Braiding Western Science and Blackfoot Worldviews: An Investigation into Manifestations of Food Stress from 1790-1890

Lazette, Larissa Denice

Braiding Western Science and Blackfoot Worldviews: An Investigation into Manifestations of Food Stress from 1790-1890

dc.contributor.advisor	Amundsen-Meyer, Lindsay
dc.contributor.author	Lazette, Larissa Denice
dc.contributor.committeemember	Paris, Elizabeth
dc.contributor.committeemember	Colpitts, George
dc.contributor.committeemember	Walls, Matt
dc.date.accessioned	2023-12-21T21:37:54Z
dc.date.available	2023-12-21T21:37:54Z
dc.date.issued	2023-12-19
dc.description.abstract	During the Protocontact (1730-1830) and Contact (1830-Present) Periods, the traditional diets of Indigenous peoples on the Plains were greatly altered. Bison populations began to decline sharply during this time, as a result of over exploitation by the commercial hide trade. By the late 19th century, the bison populations were in sharp decline, and Indigenous peoples on the Plains were relocated onto newly established reserves where they were forced to rely on government administered rations. Both factors greatly impacted food availability for Indigenous peoples. This research examines manifestations of food stress among the Blackfoot people using multiple lines of evidence. These lines of evidence include archaeological faunal assemblages from two stone circles at the Antelope Hill Tipi Ring Site (EbPi-75), ethnographic accounts, Blackfoot winter counts, and Blackfoot oral traditions. The goal of this research is to combine Western scientific approaches in the form of archaeological analyses and the examination of ethnographic and ethnohistoric documents with Blackfoot oral traditions. This results in a more holistic understanding of the changes occurring to traditional diets during the Protocontact and Contact Periods. The assemblage in Stone Circle 1 and 4 is highly fragmented. Explanations for this and other patterns in the assemblage include grease rendering activities, meat butchering and marrow extraction or tipi cleaning behaviours, all of which may have been occurring simultaneously. Ultimately, it was found that evidence of food stress is limited in Stone Circle 1 and 4 and in Blackfoot oral traditions, while the ethnographic and historic accounts contain strong evidence for food stress, demonstrating a difference in perspective from the ethnographer to the perspective in Blackfoot oral tradition.
dc.identifier.citation	Lazette, L. D. (2023). Braiding Western science and Blackfoot worldviews: an investigation into manifestations of food stress from 1790-1890 (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/1880/117802
dc.language.iso	en
dc.publisher.faculty	Graduate Studies
dc.publisher.institution	University of Calgary
dc.rights	University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
dc.subject	Food stress
dc.subject	Protocontact Period
dc.subject	Contact Period
dc.subject	Blackfoot people
dc.subject	Ethnographies
dc.subject	Blackfoot winter count
dc.subject	Bison
dc.subject	Southern Alberta
dc.subject	Plains
dc.subject	Faunal analysis
dc.subject.classification	Archaeology
dc.title	Braiding Western Science and Blackfoot Worldviews: An Investigation into Manifestations of Food Stress from 1790-1890
dc.type	master thesis
thesis.degree.discipline	Archaeology
thesis.degree.grantor	University of Calgary
thesis.degree.name	Master of Arts (MA)
ucalgary.thesis.accesssetbystudent	I do not require a thesis withhold – my thesis will have open access and can be viewed and downloaded publicly as soon as possible.