the chipewyan caribou hunting system

The Chipewyan Caribou Hunting SystemAuthor(s): Takashi IrimotoSource: Arctic Anthropology, Vol. 18, No. 1 (1981), pp. 44-56Published by: University of Wisconsin PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40315989 .

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THE CHIPEWYAN CARIBOU HUNTING SYSTEM

TAKASHI IRIMOTO

ABSTRACT

This field study in ecological anthropology (man-nature relationships in activities), was done among the Caribou-Eater Chipewyan of northern Saskatchewan, Canada. Direct observation and ac- tive participation were used for recording and analyzing their caribou hunting system. The subsistence activities of the Chipewyan are classified in this article and recorded in terms of time-space use and participant involvement. The five major categories of activities are: food getting (FGA), food processing (FPA), sheltering (SHA), hide preparation (HPA) and manufacturing (MA). The three principles for structuring systems of activities on the basis of individual variations, particularly age and sex, are: l) the temporal sequence of activities; 2) the allocation; and 3) the combination of activities. These various categories of activities are organized into the Chipewyan caribou hunting system.

INTRODUCTION

During the last 25 years , cultural ecology has become explicitly recognized as an anthropological sub- field, largely due to the pio- neering research of Julian Steward (1955:11-^2) on multi-linear evolution. Recent work

*The field research on which this study is based (July 1975 to October 1976) was sup- ported by the National Museum of Man, National Museums of Canada. I acknowledge my indebted- ness to Dr. Garth Taylor, National Museum of Man. I am grateful to Drs. Henry S. Sharp, Ian Whitaker, Noel Dyck, Herbert Alexander, Simon Freser University; Dr. Wayne Suttles , Portland State University; James G. E. Smith, Museum of the American Indian, Heye Founda- tion; Dr. Hitoshi Watanabe, Department of Anthropology, University of Tokyo; Drs. Tadao Umesao, Takao Sofue, Yoshinobu Kotani, Nation- al Museum of Ethnology in Japan for their con- stant advice and inspiration during the research.

Earlier versions of this paper were read at the 31st joint meeting of the Anthropological Society of Nippon (Japan) and Japanese Society of Ethnology in Tokyo (1977), the 6tli congress of the Canadian Ethnology Society in Banff (1979), and the 19th meeting of the Japanese Society of Ethnology of Toyama (1980). Re- cently, the Chipewyan monograph by the author (I98l) has been published. The present ver- sion, however, is a concentrated form of ecology of the Chipewyan and especially it focuses on the Chipewyan caribou hunting system and its structuring principles .

(Rappaport 1956:237-267, 1967:17-30; Vayda and Rappaport 1968:U77-^97) , however, has exhibited a strong tendency to stress biology somewhat counter to Steward1 s emphasis on culture. So, there is a dichotomy within cultural ecology, with both approaches being used in the studies of living hunter-gatherers (Damas 1969a, 1969b; Lee & DeVore Í968).

But man is neither a purely cultural being nor a purely biological organism. Man and nature are mutually interrelated in terms of human activities , which have not yet been adequately investigated by either cultural or physical anthropologists. An ecological anthropological approach may be defined as the study of the nature of man's life as it is in nature (Watanabe 1977 :*0. This definition of ecology differs from one in which ecology is considered a geographical and environmental determinant outside the socio- cultural sphere of human life.

The impact of human activities on the physical and physiological characteristics of man in his evolutionary context has been one of the major research interests of Japanese anthropologists in Tokyo University (Hasebe 1927:195-227; Sugiura 1951:122-127; Suzuki 1963:1-217, 1971:206-215). And, as Irimoto (1973:59-7^, 1977a: 71-89, 1977b: 91-116, 1977c: 251-279, 1977d: 297-312) has pointed out, the

quantitative data on people's everyday activities are necessary to make the theoretical investigation intelligible.

In order to examine the systems of human activities from an ecological point of view, the relationships between individuals and

population should be discussed in terms of

Arctic Anthropology XVIII-lj 1981 44



Irimoto: Chipewyan Caribou Hunting System 45

individual variations and the structural principles on which the systems are formed. Differences among individuals in skills and techniques may also "be important factors in the division of labour and in group formation. Thus, in this paper the human activity systems and the structuring principles of the systems will be examined with special reference to the Caribou-Eater Chipewyan.

THE SETTING OF THE HATCHET LAKE CHIPEWYAN

The Chipewyan are one of the groups of Northern Athapaskan Indians (Na-Dene language family) of Canada. They are big-game hunters of the subarctic forest, relying on caribou (Rangifer tarandus) as a major subsistence base.1 Today, members of one of the tradi- tional Chipewyan groups, called "Etthen- eldili" (Caribou-Eaters), formerly semi- nomadic, are settled in several Canadian subarctic communities (Smith 1970:6(3-66, 1978: 38-Ì+9 ). In these communities, hunting and fishing still constitute a major part of people's lives.

