The North Slope has a homogeneous population of Inupiat, approximately 72 percent in 1990, and 68.38 percent in 2000, although these percentages are approximations since the 1990 and 2000 censuses did not distinguish between Inupiat, other Alaskan Natives, and American Indians. The percentage in 1990 ranged from 92.7 percent Inupiat in Nuiqsut to 61.8 percent Inupiat in Barrow (USDOC, Bureau of the Census, 1991). The percentages in 2000 ranged from 89.1 percent Inupiat in Nuiqsut to 64.0 percent Inupiat in Barrow (USDOC, Bureau of the Census, 2001). In 1990, the populations of each of the communities near the Planning Area were: 139 in Point Lay, 492 in Wainwright, 216 in Atqasuk, 3,469 in Barrow, and 354 in Nuiqsut (USDOC, Bureau of the Census, 1991). In 2000, population counts were 247 for Point Lay, 546 for Wainwright, 228 for Atqasuk, 4,581 for Barrow, and 433 for Nuiqsut (USDOC, Bureau of the Census, 2001).

North Slope society responded to early contacts with outsiders by successfully changing and adjusting to new demands and opportunities (Burch, 1975a,b; Worl, 1978; North Slope Borough Contract Staff, 1979). Since the 1960's, the North Slope has witnessed a period of "super change," a pace of change quickened by the area's oil developments (Lowenstein, 1981). In the Prudhoe Bay/Kuparuk industrial complex, oil-related work camps have altered the seascape and landscape, making some areas off limits to traditional subsistence hunting. In addition, large NSB Capital Improvement Projects (CIP's) have dramatically changed the physical appearance of the Borough communities.

Social services have increased dramatically since 1970, with larger Borough budgets and early grants acquired by the Inupiat Community of the Arctic Slope, and later grants acquired by the Arctic Slope Native Association and other Borough nonprofit organizations. In 1970 and 1977, residents of North Slope villages were asked about their state of well-being in a survey conducted by the University of Alaska Anchorage, Institute of Social and Economic Research (Kruse et al., 1983). The survey identified notable increases in complaints about alcohol and drug use in all villages between 1970 and 1977. Health and social services programs have attempted to address these problems with treatment programs and shelters for abused wives and families, as well as well as enhanced recreational programs and services. More recently, a lack of adequate financing for city governments within the NSB has hampered the development of these programs, and declining revenues from the State have seriously impaired the overall performance of these city governments. In the last decade, all communities in the NSB have struggled with banning the sale, use, and possession of alcohol. The issue of whether a community will become "dry" or stay "wet" is constantly brought before local voters.

The introduction of modern technology has increasingly tied the Inupiat subsistence economy to a cash economy (Kruse, 1982). Nevertheless, oil-supported revenues have supported a lifestyle still distinctly Inupiat, and outside pressures and opportunities have sparked what may be viewed as a cultural revival (Lantis, 1973). What exists in the communities of the North Slope is "a unique lifestyle in which a modern cash economy and traditional subsistence are interwoven and interdependent" (USDOI, BLM, 1979). People continue to hunt and fish but aluminum boats, outboard motors, snow machines, and all-terrain vehicles now blend these pursuits with wage work. Inupiat whale hunting remains a proud tradition that involves ceremonies, dancing, singing, visiting, cooperation between communities and, most importantly, the sharing of foods.

North Slope residents exhibit an increasing commitment to area-wide political representation, local and regional tribal governments, and the cultural preservation of such institutions as whaling crews and dancing organizations, and the revival of traditional seasonal celebrations. The NSB has a Commission on Inupiat History, Language, and Culture-an important body for preserving Inupiat heritage, conducting elders' conferences and other cultural activities to preserve oral histories, and pursuing the repatriation of cultural artifacts and remains under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. Effects from ongoing and potential oil exploration and development on subsistence and, thus, on the overall sociocultural system, have been and will continue to be a major concern for residents of North Slope communities (Kruse et al., 1983; ACI and S.R. Braund and Assocs., 1984; USDOI, MMS, 1994, 1995b, 1996a; S.R. Braund and Assocs., In prep.; USDOI, BLM, 1997c; USDOI, MMS, 1998).

