Appropriation et conservation des ressources alimentaires chez les Inuit de Kangiqsujuaq-Salluit, Quebec arctique: Perspective ethnoarcheologique (French text).

摘要

This ethnoarchaeological study investigates the appropriation of food resources among the Inuit of Kangigsujuaq-Salluit, Nunavik (Arctic Quebec). The study aims at understanding to what degree cultural materials reflect the subsistence strategies during episodes of crisis or affluence and how these cultural adaptations reflect more than mere adjustments to variations in the natural environment. To what extent the seasonal appropriation of food resources affects settlement patterns? Conversely, how do the human landscape and the actual distribution of camps and food caches influence the seasonal movement of hunters, the annual subsistence cycle and other aspects of Inuit culture?; The author offers two depictions of the region, its inhabitants and resources. The first uses archaeological methods with external and objective lenses. The second employs ethnogeographic knowledge and approaches by adopting the Inuit perspective. Following this, an interpretative summary provides an assessment of the results obtained in each field of inquiry. At this stage, the synthesis serves to verify the degree of conformity between archaeological data and ethnogeographic information and to propose a model useful for future investigations. For the analysis, the author uses data obtained during archaeological surveys and ethnographic interviews conducted between 1985 and 1995. Additional sources were examined to identify human activities at a finer temporal scale and define aspects of dietary patterns that cannot be deciphered with the sole aid of archaeological methods. These sources include Inuit place names, ethnoecological knowledge and reconstructed traditional Inuit diet. Data analysis focuses on types and dimensions of habitations and food caches, and the material remains of food procurement strategies, butchering practices, disposal of food refuse and food storage. The study deals with hundreds of habitations and storage features from a hundred sites discovered in contrasted ecological zone types: coastal shoreline and islands, estuaries and the hinterland. The results indicate major differences between coastal and interior adaptations. Winter habitats are primarily concentrated in a highly productive coastal sector. Summer habitats are more widely scattered in both coastal and interior settings. In the hinterland, they are generally associated with the shoreline of major lakes and rivers. Available information on food sharing, storage and provisions primarily refer to the Neo-Eskimo tradition (Thule and Inuit), presumably more complex than the preceding Palaeo-Eskimo tradition. However, it is concluded that these subsistence strategies were vital at all time periods and it is very likely that they were originally developed and used by Palaeo-Eskimo groups during the earliest phases of human occupation of the Arctic.