The natural environment of the study area is characterized by the tundra-forest ecological transition on the Precambrian shield of the Canadian north and by the caribou which migrate seasonally between forest and tundra. The general pattern of the migration is northward to the calving grounds on the tundra in summer and southward to the forest region in winter. Fall is the rutting season when they gather at the forest fringe. Recent studies of the barren ground caribou are distributed in the Mackenzie and Keewatin Districts of the Northwest Territories. These groups of barren ground caribou have been named Bluenose, Bathurst, Beverly, and Kaminuriak. By aerial survey, the number of caribou in the first three groups has been estimated to be from 320,000 to 330,000 (Thomas 1969:l-kk). The total Kaminuriak population prior to calving in June 1968 was also estimated by the same method to be 66,173 (Parker 1972:1-95). Aerial surveys by the Canadian Wildlife Service in 1967 and 1968 produced an estimate of 385,000 barren ground caribou in the four major populations. The

Kaminuriak population, ranging over northeastern Saskatchewan, northern Manitoba, and the southeastern District of Keewatin, is the major resource for the Chipewyan of the Wollaston Lake region, although they also hunt the Beverly population since the wintering range for the two populations overlap (Thomas 1969:16-17). Human predation on the Kaminuriak population was estimated to be 3,500 to ^,000 in 1968, which constituted an estimated 5.3% of the caribou population over one year of age. Annual mortality from human predation decreased from 30,000 in 1955 to 3,5OO-U,OOO in 1968 (Parker 1972:89).

Both Chipewyan and Caribou Eskimo hunt the Kaminuriak population. The Chipewyan who live in the communities of Churchill, Brochet and Wollaston Lake harvested 2,000-2,500 each winter. From the Wollaston Lake settlement, an estimated number of 1,000 caribou were reported to be killed from August 1967 to July 1968 {Ibid., 7U-77).

I conducted a preliminary field survey in the Wollaston Lake settlement of northern Saskatchewan from December 1973 to January 197^; then I carried out an intensive field investigation from July 1975 to October 1976. During this period, after collecting general data in the community, I went to the bush camps in order to participate in Chipewyan hunting-trapping-fishing activities. I used the individual tracing and direct observation methods to record and to analyze the spatiotemporal aspect of the Chipewyan activities in the field.

At the Wollaston Lake settlement , the Indian Affairs Branch of the Federal Govern- ment of Canada recognized 292 registered Indians as being members of Band 31, Lac La Hache, in 1975. There are, however, another 57 non-registered Chipewyan not included in that number. Although they are ethnically Chipewyan, for various reasons they are not recognized as status Indians in the adminis- trative sense. In this paper, the term Hatchet Lake Chipewyan is used to refer to the whole population of Wollaston Lake settlement , including both treath and non-treaty Chipewyan .

SEASONAL MOVEMENTS AND HOME RANGE OF THE HATCHET LAKE CHIPEWYAN

For the Hatchet Lake Chipewyan, the Wollas- ton Lake settlement is a semi-permanent home base from which they can exploit the surround- ing areas. They do this by setting up seasonal camps in the bush, which serve as base camps for each subsistence activity in each season. The summer and the winter camps are the two major seasonal camps. The former is for summer fishing, and the latter is for

1 Recent anthropological studies which have focused on ethno-history, culture change, kinship systems and socio-territorial organization are well described in the Chipewyan issue of Arctic Anthropology XIII-1 (1976), but de- tailed ecological anthropological analysis has been neglected. In particular, no field data were available on which to base a quantitative analysis of the Chipewyan subsistence ecology in relation to their caribou hunting activities.



46 Aroti Q Anthropology XVII I-I

winter trapping and caribou hunting. A more temporary fall camp for open-water fishing and small-game hunting before the caribou migration into the forest, is constructed near the winter camp, and a temporary spring bush camp is made for spring trapping and fishing.

The seasonal movement pattern of the Hatchet Lake Chipewyan is as follows. The people return to the Wollaston Lake settlement on at least three occasions in the year: for Christmas and New Year in Dec ember- January, for Easter in March- Apr il, and for a Treaty Day in June. For the first two occasions, there is a Mass at the Roman Catholic church in the settlement. On the Treaty Day, the Indian Affairs Branch offers the treaty money to the treaty status Chipewyan. Also, at this time, people sell pelts, which are brought from bush camps, and then purchase provisions for the next seasonal movement.

The caribou migration is an important factor in the seasonal movement pattern, since the Chipewyan move north in order to meet the caribou herds that migrate south for the winter. In the summer, the Chipewyan depend on fish and moose. Commercial fishing is open from June to September, and since the Chipewyan bring their catch to the fish filleting plant at the settlement, the summer camps have to be located within a day trip from the settlement.

During the winter season, there is a tendency toward a more sedentary life, mainly because the children have to stay at the settlement for schooling. Wage labour is scarce in winter, but other means of economic support, including welfare and pensions, are available at the settlement. Schooling, wage labour, and other cash incomes at the settlement have all contributed to the Chipewyan settling down at the contemporary post.

The subsistence pattern and the seasonal movement pattern of the contemporary Hatchet Lake Chipewyan therefore have to be understood in terms of two polar types of life: bush and

village life. Some Chipewyan have become al- most sedentary, however, because of the security offered by the aggregation of the people. In the village there is protection from both natural and supernatural enemies (e.g., the bogeyman in the bush), and there is food shar- ing in case of food shortage.

But the economy of the village still does not support their life on a full-time basis, and the aggregation of the people at the same place for long periods without adequate production of food supplies causes hostile relations among the people. As a result, some Chipewyan would rather seek the quiet of bush life. When the caribou come, they have plenty of meat in the bush, and, while' the work is hard, they can avoid the conflict among people in the village. Thus, among the contemporary Hatchet Lake Chipewyan, a variety of subsis-

tence and seasonal movement patterns have de- veloped in between these two polar extremes. On the basis of a number of economic and so- cial factors, each domestic unit2 determines its own pattern of subsistence activities and seasonal movement.

