tsattine people and bison: pre-colonial relationships and ancestral territories
abstract
traditional knowledge and historical records indicate that communal hunting was an
important practice for subarctic beaver people (dunne-zaa / dane-zaa / tsattine) of northern
alberta and northeastern british columbia. prior to the 20th century beaver people hunted a
variety of animals, including american bison (plains bison [bison bison bison] and wood bison
[bison bison athabascae]), which were nearly eradicated in north america by the late 1800s due
to colonial impacts associated with european settlement. my thesis explores traditional
relationships beaver people had with animals, possible beaver communal hunting methods and
locations, and the subarctic/northern plains range of bison. i explore the social relationships
between beaver people and animals through stories, ethnographic and historical records. i argue
that acknowledging this social relationship with animals supports revitalization efforts by
challenging western standpoints that often view animals (particularly food animals) as non-sentient beings, which is in contrast to beaver/indigenous understandings of animals as persons.
i describe five potential communal hunting sites that may have been utilized by beaver people
for bison drives and/or jumps. oral accounts of bison jumps in these northern regions contradicts
western literature which suggest that jumps did not occur in these areas, so further examination
of these sites is recommended. [...]