The following subsection describes the Alaskan North Slope communities that may be affected directly by oil and gas exploration and development in the Planning Area. These community-specific descriptions discuss factors relevant to the sociocultural analysis of each community in relation to industrial activities, population, and current socioeconomic conditions. Following these descriptions, social organization, cultural values, and other issues common to all the communities are discussed.

The social organization of Inupiat communities is strongly kinship based. Kinship forms "the axis on which the whole social world turn[s]" (Burch, 1975a,b). Historically, households were comprised of large, extended families, and communities were kinship units. Today, there is a trend away from the extended-family household because of increased mobility, availability of housing, and changes in traditional kinship patterns. However, kinship ties in Inupiat society continue to be important and remain a central focus of social organization.

The social organization of North Slope Inupiat encompasses not only households and families but also wider networks of kinsfolk and friends. These types of networks are related through overlapping memberships and they are embedded in those groups responsible for hunting, distributing, and consuming subsistence resources (Burch, 1970). An Inupiat household on the North Slope may contain a single individual or group of individuals who are related by marriage or ancestry. The interdependencies among Inupiat households differ markedly from those found in the United States as a whole. In the larger non-Inupiat society, the demands of wage work emphasize a mobile and prompt workforce. While modern transportation and communication technologies allow for contact between parents, children, brothers, sisters, and other extended-family members, more often than not, independent nuclear households (father, mother, and children) or conjugal pairs (childless couples) form independent "production" units that do not depend on extended-family members for the day-to-day support of food, labor, or income. A key contrast between non-Native and Inupiat cultures occurs in their differing expectations of families - the Inupiat expect and need support from extended-family members on a day-to-day basis.

Associated with these differences, the Inupiat hold unique norms and expectations about sharing. Households are not necessarily viewed as independent economic units, and giving - especially by successful hunters - is regarded as an end in itself, although community status and esteem accrue to the generous. The sharing and exchanging of subsistence resources strengthen kinship ties (Nelson, 1969; Burch, 1971; Worl, 1979; ACI, Courtnage, and Braund, 1984; Luton, 1985; Chance, 1990).

Traditionally, Inupiat values focused on the Inupiat's close relationship with natural resources, specifically game animals. The Inupiat also had a close relationship to the supernatural with specific beliefs in animal souls and beings controlling the movements of animals. Other values included an emphasis on the community, its needs, and its support of other individuals. The Inupiat respect people who are generous, cooperative, hospitable, humorous, patient, modest, and industrious (Lantis, 1959; Milan, 1964; Chance, 1966, 1990). Although there have been substantial social, economic, and technological changes in Inupiat lifestyle, subsistence continues to be the central organizing value of Inupiat sociocultural systems. The Inupiat remain socially, economically, and ideologically loyal to their subsistence heritage. Indeed, "most Inupiat still consider themselves primarily hunters and fishermen" (Nelson, 1969). North Slope residents voice this refrain repeatedly (Kruse et al., 1983; ACI, Courtnage, and Braund, 1984; Impact Assessment, Inc., 1990a,b; USDOI, MMS, 1994). Task groups are still organized to hunt, gather, and process subsistence foods. Cooperation in hunting and fishing activities also remains an integral part of Inupiat life, and a major component of significant kin ties is the identity of those with whom one cooperates (Heinrich, 1963). Large amounts of subsistence foods are shared within the community, and the people one gives to and receives from are major components of what makes up significant kin ties (Heinrich, 1963; ACI, Courtnage, and Braund, 1984).

On the North Slope, "subsistence" is much more than an economic system. The hunt, the sharing of the products of the hunt, and the beliefs surrounding the hunt tie families and communities together, connect people to their social and ecological surroundings, link them to their past, and provide meaning for the present. Generous hunters are considered good men, and good hunters are often respected leaders. Good health comes from a diet derived from the subsistence hunt. Young hunters still give their first game to the community elders and generosity brings future success.

The cultural value placed on kinship and family relationships is apparent in the sharing, cooperation, and subsistence activities occurring in Inupiat society. However, cultural value is also apparent in the patterns of residence, reciprocal activities, social interaction, adoption, political affiliations (some families will dominate one type of government administration or one organization, for example - the village corporation), employment, sports activities, and membership in voluntary organizations (Mother's Club, Search and Rescue, etc.) (ACI, Courtnage, and Braund, 1984).