The anthropological concept of "home range" is important in analyzing these patterns. The concept does not include any sense of terri- toriality or ownership which would cause the people to defend it against an intrusion by other groups. Nor do the Hatchet Lake Chipewyan constitute a defined political unit; they are simply an aggregation of people at a single settlement. Thus, for the Hatchet Lake Chipewyan, home range is the total area they exploit and in which they carry out their activities.

The data used to determine their home range come from two sources. The first source was the beaver census , originally conducted by the Department of Northern Saskatchewan (Provincial Government of Saskatchewan). These data provided indirect information about the Chipewyan trapping grounds and the area of their home range. The second source was information provided to me by Chipewyan trappers on space use in their seasonal subsistence activities.

The trapping area for the residents of the Wollaston Lake settlement is regulated by the Provincial Government. However, it was revealed that the actual space used for trapping activities extended beyond the boundaries of the official trapping area. Other data on space use for fishing and hunting also showed that the Chipewyan home range was larger than the official trapping area; e.g. , the winter caribou hunting grounds extended to the Keewa- tin District of the Northwest Territories and to the Province of Manitoba, although the trapping area was officially limited in the Province of Saskatchewan. In the year 1975- 1976, the size of the Chipewyan home range was calculated to be 26,900 Kin2, and then the population density in this area was revealed to" be 0.013 /Km2.

Seasonal changes in home range are related to seasonal differences in subsistence activities

zThe domestic unit is defined as the basic unit for production and reproduction. A variety of kinship compositions were found in the Chipewyan domestic unit, but the elemen- tary family was to be the basis of the composition. I consider the hunting unit (Sharp 1977:377-92) which is formed from bilaterally linked domestic units to be another level of

cooperative unit. The flexible composition of the domestic unit and the hunting unit, in ad- dition to their range of adjustment to the Chipewyan kinship system, are discussed in more detail elsewhere (irimoto, 1979:13^-206).




For summer fishing, the Chipewyan utilized Wollaston Lake as well as a part of the Cochrane River. The summer range of the Chipewyan activities was thus generally restricted to Wollaston Lake, but for hunting and trapping in winter, they used the forest region where numerous ponds are connected with river systems. The range size for the summer season was calculated to be U,700 Rm^, which constituted IT. 5% of their total yearly home range. More precise data on the size of the activity space for each seasonal camp is presented later.

SUBSISTENCE ACTIVITIES

While among the Caribou-Eater Chipewyan, I observed the following activities as defined by anthropologists: food getting, food processing, food eating, sheltering, hide preparing, manufacturing, investigating, child caring, ritual, playing, and sleeping and resting. Among these activities the first five were of major importance to the structure of the Chipewyan caribou hunting system, and thus are intensively analysed in this paper.

Food-getting activity (FGA) consisted of hunting, fishing, and gathering, which are comprised of six sub-categories: hunting, trapping hunting and trapping, gathering, gathering and trapping, and fishing. Hunting- trapping and gathering-trapping activities themselves result from the combination of different kinds of activities to be discussed later. Hunting is divided into two sub- categories: hunting on foot or canoe or both, and hunting on snowshoes or with toboggan or a combination of both. Similarly, fishing is subdivided into open-water fishing and ice fishing. These sub-categories are thus based on the different techniques used in the different seasons. When hunting is conducted on foot, the canoe is often used as an auxiliary transportation. Foot hunting must be conducted before the "freeze up", and

usually on snowless ground, but winter hunting is done with snowshoes and is distinguished from hunting on foot without snowshoes. Caribou hunting in winter is the most important hunting activity in this category.

From a methodological point of view, caribou hunting can be divided into extensive hunting and intensive hunting. The former is

employed in early winter when lakes and river

systems are frozen but the snow is not deep and the caribou herd is migrating south. The caribou herds move across the open places and

stay on the lakes at night. My observations in the winter of 1975 indicate that the size of the herds is relatively large, from 10 to 100 animals. The strategy of extensive hunting is to cover thoroughly a wide area by

toboggan in order to increase the chance of finding a caribou herd. The existence of a herd might be known by tracks in the snow. But the hunter will not follow a particular herd into the bush, since it moves fast on lightly snow-covered ground. Instead, the hunter takes a chance on encountering a herd in an open area.

When the caribou herd is found, the Chipewyan hunters approach the herd to within rifle range. They usually shoot the game with .30-. 30 calibre rifles. But they also use .30-.06 high powered rifles as well as .22 calibre rifles. The caribou do not escape immediately, but usually run a short distance, then stop to watch the hunters. Therefore, with rifles, it is not difficult for the hunters to kill many of the herd. However, the encounter with the herd is mainly by chance.

The Chipewyan often combined caribou hunting with trapping. The success of the extensive caribou hunting is unpredictable, but by combining it with trapping, the Chipewyan increase their chance of obtaining some product in return for their efforts.

The intensive caribou hunting method is used in late winter. During this time, from January to March, the caribou disperse into the forest in smaller herds. When the forest snow cover becomes deep, it is difficult for the caribou to move in the bush, but the Chipewyan hunters are able to stay on the surface of the snow with the snowshoes. They can usually reach the game without travelling very far. The Chipewyan hunters search for the caribou tracks in the snow, then intensively follow a particular herd in the bush on their snowshoes. The snow cover, a nega- tive factor in the locomotion of the caribou, is a positive factor for the hunters.

