MASTERARBEIT / MASTER’S THESIS Titel der Masterarbeit / Title of the Master‘s Thesis “The Community Subsistence Hunt in the Copper River Basin, Alaska – A Case Study in Political Ecology” verfasst von / submitted by Clemens Elmecker, BA angestrebter akademischer Grad / in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (MA) Wien, 2019 / Vienna 2019 Studienkennzahl lt. Studienblatt / A 066 810 degree programme code as it appears on the student record sheet: Studienrichtung lt. Studienblatt / Masterstudium Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie degree programme as it appears on the student record sheet: Betreut von / Supervisor: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Peter Schweitzer Acknowledgments I want to thank all the people, who contributed to the completion of my master thesis. I am especially grateful to the Ahtna people and the residents of the Copper River Basin for supporting my research and showing me their way of life. Without the information and knowledge they shared with me, this thesis could not have been written. Further, I want to thank Robbin LaVine, from the Anthropology Division of the Office of Subsistence Management and James Van Lanen, from the Division of Subsistence, Alaska Department of Fish & Game, who guided me to the case of the Ahtna and who supported me on site in many ways. My sincere thanks go to my supervisor Peter Schweitzer for his theoretical input and his patience. I am grateful for the emotional and practical support of my girlfriend Elke. Without her motivation and encouragement this thesis would still be in the process of writing. Finally, I want to thank my parents, Brigitte and Christoph, for their support along my studies and this research. I am grateful for the opportunities they provided me and that they never give up their faith in me. 1 Table of Contents 1. Introduction .................................................................................................... 7 2. Research design and methodology............................................................ 10 2.1 Research design ....................................................................................................................... 11 2.2 Fieldwork .................................................................................................................................. 11 2.3 Methods .................................................................................................................................... 13 3. Political ecology and theoretical framework ............................................. 17 3.1 Ecology, evolution and the emergence of political ecology ...................................................... 18 3.2 Differing views on nature? ........................................................................................................ 24 3.3 Traditional ecological knowledge, power and bureaucracy ...................................................... 28 3.4 Subsistence, infrastructure and ‘techno-economic differentiation’ ........................................... 35 4. Historical events in Alaska (pre-state to the present) ............................... 41 4.1 Pre-state Alaska ....................................................................................................................... 41 4.2 Becoming a state ...................................................................................................................... 43 4.3 To the present ........................................................................................................................... 49 5. The management of wildlife and the mixed economies in rural Alaska .. 52 5.1 The development of wildlife management ................................................................................ 52 5.2 Subsistence management agencies in Alaska ......................................................................... 56 5.2.1 State management program ............................................................................................ 58 5.2.2 Federal management program ........................................................................................ 65 5.3 Economic situation in rural Alaska: the mixed-economy structure ........................................... 68 6. The Ahtna people, their way of life and the political ecology of the Copper River Basin Community Subsistence Hunt .................................. 76 6.1 Ecology and environment ......................................................................................................... 79 6.2 Population ................................................................................................................................. 81 6.3 Social and political organization ............................................................................................... 83 6.4 Economy and subsistence ........................................................................................................ 88 6.5 Copper Basin Community Subsistence Hunt ........................................................................... 97 6.5.1 Regulatory history for moose in the CSH-area ................................................................ 98 6.5.2 Moose (latin name: Alces alces, Ahtna name: deniigi) .................................................. 104 6.5.3 Board of Game Special Meeting on Copper Basin Area moose, March 2017 .............. 107 6.5.4 Discussion ...................................................................................................................... 116 6.6 The Ahtna Inter Tribal Resource Commission and co-management ..................................... 130 7. Conclusion ................................................................................................. 133 8. References .................................................................................................. 142 9. Appendix ..................................................................................................... 153 2 I. List of Figures Figure 1. Alaska Population 1946-2017 ................................................................................................ 51 Figure 2. Alaska Department of Fish and Game organization chart ..................................................... 58 Figure 3. Regions and Game Management Units, Alaska .................................................................... 59 Figure 4. Wild food harvests in Alaska by area ..................................................................................... 70 Figure 5. Alaska Language Map ........................................................................................................... 77 Figure 6. Traditional Territory of the Ahtna ............................................................................................ 78 Figure 7. Population of areas connected by road to GMU 13, 1960-2011 ............................................ 82 Figure 8. Land Ownership Pattern in the Ahtna Traditional use territory .............................................. 86 Figure 9. Composition of combined harvest by resource category for the Copper River Basin communities, 2010-2014 ........................................................................................................ 95 Figure 10. Copper Basin Community Subsistence Hunt Area .............................................................. 98 Figure 11. Unit 13, estimated Moose population and objectives, 1970-2015 ..................................... 106 Figure 12. Unit 13 moose harvest for the time period 1963-2013 ....................................................... 107 II. List of Tables Table 1. Comparison of statistical data on hunting and fishing participation in Alaska, 2001-2011 ..... 55 Table 2. Nutritional and replacement values of wild food harvests in Alaska ....................................... 71 Table 3. Expenditures in Alaska for hunting and wildlife viewing, 2011 ................................................ 74 Table 4. Population of areas connected by road to GMU 13, 1960-2015 ............................................. 82 Table 5. Estimated earnings and income for the Copper River Basin in comparison with Anchorage and Valdez, 2008-2012 .......................................................................................................... 91 Table 6. Resource harvest and use by selected communities in the Copper River Basin 2010-2014 . 94 Table 7. Number of groups and participants in the Copper Basin CSH, 2009-2016 .......................... 109 Table 8. Comparison of harvests and uses of moose in Copper Basin communities, 1982, 1987 and most recent study year .................................................................................................. 120 Table 9. Community Subsistence Hunt ‘any bull’ harvest by hunter residency, 2009-2016 ............... 125 Table 10. Mean annual number of all hunters and successful hunters by transport type, GMU 13 moose, 2009–2016 .............................................................................................................. 126 3 III. List of Appendices Appendix A: Abstract English ............................................................................................. 153 Appendix B: Abstract German ............................................................................................ 154 Appendix C: Identifying a legal moose, antler restrictions ................................................... 155 Appendix D: Hunting regulations game management