The Psychological Repercussions of the Sociocultural Oppression of Alaska Native Peoples

Issues of the mental health of arctic & subarctic Alaska Natives are explored. Their sociopolitical history is described demonstrating how intervention by European Americans in Alaska has prompted a self-alienation of Native peoples that has contributed to exorbitant suicide rates & other problems. These developments are contrasted with traditional lifestyles. Recommendations are made about the role of psychology in the facilitation of the recovery process of Alaska Native peoples. (90 refs.)