Tracks that Matter: On Space, Place and Hare Indian Ethnobiology with special reference to the Marten (Martes americana)

摘要

The empirical setting and context for this contribution is the Hare Indian land in the Northwest Territories in Canada. The author opposes a purely taxonomic approach to ethnobiology. The main focus is on the Hare Indian trappers' knowledge about prey animals, most notably the marten. This knowledge is based on experiences involving both practical and emotional engagement as well as narrative communication. It is argued that this knowledge is converted to actual trapping strategies. The same knowledge also has implications for identity management, because it is regarded as a prerequisite in order to feel at home in a Hare Indian Space, and it is also linked to how places are invested with emotion. Thus the trappers' behavior and action is not only invested with, but also motivated by, emotion. Based on empirical information, it is suggested that feelings about the nature of nature and what it contains are generated by how associations are tied to clusters of significant observations and ideas.