Hunting Caribou

Henry S. Sharp has been a professor at the University of Victoria and Simon Fraser University in Canada and a former scholar-in-residence at the University of Virginia and is now semi-retired. He is the author of Loon: Memory, Meaning, and Reality in a Northern Dene Community (Nebraska, 2001), winner of the Victor Turner Prize from the Society for Humanistic Anthropology, and The Transformation of Bigfoot: Maleness, Power, and Belief among the Chipewyan. Karyn Sharp is an adjunct professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Northern British Columbia and is a partner in Dancing Raven, a consulting company based in Prince George, British Columbia. Her articles have appeared in The Answer Is Still No: Voices of Resistance 2014, WIREs: Climate Change 2012, and The Midden.

List of Illustrations    
Acknowledgments    
Introduction    
Hunt 1. Caribou    
Text 1. Hunting and Predation    
Small Game. Native Mammals. Scale, Guns, and Freedom. Denésuliné Conceptualization of Hunting. Biology of Women as Hunters. Trust. Hunting Is the Easy Part.
Hunt 2. Moose    
Text 2. Food Storage    
Meat Distribution. In the Village. Food Storage in the Bush: Freezing, Drying, Smoking, Natural Refrigeration. Protecting Dried Meat. Drying Caribou Meat. Marrow and Boiling Bones for Grease.
Hunt 3. Caribou: Pursuit and Risk    
Text 3. Persistence in Hunting    
The Dangers of Moving through the Bush. Walking the Land. Dog Teams. Boats, Opportunistic Contact in Hunting.
Hunt 4. Caribou: Waiting for Prey    
Text 4. Weapons    
Muskets and Rifles. Accuracy. How Weapons Technology Altered Denésuliné Hunting. Women and Rifles. Social Changes from Changed Hunting Methods. Pursuit Hunting and Following Wounded Game.
Hunt 5. Caribou: Walking, Kill Locations, and Spoilage    
Text 5. Carrion and Scavengers    
The African Model. Consequences of Human Scavenging. An Anthropological Gender War. Eating the Dead. Snow Probes.
Hunt 6. Wolf    
Text 6. Camp Formation    
Pitching a Camp. Work Areas and Dog Beds. Area a Camp Occupies. Range of Day Trips. Marking the Land. Average Area Exploited by a Camp. Human Influence upon the Land.
Hunt 7. Moose: Hunting by Habitat    
Text 7. Summer Doldrums    
Inactivity. Problems with Making and Storing Dry Meat. Fish and Other Things. Choosing a Camp Location. Scars on the Land.
Hunt 8. Caribou: Long-Distance Hunting    
Text 8. Transporting Meat    
Walking the Land. Storing Meat in Lakes.
Interlude 1. Land Use and the Terrain at Foxholm Lake    
Hunt 9. Bear: Failed Hunt    
Text 9. Looking for Game    
The Use of High Ground. The Scale of Distance in Hunting. Time and Distance.
Hunt 10. Caribou: Calves    
Text 10. Hides    
Characteristics of Caribou Hide and Leather. Making and Working Caribou Hide. Time Window for Taking Caribou Hide. Parasites and Seasonality. Uses of Caribou Hide. The Need for Hides Modifies Hunting Priorities. Hunting the Megafauna.
Hunt 11. Jackfish    
Text 11. Women’s Labor    
Flexibility in the Sexual Division of Labor. Women’s Work and Social Status. Women’s Tasks and Shared Work. Raw Materials vs. Finished Products. The Balance of Temperaments.
Hunt 12. Bear: Stalking Prey    
Text 12. Prey Choices    
The Failure of Economic Analysis
Hunt 13. Missing Hunts    
Text 13. Shadows of the Past    
Geology, Rock, Ice, and Ground Cover. Permafrost, Drainage, and Ice Action. Change. How Long Is the Memory of Unused Technology? Clothing. The Generational Transmission of Knowledge.
Interlude 2. Wolves, Caribou, and Approaching Prey    
Hunt 14. Caribou: Caching in the Fall    
Text 14. Hunting from High Ground    
Prey Selection. Hunting with Spears.
Hunt 15. Caribou: Failed Hunt    
Text 15. A Puzzle    
How Past Hunters Hunted the Land. Conclusion.
Selected Bibliography    
Index