Gender Roles in an Aleut Indigenous Commercial Economy
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Gender, Culture and Northern Fisheries Joanna Kafarowski – Editor CCI Press – 2009 Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Gender, culture and northern fi sheries / edited by Joanna Kafarowski. (Occasional publications series ; no. 62) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-1-896445-46-5 1. Women in fi sheries--Canada, Northern--Case studies. 2. Women in fi sheries--Alaska--Case studies. 3. Women in fi sheries--Europe, Northern-- Case studies. 4. Subsistence fi shing--Canada, Northern--Case studies. 5. Subsistence fi shing--Alaska--Case studies. 6. Subsistence fi shing-- Europe, Northern--Case studies. 7. Fisheries--Canada, Northern--Case studies. 8. Fisheries--Europe, Northern--Case studies. I. Kafarowski, Joanna, 1962- II. Series: Occasional publication series (Canadian Circumpolar Institute) ; no. 62 HD6073.F652G45 2009 338.3’727082 C2009-905937-1 Keywords: arctic, fi sheries, gender roles, women, © 2009 Canadian Circumpolar Institute (CCI) Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other- wise without the express written permission of the copyright owner/s. CCI Press is a registered publisher with access© the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Publisher Number 3524). Cover design by art design printing, inc. Cover images courtesy CCI and Chapter 2 authors. Printed in Canada (Edmonton, Alberta) by art design printing inc. See acknowledgements section of this volume for support of this publication. ISBN 1-896445-46-5; ISSN 0068-0303 © 2009 Canadian Circumpolar Institute (CCI) Press Occasional Publication No. 62 T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S Foreword .................................................................................................................... v Introduction ................................................................................................................ vii SECTION ONE: GENDERED PARTICIPATION IN SUBSISTENCE AND COMMERCIAL ACTIVITIES Chapter One Chercher Les Poissons: Gender Roles in an Aleut Indigenous Commercial Economy ........................................................................................ 3 Katherine Reedy-Maschner Chapter Two “Without Fish We Would No Longer Exist”: The Changing Role of Women in Southeast Alaska’s Subsistence Salmon Harvest .......................... 29 Virginia Mulle and Sine Anahita Chapter Three “It Used to be Women’s Work”: Gender and Subsistence Fishing on the Hudson Bay Coast ...................................................................... 47 Martina Tyrrell Chapter Four Are Living Fish Better Than Dead Fillets? The Invisibility and Power of Icelandic Women in Aquaculture and the Fishery Economy .............. 67 Anna Karlsdóttir Chapter Five Everyone Goes Fishing: Gender and Procurement in the Canadian Arctic ........ 85 Kerrie-Ann Shannon Chapter Six Gender, Knowledge, and Environmental Change Related to Humpback Whitefi sh in Interior Alaska ............................................................. 109 Melissa Robinson, Phyllis Morrow and Darlene Northway SECTION TWO: GOVERNANCE PRACTICES Chapter Seven “I Have Always Wanted to go Fishing”: Challenging Gender and Gender Perceptions in the Quota-Oriented Small-Scale Fishery of Finnmark, Norway ............................................................................. 131 Siri Gerrard Chapter Eight “It’s Our Land Too”: Inuit Women’s Involvement and Representation in Arctic Fisheries in Canada ..................................................... 153 Joanna Kafarowski Chapter Nine Gender Equality and Governance in Arctic Swedish Fisheries and Reindeer Herding ......................................................................................... 171 Maria Úden Chapter Ten Beyond the Pale: Locating Sea Sami Women Outside the Offi cial Fisheries Discourse in Northern Norway .............................................. 183 Elina Helander-Renvall Chapter Eleven Women in Sámi Fisheries in Norway—Positions and Policies .......................... 201 Elisabeth Angell Chapter Twelve Gender, Human Security and Northern Fisheries ............................................... 219 Gunhild Hoogensen List of acronyms ........................................................................................................ 237 Contributors ............................................................................................................... 