Factors Contributing to the Cultural and Spatial Variability of Landscape Burning by Native Peoples of Interior Alaska
Although wildfire has been central to the ecological dynamics of Interior Alaska for 5000 yr, the role of humans in this dynamic is not well known. As a multidisciplinary research team, together with native community partners, we analyzed patterns of human-fire interaction in two contiguous areas of...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:e5e90efa71e94aa6be3e13ea8f8fcccd 2023-05-15T17:05:22+02:00 Factors Contributing to the Cultural and Spatial Variability of Landscape Burning by Native Peoples of Interior Alaska David C. Natcher Monika Calef Orville Huntington Sarah Trainor Henry P. Huntington La'ona DeWilde Scott Rupp F. Stuart. Chapin III 2007-06-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-01999-120107 https://doaj.org/article/e5e90efa71e94aa6be3e13ea8f8fcccd EN eng Resilience Alliance http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol12/iss1/art7/ https://doaj.org/toc/1708-3087 1708-3087 doi:10.5751/ES-01999-120107 https://doaj.org/article/e5e90efa71e94aa6be3e13ea8f8fcccd Ecology and Society, Vol 12, Iss 1, p 7 (2007) Alaska Gwich'in human-fire interaction indigenous Koyukon land management landscape burning Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Ecology QH540-549.5 article 2007 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-01999-120107 2022-12-31T12:55:49Z Although wildfire has been central to the ecological dynamics of Interior Alaska for 5000 yr, the role of humans in this dynamic is not well known. As a multidisciplinary research team, together with native community partners, we analyzed patterns of human-fire interaction in two contiguous areas of Interior Alaska occupied by different Athabaskan groups. The Koyukon in the western Interior considered fire a destructive force and had no recollection or oral history of using fire for landscape management. Low lightning-strike density and moist climate constrained the effects of lightning fires, and a subsistence dependence on salmon, a relatively predictable resource, resulted in a trilocal residency pattern. In this environment the occurrence of wildfire would have negatively impacted territorial use and the exploitation of wildlife resources. In contrast, the Gwich'in of the eastern Interior actively used fires to manage the landscape. The Gwich'in territory experienced a higher lightning-strike density and a corresponding increase in wildfire activity. The Gwich'in showed greater mobility in hunting moose and caribou, their less spatially predictable subsistence resources, which enabled them to avoid andor target a range of habitats affected by wildfires. The contrasts between these two neighboring Athabaskan groups indicate different uses and views of wildfire that are derived from their cultural adaptation to local biophysical and ecological settings. These findings call into question the commonly held view that native peoples of North America pervasively and near universally modified landscapes through the use of fire. Article in Journal/Newspaper koyukon Alaska Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Ecology and Society 12 1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Alaska Gwich'in human-fire interaction indigenous Koyukon land management landscape burning Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Ecology QH540-549.5 |
spellingShingle |
Alaska Gwich'in human-fire interaction indigenous Koyukon land management landscape burning Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Ecology QH540-549.5 David C. Natcher Monika Calef Orville Huntington Sarah Trainor Henry P. Huntington La'ona DeWilde Scott Rupp F. Stuart. Chapin III Factors Contributing to the Cultural and Spatial Variability of Landscape Burning by Native Peoples of Interior Alaska |
topic_facet |
Alaska Gwich'in human-fire interaction indigenous Koyukon land management landscape burning Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Ecology QH540-549.5 |
description |
Although wildfire has been central to the ecological dynamics of Interior Alaska for 5000 yr, the role of humans in this dynamic is not well known. As a multidisciplinary research team, together with native community partners, we analyzed patterns of human-fire interaction in two contiguous areas of Interior Alaska occupied by different Athabaskan groups. The Koyukon in the western Interior considered fire a destructive force and had no recollection or oral history of using fire for landscape management. Low lightning-strike density and moist climate constrained the effects of lightning fires, and a subsistence dependence on salmon, a relatively predictable resource, resulted in a trilocal residency pattern. In this environment the occurrence of wildfire would have negatively impacted territorial use and the exploitation of wildlife resources. In contrast, the Gwich'in of the eastern Interior actively used fires to manage the landscape. The Gwich'in territory experienced a higher lightning-strike density and a corresponding increase in wildfire activity. The Gwich'in showed greater mobility in hunting moose and caribou, their less spatially predictable subsistence resources, which enabled them to avoid andor target a range of habitats affected by wildfires. The contrasts between these two neighboring Athabaskan groups indicate different uses and views of wildfire that are derived from their cultural adaptation to local biophysical and ecological settings. These findings call into question the commonly held view that native peoples of North America pervasively and near universally modified landscapes through the use of fire. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
David C. Natcher Monika Calef Orville Huntington Sarah Trainor Henry P. Huntington La'ona DeWilde Scott Rupp F. Stuart. Chapin III |
author_facet |
David C. Natcher Monika Calef Orville Huntington Sarah Trainor Henry P. Huntington La'ona DeWilde Scott Rupp F. Stuart. Chapin III |
author_sort |
David C. Natcher |
title |
Factors Contributing to the Cultural and Spatial Variability of Landscape Burning by Native Peoples of Interior Alaska |
title_short |
Factors Contributing to the Cultural and Spatial Variability of Landscape Burning by Native Peoples of Interior Alaska |
title_full |
Factors Contributing to the Cultural and Spatial Variability of Landscape Burning by Native Peoples of Interior Alaska |
title_fullStr |
Factors Contributing to the Cultural and Spatial Variability of Landscape Burning by Native Peoples of Interior Alaska |
title_full_unstemmed |
Factors Contributing to the Cultural and Spatial Variability of Landscape Burning by Native Peoples of Interior Alaska |
title_sort |
factors contributing to the cultural and spatial variability of landscape burning by native peoples of interior alaska |
publisher |
Resilience Alliance |
publishDate |
2007 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-01999-120107 https://doaj.org/article/e5e90efa71e94aa6be3e13ea8f8fcccd |
genre |
koyukon Alaska |
genre_facet |
koyukon Alaska |
op_source |
Ecology and Society, Vol 12, Iss 1, p 7 (2007) |
op_relation |
http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol12/iss1/art7/ https://doaj.org/toc/1708-3087 1708-3087 doi:10.5751/ES-01999-120107 https://doaj.org/article/e5e90efa71e94aa6be3e13ea8f8fcccd |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-01999-120107 |
container_title |
Ecology and Society |
container_volume |
12 |
container_issue |
1 |
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1766059880789049344 |