Food- processing activity (FPA) is the treatment of raw food prior to consumption. It includes two sub- categories: food preparation and food preservation. Food preparation is the process of making daily meals and may include cooking, bannock baking, and clearance work. Food-preservation activities, on the other hand, are the activities related to preserving food for future use. Drying fish and meat are of major importance for the Chipe- wyan. They also pound the dry meat to make a powder; the caribou bones are used to make lard, and the bone marrow is extracted.

Sheltering activity (SHA) includes setting up their seasonal camps and maintaining their households. These activities can be broken down into the following sub-categories: mov- ing, house building, and house keeping. Build- ing log houses is an important activity in the fall. Although the Chipewyan can stay in canvas tents throughout the winter season, they tend to make log cabins for wintering.



48 Arctic Anthropology XVIII-1

Housekeeping is the daily activity of maintaining their shelters and includes house cleaning, laundering, water drawing, fire making and maintenance, dog feeding, acquisition of firewood, and chopping of firewood. During the winter season, housekeeping becomes one of the major activities for the Chipewyan. Not all housekeeping activities are exclusively women f s work .

Hide-preparing activity (HPA) involves mechanically and chemically softening ("tanning") the skin of animals. "The finished smoked hide of moose and caribou can be used as material for manufacturing various items (see next category). Because hide preparation is a significant activity in terms of time and energy, I have given it a separate category in this paper.

Hide preparation includes preparing moose- hide, caribou-hide, and fur-bearing animal- skins. The activities for the first two categories can be further divided into minor ones on the basis of their temporal sequence. Thus, moose-hide preparation includes a series of minor activities: soaking the hide in water, removal of hair, stretching the skin on a wooden framework, scraping the inside of the pelt, scraping the outside of the pelt, tanning, the first smoking, softening and drying, and the second smoking. The major difference between the moose-hide preparation and the caribou-hide preparation is in the use of a wooden frame when scraping the hide. Because the caribou hide is smaller and thinner than moose hide, the pelt does not have to be stretched on a wooden frame. The preparation of the skin of fur-bearing animals is different from the other hide-preparing activities in that the hairs remain on the pelt, and the

process of tanning and smoking is omitted. The dried pelts are mainly used as commercial items in fur-trading.

Manufacturing activity (MA) is the making of tools and equipment. It includes the follow-

ing: manufacturing items of leather or canvas or of a combination of the materials (e.g., making babiche, thread, skin bag containers, hunting bags, toboggan bags, gun cases, dog harnesses, mittens and gloves, moccasins, and showshoe netting) ; manufacturing activity on feathers (e.g., wadding feathers in blankets); manufacturing activity with beads; manufactur-

ing activity on wood (e.g., construction racks and smoke-tents, making wooden stretchers for

drying the skin of fur-bearing animals, making pup shelters, axe -han die s , toboggans, and snowshoe frameworks , etc . ) .

TIME-SPACE USE IN SUBSISTENCE ACTIVITIES

The time use of the Chipewyan subsistence activities in a year is related to the sea-

sonality of the activities. Five seasons in a year can be distinguished from the viewpoint of changes in subsistence activities. Season I is autumn (October and part of November), the time after the summer fishing but before the caribou hunting. This season may be further divided into season la and Ib. Season la is characterized by open-water fishing and small game hunting. Season Ib is characterized by dependence on preserved food and by ice fishing, since the time overlaps with the "freeze-up" period. But ice fishing is not reliable during this period. At the winter camp in 1975, for instance, open-water fishing was conducted until November 1. Ice fishing was begun on November k and sporadi- cally engaged in until December ik. But, during the two days, November 2 and 3, it was impossible to conduct either open-water fishing or ice fishing because of the unstable condition of the ice.

Season II is the early part of winter (No- vember and December). It is during this time that the Chipewyan conducts the extensive caribou hunting, trapping, and ice fishing.

Season III is the latter part of winter (January to March) when the Chipewyan uses the intensive caribou hunting season.

Season IV is the transitional period from winter to summer (April and May) when the ice breaks up. Open-water fishing in small streams and bays where the ice melts first is the major food getting activity. This season is also characterized by spring trapping, small -game hunting, and drying caribou meat.

Finally, season V is summer (June to September) when open-water fishing and moose hunting are of major importance.

Space use for each subsistence activity is examined in terms of the distance from the seasonal camps. On the basis of the empirical data which I obtained through direct observation and the individual tracing method, the

activity space may be divided into three zones:

out-of-camp area, near-camp area, and in-camp area. The out-of-camp area is the ground far- ther than one kilometer from the camp. The

near-camp area is the space within a distance of approximately one kilometer from the camp. This area is outside camp, but still within a short distance of it. The in-camp area is the ground where the abodes of the Chipewyan are set up. For the rest of this section, the

Chipewyan subsistence activities conducted in each space will be examined, using the data on autumn camp, winter camp, and summer camp.

The activities which are carried out in the

out-of-camp area are hunting, trapping, and

fishing. Hunting in this space includes both

hunting on foot or by boat and canoe and hunt-

ing on snowshoe s or by snowshoe with toboggan. In season I, autumn, the activity space covers

50 Km.2, and the farthest point of exploration



Ivimoto: Chipewyan Caribou Hunting System 49

is 10 Km. north of the camp. In the course of a hunting trip, the area is covered mainly on foot. In season II, early winter, the activity space expands to cover 1,200 Km. , the largest area of activity. The farthest points of exploration for this season are 11.0 Km. west, 36.8 Km. northwest, and 50.5 Km. north of the camp. Trapping and extensive caribou hunting are conducted in this area. In season III, late winter, the activity space is shifted from the northwestern to the northeastern part of the camp. This is due to the movement of the caribou population as well as to the aban- donment of trapping. In this season, the activity space covers UOO Km. , with the farthest point of exploration being 27.8 Km. northeast of the camp. Because the range of movement is restricted for both caribou and Chipewyan, the Chipewyan use the intensive method of caribou hunting.

