The transformation of Bigfoot: maleness, power, and belief among the Chipewyan

Sharp, Henry S.

Book

The transformation of Bigfoot: maleness, power, and belief among the Chipewyan

Smithsonian Institution Press • Washington, D.C. • Published In 1988 • Pages:

By: Sharp, Henry S..

Abstract
Sharp presents a microsociological study of power in interpersonal relations within a single kin group of Chipewyan Indians living in a bush camp in the Northwest Territories of Canada. This study is based primarily on the author's field work during the spring and summer of 1975, further supplemented by data which he gathered on this subject group during brief earlier contacts with them in the period of 1968-1974, and again in 1977 and 1983. The theoretical issues under discussion in this work deal with the general nature of power in Chipewyan society, the relationship between symbolic forms -- INKOZE (supernatural knowledge and/or power), and beliefs about the 'bushman' (frequently referred to as 'Bigfoot' or 'Sasquatch) -- as a means of gender regulation, and finally the effects of Western concepts of 'belief' and 'rationality' as confounding variables in the analysis of Chipewyan thought and action (p. xii). In the exposition of these issues Sharp provides some supplemental information on various economic activities, particularly hunting and fishing, the rigors of travel in the region, family relationships, food preservation techniques, the preparation of animal skins, and biographical information on various members of his study group. The author fully participated in many aspects of the native economy, and much of the source deals with his travels and his personal relationship to the Chipewyan population.

Culture summary

Acculturation and culture contact

General character of religion

Spirits and gods

Sacred objects and places

Chipewyans

HRAF PubDate

2000