article

Subarctic Indian trappers and band society: the economics of male mobility

Human ecology5 (3)Published In 1977 • Pages: 223-259

By: Jarvenpa, Robert.

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
The spatial organization of economic production in contemporary subarctic Indian society is illustrated by an analysis of geographical mobility and commercial fur trapping among the English River Chipewyan of Patuanak, Saskatchewan. Quantitative comparison reveals the positive linear relationship between selected "performance" variables (numbers of animals captured and cash income) and "locational" variables (trapping area size, distances traveled between settlements and bush camps, and distances between neighboring trappers) for a population of 76 male trappers. At present [1970s], trapping performance varies positvely with trapping area size and linear distance from the largest settlement. Variable social adaptations in the trapping work force are in part the result of complex compromises and adjustments between traditional family-camp organizations and emerging all-male partnerships. However, the relationship between size and structure of trapping teams, degree of team interaction, and economic efficiency requires further investigation. Finally, the formal analysis of productivity is reappraised in terns of community definitions of trapping success (p. 223).
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Organization and analysis of results of research
Hunting and trapping
Settlement patterns
Real property
Income and demand
Transportation
Vehicles
Social relationships and groups
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
article
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Ethnologist
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
1971-1972, 1975
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
ca. 1900-1970s
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Patuanak Chipewyans, Upper Churchill River area, Saskatchewan, Canada
NotesAdditional notes
Robert Jarvenpa
Includes bibliographical references (p. 258-259)
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
72623826
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Chipewyan Indians