Out on the Land: Income, Subsistence Activities, and Food Sharing Networks in Nain, Labrador

Authors

Kirk Dombrowski, CUNY John Jay CollegeFollow
Emily Channell, CUNY Graduate CenterFollow
Bilal Khan, CUNY John Jay CollegeFollow
Joshua Moses, CUNY Graduate CenterFollow
Evan Misshula, CUNY Graduate CenterFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2013

Abstract

In recent Inuit ethnography, a major concern has been how and to what extent contemporary Inuit participate in and depend on subsistence activities, particularly in the context of increasing wage employment and growing participation in the cash economy. This paper provides an analysis of these activities in the predominately Inuit community of Nain, Labrador. Using social network data and demographic information collected between January and June 2010, we examine the interconnections between subsistence activities—obtaining “country food” through activities such as hunting, fishing, and collecting—with access to the means of obtaining subsistence resources (such as snow mobiles, cabins, and boats), employment status, and income. Our data indicate that individuals with higher employment status and income tend to be more central to the network of subsistence food sharing, but not because they have greater access to hunting tools or equipment (they do not). We conclude that those individuals who play the most central role in the network are those who are financially able to do so, regardless of access to hunting tools/means.

Comments

This article was originally published in Journal of Anthropology, available at DOI: 10.1155/2013/185048.

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License.