Jarvenpa, R. & Brumbach, H. J. Occupational Status, Ethnicity, and Ecology: Métis Cree Adaptations in a Canadian Trading Frontier.
Document Type: Journal Articles (2)
Date of Document(s): 1985
Date Range Start : early 1820s
Date Range End: 1919
Indexing Progress: Finished
Date Range Start : early 1820s
Date Range End: 1919
Indexing Progress: Finished
Primary or Secondary Source: Secondary Source
Author: Jarvenpa, R. & Brumbach, H. J.
Title: Occupational Status, Ethnicity, and Ecology: Métis Cree Adaptations in a Canadian Trading Frontier.
Journal Title: From Human Ecology
Date of Publication: 1985
Volume ID: 13
Issue ID: 3
Location in Work: 309-329
ISBN/ISSN: 0300-7839/85/0900-0309
Notes: paper and electronic copy/journal article
Abstract: This paper develops an analytical method for assessing the interplay of economic behavior and ecological energetics among the Metis Cree, off-spring of Cree Indian-European unions in north-central Canada. Business account-book analysis provides unique insights into the production and exchnage behavior of individual laborers and their families during the twilight of the fur trade in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The evidence generally supports conventional interpretations of the subarctic Metis as economically and socially intermediate between Indian hunting bands and the Euro-Canadian managerial class. However, fine-grained account-book analysis also reveals that this general adaptation exhibited highly variable coping strategies, forming a continuum in work regimens and level of integration into trading-company hierarchies. A focus on individual variability reflects the growing interest among ecological anthropologists in individual strategy, theories of choice, and actor-based decision models.
Keywords: fur production and exchange; business account-book analysis; subarctic Metis society; cultural-occupational stratification
Title: Occupational Status, Ethnicity, and Ecology: Métis Cree Adaptations in a Canadian Trading Frontier.
Journal Title: From Human Ecology
Date of Publication: 1985
Volume ID: 13
Issue ID: 3
Location in Work: 309-329
ISBN/ISSN: 0300-7839/85/0900-0309
Notes: paper and electronic copy/journal article
Abstract: This paper develops an analytical method for assessing the interplay of economic behavior and ecological energetics among the Metis Cree, off-spring of Cree Indian-European unions in north-central Canada. Business account-book analysis provides unique insights into the production and exchnage behavior of individual laborers and their families during the twilight of the fur trade in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The evidence generally supports conventional interpretations of the subarctic Metis as economically and socially intermediate between Indian hunting bands and the Euro-Canadian managerial class. However, fine-grained account-book analysis also reveals that this general adaptation exhibited highly variable coping strategies, forming a continuum in work regimens and level of integration into trading-company hierarchies. A focus on individual variability reflects the growing interest among ecological anthropologists in individual strategy, theories of choice, and actor-based decision models.
Keywords: fur production and exchange; business account-book analysis; subarctic Metis society; cultural-occupational stratification