Fishing activity is also conducted in the out-of-camp area. Space use for open- water fishing in season V, summer, by the members of the camp covers 800 Km. . The farthest points of exploration are 25.0 Km. northwest, 10.3 Km. southeast, 17.8 Km. southwest, and U.8 Km. northwest of the camp. It should be noted, however, that the people transport their catches to the Wollaston Lake settlement, which is located 3^.0 Km. south of the summer camp. Although summer- fishing activity is conducted in the out-of-camp area, fishing in the season of autumn, la, is carried out in the near-camp area; that is, the fish nets are set at a distance of between 200 and 1,000 m. from the fall camp. Ice fishing in seasons la and Ib is carried out in front of the winter camp with the distance of the fishing spots being 50 to 200 m. from the camp. But ice fishing can also be conducted in the out-of- camp area. In this case, the fish nets are set 10 Km. north of the winter camp enroute to hunting and trapping areas. Ice fishing is also conducted at the temporary hunting- trapping camp in order to supply the dogs with food.

Trapping is done in the out-of-camp area, but small-scale trapping can be conducted in the near-camp area. In this case, the traps are set and checked on foot. The area is used particularly in autumn (i), when the dog team and toboggan cannot be employed as transportation. When trapping is combined with hunting, the space for this activity expands to the out-of-camp area. But, when trapping is combined with gathering, in season I, the activity space remains in the near-camp area. So, hunting activity is always conducted in the out-of-camp area, while trapping and fishing may be carried out in either the out- of-camp area or the near-camp area.

Other activities which are carried out in the near-camp area include collecting of spruce

twigs, used as floors in tents and cabins, and gathering firewood. For firewood, the members of the winter camp exploited the "forest fire area", which was located 300 to 500 m. from the camp. They used dog teams and toboggans to transport the firewood over the snow during seasons II and III (winter). In the summer camp, firewood was collected from around the camping ground. Larch (the material for smoking moose hide and caribou hide) is also obtained in the near-camp area, although hide smoking itself is done at the camp. Spruce for constructing racks, smoke-tent poles, and log cabins came from around the camping ground, too. However, manufacturing activities using these materials are carried out at the camp. So, the in-camp area is used for food processing, hide preparing, sheltering, and manufacturing.

THE STRUCTURE OF ACTIVITY SYSTEMS

In this section, the relationships between activities of individuals and the population as a whole will be examined in terms of individual variations and the structuring principles of the total activity system. The three major principles for structuring systems are: l) the temporal sequence of activities, 2) the allocation of activities, and 3) the combination of activities. The temporal sequence is the succession of activities that follow one after the other through time. They form a series which result in a completed product. The end of one kind of activity pre- sents a starting point for the next. The com- pletion of the two different activities makes the third kind possible, and so on. Thus, from the point of view of an activity system, the consecutive activities have a temporal relationship.

The allocation of activities is the divid- ing of the different kinds of activities among members of a population. Some activities are allocated to the same individual as a set. Frequently, an individual will carry out various activities at the same place, and at times he will conduct various activities simultaneously, i.e., at the same time and place. These phenomena are referred to here as the combination of activities. Using speci- fic data I will describe how the allocation and the combination of activities complement each other in the structure of the activity systems of the population and how they relate to time-space use in the Chipewyan subsistence activities.

Temporal Sequence of Activities:

Among the major categories of the Chipewyan subsistence activities, the food-processing



¿0 Arctic Anthropology XVIII- 1

activity occurs in temporal succession after food-getting activity. The preservation of caribou meat (i.e., the production of dry meat) is undertaken after a successful caribou hunt. And the drying of fish is done after successful fishing. In early winter (il), when the Chipewyan begin to hunt caribou, the preserving of caribou meat starts, and it con- tinues in late winter and the transition to summer. Especially in this transitional season (IV), dry meat is intensively produced in order to cache it for the next season when caribou is not available. A similar phenomenon is observed in early autumn (la) with respect to the production of dry fish as a subsistence strategy to overcome the dis- continuity of fishing activity due to the "freeze up" during season late autumn (ib).

Food getting is also followed by hide preparation, since the former activity produces the raw material for the latter. Manufacturing activities on leather, feather, and bone occur in temporal succession after hide preparation. Manufacturing activity with beads follows the making of mittens, gloves, and moccasins. The data on time use for food-getting activity (hunting for caribou and moose), hide-preparing activity, and manufacturing activity in seasons I and II show the temporal sequence of the following activities: from moose hunting to moose-hide preparation; from caribou hunting to caribou-hide preparation; from hide preparation to manufacturing on leather. It should be noted that manufacturing activities are not only preceded by food-getting activity, but they are also followed by such activity, i.e., the tools and equipment are used in food ac-

quisition. For instance, the items manufactured in autumn (i) (e.g., skin bags to hold

dry meat, hunting bags, toboggan bags, gun cases, dog harnesses, mittens, gloves, moccasins, and repaired toboggans) are used for the hunting-trapping activities early and late winter, in seasons II and III.

