Aleut women's personal identity experiences: An autoethnographic study

This autoethnographic study explored five Aleut women's personal identity experiences known as life narratives as there was a lack of feminine life narrative research in Aleut history. Autoethnographies are case studies that follow the tradition of ethnographic research. This narrative approach facilitated a more point of view emphasizing reflexivity and personal voice. This qualitative, phenomenological inquiry summarizes self perception levels. Multiple realities were socially constructed within Aleut culture by each participant. The interpretive research methodology of autoethnography was created by the writer's own personal identity experiences. Each woman shared thoughts and feelings about growing up in remote Alaskan Aleutian Island fishing villages. The reader will view Aleut cultural experiences through the mind's eye on each woman's feminine perspective. A main theme of mistrust was modeled in each participant's life. This study utilized Erikson's eight stage theory of psychosocial development exploring how early childhood and adolescent behavior patterns impacted self worth identity. All life narratives contain themes of childhood trauma, addictive behavior, and addiction in family of origin. Various forms of addiction stem from unhealthy behavior pattern development taught in early childhood homes. These unhealthy behavior patterns negatively influenced personality development in childhood examining these women's lifespan choices. Development of low self worth was a major theme each participant learned early in life. Explaining these women's perspectives in Aleut culture today will revolutionize psychosocial development lifecycles for healthcare professionals. This autoethnographic study provides insight to these women's stories that in spite of childhood trauma one can acquire values of perseverance, patience, and courage. Ultimately, in a life quest toward spiritual wholeness this ethnographic recording of women's oral histories will serve to empower future generations by being placed into Aleut history books.