Bringing Home Animals
Mistissini Hunters of Northern Quebec

9781894725149

Paperback / softback, published 30 November 2014

368 pages, 40 Illustrations, color
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.5 cm, 0.523 kg

"... breaks new ground." - Edward S. Rogers, American Ethnologist

Bringing Home Animals is an ethnography detailing what the author learned as a result of travelling and working with Iinuu (Cree) hunters and their families in Northern Quebec. The study was conducted from 1969–1971, and is a rich example of subsistence hunting in an Indigenous territory. The second edition revisits and updates contextual material following the construction of the James Bay hydroelectric project in the region, while preserving the original argument. Bringing Home Animals explores the way of life of the Mistissini Iinuu hunters, their understanding of and adaptation to the ecology of their hunting grounds, their subsistence-based economy and its relation to market production, their land tenure system, the impact of external agencies on them, and their rich spiritual and symbolic life, particularly the rituals that show respect for the animals before, during, and following the hunt.

Figures, Maps, and Tables 8
Foreword 10
Introduction to the Second Edition 13
Acknowledgements for the Second Edition 38
Original Preface 40
A Note on the Orthography of Iinuu/Iiyuu Words 50
Chapter 1: Mistissini 53
Chapter 2: The Ecology of Hunting 83
Chapter 3: The Process of Production 107
Chapter 4: The Organization of Social Space 136
Chapter 5: The Ritualization of Space 153
Chapter 6: Rites of Hunting Divination 176
Chapter 7: Ritual Relations Between Hunters and Game Animals Killed 209
Chapter 8: Respect for the Animals Killed 231
Chapter 9: Mistissini Land Tenure 262
Chapter 10: Conclusion 288
Afterword: Can Anthropology Be Useful? 303
Appendix A: Photographs 321
Appendix B: Glossary of Iinuu Terms 345
Bibliography 349
Index 361