pottery, weaving grass, and raising the children. Ritual and medicinal activities were

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