Wildlife Harvesting and Sustainable Regional Native Economy in the Hudson and James Bay Lowland, Ontario

Berkes, Fikret; George, Peter; Preston, Richard J.; Hughes, Andrew J.; Turner, John F.; Cummins, Bryan

doi:10.14430/arctic1308

Cited by 59 publications

(82 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Typical of many Canadian First Nations, the people of Shoal Lake have a mixed economy consisting of wage employment, transfer payments, and living off the land (Berkes et al 1994). Although trapping has diminished, due to the collapse of the fur economy in the mid 1980s, most households on the reserve exhibit the lifestyle described in this paper.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Learning as You Journey: Anishinaabe Perception of Social-ecological Environments and Adaptive Learning

Davidson‐Hunt¹,

Berkes²

2003

184

143

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ABSTRACT. This paper explores the linkages between social-ecological resilience and adaptive learning. We refer to adaptive learning as a method to capture the two-way relationship between people and their socialecological environment. In this paper, we focus on traditional ecological knowledge. Research was undertaken with the Anishinaabe people of Iskatewizaagegan No. 39 Independent First Nation, in northwestern Ontario, Canada. The research was carried out over two field seasons, with verification workshops following each field season. The methodology was based on site visits and transects determined by the elders as appropriate to answer a specific question, find specific plants, or locate plant communities. During site visits and transect walks, research themes such as plant nomenclature, plant use, habitat descriptions, biogeophysical landscape vocabulary, and place names were discussed. Working with elders allowed us to record a rich set of vocabulary to describe the spatial characteristics of the biogeophysical landscape. However, elders also directed our attention to places they knew through personal experiences and journeys and remembered from stories and collective history. We documented elders' perceptions of the temporal dynamics of the landscape through discussion of disturbance events and cycles. Again, elders drew our attention to the ways in which time was marked by cultural references to seasons and moons. The social memory of landscape dynamics was documented as a combination of biogeophysical structures and processes, along with the stories by which Iskatewizaagegan people wrote their histories upon the land. Adaptive learning for social-ecological resilience, as suggested by this research, requires maintaining the web of relationships of people and places. Such relationships allow social memory to frame creativity, while allowing knowledge to evolve in the face of change. Social memory does not actually evolve directly out of ecosystem dynamics. Rather, social memory both frames creativity within, and emerges from, a dynamic social-ecological environment.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Learning as You Journey: Anishinaabe Perception of Social-ecological Environments and Adaptive Learning

Davidson‐Hunt¹,

Berkes²

2003

184

143

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“…In the two small WBF communities of Fort Liard and Nahanni Butte, NWT that Beckley and Hirsch (1997) studied, important meat and fur income were derived from wetland species moose (Alces alces), woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus), beaver (Castor canadensis), mink (Mustela vison) and muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) with 44% and 61% of their respective populations engaging in trapping and the majority of the community was partially reliant on wild meats. Berkes et al (1994) found from a survey (N = 235) in Moose Factory, Ontario, that the community's replacement value of Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) and Lesser Snow Geese (Chen caerulescens) was $296 222, while the value of furbearers, e.g., beaver and marten (Martes americana), was $44 256. Scott (1987) and Davis (2005) found that the rituals of hunting beaver and waterfowl, sharing the meat, and learning ecological knowledge in the process of such rituals, continue to be central to the identity of Cree First Nations.…”

Section: Social Issues Involving Boreal Wetlandsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wetlands in Canada's western boreal forest: Agents of Change

Foote¹,

Krogman²

2006

The Forestry Chronicle

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Wetlands of the western boreal forest are poorly studied. In the last decade (1990)(1991)(1992)(1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000) there were approximately 1810 northern hemisphere scientific papers published addressing boreal wetlands, tundra, taiga, or bogs. We explore the extent of understanding and impacts of six major agents of change affecting forested wetlands of the boreal zone: (1) commercial forestry, (2) petroleum extraction, (3) mining (bitumen, coal, peat, ore, and diamonds), (4) agriculture, (5) climate change, and (6) hydrologic alteration. Finally, we address the social context, costs, and recommendations for wetland maintenance.

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“…Indigenous peoples appear to adjust their economy and culture to take advantage of the system oscillations, and direct and continuous management intervention by them is light (Nelson 1982, Berkes et al 1994, 1995. The price paid for this is that indigenous populations are small and nomadic.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many indigenous peoples also incorporate negative feedbacks and variety into their harvesting practices. For example, reviewing the work of Berkes et al (1994Berkes et al ( , 1995, Chapin and Whiteman show that different Cree families, even in the same village, would often harvest different fish species using different net sizes, thus distributing the harvesting pressure over many populations and keeping harvesting of any one species at low levels. However, modern business practices often have degenerative positive feedbacks between harvest intensity and resource abundance, leading to collapse of a resource.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainability and Resilience in Boreal Regions: Sources and Consequences of Variability

Pastor¹,

Light²,

Sovell³

1998

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Wildlife Harvesting and Sustainable Regional Native Economy in the Hudson and James Bay Lowland, Ontario

Cited by 59 publications

References 17 publications

Learning as You Journey: Anishinaabe Perception of Social-ecological Environments and Adaptive Learning

Learning as You Journey: Anishinaabe Perception of Social-ecological Environments and Adaptive Learning

Wetlands in Canada's western boreal forest: Agents of Change

Sustainability and Resilience in Boreal Regions: Sources and Consequences of Variability

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