SELECTED THESES ON THE CIRCUMPOLAR ARCTIC

The conservation of wildlife species plays a profound part in development issues in northern areas. In recent years, northern wildlife management has become a complicated process of cross-cultural communication. This thesis begins with an outline of the relations between First Nations and Euro-Americans in the context of the dynamics between wildlife scientists and aboriginal subsistence-based communities. The current economic, social and political characteristics of subsistence systems are discussed. The emergence of comanagement systems is described in a review of wildlife management institutions existing in northern Canada and Alaska. An analysis of the activities of the Beverly-Qamanirjuaq Caribou Management Board (B-Q CMB) and the relative participation of traditional users and government wildlife scientists forms the core of an exploration of the nature of wildlife comanagement. In order to understand some of the perspectives of local caribou-using communities within the comanagement framework, interviews were held with members of the Inuit community of Arviat, Nunavut and the Sayisi-Dene community of Tadoule Lake, Manitoba. Finally, the general role of comanagement institutions in securing the viability of communal property regimes is discussed with specific reference to the case of the B-Q CMB.