Caribou Crossings and Cultural Meanings: Placing Traditional Knowledge and Archaeology in Context in an Inuit Landscape

Stewart, Andrew; Keith, Darren; Scottie, Joan

doi:10.1023/b:jarm.0000038066.09898.cd

Cited by 77 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Prior to the introduction of the snowmobile and rifle, archaeological data (Benedict, 2005;Grønnow, 1986;Friesen, 2013) and oral histories (Stewart et al, 2000(Stewart et al, , 2004 indicate that Arctic hunters relied heavily on ambush hunting from blinds to capture large ungulates like caribou, muskoxen, and moose. The introduction of the snowmobile, however, dramatically changed hunting strategies, as long trips to hunting sites were replaced by fastpaced day trips on snowmobiles (Condon et al, 1995).…”

Section: Arctic Big Game Hunting and The Rise Of The Snowmobilementioning

confidence: 99%

Sit-and-wait versus active-search hunting: A behavioral ecological model of optimal search mode

Ross

Winterhalder

2015

Journal of Theoretical Biology

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We model the behavioral ecology of search mode for randomly moving predator and prey. Active-search is favored at low prey movement velocity, ambush at high prey velocity. Sit-and-wait mode is favored if predator movement is energetically costly. Ambush is favored if faster predator velocity alerts prey or impedes their detection. Optimal predator velocity in active-search mode balances costs against prey movement. a r t i c l e i n f o b s t r a c tDrawing on Skellam's (1958) work on sampling animal populations using transects, we derive a behavioral ecological model of the choice between sit-and-wait and active-search hunting. Using simple, biologically based assumptions about the characteristics of predator and prey, we show how an empirically definable parameter space favoring active-search hunting expands as: (1) the average rate of movement of prey decreases, or (2) the energetic costs of hunter locomotion decline. The same parameter space narrows as: (3) prey skittishness increases as a function of a hunter's velocity, or (4) prey become less detectable as a function of a hunter's velocity. Under either search tactic, encounter rate increases as a function of increasing prey velocity and increasing detection zone radius. Additionally, we investigate the roles of habitat heterogeneity and spatial auto-correlation or grouping of prey on the optimal search mode of a hunter, finding that habitat heterogeneity has the potential to complicate application of the model to some empirical examples, while the effects of prey grouping lead to relatively similar model outcomes. As predicted by the model, the introduction of the horse to the Great Plains and the introduction of the snowmobile to Arctic foraging communities decreased the metabolic costs of active-search and led to a change in normative hunting strategies that favored active-search in place of sit-and-wait hunting.

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Section: Arctic Big Game Hunting and The Rise Of The Snowmobilementioning

confidence: 99%

Sit-and-wait versus active-search hunting: A behavioral ecological model of optimal search mode

Ross

Winterhalder

2015

Journal of Theoretical Biology

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“…For example, Gunn et al (1988) described that hunters were inconspicuous at water crossings until lead caribou crossed, so that following caribou would continue to swim across when hunters began to shoot. Similarly, Stewart et al (2004) reported that hunters avoided butchering animals or disposing of bones near migration routes to avoid diverting caribou movement.…”

Section: Caribou Leaders and "Letting The Leaders Pass"mentioning

confidence: 99%

“Letting the leaders pass”: barriers to using traditional ecological knowledge in comanagement as the basis of formal hunting regulations

Padilla¹,

Kofinas²

2014

E&S

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ABSTRACT. We studied a case of failure in applying traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) in comanagement as the basis for formal hunting regulations. We based the study on the Porcupine Caribou (Rangifer tarandus) Herd "let the leaders pass" policy, established for the Dempster Highway of the Western Canadian Arctic, and identified conditions creating barriers in the successful application of TEK through comanagement. Stated as propositions, identified barriers include: (1) the context-specific nature of TEK limits its application in resource management regulations; (2) changes in traditional authority systems, hunting technology, and the social organization of harvesting caribou affect the effectiveness of TEK approaches in a contemporary social setting; (3) indigenous efforts toward self-government and political autonomy limit regional comanagement consensus in a heterogeneous cultural landscape; (4) the mismatch of agency enforcement of hunting regulations and TEK-based education is problematic. We analyzed the case through four historical phases of caribou management, complementing the study with a literature review of TEK and wildlife comanagement to explain why TEK integration of caribou leaders in regulatory resource management fell short of success. Identifying and understanding the social dynamics related to these barriers make apparent solutions for transforming the comanagement process.

