James Bay Cree Indian Management and Moral Considerations of Fur bearers

This paper reviews recent research on the use and management of fur-bearer populations by contemporary James Bay Cree hunters, and on the continuities and changes in their traditional systems of knowledge, territoriality and wildlife management. How James Bay Cree hunters collect information and evaluate their traditional hunting knowledge is summarized, based on Cree statements. It is shown that traditional knowledge is based on many of the same indicators of the condition of game populations as are used by wildlife biologists. Data on actual Cree hunting practices are evaluated using data from the results of biological surveys, work diaries, and harvesting questionnaires. The importance of the Cree system of hunting territories, and of Cree conceptions of the moral bonds between men and animals, are emphasized. It is argued that the Cree pass on their hunting management knowledge through a continuation of the traditional cultural and territorial organization of hunting, an organization which has gone through historical change and threats to its continuity. The James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement (JBNQA) was intended to aid the Cree to reproduce this organization, and to manage the game populations more effectively. However recent threats to the continuity of these practices are noted in the post-JBNQA period.

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