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Traditional Subsistence Activities and Change

  • Marie-Jeanne S. Royer
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Part of the SpringerBriefs in Climate Studies book series (BRIEFSCLIMATE)

Abstract

This chapter details a case study undertaken between 2008 and 2013 which had two objectives. The first was to identify the impacts of climate change in the James Bay territory’s environment and the perception of these changes by the local population. The second was to undertake a research which integrated both Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and scientific knowledge. A number of scientific disciplines are brought together here including history, anthropology, ecology and both physical and human geography. This section details the methodology which was used as well as the results. It tries to answer the questions: What repercussions is global climate change having on local meteorological and climatic conditions and how is this affecting the local way of life? The starting hypothesis for this research was that adult members of the Cree Trappers’ Association (CTA) had noticed changes on the local environment and thus on traditional subsistence activities and that these perceptions varied based on where their communities were located. However it is important to keep in mind that these changes do not represent the only challenges that the Cree faced. Since the 1970s the Cree are also confronted to a rapidly changing social context.

Keywords

James Bay territory Cree Traditional subsistence activities Inland ice Meteorological conditions 
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© The Author(s) 2016

Authors and Affiliations

  • Marie-Jeanne S. Royer
    • 1
  1. 1.Geography and Earth Sciences (DGES)Aberystwyth UniversityAberystwythUK

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