239 Introduction F O R E W O R D This book provides the reader with a current accounting of the role of women in a variety of northern subsistence and industrial fi sheries, both aboriginal and non-aboriginal, rural- and urban-based, in Alaska, Arctic Canada, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Fishing often makes an important contribution to food security in northern regions, where agriculture is impossible or marginal at best, as well providing important occupational and economic diversifi cation in small and often remote communities. In such locations the high cost and often low nutritional value of imported foods can be offset by fi shing, hunting and gath- ering activities that contribute signifi cantly to peoples’ socio-economic circumstances and health. Indeed, these health benefi ts may extend beyond peoples’ physical health alone, because customary food production, distribution, consumption and enjoyment sustains peoples’ connection to their environment in meaningful ways that enrich their mental well-being and the integrity and vitality of their communities. In some societies, fi shing is regarded as womens’ work, but in far more cases fi shing is considered to be mens’ work. The authors draw attention to the generally under-recog- nized role of women in fi sheries’ harvesting and formal decision-making. The conven- tional recognition of the primary role of men in fi sh harvesting often results in mens’ knowledge being the principal (or only) source of important local knowledge consid- ered by fi sheries’ managers and decision-makers. The resulting under-representation of womens’ knowledge may compromise the quality of management decision-making, suggesting the desirability of including knowledge obtained by women more especially during the processing and food-preparation phases of product use. However, changes associated with modernization affect all societies, and even the strictly-gendered roles of men and women engaged in fi shing similarly change. Never- theless, in situations where customary food production, sharing and consumption remain highly valued for a variety of culturally-important reasons, the likelihood remains high that fi shing, in one form or another, will almost certainly persist—even as changes continue to modify the manner, frequency and strictly economic importance of fi shery practices in these societies. This volume draws attention to the need for a more critical understanding of the emphasis often placed on hunting and associated male dominance in food production in northern societies. Whereas the representation of men as hunters (and fi shers) and women as gatherers and food-preparers is all too commonly encountered in the literature, this collection of studies argues that fi shing as an activity may be much more ambiguous and nuanced than previously considered, and increasingly so as modernization further alters customary social roles and attitudes. Today (and almost certainly continuing into the future), the occupational opportuni- ties available to more highly-educated rural residents offer a wider range of choices with respect to work, place of residence, and lifestyle, suggesting that it is unwise to seek v Gender, Culture, and Northern Fisheries to predict how the changing roles of women in fi sheries will appear in the future. This volume tests a number of assumptions and prior conclusions in respect to gender and fi sheries, and indeed, of gender relations more generally, and in so doing provides useful information and insights that inform current understandings of these northern societies and social identities, as well as very likely stimulating future research. Milton M.R. Freeman Edmonton, Alberta vi Introduction I N T R O D U C T I O N That women are actively engaged in fi sheries work around the world is without question. From crabmeat processors in Tabasco, Mexico to fi sh traders in Lake Victoria, Tanzania to participants in the shrimp aquaculture industry in coastal states of India, women are signifi cantly involved in fi sheries both directly and indirectly (Munk-Madsen 1998; Newell and Ommer 1999; Kumar 2004; Ahmed 2005; Neis et al. 2005). This degree of participation is refl ected in the vast array of ongoing community-based, fi sheries projects and the development of relevant programs and policies that are currently being conducted internationally. In Europe, the AKTEA1 European Network: Women in Fisheries and Aquaculture was initiated in 2005 to recognize women’s contributions to fi sheries; to increase the visi- bility of women’s roles in fi sheries; to participate in decision-making on matters affecting women’s roles; to exchange ideas and experiences and to work towards the political and institutional acceptance of women’s organizations in fi sheries. Primarily focusing on Western Europe, AKTEA also coordinates conferences that enable academics, politi- cians and fi shers to share experiences. In its Green Paper on the Future of the Common Fisheries Policy published in 2001, the European Commission acknowledged the need for the Union to ensure that