THE CONTEPORARY SEASONAL CYCLE OF HARVEST ACTIVITIES

The harvesting of fish and wildlife undertaken by Stevens Village residents follows a seasonal pattern repeated year after year. . . .

The increasing daylight and warmer temperatures of spring signifies the beginning of a new seasonal round. A marked shift from winter trapping to a variety of other activities takes place at this time. The return of migratory species such as geese, ducks, whitefish, and salmon sparks an increase in harvest activity.

During March and April, muskrats are hunted and trapped, and the highly valued white-fronted and Canada geese are eagerly sought along with other species of waterfowl. Spring black bear hunting is sometimes pursued at this time. Travel by snowmobile continues as long as snow and ice conditions permit. Seeds are germinated indoors for later transplanting to outdoor gardens.

After breakup in mid May, harvest activities are concentrated along the Yukon River and other navigable tributaries and sloughs. Nets are set for whitefish and other species prior to the arrival of the king salmon by the latter half of June. By late spring, the cutting and rafting of house logs may be benefited by the high water conditions, which often develop at this time of year.

The advent of summer is characterized by preparations for salmon fishing, the primary harvest activity of this season and one of the most significant in the yearly cycle. Materials for fishwheels are gathered, and new wheels are constructed, or old ones are repaired. Nets are hung, mended, and readied for use. Fish camps or fish processing areas in the village are set up. Wood for smokehouse smudge fires is cut, and gardens are planted. Fishing for king salmon often begins by the last week of June continuing through July. Whitefish, suckers, sheefish, burbot, pike, and grayling are caught during this time, usually while fishing for salmon with fishwheels and nets, although some species are caught by hooking in nearby tributaries.

Scoters, or "black ducks" are enthusiastically hunted, and other game such as black bear, porcupine, or muskrat are harvested near fish camps or during the course of the extensive river travel undertaken throughout the summer. By late July, the summer run of chum salmon appears with the last of the king salmon. By mid-summer, berry picking takes place. Later, from August until freeze up, some households harvest fall chum and coho salmon.

Summer is also an important time for wage employment, and both local and non-local job opportunities are pursued. Local construction of log houses or community facilities also occurs during this time of year. Waterfowl, which have nested in the flats or are passing through the area from distant nesting sites begin to reappear along the rivers by late summer and are hunted.

By September, the focus on hunting activities increases. Moose hunting is an important undertaking at this time, although waterfowl, bear, grouse, and ptarmigan are also sought. Nets are set in tributary streams, sloughs, and lakes for whitefish and other non-salmon species. Riverboats are the main mode of transportation, although small, lightweight hunting canoes are used by some.

Early fall, before freeze-up is also an important time for cutting firewood for the coming winter. Trees are downed, lashed together, and rafted down river to the village. Woodcutting often takes place in conjunction with moose hunting.

Like breakup in the spring, the freezing of the Yukon River marks a transition; and for a few weeks, most river and overland travel comes to a halt. After the first snowfall, snare lines are set up for snowshoe hares, and preparations for trapping activity are started.

After freeze up in late October, the focus shifts to furbearer trapping which occurs throughout the flats along rivers and streams and into the surrounding hills. Snowmobiles and dog teams are the primary modes of transportation used. Furbearer species such as marten, lynx, and fox are trapped or snared. Snaring snowshoe hares and bird hunting continues near the community and around trapping areas. Winter moose hunting takes place when meat supplies from the fall hunt are depleted, or if hunters are unsuccessful during the earlier season. Hunting for moose occurs on islands or around trapping areas in the flats and hills.

Nets are set underneath the ice in sloughs and lakes near the village for whitefish, sheefish, burbot, and pike. This activity continues periodically until temperatures reach the more extreme lows, and the ice becomes too thick. Firewood is cut and transported by snowmobile to the community from nearby wood lots throughout the winter. By late winter, trapping focuses on beaver and muskrat. By this time, the lengthening days once again signify the start of another cycle.

A number of factors influence the yearly pattern of harvesting activity Stevens Village residents engage in. Some of these are: the availability of resources, food preferences, environmental conditions, and regulations.

Resource productivity varies from season to season, and many species exhibit migratory behavior or some form of seasonal movement patterns within a more localized area. These factors practically determine when a certain species is likely to occur in a given geographic location.

The health and abundance of a particular game population or fish stock also fluctuates from year to year. The cyclical growth and decline of lynx and snowshoe hare populations is an example of this. Availability is also affected by increased competition for a limited resource base. Environmental conditions and access to the appropriate transportation and harvest technologies for successful operation in these conditions also affect seasonal activity.