There is also a temporal sequence in the sub-categories of hide preparing. The tanned caribou skins from the previous season are first used for manufacturing various items.

They are softened and smoked and then made into a final product. But after the first caribou come into the camp, the new caribou hides are

processed. First, there is hair cutting and

scraping. Then the hides are stored until late winter (ill) when preparation and treatment resumes. In this season, all stages of caribou hide-preparing activities can be observed: the cutting of the hair, the scraping of the inside and outside of the skin, tanning, softening, and smoking.

On the basis of such data, we can see that the Chipewyan subsistence activities constitute a temporal sequence from food-getting activity to food-processing activity and

from food- (and/or material-) getting activity to hide-preparing activity, to manufacturing activity.

Allocation and Combination of Activities:

Time use in subsistence activities by individuals is shown in Figure 1. The period of investigation was 68 days, from October 10 to December 15, which corresponds to autumn and early winter, seasons la, Ib and II. The nine individuals were the total population of a winter camp. Data on time use were obtained for the following activities: hunting and

trapping or a combination of hunting and trapping, gathering, fishing, food processing, hide preparing, and manufacturing.

The individuals numbered 101 to 105 are the members of domestic unit Z-101 (see note 2), no. 101 (husband, age 71 in 1975), no. 102

(wife, age 71), no. 103 (adopted son, originally no. 102 !s daughter1 s son, age 15), no. lOU

(adopted son, originally no. 102 fs son's son =

no. 301fs son, age 6), no. 105 (he belonged to domestic unit Z-10U which was not in this winter camp, but he participated as a member of the domestic unit Z-101 when he was in the

camp; no. 102 !s daughter's son = elder brother of no. 103, age 17). Individual no. 201 (age 30) is a husband from domestic unit Z-102; the rest of the members of his domestic unit (i.e., wife, two sons, and a daughter), did not ac-

company him to the winter camp in 1975. His wife is originally an adopted daughter of individual no. 102 (thus no. 102 is no. 201 fs wife's adopted mother). Individual no. 301 is a husband from domestic unit Z-103 (age 36), and he is also a son of individual no. 102.

(Individual no. 101 is his step-father.) Individual no. 302 (age 2k) is his wife, and individual no. 303 (age k) is their daughter. As noted before, their first son (no. 10U) was

adopted into the domestic unit Z-101. In Figure 1, the males are shown on the left side in order of age, and the females are shown on the right in order of age.

We can see that the Chipewyan1 s allocation of activities by sex is as follows. Hunting and trapping are predominantly male activities. However, females also trapped in combination with gathering. Gathering, on the other hand, is predominantly a female activity, although it can also be engaged in by male members. Both males and females participate in fishing, but

open-water fishing is conducted primarily by males. The females participate in ice fishing when the males are on caribou hunting trips. Although the initial setting of the net under the ice is done by the males, the females check the net and transport the catches to the camp. Food processing, which includes food preparing and food preserving, is predominantly a female



Ir imo to: Chipewyan Caribou Hunting System 51

Figure 1. Time use for activities by individuals for the period September 30 to December 15, 1975 (Seasons la, Ib, II ).

HTA: Hunting and/or trapping activity GA: Gathering activity FA: Fishing activity FPA: Food processing activity

KEY

HPA: Hide preparing activity MA.- 1: Manufacturing on skin, feather and

bone MA-2: Manufacturing on wood

Figure 2. Time use for activities by individuals for the period March 3 to Ü, 1976 (Season III'

FGA: Food getting activity FPA: Food processing activity HPA: Hide preparing activity

KEY

SHA: Sheltering activity MA-1: Manufacturing on skin, feather and bone MA-2: Manufacturing on wood



52 . Arctic Anthropology XVIII- 1

activity. I did, however, observe one of the males working at drying meat for a few hours when his wife had a large quantity of caribou meat to process. The males know how to preserve fish and meat, but do not devote as much time to food processing as do the females. Hide preparation is a predominantly female activity, but the wooden frame is made by the males. All aspects of hide-preparing activities can be done solely by females; however, I observed a male Chipewyan helping his wife stretch moose hide on the frame, and I observed the husband of domestic unit Z-103 (individual no. 301 ) assisting in the scraping of the inside of a moose hide. Housekeeping activities, including house cleaning, laundering, water drawing, fire-generating, and dog-feeding are done by women; the initial making of a fire and acquisition of firewood are mainly male activities. I did notice one female gathering firewood by dog team, but it is not common to see a female Chipewyan driving a dog team. In this case the woman claimed that she had learned to haul wood by dog team in her youth, because her father had been lazy. Although both males and females are capable of chopping firewood, males do so when they are in the camp. Manu- facturing on leather, feather, and bone is done mainly by women, while manufacturing on wood is done mainly by men. However, some wooden constructions, such as smoke tents and pup shelters, are made by women, and the males make dog harnesses, which is categorized as manufacturing on leather. The bead work is done by females.

The data on time use for subsistence activities in late winter (season III) are presented in Figure 2. This is a record of activities over a 12-day period from March 3 to March lk , 1976. The seven members who participated in wintering activities at the camp during this season are the subjects. The members include individuals nos. 101, 102, 103, and lOU of domestic unit Z-101 and nos. 301, 302, and 303 of domestic unit Z-103. In- dividual no. 201 of domestic unit Z-102 with- drew from the winter camp for this period. Also, the visiting member, no. 105, who ap- peared in the previous data, left the camp, and so he is not included.

