Northern Hunting and Trapping Customs
[View]Clip Synopsis:
The Heritage Community Foundation, with the kind permission of Terry Garvin, is pleased to present this feature excerpt from the Bush Land People video.
The Dogrib, Chipewyan, and Cree Peoples who live in the boreal forest have developed different hunting and trapping customs to ensure their survival in the north.
Clip Transcription:
In northern border zones, they organize multi-family hunting groups because large scale, long-distance caribou hunting is a labour intensive activity requiring many hands. This is the practice of the Dogrib People of Fort Rae, Northwest Territories. Further south, the Cree and Chipewyan custom is to work traplines in single family units, as in the case of Louise and Raphael Cree, at Clearwater River, Alberta.
Normally, men hunt and fish while women are responsible for horticulture, food, and clothing production. Katy Sanderson and her sister Noreen Cardinal were top-notch hunters and trappers. Katy has continued to work her trapline after the death of her husband George in 1973.
