Slavey

North Americahunter-gatherers

Map
expand_more Description

The Slavey of western Canada inhabit a territory within the Mackenzie River drainage, roughly from the Fort Nelson, Hay and Peace rivers in the south to Great Bear River in the north. Traditionally, they were nomadic hunters and fishermen, organized into small, highly cooperative and mobile groups when game was dispersed, and coming together into gatherings of a few hundred or more when and where resources were concentrated, as during fish spawns. In either situation leadership was provisional and informal. With the collapse of the private fur trade early in the twentieth century, and increased government investments since then, by the 1990s they have come to reside year-round in small towns and communities, scheduling seasonal hunting, fishing, and trapping around local employment and schooling.

Identifier
Region
  • North America
Subregion
  • Arctic and Subarctic
Subsistence Type
  • hunter-gatherers
Samples
Countries
  • Canada