The allocation of activities in this season are as follows. Hunting arid trapping are male-dominated activities. However, one female trapped hare near the camp, setting and check- ing the traps while gathering firewood. One of the males was observed doing the same. The appearance of small scale, sporadic trapping activities in this season is worth noting, since the large-scale trapping which is combined with the extensive caribou hunting in early winter (il) does not occur in late winter (III).

Figure 2 shows no time use for hunting by

individual no. 101 because while his hunting partner (no. 103) was out of camp hunting caribou, he remained in camp manufacturing snowshoes. Individual no. 101 had initiated caribou hunting during the early part of season III, but because he and individual no. 102 (an adopted son of no. 101 ) were partners in hunting (that is, they drove a single toboggan pulled by one dog team), individual no. 101 could devote his time to making snowshoes while no. 103 went to hunt caribou in the latter part of the season. Individual no. 103 learned to drive the dog team and to hunt caribou from no. 101. When individual no. 101 concluded that no. 103 was capable of kill- ing caribou, he allowed him to use his dog team and toboggan. This phenomenon demon- strates the allocation of activities by age: no. 101 at the age of 71 made snowshoes while no. 103 at the age of 15 conducted a caribou hunt. This point will also be discussed from the viewpoint of space use of activities.

Food-processing activity in late winter (III) is mainly a female activity, as was true in seasons I and II. Similarly, hide preparation is a predominantly female activity. Except for the smoking of the caribou hide, the sub-activities of hide preparation are conducted in each domestic unit. To smoke the hides, individuals no. 102 (of domestic unit Z-101 ) and no. 302 (of domestic unit Z-103) worked cooperatively; that is, they brought their scraped hides together and smoked them over the same fire. During this cooperative activity, sub-activities were allocated: the sewing of caribou hides into the tubes before being smoked was done by no. 101, while the dry larch was collected and chopped by no. 302. The procedure of putting moss on the

burning larch to produce smoke and the

techniques of hanging caribou hides over the

smoking wood were taught by no. 102 to no. 302. The same phenomenon was observed in the

preparation of moose hide in autumn (i) and

early winter (il) when no. 302 learned the

technique for scraping moose hide, although she had some previous experience. While no. 102 and no. 302 scraped moose hide together, no. 102 taught no. 302 about the varying thickness of different parts of the moose hide and showed her where special care had to be taken in the scraping process. In fact, no. 102 advised no. 302 about these matters after the latter had torn the thin part of the hide with her iron scraper due to her lack of skill. Similarly, during the process of sof-

tening the moose hide, no. 302 performed the

activity under the supervision of no. 102. The softening of hide requires strength and

endurance, so no. 102 avoided this heavy task, watching and giving suggestions to no. 302 instead.

On the basis of the observations described




above, two points can be made. The first is that minor activities are allocated according to age in the category of hide preparation. Individual no. 102 at the age of 71 conducted those activities which required more knowledge and experience, while individual no. 302 at the age of 2k carried out the heavier tasks which required more physical strength but less skill. The other point is that the knowledge and the skills in particular activities were transmitted during a cooperative undertaking.

Some housekeeping activities, including the drawing of water, chopping of firewood, and generating of fire could be done by Chipewyan boys if they are available in the domestic unit. Chipewyan girls also participate in these everyday housekeeping activities. In summer camps children over the age of six frequently got water. The Chipewyan girls above 15 years old normally helped in house cleaning and laundering. Both boys and girls participated intensively in housekeeping activities.

Manufacturing activity shown in Figure 2, includes the making of babiche, mittens, gloves, and snowshoes. The allocation of activity by sex was that the men made the snowshoe frame, while the women made babiche, mittens , gloves , and snowshoe netting so that snowshoe making involved the allocation of sub-activities was also observed. The cooperation of individuals nos. 101 and 102 in the domestic unit Z-101 (no. 101 is the husband of no. 102) is significant.

It is interesting to note the time use in the making of snowshoes by individual no. 103, a 15-year-old boy. He tried to make a pair of small snowshoes for his younger brother. It was his first attempt, and he was unsuccessful because he did not judge the flexibility of the frame material, which broke as he tried to bend it. Having gotten more material, he started a second trial. Individual no. 101 (no. 103 !s stepfather) did not give him much advice; no. 103 watched no. 101 and tried to follow his example. Other people, including no. 102 (no. 103 fs adopted mother = no. 103 !s mother's mother) encouraged and advised him.

The incident shows that in learning manufacturing skills the elder Chipewyan demon- strates techniques, but the younger Chipewyan learns them only through his own activities. Snowshoe making is effectively conducted by senior Chipewyan, but in learning and train- ing, the younger Chipewyan also contributes time.

As explained earlier, activities are allocated to different individuals on the basis of age and sex. Various categories of activities can be conducted at the same place by the same individual and some activities can be carried out simultaneously by the same individual in terms of time and space. This strategic arrangements of activities is

denoted by the term "combination of activities" For food-getting activity in seasons autumn (i) and early winter (il), the following combination of activities are noted: hunting and trapping, gathering and trapping, hunting and fishing, hunting and retrieving a cache from a distance from the camp. The time use for these combined activities constitutes 72.3$ of the total time use of 1,066 hours for food- getting activities. The space use of these activities will be examined in detail in the rest of this section.

