essay

Woman the hunter: ethnoarchaeological lessons from Chipewyan life-cycle dynamics

Women in prehistory : North America and MesoamericaPhiladelphiaPublished In 1997 • Pages: 17-32, 249-289

By: Brumbach, Hetty Jo, Jarvenpa, Robert.

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
Based on interviews, direct observations, and the interpretation of the archaeological record, this study presents an in-depth analysis of women as hunters in Chipewyan society. Contrary to the assumption "…that women in prehistory were 'immobilized' by pregnancy, lactation, and child care, and therefore needed to be left as a home base while the males ranged "freely and widely across the landscape' (p. 32), the authors demonstrate in this work that there is recent evidence to show that women did indeed have a significant role in hunting and although they did not kill large mammals as a rule or as frequently as did men, they were "…inextricably involved in the broader system, of provisioning through pursuit, harvesting, and processing of mammals, fish, and birds" (p. 21). One of the major conclusions of this study suggest that prior to European contact and even late into the historical period, Chipewyan women bore fewer children, took care of smaller families, and were fully integrated into a comprehensive range of hunting activities (p. 32).
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Information sources listed in other works
Theoretical orientation in research and its results
Composition of population
Birth statistics
Sociocultural trends
Division of labor by gender
Personal names
Grandparents and grandchildren
Miscellaneous government activities
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Chipewyans
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2000
RegionThe area the document pertains to
North America
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Arctic and Subarctic
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
essay
Evaluation
Creator TypesThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Archaeologist
Sociocultural Anthropologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
4: Excellent Secondary Data
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
John Beierle; 1999
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
1970s, 1992
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
late eighteenth - mid twentieth centuries
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Patuanak and Knee Lake, upper Churchill River area, Saskatchewan, Canada
NotesAdditional notes
Hetty Jo Brumbach and Robert Jarvenpa
Includes bibliographical references (p. 249-289)
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
96034559
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Chipewyan Indians