ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses the structure of Cold Bay. It deals with the value system of the residents of Cold Bay. The chapter discusses the organization of the basic subsystems of Cold Bay social structure, including the local economy, social networks, political organization, religion, education, health care, social services, and recreational activities. It suggests that the local inhabitants remarkably outer-directed in their concern with status and prestige and in their actions in the various subsystems. Virtually all the inhabitants of the community come from outside the area and are in Cold Bay for only a relatively brief and fixed period of time. Cold Bay is a quintessentially centrifugal community. Any kinship relations which exist link members of the community and people outside the community, again serving to weaken the multiplex nature of social relations and, by extension, the sense of community itself.