Prospects for the northern Canadian native economy

Abstract

Much ink has been spilled over the future prospects of a Northern native economy based on a mix of hunting, trapping and wage work. Information on the mixed economy appeared during debates over Northern pipeline development which raged during the 1970s; though the native lifestyle came under close scrutiny during that period, sceptics remain unconvinced of the very existence, let alone the viability, of a native mixed economy. In their view a way of life based on harvesting ‘country foods’ is moribund and should give place as soon as possible to a full-fledged wage economy; those who think otherwise, including the authors of pipeline inquiries, are misguided romantics. This paper re-examines the debates over the prospects for a native hunting economy, and comes down on the side of its proponents. The author concludes that, given proper institutional support, a mixed economy should persist into the next century, and shows that the critics of the bush economy have underestimated its contribution to the welfare of Northern natives.