View of Theoretical Approaches 51

University of Alberta Caribou Hunting at Ice Patches: Seasonal Mobility and Long-term Land-Use in the Southwest Yukon By Vandy E. Bowyer A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Anthropology © Vandy E. Bowyer Spring 2011 Edmonton, Alberta Permission is hereby granted to the University of Alberta Libraries to reproduce single copies of this thesis and to lend or sell such copies for private, scholarly or scientific research purposes only. Where the thesis is converted to, or otherwise made available in digital form, the University of Alberta will advise potential users of the thesis of these terms. The author reserves all other publication and other rights in association with the copyright in the thesis and, except as herein before provided, neither the thesis nor any substantial portion thereof may be printed or otherwise reproduced in any material form whatsoever without the author's prior written permission. In memory of Tagish ABSTRACT Recently documented ice patch sites in the southwest Yukon are ideal for evaluating precontact hunter-gatherer land-use patterns in the western subarctic. Located in the alpine of the mountainous regions of the boreal forest, ice patches are associated with well preserved hunting equipment, caribou (Rangifer tarandus) dung and an abundance of faunal remains dating to over 8000 years ago. However, current models are inadequate for explaining caribou hunting at ice patches as they tend to emphasize large-scale communal hunts associated with latitudinal movements of caribou. Much less is known about the alititudinal movment of caribou and the associated hunting forays to ice patches in the alpine. Based on literature from caribou biology an altitudinal hunting model is proposed. During summer months caribou are predictable in their use of ice patches for relief from insect harassment. Pollen dated from caribou dung frozen in organic layers from the Granger (JdUt-1) and Friday Creek (JcUu-1) ice patches was analysed and compared to pollen assemblages from modern caribou dung to test whether ancient caribou were using these locations during summer months. The multivariate statistical technique, Nonmetric Mutlidimensional Scaling shows that ancient pollen assemblages are unlike any modern dung. Results indicate that pollen derived from dung is complex and various temporal transformations and taphonomic factors such as: (i) the use of modern analogue samples; (ii) changes in phenology; (iii) mode of pollination and; (iv) caribou feeding strategies must be understood before making interpretations on seasonality from dung pollen. I propose that a qualitative model of seasonal pollen signatures also be used to evaluate ancient pollen spectra, especially when there is no modern analogue. Regardless of these factors, the identification of a diversity of forbs and the presence of insect-pollinated taxa such as Polemonium and Epilobium suggest that some of the dung was deposited by caribou in the summer. Ancient hunters, knowing that caribou aggregate in mixed herds on ice patches in summer months, took advantage of this behaviour. Hunting equipment found on ice patches indicates that atlatls (8360± 60 to 1250± 40 yrs BP) and bow and arrows (1300 ± 70 to 90 ± 40 yrs BP) and hunting blinds were part of the ice hunting strategy. Faunal analysis suggests caribou was the primary game animal hunted at ice patches, although sheep (Ovis dalli) may have been important at some locations. Developing an altitudinal migration model provides a fuller picture of caribou hunting at alpine locations in the southwest Yukon and assists in understanding Holocene precontact hunting and land-use patterns in the western subarctic. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I have several people to thank as I grew through this Ph.D. experience. First, I would like to thank my supervisor Dr. Charles Schweger for his years of direction and whose scholarship has always been an inspiration to me. I thank my committee members Dr. Jack Ives and Dr. Brian Kooyman (Department of Archaeology, University of Calgary) who provided much constructive and thought-provoking feedback. I also thank Dr. Pam Willoughby and Dr. Cynthia Paszkowski (Department of Biology), and a special thanks to my external examiner Dr. T. Max Friesen (Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto) for his thoughtful and careful consideration of my dissertation. I am also grateful to Ruth Gotthardt, Greg Hare, Rick Farnell, Gerry Kuzyk, Erik Blake, and other members of the Ice Patch Research Project for providing me the opportunity to participate in the project. I am especially grateful to Greg Hare whose endless support was greatly appreciated, particularly during some of the more challenging aspects of the