ThE CULTURAL ECOLOGY OF TkE CBIPE%YAN UONALD STEhAkT MACKAY b.A., University of british Columbia, 1965 A ThESIS SUBMITTED IN PAhTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE HEObIRCMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in the department of Sociology and Anthropology @ EONALD STECART MACKAY, 1978 SIMON F hAShR UNlVERSITY January 1978 All rights reserved. This thesis may not be reproduced in whole or in, part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. APPROVAL Name : Donald Stewart Mackay Degree: Master of Arts Title of Thesis: The Cultural Ecology of the Chipewyan Examining Cormnit tee : Chairman : H. Sharp Senior Supervisor- - N. Dyck C.B. Crampton . Fisher Departme'nt of Biological Sciences / ,y/y 1 :, Date Approved: //!,, 1 U The of -- Cultural Ecology .- --------the Chipewyan ----- .- ---A <*PI-: (sign-ir ~re) - Donald Stewart Mackay --- (na~t) March 14, 1978. (date ) AESTRACT This study is concerned with the persistence of human life on the edge of the Canadian Barren Grounds. The Chipewyan make up the largest distinct linguistic and cultural group and are the most easterly among the Northern Athapaskan Indians, or Dene. Over many centuries, the Chipewyan have maintained a form of social life as an edge-of-the-forest people and people of the Barren Grounds to the west of Hudson Bay. The particular aim of this thesis is to attempt, through a survey of the ecological and historical 1iterature , to elucidate something of the traditional adaptive pattern of the Chipewyan in their explcitation of the subarc tic envirorient . Given the fragmentary nature of much of the historical evidence, our limited understanding of the subarctic environment, and the fact that the Chipewyan oecumene (way of looking at life) is largely denied to the modern observer, we acknowledge that this exercise in ecological and historical reconstruction is governed by serious hazards and limitations. In substance, this analysis begins with a general consideration of the ecological perspective in anthropology and with the elaboration of a workable conceptual framework. There follows a consideration of the historical questions of Chipewyan territory, settlement pattern, and population. Continuing, the analysis deals with the natural iii environment of the subarctic, giving pal'ticulai-. attention to those features of the environment which bear on the ecological niche of the Chipewyan. Central to the thesis is the analysis of the local hunting unit or ecological population functioning in its ecological niche within the ecosystem. A final brief chapter is given to the issue of the acculturative influence of the fur trade on Chipewyan life. In conclusion, it is asserted, after Geertz and in sympathy with the deliberations of the 1966 Ottawa Conference on Cultural Ecology, that the reconstructive task is well served by the adoption of a more thoroughgoing ecological per spec tive and that a clearer understanding of the traditional adaptive pattern of the Chipewyan can be realized only through the convergence of the analytic efforts of the disciplines of ecology, history, archaeology, linguistics, and anthroplogy. I would like to thank my supervisor, Cr. Steve Sharp, for his guidance in the development of tkis thesis. I am particularly indebted to him for my being able to draw on his field experience in the territory of the Black Lake Chipewyan. My thanks also are due to Simon Fraser University for providing me with a Graduate Student Stipend. I would like to express my appreciation f'or their assistance to Professor Robert Wyllie 2nd tc Norma Eissell of' the Department of Sociology and Anthropology and to Marilyn Cheveldayoff who helpd Pe beyond rords in the organization and typing of the manuscript. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE 1 Introduction 1 Territory, Nomenclature, Population Natural Environment 161 1:- - Y' Traditional Adaptation 5 Influence of the Developing Fur Trade 194 Conclusion Bibliography LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. The Territory of the Chipewyan. Figure 2. SaITIuel Hearnet s Coppermine Journey. 1770-1772, Figure 3. The Canadian Shield: exposed and bordering buried sector. Figure 4. The tree-line in Canada. Figure 5. Vegetation and permafrost relationships in Subarctic Canada (after Brown). Figure 6. A transec t of permafrost conditions along a meridian in northwestern Canada. Figure 7. Soils. Figure 8. Permafrost. Figure 9. Relief Map. Figure 10. Vegetation Regions of Northern Canada. Figure 11. Forest Sections of the Boreal Forest Reqion. Figwe 12, Pspulation Estiiriateu and Gistrsibution of Barren Ground Caribou. Figure 13. Spring Migration Routes of Barren Ground Caribou. Figure 14. Mean date of last slow cover ( 1 inch or more) on barren ground caribou ranee, Figure 15. The two main areas of caribou distribution on May 1, 1967, and the spring migration routes to the calving grounds. (Parker, 1972) Figure 16. Approximate areas from which caribou were killed by Indian and Eskimo hunters within the winter range of the Kaminuriak population, August 1967 to July 1968 (Parker. 1972). vii Figure 17. The mid-summer migration routes south from Baker 117 Lake, by the Kaminuriak population, July 14 to Auqust 15. 