Subarctic Hunters - Research Paper Example

Subarctic Hunters Introduction The area occupied by the Subarctic people measures about five million square kilometres. About 75% of this land occurs on the Canadian Shield while the rest occurs in Alasaka. The environment in this region has seen the growth of many boreal coniferous forests or the taiga, together with a vast number of rivers and lakes. The area also has plateaus, mountains and Yukon lowlands. The extreme temperatures in the region has seen the winter temperatures fall as low as -400C while the summer temperatures rise as high as 300C (Pritzker 482). The Subarctic people use various strategies to cope up with the harsh climate and terrain. The Inland Tlingit people living in the Subarctic include the Carrier, Dene and Cree. While the Algonquin people occupy the east, the Athapaskan people occupy the west (Holly 10). Despite the slight variation in the culture and language of these groups, the Subarctic hunters generally have similarities in their lifestyles that sought to make them adapt to the harsh environment they lived in. Traditional Life Traditionally, the Subarctic people were hunters, though they also fished and gathered plants and berries. From an early age, boys were taught how to hunt as this would remain part of their daily activities for the rest of their lives. While men were involved in big-game hunting, women were mostly involved in snaring hare, fishing, processing hides and cutting and drying meat (Anthony 3). Bows and arrows were used in hunting together with other indigenous traps, deadfalls, snares and devices such as the pound and caribou drift fence. The thin distribution of wild animals, making them only available seasonally or locally contributed to the scarce population in the region estimated to have about 60,000 people. The Subarctic hunters had cultural concepts that appreciated both the need for personal competence and also the reliance on others and the need to put the group’s interest ahead of individual interests. Thus, personalities such as deference to others, self-control, reticence and emotionally undemonstrative styles of interaction were fostered according to O’Neil. The traditions of the Subarctic people associated illness with soul loss. Cures were therefore sought from shamans, women and men with strong spirit powers (Pritzker 483). Shamans also found lost things and foretold the future. Similarly, their religion had everyone believe in various natural powers. They fasted, held vigils and dreamt so as to attract guardian spirits to provide assistance. They respected nature, and food animals formed a critical component of ceremonialism and religion. Different groups had mythologies on feared malevolent supernatural beings. Clothing Consequent to their hunting, the Subarctic people used hides to make their clothing. Soft tanned hides, treated with animal brains, then hair removed through scrapping, provided the material used to make summer moccasins, shirts, coats and leggings. The Athapaskans from the Pacific drainage made highly ornamented summer slipover caribou skin tunic. This was dyed using porcupine quills, beads and dentalium. According to Holly, this shirt would at times be worn with moccasins and leggings (13). These Aboriginal people mostly wore light clothing and lit fires where they camped. Winters saw these Subarctic people make sleeping robes from strips of rabbit skin, twisted then woven together. The men were responsible for making snowshoes needed for their winter travels. Household Life The dwellings of the Subarctic people varied depending on the locally available materials and the traditions. Nonetheless, all these houses were designed to be lit and heated by a single fire. They could only accommodate not more than two families. The Athapaskans covered their conical shelters with hides, replaced with hemispherical or domed structures among the Han and Gwich’in of Yukon (Holly 17). Typically, these people lived in communities made up of between 25 and 30 people. Two or three generation of families made up of wife, husband and children lived within a local band. In these households, men were charged with hunting and fishing and also making hunting equipment such as toboggans, canoes and snowshoes for travelling. The women made clothes, gathered firewood and cooked, in addition to the occasional catching of smaller game and fish. Women giving birth were secluded. Because of the harsh conditions, few children survived and were named after it was certain that they would survive. Subsistence Activities The entire Subarctic falls to the north of native agriculture limits. Therefore, people depended on hunting and fishing for food. To a variable extent, they were also involved in gathering plant foods and berries (Anthony 3). Single species like caribou and moose were greatly depended on by many for their diets (Pritzker 483). Snares and shooting were used to catch smaller animals like hare, muskrat and beaver. Hooks, nets, weirs and traps were used for fishing. The coastal people relied on shellfish and sea mammals. O’Neil observes that the Subarctic hunters planted no crops and dogs were the only animals they domesticated. Dogs were useful as pets, watch-animals, hunting aids and even surplus food when need be. The economic roles among these people would be based on one’s gender and age. They often migrated depending on availability of resources. Social Dimension The harsh conditions to which the Subarctic hunters were exposed caused them to have small extended families made up of between 10 and 70 people. This was enough for their effective hunting and life maintenance. These bands were temporary and members could switch as they so wish. These bands could also come together temporarily, forming a regional band for ceremonial or hunting purposes. This could contain between 100 and 500 people (Pritzker 483). Couples got married in their teenage, say at between ages 13 and 14, after a one year courtship where the man lived with the woman’s family to prove his skills. Division of labour saw men involved in hunting, making hunting weapons and other instruments while women helped in building shelters, butchering and distributing the hunted animals, preparing hides and sewing clothes (Holly 14). The strict egalitarian ethos saw the people of the Subarctic base decisions on consensus. Furthermore, Smith documents that social control was upheld through fear of supernatural repercussions, gossip and need for cooperation. Material goods had to be shared among all members of a band. Therefore, sharing, hospitality and generosity were highly valued. Political Organisation The people of Subarctic had two levels of organisation: the regional band and the local band. A local band had between 2 and 12 extended families with the size varying between 2 and 75 people. Such a unit concentrated its economic activities around well defined areas and moved together. Periodically, these local bands would cooperatively exploit food resources thus forming regional units. These units varied in size depending on the need but had between 100 and 500 people (Pritzker 483). In bands, the adults, both men and women, were actively involved in making decisions. Those individuals and families that did not agree with such decision had the freedom to move to other bands or act on their own for some time. Due to the non-binding and flexible membership into such units, Smith observes that there was limited consistency on the people responsible for joint political and socio-economic decisions. People followed individuals who exhibited responsibility and leadership during specific tasks like war, communal hunting and trading. This gave such persons prestige and respect but did not extend beyond such specific tasks. Nonetheless, traders in fur established chiefs who had considerable powers to better control the population involved in trading posts. Outside the achieved leadership or kin organisation, there was no political structure. The coming of the Europeans however led to formation of composite bands. Conclusion The Subarctic is a region with gruelling environmental conditions. Therefore, the Subarctic hunters adapted their lifestyles for survival in this environment. They depended on hunting for food, with men involved in big-game hunting while women would be involved in catching smaller animals. They were also practiced fishing and gathering plants. From the hides of these animals, the women made appropriate clothing for the harsh environment. The Subarctic hunters lived in local bands for effective hunting and maintenance of their lives and would periodically form temporary objective regional bands. Due to the temporary nature of these bands, they had no structured political organisation. Sharing, hospitality and generosity were highly valued principles for the survival of the Subarctic hunters. Works Cited Anthony, R. “Animistic pragmatism and native ways of knowing: Adaptive Strategies for Overcoming the Struggle for Food in the Sub-Arctic.” International Journal of Circumpolar Health 72 (2013): 1 – 7. Web. 7 Feb. 2014. Holly, D. H. H. Jr. “Subarctic “Prehistory” in the Anthropological Imagination.” Arctic Anthropology 39.1 (2002): 10 – 26. O’Neil, Dennis. “Foraging.” 30 Oct. 2006. Web. 7 Feb. 2014 Pritzker, B. A Native American Encyclopaedia: History, Culture, and Peoples. Oxford, OX: Oxford UP, 2000. Print. Smith, C. R. “An Introduction to North America’s Native People: Subarctic Culture Area.” 9 Mar. 2000. 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