Karyn Sharp - Hunting Caribou: Subsistence Hunting along the Northern Edge of the Boreal Forest

Above all, we wish to thank the people of Mission and Discha for allowing us to live among them and share in the experiences of their lives. For the elder of us, who began this as an adult, those years were ones of trying to understand the operation of a complex and subtle culture seeking to survive in the face of the demanding climactic and environmental conditions of the Subarctic during a period of rapidand profoundchange in physical, economic, and social conditions. Personally it was a time of establishing and sharing relationships; the occasion to try to know and understand many of the most competent, delightful, decent, and complex human beings encountered in the course of a now somewhat lengthy lifetime. For the younger of us, it began as the opportunity to grow up among the Densulin. Experience of the social context in which the hunts recounted in this work occurred was among the circumstances of her childhood. She grew to adulthood with the bush life of the Densulin as part of the very fabric of her own life. This has given to the intellectual curiosity and understanding of her adult life an added dimension that few will ever be able to replicate. The Densulin willingness to share experiences with us has become one of the defining features of our lives and one for which we are eternally grateful.

We have chosen, out of respect and with thanks, to use the real names of the late Abraham Artchie and Ben Adam. We have also used the name of the late Fred Riddle. He has no descendants. There is no longer any reason to disguise his identity. The Subarctic is a harsh and demanding place, and life there is hard on people. Unfortunately, few of the individuals discussed in the text are still among the living. Other than those already mentioned, the names used in the text are pseudonyms. They are consistent with those used in earlier works. We discussed this with the surviving family and, largely to ensure their privacy, it was their preference that we continue this practice.

There are simply too many people at Mission and Discha to whom we owe our thanks and gratitude for us to mention them all. Special thanks, however, go to Joe Bigeye, not only for all the assistance he has given but for the decades of friendship we have shared.

We have used the real names of lakes and locations away from the village that are no longer in active use by the surviving individuals mentioned in the text or by their descendants. This means that because of changes in land usage in the last few years, only Foxholm Lake is disguised. We have continued to use the terms Discha and Mission, again largely for reasons of privacy.

The way animal names are spelled, capitalized, or pluralized may sometimes seem confusing. The topic of this work is quite different from that of