BARRIERS TO WILDLIFE HARVESTING AMONG ABORIGINAL COMMUNITIES IN CANADA AND ALASKA

Abstract

A large body of research confirms that access to wildlife resources can reduce conditions of food insecurity and health-related illness among Aboriginal peoples in Canada and Alaska. This thesis is premised on the belief that food insecurity is experienced unevenly among individuals, households, and communities, and is socially and economically differentiated within Aboriginal communities. This premise was tested through research that was conducted in Alaska, Alberta, Nunavik, and Nunatsiavut, and included an analysis of 2,463 household harvesting surveys. The purpose of this research was to examine the barriers that constrain Aboriginal households from harvesting wildlife resources to their desired extent. The objectives were to quantify the principle barriers that affect wildlife harvesting, examine how those barriers are experienced at various levels (e.g. age and gender) within the regions, and contribute to a more informed understanding of Aboriginal food security. The results demonstrate that the constraints experienced by Aboriginal peoples in Canada and Alaska in accessing wildfoods are experienced differently depending on region, community, age, gender, and the political environment in which wildlife harvesting occurs. These findings underscore the diversity of factors that can influence one’s access to wildlife resources, and one’s chance of being food insecure. These findings will contribute to a more informed understanding of Aboriginal food security in the Arctic and Sub-Arctic Regions of North America and will lead to more flexible policies that can account for the social, economic and political diversity in which Aboriginal food insecurity is experienced.