In contemporary times, fish and game regulations have modified the timing of certain activities. For example, cow moose are preferred during certain times of the year because of their fat content, and the condition of their flesh. The legal bag limit of one bull moose precludes exercising this preference.

HOUSEHOLD PARTICIPATION IN HARVEST ACTIVITIES

Of the 30 households in Stevens Village that existed at the time of the study, 29 or 97 percent of all households harvested some type of fish, wildlife, or plant resource during the survey period. The percentage of households successful in their harvest pursuits was relatively high for all resource categories. Participation in four of the five resource categories was greater than 70 percent. Sixty-three percent of the households harvested resources in four or five of the categories.

Participation in harvest activity is defined as the successful harvest of a specific resource and does not take into account unsuccessful attempts at harvest. This is particularly relevant when discussing activities such as large mammal hunting. During the 1984-85 moose hunting season, 33 percent of all households successfully harvested moose whereas another 34 percent were unsuccessful though they participated in hunting. . . .

THE ROLE OF DOGS IN THE SUBSISTENCE ECONOMY

. . . Stevens Village households reported a total of 149 dogs or 1.7 dogs for every individual in the community. 23 households with a mean of 6.5 dogs reported ownership of between 1 to 23 dogs. Of households that owned dogs, eleven had less than five dogs, six households had between five and nine dogs, and six had ten or more dogs.

Dogs were kept for several different reasons and served a variety of purposes ranging from pets for young children. Those dogs were fed table scraps; while working teams were used in trapping and other harvest activities, which required a substantial amount of food for their maintenance. During the study, none of the households were involved in competitive dogsled racing beyond participation in recreational events such as local spring carnival races.

Sled dogs are an effective transportation mode for travel on the established trails in the area. Although slower and usually incapable of hauling as heavy a load as a snowmobile, dog team owners have commented on the likelihood of breakdowns of their mechanical counterparts and the reliability of a well-trained team. Working teams were sometimes used in trapping and winter hunting activities, often with a partner on a snowmobile.

Dogs were frequently brought along to fish camp where they provided a measure of security from intruders such as black bears. Dogs were fed the internal organs of salmon, backbones, heads, or roe, items which were sometimes byproducts of fish processing activities.

Certain types of salmon were processed specifically for later use as dog food, and a significant portion of the community's overall fish harvest was used to feed dogs. Fish species used for dog food included: summer and fall chum salmon, coho salmon, various types of whitefish, sheefish, northern pike, longnose suckers, and burbot. Other resources used to feed dogs include carcasses of furbearers used by some trapping households during winter months, and parts of large game species not used for human consumption. . . .

HOUSEHOLD AFFILIATION AND COOPERATION IN SUBSISTENCE ACTIVITIES

. . . Although a significant proportion of fish harvested by Stevens Village residents are used to feed dogs, this does not fully account for the breadth of harvest ranges. The elimination of dog food harvests resulted in the overall lowering of household's harvests, especially of high harvesters, reducing the magnitude of difference between households. However, the high producers of food used for dogs still remained the high producers of human food. . . .

Thirty percent of the households produced 84 percent of the total harvest, which drops to 79 percent when dog food harvests are removed. This demonstrates that even when dog food harvester excluded, a relatively small percentage of the community's households are producing most of the fish and wildlife harvest.

One practical explanation for this phenomenon involves the contemporary residential pattern that has developed in many rural Alaska communities like Stevens Village. Whereas at contact, one or more extended matrilineal families resided within a single house, the contemporary residential pattern at Stevens Village is for relatives to reside in several discrete houses, each commonly containing a single nuclear family unit.

Although living in separate dwellings, family members commonly were not economically independent units. Households with high harvests were generally working cooperatively with other households in the community in their subsistence pursuits. Kinship pool resources such as labor, equipment, cash, and expertise linked households, in order to effectively harvest salmon for subsistence use. This pattern of multi-household affiliation and cooperation is also reflected in other types of harvest activities such as moose hunting and furbearer trapping. In terms of subsistence production and consumption, a household generally does not function independently (cf. Wolf et al. 1984:481-485).

Wolfe (1987:9-10) describes the household developmental cycle in multi-household kinship groups from young, newly established households to mature households, to elderly households. At the core of the multi-household, subsistence production groups are the mature households. These established households tend to be larger with more teenage and young adult members. They also have the equipment and facilities needed for subsistence activities, and a correspondingly larger set of social obligations to fulfill. The younger, newly established households commonly assist their parents in the mature households in subsistence pursuits and subsequently share in the harvest.

In Stevens Village, these core households also maintained caches and freezers where harvested fish and wildlife were stored. This household then controlled allocation of these food resources that were hared with or made available as needed, to the younger, peripheral households that had participated in harvest or processing activities. . . .