1967 (~arker.1972). Figure 18. Fall miqration routes (November 1 to 17. 1966) 119 and distribution of the Kaminuriak population on November 17. 1966 (Parker. 1972). Figure 19. The relationship of' some co-inhabitants of barren 124 qround caribou range to caribou. Extent of classification in some instances is arbitrary (Kelsall, 1968). Figure 20. Distribution of musk-oxen on the Canadian mainland. The relative density of this distribution is shown by various sizes of black dots (Clarke, 1940). viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCIION This study is concerned with the persistence of human life on the edge of the Canadian Barren Grounds. The Chipewyan make up the _ _ I_-_-- largest-distinct linguistic and cultural group-. and ge.the.most-- easterl~amongthe Northern Athapaskan Indians, or Dene. Over many ---- ^ X n.L-.---~.U-.~*~--UL__ _ . +. 7 I I- -.- centuries the- Chipewyan have maintainei- a form- ~_qf-s-~$~2-5fe as. an- edge-of-the-forest peo~leand geo~le of ---he wesL of Hudson Bay. It is in the context of the harsh and unyielding environment of the Canadian Shield that I approach their distinctive traditional economic and social organization. The question of cultural identity has assumed new importance for the Dene with the proclaiming of the kne ~eclaration'at Fort Simpson in July 1975. In its stated theme of Ifland and unityff and with the not infrequently heard expression "the land is the cultureN, the Dene have been giving renewed expression to the basic adaptive principle that it is in the process of' exploiting and adapting to a particular environment that a human population generates a distinctive culture and a distinctive social organization. The particular aim of this thesis is to attempt, through a survey of the ecological and the historical literature, to elucidate something of the traditional adaptive pattern of the Chipewyan in their exploitation of the subarctic environment. In substance, the pattern of analysis is as follohs. The introductory chapter is concerned with general considerations relating to the ecological approach in anthropology and with the elaboration of a workable conceptual framework. Chapter Two, more historical in nature, is essentially a consideration of the unresolved problems of Chipewyan territory, settlement pattern and population. Chapter Three seeks to outline the characteristic features of the subarctic environment. Particular attention is given to those features of the environment which bear on the traditional ecological niche of the Chipewyan. Chapter Four, which is the central chapter of the thesis, is concerned with the manner in which the Chipewyan functioned in their ecological niche within the ecosystem. It is concerned particularly with the manner in hich they chose to exploit the resources of the region and with the ways in which resource fluctuations and uncertainties were reflected in their social organization. The final chapter offers a brief consideration of the acculturative impact of the developing fur trade on the traditional adaptive pattern of the Chipewyan. As with all such attempts at ecological and historical reconstruction, the task of analyzing the traditional adaptive pattern of the Chipewyan is beset with serious hazards and limitations. Not the least of these is the fact that much of the traditional Chipewyan world view, or oecumene - what they perceived as their universe, the meanings and values they found in it, and how they defined their relations to it (to use helm's (1962:634) statement) - is locked up in a language and system of magic that is all but beyond the reach of the modern observer. Z In such circumstances, it can no doubt be argued that in ecological and historical reconstruction, one is simply projecting present and historical evidence back into the precontact period and thereby indulging in historical conjecture. My response to this view would be that the analytic hazards do not invalidate the exercise. Rather, it would seem, the legitimacy of proceeding with such an investigation lies in proceeding with due awareness of the hazards and with a considerably more modest expectation than that of understanding the traditional adaptive pattern as a whole. mdeed, the fact that the anthropological 1iterature abounds witn just such cultural salvage operations is indicative of the willingness of anthropologists to come to terms with a changing world. With respect to the Chipewyan, there is unquestionably much of ---- -__-___- - ^ - -- -___ ------ their traditional way of life that is lost beyond recall. Among the - .. +- --IYL-------- ---- -- *----- --.I. _-_*"_- ,- - -,_--."-I.I--YI-~..l more serious limitations affecting such investigations as this are the limited amount of competent fieldwork that has been done among the Chipewyan over the years and the fragmentary nature of much of the historical evidence. Other limitations include the impossibility of working with large hunting groups and the fact that the fieldworker of today can have no assurance that even the more remote and conservative of existing groups are representative of the more distant past.