Bowhead whale hunting remains the center of Inupiat spiritual and emotional life; it embodies the values of sharing, association, leadership, kinship, arctic survival, and hunting prowess (see Bockstoce et al., 1979; ACI, Courtnage, and Braund, 1984). Barrow resident Beverly Hugo, testifying at public hearings for MMS' Beaufort Sea Sale 124, summed up Inupiat cultural values this way:

The importance of the whale hunt is more than emotional and spiritual. The organization of the crews does much to delineate important social and kin ties within communities and define community leadership patterns. The structured sharing of the whale helps determine social relations within and between communities (Worl, 1979; ACI, Courtnage, and Braund, 1984; Impact Assessment, Inc., 1990a). Structured sharing also holds true for caribou hunting, fishing, and other subsistence pursuits. In these communities, the giving of meat to elders does more than feed old people, bonding giver and receiver, joining them to a living tradition, and drawing the community together.

Today, this close relationship between the spirit of a people, their social organization, and the cultural value of subsistence hunting may be unparalleled when compared with other areas in America where energy-development is taking place. The Inupiat's continuing strong dependence on subsistence foods, particularly marine mammals and caribou, creates a unique set of potential effects from onshore and offshore oil exploration and development on the social and cultural system. Barrow resident Daniel Leavitt articulated these concerns during a 1990 public hearing for Beaufort Sea Sale 124:

One analysis of Inupiat concerns about oil development was based on a compilation of approximately 10 years of recorded testimony at North Slope public hearings for State and Federal energy-development projects. Most concerns centered on the subsistence use of resources, including damage to subsistence species, loss of access to subsistence areas, loss of Native foods, or interruption of subsistence-species migration. These four concerns were expressed in 83 percent of all the testimony taken on the North Slope (Kruse et al., 1983 [table 35]; USDOI, MMS, 1994; Human Relations Area Files, Inc., 1992). Public Scoping Meetings were held in Wainwright, Barrow, Atqasuk, and Nuiqsut in December 2001 and in Point Lay and Anaktuvuk Pass in February 2002. Major concerns expressed at these meetings are summarized in the following section on Environmental Justice (Section III.C.5).

Only a viable monitoring regime (something that has never been established by the industry or Federal and State agencies) can assess these concerns and the impacts of development on the North Slope. One suggestion that was repeatedly made at the April 16 to 18, 1997, NPR-A Symposium (USDOI, BLM and MMS, 1997) was the need for an ongoing subsistence-oversight panel of Federal, State, Native, and oil-industry interests to address these concerns as well as the issue of instituting an ongoing subsistence-monitoring program (USDOI, BLM and MMS, 1997). In response to this need and as part of its mitigation strategy for exploration and development in the Northeast NPR-A, the BLM established a subsistence advisory panel in l988. This panel is comprised of representatives from Anaktuvuk Pass, Atqasuk, Barrow, Nuiqsut, and Wainwright and BLM decision-makers who address subsistence issues and concerns. The panel has met ten times in Barrow, Nuiqsut, and Wainwright and has developed an ongoing dialogue on these issues. This dialogue will guide the BLM in its decisions for future exploration and development activities in the Northwest NPR-A Planning Area.

A substantial concern among NBS Inupiat communities is the lack of traditional knowledge and testimony that appears in government documents, particularly MMS's lease sale EIS's. Mayor George N. Ahmaogak, Sr., of the NSB said in a 1990 letter to MMS:

In public testimony in 1993 concerning a Letter of Authorization for bowhead whale monitoring at the Kuvlum Prospect, the late Burton Rexford, then Chairman of the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission, stated that the most important environmental information would come from whaling captains, crew members, and whaling captains' wives.

