“We give them seaweed”: Social economic exchange and resilience in Northwestern North America

Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge

Volume 15, Issue 1, January 2016, Pages 5-15

Open Access

 (Article)

Turner, N.J. 

 

School of Environmental Studies, University of Victoria, PO BOX 1700 STN, Victoria, BC, Canada 

View references (41)

Abstract

First Peoples of Northwestern North America have a long tradition of exchange governed by formal and informal cultural institutions. Plants and botanical products have been a major component of this tradition. Not just economic transactions, the exchange systems were parts of a complex cultural economy that provided dietary diversity, more knowledge and technologies, opportunities for enhanced intergroup relationships, new beliefs and perspectives, and greater resilience in times of instability. These systems changed dramatically with the arrival of Europeans into the region, with new products being incorporated. Ultimately, however, the cultural economy of First Peoples diminished as they acculturated into mainstream society and into the globalized, industrialized economy. Nevertheless, elements of the original cultural economy exist to the present day. Three major components of these systems include: a philosophy of mutual reciprocity; differing needs and access to different resources and/or skills by individuals and communities; and opportunities for interaction and communication where exchange can occur in culturally appropriate ways. Through helping to create and maintain these conditions, all of society can provide meaningful support for First Nations’ cultural renewal and well-being. © 2015, National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources (NISCAIR). All rights reserved.

Author keywords

Indigenous cultures; Informal economy; Plant resources; Reciprocity; Trading

Indexed keywords

EMTREE medical terms: diet; economic aspect; European; human; North America; philosophy; skill; wellbeing

ISSN: 09725938Source Type: Journal Original language: English

Document Type: Article

Publisher: National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources (NISCAIR)

References (41)

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  2

  Turner, N.J.

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  3

  Turner, N.J., Clifton, H.

  The forest and the seaweed: Gitga'at seaweed, traditional ecological knowledge, and community survival
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  Turner, N.J., Thompson, J.C.
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  Turner, N.J., Robinson, C., Robinson, G., Eaton, B.
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  Turner, N.J., Berkes, F.

  Coming to understanding: Developing conservation through incremental learning in the Pacific Northwest
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  15

  Turner, N.J., Thompson, L.C., Thompson, M.T., York, A.Z.
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  17

  Turner, N.J., Bouchard, R., Kennedy, D.
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  Turner, N.J., Burton, C.M.
  (2010) Soapberry: Unique Northwestern Foaming Fruit, pp. 278-305.
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  19

  Turner, N.J.
  Dans une Hotte, L'importance de la vannerie das l'économie des peuples chasseurs-pêcheurs-cueilleurs du Nord-Ouest de l'Amérique du Nord; (‘Into a basket carried on the back': Importance of basketry in foraging/hunting/fishing economies in Northwestern North America)
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  20

  Peacock, S., Turner, N.J.
  Just Like a Garden: Traditional Plant Resource Management and Biodiversity Conservation on the British Columbia Plateau
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  Turner, N.J., Peacock, S.

  Solving the perennial paradox: Ethnobotanical evidence for plant resource management on the Northwest Coast
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  22

  Turner, N.J., Deur, D., Lepofsky, D.
  Plant Management Systems of British Columbia First Peoples
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  23

  Turner, N.J.
  Smith RY & Jones JT, ‘A fine line between two nations’: Ownership patterns for plant resources among Northwest Coast Indigenous Peoples – implications for plant conservation and management
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  edited by D Deur & NJ Turner, (University of Washington Press, Seattle, WA, USA and UBC Press, Vancouver, BC, Canada
  

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  Turner, N.J., Davidson-Hunt, I.J., O'Flaherty, M.

  Living on the edge: Ecological and cultural edges as sources of diversity for social-ecological resilience
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  27

  Turner, N.J., Deur, D., Mellott, C.R.

  "up on the mountain": Ethnobotanical importance of montane sites in Pacific coastal North America
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  30

  Turner, N.J., Von Aderkas, P.

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  33

  Turner, N.J., Turner, K.L.

  "Where our women used to get the food": Cumulative effects and loss of ethnobotanical knowledge and practice; case study from coastal British Columbia
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  34

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  35

  Satterfield, T., Robertson, L., Turner, N.J.
  (2011) Being Gitka’a’ata: A Baseline Report on Gitka’a’ata Ways of Life, A Statement of Cultural Impacts Posed by the Northern Gateway Pipeline, and A Critique of the ENGP Assessment regarding Cultural Impacts, Submission to the Joint Review Panel for Review of the Enbridge Northern Gateway Project
  

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  Turner, K.L., Bitonti, C.P.
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  39

  Stephenson, J., Berkes, F., Turner, N.J., Dick, J.

  Biocultural conservation of marine ecosystems: Examples from New Zealand and Canada
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  Deur, D., Dick, A., Recalma-Clutesi, K., Turner, N.J.

  Kwakwaka'wakw "clam gardens": Motive and agency in traditional northwest coast mariculture
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  Turner, N.J.; School of Environmental Studies, University of Victoria, PO BOX 1700 STN, Canada; email:nturner@uvic.ca
© Copyright 2016 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.