Political Entrenchment in an Ojibwa Wild Rice Economy

ABSTRACT - Immunity from both state ricing regulations and the competition of white harvesters characterizes the protective legal niche occupied by Ojibwa Indians who gather wild rice in the Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge in Minnesota. Since 1937 the economic benefits of the Rice Lake rice beds have become restricted to an increasingly exclusive membership of socially and genetically interrelated harvesters from several nearby Indian communities. It appears that this relatively favorable political-economic situation has enhanced the sensitivity of Rice Lake harvesters to current ricing problems encountered by Indians throughout northern Minnesota, and the institution of a rice auction has become an ideological arena in which the opposing political attitudes and economic interests of Indians and whites clash, but without upsetting business transactions

Recent Ethnographic Research - Upper Churchill River Drainage, Saskatchewan, Canada

Recent developments in ethnographic research in the Upper Churchill River drainage of northwestern Saskatchewan are reviewed. These include an analysis of the spatial organization of trapping economics, and an examination of behavioral responses to current technological impact (particularly housing, imported food and machinery, and new roads) in a southern Chipewyan community. Although high-income trappers generally exploit the largest trapping areas at the greatest distances from a primary settlement, the increasing congregation of short-distance trappers near the village may be exacerbating ecological and economic instability associated with new consumer goods and purchasing habits. Another direction of research involves analysis of economic and social interactions between Chipewyan and Cree communities that shed light upon processes of inter-tribal communication, symbiosis, enmity and identity management

Ethnoarchaeological Perspectives on an Athapaskan Moose Kill

A recent development in anthropology involves examination of living human populations in an attempt to better understand the "formation processes" that create archaeological remains. An ethnologist and an archaeologist collaborated in the observation and analysis of procurement, butchering and distribution of moose among a group of contemporary Athapaskan (Chipewyan) Indians in northwestern Saskatchewan in 1977. Subtleties in the behavior of one particular hunting party illustrate the complexity and variability of skeletal and anatomical spatial distributions accompanying various stages in processing, distributing and consuming a moose (Alces alces andersoni). Variables such as seasonality, proximity to a major settlement, transportation technology, sexual division of labor and ideational factors heavily influence the formation of archaeo-faunal remains within several components of a regional settlement system.Key words: ethnoarchaeology, Chipewyan Indians, moose hunting, decision making, site formationUne recherche anthropologique récente comporte l'étude de populations vivantes en visant une meilleure compréhension des processus qui forment les restes archéologiques. Une ethnologue et un archéologue ont collaboré dans l'observation et l'analyse des méthodes d'obtention, de boucherie et de distribution d'orignal au sein du'une groupe contemporain d'indiens athapascans (Chipewyans) dans le nord-ouest de la Saskatchewan. Les subtilités dans le comportement d'un groupe particulier de chasseurs démontrent la complexité et la variabilité des distributions spatiales anatomiques et squelettiques suivant les diverses étapes du dépeçage, de la distribution et de la consommation d'un orignal (Alces alces andersoni). Des variables telles que le caractère saisonnier, la proximité à un site majeur d'habitation, la technologie du transport et I'ingéniosité influencent de façon importante la formation de restes archéologiques animaux dans de nombreuses composantes d'une habitation régionale.Mots clés: ethnoarchéologie, indiens Chipewyans, chasse à l'orignal, processus de décision, formation de site

Encuesta multidisciplinaria en Curré: informe preliminar

The goal of the report that we present in the following has for its objective to make known preliminary results obtained by an Anthropology Team, based ona series of surveys taken in the indigenous community of Curré, cantón Buenos Aires, Costa Rica. The investigators focussed on a series of socio-cultural themes as they were recordedin this Indigenous community: social organization, economic resources, languages, recent revitalization, political elections.El objetivo del informe que presentamos a continuación tiene como finalidad dar a conocer los resultados preliminares obtenidos por un equipo de antropólogos, con base en una serie de encuestas en el pueblo indígena de Curré, cantón de Buenos Aires, Costa Rica. Los investigadores se enfocaron en una serie de temas socioculturales; tales como los encontrados en este pueblo indígena: organización social, recursos económicos, lenguajes, revitalización reciente, elecciones políticas

