In this paper, I analyze the mixed economy of the Nets'aii Gwich'in settlement of Arctic Village, Alaska. The economic structures of the Gwich'in began to undergo considerable change following Contact by Europeans in the 19th century. Today the Gwich'in possess several modern amenities, and are linked to the global capitalist economy.
Still, data collected in the village in 1999 provide cogent evidence that the priorities and values of the community remain centered upon the hunt and other subsistence activities. Cash income generated through wage labor or transfer payments is merely an additional means to perpetuate this activity. Thus, any assumptions that the Gwich'in are on the verge of abandoning this socioeconomic system for an urban-centric, wage labor-based system are at best, premature.