These same concerns were echoed unanimously by those testifying for Point Lay, Wainwright, Barrow, Atqasuk, and Nuiqsut in hearings and scoping meetings for Beaufort Sea Sales 144 and 170, for the Northeast NPR-AIAP/EIS , for the Northstar and Liberty projects, and for the Beaufort Sea multiple sales (Public Hearing Transcripts, Beaufort Sea Sale 144 [USDOI, MMS, 1995a,b, and c], Beaufort Sea Sale 170 [USDOI, MMS, 1997b], NPR-A IAP/EIS [USDOI, BLM and MMS, 1997], Beaufort Sea Oil and Gas Development Project/Northstar [U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 1996], and the Liberty Project [USDOI, MMS, Alaska OCS Region, 1998b]).

The NSB provides most government services to the communities of Point Lay, Wainwright, Barrow, Atqasuk, and Nuiqsut and other communities. These services include public safety, public utilities, fire protection, and some public-health services. Future fiscal and institutional growth is expected to slow because of economic constraints on direct Inupiat participation in oil-industry employment, growing constraints on the Statewide budget, and the Alaska Legislature's threat to limit the NSB's bonding authority, although NSB revenues have remained healthy and the Borough's permanent fund account continues to grow, as does its role as primary employer in the region (Kruse et al., 1983; Harcharek, 1992, 1995). The ASRC, formed under the ANCSA, runs several subsidiary corporations. Most of the communities also have a village corporation, a Traditional Village or Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) Village Council, and a city government. The IRA and village governments have not provided much in the way of services, but village corporations have made many service contributions. The Inupiat Community of the Arctic Slope, the regional tribal government, has recently taken on a more active and visible role in regional governance.

Other issues important to an analysis of sociocultural systems are those that will affect or already are affecting Inupiat society (i.e., cumulative impacts). The environmental impact statements for MMS Sales 97, 124, 144, 170; the Northstar and Liberty projects; and the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska detail issues about changes in employment, increases in income, decreases in Inupiaq fluency, rising crime rates, and substance abuse (USDOI, MMS, 1987a, 1990b, 1996a, 1998; USDOI, MMS, Alaska OCS Region, 2002b; USDOI, BLM and MMS, 1998; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 1996). They also discuss the fiscal and institutional growth of the NSB. These discussions are incorporated by reference and summarized below. In addition, Smythe and Worl (1985) and Impact Assessment, Inc. (1990a) detail the growth and responsibilities of local governments.

Recent statistics on homicides, rapes, and wife and child abuse present a sobering picture of some aspects of life in NSB communities. Violent deaths account for more than one-third of all deaths on the North Slope. The Alaska Native Health Board notes the "overwhelming involvement of alcohol (and drug) abuse in domestic violence, suicide, child abuse, birth defects, accidents, sexual assaults, homicide and mental illness" (Alaska Native Health Board, 1985). The lack of comparable data makes it impossible to compare levels of abuse and violence between aboriginal (before contact with Caucasians), traditional (from the time of commercial whaling through the fur trade), and modern (since World War II) Inupiat populations. Nonetheless, it is apparent from reading earlier accounts of Inupiat society that there has been a drastic increase in these social problems, although a study conducted in the early 1980's on the North Slope indicates that no direct relationship was found between energy development and "accelerated social disorganization" (Kruse, Kleinfeld, and Travis, 1982, cited in Impact Assessment, Inc., 1990b). Studies in Barrow (Worl and Smythe, 1986) detail the important changes in Inupiat society occurring in the last decade as a response to these problems. Services from outside institutions and programs have recently begun to assume a greater responsibility for functions formerly provided by extended families. Today, there is an array of social services available in Barrow that is more extensive for a community of this size than anywhere in the U.S. (Worl and Smythe, 1986).

The baseline of the present sociocultural system includes change and strain. The very livelihood and culture of North Slope residents come under increasing scrutiny, regulation, and incremental alteration. Increased stresses on social well-being and on cultural integrity and cohesion come at a time of relative economic well-being. The expected challenges on the culture by the decline in CIP funding from the State have not been as significant as once expected. The buffer effect has come mostly through the dramatic growth of the Borough's own permanent fund, the NSB taking on more of the burden of its own capital improvement, and its emergence as the largest employer of local residents. However, Borough revenues from oil development at Prudhoe Bay are on the decline, and funding challenges (and subsequent challenges to the culture) continue as the State Legislature alters accepted formulas for Borough bonding and funding for rural school districts.