research. I would also like to thank various people at Yukon Renewable Resources including John Meikle, for his kind words and general interest in the research, and Bruce Bennett who provided me a place to stay in the early field days and whose enthusiasm for southwest Yukon botany is contagious. This dissertation owes much to the cooperation of the Carcross/Tagish, Kwanlin Dun and Champagne Aishihik First Nations. Their permission allowing me to work in their traditional territories, made this research possible. I am especially indebted to Art Johns of Carcross/Tagish First Nations who sent me to Alligator Lake and directed me to the Friday Creek and Alligator ice patches. Without his willingness to share his knowledge, show me “his playground”, and to always support my endeavours, this research would not have been possible. A dissertation could not be completed without the technical support of several individuals. I would like to thank Harvey Friebe, technician at the University of Alberta’s Paleoenvironmental Laboratory for seeing me through until the finish. Thank you to David Kellar and Brita Jenssen for processing many of the pollen samples. I would also like to thank Aileen Rhodes for her work on the vegetation surveys and Chris Thomas’ assistance with the site sampling. I am also thankful to Tagish for his “eagle eyes” and his ability to spot many of the artifacts recovered during archaeological survey. Thanks to Phillip for assisting with many of the illustrations and pollen diagrams. I also appreciated the help and time of Dr. Mark Dale, Dr. James Cahill and Jon Bennett for assisting with statistical matters. Financial support for this study was provided in part by a Province of Alberta Graduate Fellowship, University of Alberta Graduate Assistantship, and a Natural Science and Engineering Research Council grant awarded to C. Schweger. Research funds awarded to the author include a Social Science and Humanities Research Council grant, a Canadian Circumpolar Research NSTP/CBAR grant, a grant from the Northern Research Institute (Yukon College), and support from Dr. N. Rutter’s Climate Group. Logistical support was also provided by Yukon Renewable Resources. Dissertations are not possible without the support of friends. Two old friends from Whitehorse deserve a special thanks; Sherry for her comfy spare bedroom and great cooking and to Jason. I’d also like to thank Hugh and Ty for their hugs. Tagish, your companionship and friendship is greatly missed, but I know that your spirit has watched over my shoulder as I completed this work. Finally, I would like to thank my family – in particular my husband, Phillip who has offered endless support, encouragement, and patience and my son Benjamin for his hugs and love. I would also like to give a special thanks to my parents, Mary and Glenn, and my brother Robert. TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page 1.0 Introduction 1 1.1 Background 1 1.2 Objectives 5 1.3 Theoretical Approach 6 2.0 Study Region 8 2.1 Northern Athapaskans 8 2.2 The Cordillera of the Western Subarctic 11 2.3 Glacial History 13 2.4 Permafrost 14 2.5 Climate 15 2.6 Effects of Topography on Climate 17 2.7 The Inversion 20 2.8 Snow Cover 21 2.9 Vegetation 22 2.10 Fauna 22 2.11 Boreal Forest Ecology 24 3.0 Statement of the Problem 26 3.1 Introduction 26 3.2 Early Archaeological Models of Subsistence and Land-Use 26 3.3 History of Ungulates in the Southwest Yukon 30 3.4 Elk 31 3.5 Bison 31 3.6 Sheep and Goat 32 3.7 Moose 34 3.8 Caribou 36 3.9 Caribou Hunting Methods 40 3.10 The Latitudinal Model 41 3.11 The Altitudinal Model 44 3.13 Establishing Seasonality 46 3.14 Using Pollen in Dung to Establish Seasonality 47 3.13 Objectives of the Research 49 4.0 Theoretical Background 51 4.1 Overview of Theoretical Approaches 51 4.2 Ecosystem Approaches 52 4.3 Evolutionary-Ecological Approaches 58 4.4 Post-Processual Approaches 66 4.5 Spatial and Temporal Variation in the Boreal Forest 71 4.6 Patch Ecology 72 4.7 Seasonality 75 4.8 Predictability 77 4.9 Mountain Environments of the Boreal Forest 78 4.10 Environmental Variability and Mobility 82 5.0 Ethnographic and Ethnohistoric Models of Caribou Hunting 88 5.1 Introduction 88 5.2 Traditional Northern Athapaskan Subsistence Economy 88 5.3 Caribou as a Human Resource 92 5.4 Caribou Hunting 93 5.5 Caribou Hunting Season 96 5.6 Caribou Hunting in the Southwest Yukon 99 6.0 Ungulate Ecology 103 6.1 Introduction 103 6.2 Forage Conditions and Ungulate Digestion 103 6.3 Ungulate Migration 107 7.0 Caribou Ethology 110 7.1 Introduction 110 7.2 Pelage 111 7.3 Antlers 111 7.4 Caribou Meat and Fat 112 7.5 Diet and Forage 113 7.6 Caribou Migration 115 7.7 Winter Snow Cover and Summer Insect Harassment 117 7.8 Caribou in Southern

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