CHRISTMAS, BASKETBALL, AND SLED DOG RACES - COMMON AND UNCOMMON THEMES IN THE NEW SEASONAL ROUND IN AN INUPIAQ VILLAGE

Thematic analysis is used to explore the complexity of meanings and to look for syncretic and indigenized features in three categories of pu blic events of the ''new'' socioreligious cycle in Noorvik, an Inupiaq village in northwest Alaska. As an initial strategy, events are scann ed for expressions of Inupiaq Ilitquasiat values, and many of these ar e found within the context of the Christmas celebration. Christmas als o contains two probable syncretic features fi om the precontact Feast of the Dead: the custom of giving presents to namesakes, and gift-givi ng by families to those who helped in the funeral of a loved one who h ad died that same year. The theme of competition in basketball and sle d dog races, on the other hand, is best understood in terms of indigen ization of a rivalry motif from the precontact Messenger Feast and tra ding fair. All three event types, when taken as a whole, project the m eta-theme of a sense of place, underscoring the village as a prosperou s and vital locale. The driving force motivating residents to invest t ime and energy into creating these events seem to derive from a kind o f ''village imperative,'' in which community goals and status are asce ndent ever the goals and desires of individual residents.