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“…Traditional Inuit understandings of space and time-as developed through land-based and nomadic hunting lifestyles-are seen as constituting the basis of Inuit Qaujimajaqtuqangit (roughly defined as Inuit traditional knowledge) and continue to inform the core of everyday practice in the North (Wenzel 2004). As such, places, sites and features in the Arctic landscape-as well the landscape itself-are not simply symbols of the past, but continue to reverberate as meaningful and relevant in present understandings of belonging, cyclicity, and ancestral relationship (Sejersen 2004, Stewart et al 2004. Historical places are absorbed into, and become part of, one's personal and cultural identity.…”

Section: Inuit Understandings Of the Pastmentioning

confidence: 99%

Re-Presenting the Past: A New Archaeological Outreach Strategy for the Canadian Territory of Nunavut

Griebel¹,

Diesel

Rast³

2016

Open Archaeology

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Abstract:In 2013, an Arctic-based organization known as the Inuit Heritage Trust spearheaded a new campaign to increase archaeological awareness in the Canadian territory of Nunavut. While Nunavut remains an Inuit-centered territory-founded on the knowledge and values that have long sustained its predominantly Inuit population-the rules and regulations surrounding archaeological resources are largely grounded in more scientific, and distinctly non-Inuit, valuations of the past. For multiple reasons, Inuit and non-Inuit traditions for understanding and preserving heritage resources have proved difficult to reconcile, despite numerous attempts at community outreach programs and the regular hosting of archaeological fieldschools. For many Inuit, the methodological and impersonal approach to history endorsed by incoming archaeologists remains a foreign concept. This paper will present a series of community resources developed as part of the Inuit Heritage Trust's new archaeological awareness campaign, produced in partnership with archaeologists Brendan Griebel and Tim Rast. These resources seek to address the question of how to educate about Nunavut's past through a framework that aligns with the interests and realities of both professional archaeologists and Inuit populations. To date, this campaign has produced two unique resources: the first, a guidebook series that explores archaeology's relevance to community members, students and heritage workers in Nunavut, and the second, a portable excavation and experimental archaeology kit. While the campaign does not intend to change the way that either Inuit or archaeologists value the past, it does attempt to create a mutual awareness of differing worldview so that both groups might better navigate the complex landscape of regulation and interaction ascribed to Nunavut's heritage resources.

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Caribou Crossings and Cultural Meanings: Placing Traditional Knowledge and Archaeology in Context in an Inuit Landscape

Cited by 77 publications

References 24 publications

Sit-and-wait versus active-search hunting: A behavioral ecological model of optimal search mode

Sit-and-wait versus active-search hunting: A behavioral ecological model of optimal search mode

“Letting the leaders pass”: barriers to using traditional ecological knowledge in comanagement as the basis of formal hunting regulations

Re-Presenting the Past: A New Archaeological Outreach Strategy for the Canadian Territory of Nunavut

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Caribou Crossings and Cultural Meanings: Placing Traditional Knowledge and Archaeology in Context in an Inuit Landscape

Cited by 77 publications

References 24 publications

Sit-and-wait versus active-search hunting: A behavioral ecological model of optimal search mode

Sit-and-wait versus active-search hunting: A behavioral ecological model of optimal search mode

&#8220;Letting the leaders pass&#8221;: barriers to using traditional ecological knowledge in comanagement as the basis of formal hunting regulations

Re-Presenting the Past: A New Archaeological Outreach Strategy for the Canadian Territory of Nunavut

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

“Letting the leaders pass”: barriers to using traditional ecological knowledge in comanagement as the basis of formal hunting regulations