This chapter explains the nature of socioterritorial organization among Alaskan Eskimos as demonstrated by its application to the Akulmiut , a Yup'ik Eskimo society. The question of territoriality among hunting-gathering societies has revolved around two principal theoretical generalizations. One holds that the territorial band was the characteristic form of hunter-gatherer social organization while the other states that groups were flexible and fluid, their form varying according to ecological factors. The majority of place names was located in the immediate vicinity of the large lakes area of the Johnson River drainage where, as noted earlier, villages were located during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The expansive resource base of winter could be defended with little energy when families were distributed throughout the area. This dispersal signaled their use of the area, but also monitored it for signs of intrusion. The territory had a core area of intensive usage with an outer cortex used and occupied less frequently.