Among the food-getting activities ¿ hunting is frequently combined with trapping in seasons I and II when the Chipewyan conduct extensive caribou hunting with dog teams. In this period, hunting and trapping can be simultaneously carried out in terms of time and space; that is, the potential caribou hunting ground and the trapping area for fur -bearing animals overlap. The Chipewyan utilize the out-of-camp area for both activities. On hunt ing-trapp ing excursions, they hunt caribou when they encounter the game.. But when no caribou are seen, they may obtain some products from their trapping. The same strategy occurs in hunting-fishing and in hunting-cache retrieving.

Prior to the hunting trips, the Chipewyan hunters plan to conduct other activities in the same area. As noted earlier, the combination of various kinds of activities with hunting is based on the character of the extensive hunting method in this period, i.e., on the fact that this type of caribou hunting is unpredictable. Production from trapping, fishing, and retrieving caches can compensate for an unsuccessful hunt.

Caribou hunting in late winter (ill) (Figure 2) is not combined with other kinds of activities. Since the Chipewyan use the intensive caribou hunting method in this season when a particular caribou herd can be tracked down on snowshoes, the time is totally devoted to the hunting activity itself.

Female members of the camp also combine activities. Gathering is combined with trapping. As the individual gathers wild berries, she sets and checks traps for squirrel. This small-scale trapping is conducted in the near- camp area. Women also combine the caring for children with other activities in the camp. There were two children in the winter camp (individual no. IOU and no. 303) who played together while other members of the camp, particularly the females (individuals no. 102 and 302), watched to en- sure that they did not go far from the camping area. In time use the caring activities of feeding, changing clothes, and helping with toileting largely overlapped with other activities conducted by the female members in the in-camp area, e.g., food processing, hide preparation, sheltering, and manufacturing.



54 Arctic Anthropology XVIII- 1

Figure 3. Chipewyan caribou hunting system in relation to temporal sequence of activities , allocation of activities, and space use of activities.

NOTES: l) Material for manufacturing on wood (MA-2) is obtained in near-camp area. 2) Food processing activity (FPA) is followed by the activity of consumption.

CHIPEWYAN CARIBOU HUNTING SYSTEM

The relationships between the temporal sequence of the Chipewyan subsistence activities and the allocation and the combination of activities are shown in Figure 3, which dia- grams the Chipewyan caribou hunting system. The space use and the sex of participants in activities are also indicated in this figure. The figure shows that the initial part of the sequence of activities, food getting activity (FGA), is predominantly carried out by males. Although trapping activity (TA) and fishing activity (FA) can be done by either males or females (if the activity space is in the near- camp area), and although gathering activity (GA) is done mainly by females, hunting activity (HA) is exclusively done by males. Hide-preparing activity (HPA) and food- processing activity (FPA), which follow food- getting activity, are female-dominated activities. The last process in the temporal sequence, manufacturing activity (MA), is done by both males and females, who allocate the minor activities on the basis of the materials and the techniques used in each activity; that is, leather, feather, and bone work (MA-l) are mainly female activities, while manufacturing

on wood (MA-2) is solely a male activity. In the category of food-processing (FPA) , food preservation can be followed by food preparation if the preserved food (e.g., dried fish) needs to be cooked before consumption. But, as noted earlier, manufactured items are used in food (and material) acquisition. So there is a continuing cycle.

The data presented show that the allocation and the combination of activities by age and sex are related to the space use of activities. The activities in the out-of-camp area are conducted by males; the activities in the in- camp area are done mainly by females (though some manufacturing activities can be conducted by males at the camp). In the near-camp area, both males and females participate in their subsistence activities. The Chipewyan also combine different categories of activities in terms of time and space, e.g., the extensive method of caribou hunting with other activities in the out-of-camp area is characteristic of males, while the combination of child caring and other activities in the in-camp area is characteristic for women. We have also noted that the age factor contributes to the space use of activities. The Chipewyan children (individuals no. lOU [6 years old] and no. 303




[h years old]) stayed at the camping area under the supervision of the adult members. But individual no. 102 (a 15-year-old Chipewyan boy) conducted small scale trapping in the near-camp area. He also accompanied his adopted father (individual no. 101, 71 years old) for hunting and trapping in the out-of- camp area during seasons I and II. But in season III, after a successful kill of caribou by himself, he was allowed to use his adopted father fs dog team for his own caribou hunting excursions in the out-of-camp area, while individual no. 101 participated in manufacturing at the camp. The male Chipewyan expands his activity space in accordance with his age from the in-camp and near-camp areas to the out- of-camp area, while the space use for the activities of the female Chipewyan is restricted to the in-camp and near-camp areas.

As a result, the sex of the participants in each activity in the temporal sequence changes from male to female, and then returns to male. Similarly, the space use of activities in this sequence alternates from the out-of-camp area to the in-camp area and then again to the out-of-camp area.

It is interesting that the near-camp area is used by both males and females. This area is also a transitional zone for the young Chipewyan men as they learn techniques and skills for food acquisition. For the women, the area provides security in obtaining food when the Chipewyan men are absent from the camp for their hunting expeditions.

Thus, the various categories of the Chipewyan subsistence activities are organized into a system of activities on the basis of the principles of the temporal sequence of activities, allocation and combination of activities by age and sex, and time-space use of activities. This system of activities may be called the Chipewyan caribou hunting system.

Given these results, I conclude that an ecological method, such as presented in this paper, is an effective means to investigate human activity systems in the framework of man-nature relationships.

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the chipewyan caribou hunting system

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