Does subsistence involve money?
A. Yes. Rural families use money in order to purchase basic goods and services: fuel oil and electricity for heat, light, and power; family goods like clothing and shelter; and subsistence equipment like guns, ammunition, fishing nets, power motors, gasoline, rain gear, and so forth. Money is used to invest in the tools for hunting, fishing, and gathering. It is a common misconception that there is no money in traditional subsistence economies. However, trade and commerce have always been part of subsistence systems. Goods have been traded for thousands of years in Alaska. The commercial fur trade with European markets began about 300 years ago, bringing European currencies and goods into Alaska. Thus, commercial enterprise and money have been part of traditional subsistence economies for a long time. Rural Alaska’s economies operate differently from urban economies, however. In Alaska today, the rural economies are “mixed economies,” where families and communities live by combining wi
