Hunting and History in Northern B.C

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‘But We Are Still Native People’: Talking about Hunting and History in Northern Athapaskan Village

by Thomas McIlwraith Ph.D

Abstract:

My dissertation is a study of hunting in the northern Athapaskan village of Iskut, British Columbia, Canada. Hunting serves as a cultural system uniting Iskut people in a place where ethnic identity is not as easy to identify as outsiders might expect. Moreover, non-natives sometimes suggest that Iskut hunting activities reflect cultural and economic poverty. Still, interest in Iskut knowledge about animals and the land persists in and outside of Iskut. Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) is in demand in bureaucratic settings, for example, but Iskut knowledge about food and animals resists easy interpretation. I turn to the ‘ethnography of speaking’ as a way of learning about hunting and of moving beyond the fact-finding often associated with bureaucratic TEK projects. I attend to hunting stories and group history to understand why Iskut people talk about hunting with such passion. Studying talk of hunting and its etiquette reveals a wide range of lived experiences and practices at Iskut Village. It shows how Iskut people draw their history into contemporary resource conflicts. And, it illustrates a cultural system in a place where different family histories exist.

Read More (PDF): Here
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2005 Moratorium Declaration

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Tahltan Moratorium Heats Up The Northwest

These words, in a statement issued by the Elders of the Tahltan Nation last week, have sparked controversy in BC's northwest, where big energy companies like Shell thought they were going to get a virtually free ride, thanks to agreements they were negotiating privately with some members of the Tahltan who lacked the authority to speak for the Nation's traditional territory.

The story is another example of the BC government being only too willing to avoid its consultation responsibilities, handing them off to companies that claim they have agreements with the First Nations. As the recent Haida case makes clear, the government has a much greater responsibility than that. Its failure to properly consult and accommodate the Tahltan people has forced the Elders to take this unusual step.

As recent media coverage such as today's Tyee story indicates, the Tahltan Elders are becoming active. They have occupied the Telegraph Creek band office, making the point that the chief elected under the Indian Act, whose authority only extends to the boundary of the Indian Reserve, is not acting on behalf of the people. And they've declared a moratorium on development until proper consultation and accommodation can begin. Their statement puts all the companies pushing major development proects in the region on notice that they don't have the legal right to start operations.

Read More Here: Dogwood Initiative 

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The Sociality of Water

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As concerns over climate change intensify, anthropologists have emerged as key participants in conversations about water use. Such work is crucial not only to assess the implications of floods, droughts and water rights conflicts today, but also the ways in which water has always been a mediated resource, and how communities’ relationships with water might change in the future.

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The following commentary series focuses on water governance and management, examining water access and power relationships, development initiatives, water conservation and availability, water as commons and commodity, and emerging trends in sustainable water management.

John Wagner
Water Governance Today

Barbara Rose Johnston
Water, Culture and Power Negotiations at the UN

Antina von Schnitzler
Gauging Politics: Water, Commensuration and Citizenship in Post-Apartheid South Africa

Eleanor E Shoreman
Muddy Waters: Water Conservation and Environmental Ethics in the Mississippi Delta

Ashley Carse
Moral Economies of Water Management: Tensions in the Panama Canal Watershed

Jessica Cattelino
Citizenship and Nation in the Everglades

Carla Roncoli
Participatory Models and Exclusionary Frames in Water Management* More photos by Carla Roncoli related to this article are available on Flickr.

Kathryn Hicks, Nicole Fabricant and Carlos Revilla
The New Water Wars: Collective Action after Decentralization in El Alto, Bolivia

Nan Bress
The Water Spigot: Water Access, Safety and Perception Near the Ashokan Reservoir* More photos by Nan Bress related to this article are available on Flickr.

Simanti Dasgupta
Transactions in Transparency: Water, Market and Politics in the Indian Silicon Plateau


SOURCE: http://aaanet.org/publications/articles.cfm
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Still Strong

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BC should keep Shell’s gas drills out of the Sacred Headwaters for good: Skeena Swimmer

One year after the BC government put a moratorium on Shell’s coalbed methane drilling project in northern BC’s Sacred Headwaters, support for permanently protecting the area remains strong.

That’s what southern British Columbians are hearing this week from Ali Howard, the 33-year-old who in August became the first person to swim the length of the 610-kilometre Skeena River. Howard is in Vancouver and Victoria presenting a multimedia show of her trip.

“Our communities applauded the government’s move to put a drilling moratorium in place last year,” said Howard. “Now, with our province in the global spotlight, the BC government has the perfect opportunity to implement permanent safeguards for this remarkable area.”

The Sacred Headwaters is the shared birthplace of the Skeena, Nass and Stikine Rivers – three of British Columbia’s most important wild salmon rivers. Shell wants to drill over 1,000 coalbed methane gas wells in the Headwaters’ sensitive subalpine ecosystem, which residents fear will harm wildlife and salmon spawning habitat.

“Northwest residents have clearly demonstrated that they will not allow a project such as Shell’s to proceed under any circumstances,” said Shannon McPhail, executive director of the Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition. “Permanent safeguards for the Headwaters would be welcomed by a broad cross section of our communities.”

This is a message Howard heard many times over the course of her historic swim.

Read More: Here
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