Cuisiner en bordure de la piste : Préparation des repas par les hommes à la chasse, relations entre genres et transformation sociale chez les Chipewyans (Dene)

Dans le sillage des récents changements politico-économiques dans le nord du Canada, des équipes mobiles de chasseurs-trappeurs et pêcheurs chipewyans (Dene) subissent de nos jours de longues périodes d’isolement, loin des villages où vivent et travaillent les autres membres de leurs familles. Dans ce contexte, les hommes chipewyans sont confrontés à un dilemme structurel. Ils doivent choisir entre reproduire, abandonner ou modifier les savoir-faire hautement spécialisés du traitement et de la transformation de la nourriture qui étaient habituellement réalisés par les femmes, dans les campements familiaux saisonniers et nomades des années précédentes. L’analyse se concentre sur la préparation des repas et les pratiques de dîner dans les camps forestiers exclusivement masculins des dernières années, et sur la manière dont ces comportements reflètent de pénibles changements dans les relations entre genres. Paradoxalement, tandis que les hommes ont gardé de nombreux ingrédients historiques et familiers dans leur régime alimentaire, l’absence des savoir-faire des femmes dans la préparation de ces aliments confère à la cuisine contemporaine des hommes une place potentiellement ambiguë : une nourriture de la forêt, ou de la piste, qui n’est plus pleinement chipewyane.In the wake of recent political-economic changes in northern Canada, mobile teams of Chipewyan (Dene) hunter-trappers and fishermen now endure long periods of isolation away from the centralized settlements where other family members largely live and work. In this context, Chipewyan men are confronted with a structural dilemma. They must choose among replicating, abandoning or modifying the highly specialized food processing and preparation skills which were routinely performed by women in seasonally nomadic family camps of former years. Analysis will focus upon meal preparations and dining practices in the all-male bush camps of recent years and how these behaviors reflect vexing shifts in gender relations. Paradoxically, while men retain many historically familiar ingredients in their diet, the absence of women’s expertise in processing these items places contemporary men’s cuisine in a potentially ambiguous status : wild food or bush food that is not fully Chipewyan.En la traza de los recientes cambios político-económicos en el norte de Canadá, los grupos móviles de cazadores-tramperos y pescadores chippewas (Dene) viven hoy en día largos periodos de aislamiento, lejos de los pueblos en donde viven y trabajan los otros miembros de sus familias. En dicho contexto, los hombres chippewas confrontan un dilema estructural. Deben escoger entre replicar, abandonar o modificar las habilidades altamente especializadas del tratamiento y la transformación de la comida que eran normalmente realizadas por las mujeres, en los campamentos familiares de temporada y nómadas de los años anteriores. El análisis se concentrará en la preparación de la comida y en las formas de cenar en los campamentos forestales exclusivamente masculinos de los últimos años y sobre la forma en que esos comportamientos reflejan los difíciles cambios en las relaciones entre géneros. Paradójicamente, mientras que los hombres conservaron muchos ingredientes históricos y familiares en su régimen alimenticio, la ausencia de habilidad entre las mujeres en la preparación de dichos alimentos confiere a la cocina contemporánea de los hombres un lugar potencialmente ambiguo : una alimentación del bosque o de la vereda, que no es totalmente chippewa

Encuesta multidisciplinaria en Curré: informe preliminar

El objetivo del informe que presentamos a continuación tiene como finalidad dar a conocer los resultados preliminares obtenidos por un equipo de antropólogos, con base en una serie de encuestas en el pueblo indígena de Curré, cantón de Buenos Aires, Costa Rica. Los investigadores se enfocaron en una serie de temas socioculturales; tales como los encontrados en este pueblo indígena: organización social, recursos económicos, lenguajes, revitalización reciente, elecciones políticas.The goal of the report that we present in the following has for its objective to make known preliminary results obtained by an Anthropology Team, based ona series of surveys taken in the indigenous community of Curré, cantón Buenos Aires, Costa Rica. The investigators focussed on a series of socio-cultural themes as they were recordedin this Indigenous community: social organization, economic resources, languages, recent revitalization, political elections