Native Fishing Conflicts on the Saugeen-Bruce Peninsula: Perspectives on Resource Relations Past and Present

Abstract

<p>In this study I examine current native fishing conflicts on Ontario's Saugeen-Bruce Peninsula in order to provide insights that can inform the negotiation of a shared-management agreement. I use literature sources and ethnographic data gathered among the peninsula's two First Nations communities. This study builds on various approaches within ecological anthropology, drawing especially on historical ecology, ethnoecology, and political ecology, all of which encourage recognition of social and political aspects of resource relations. This recognition broadens the typical focus of earlier ecological anthropology and allows an adequate framework for examining the complexity of resource conflicts. The insights I provide through this comprehensive examination of the conflicts demonstrate the relevance of a broadly focused ecological anthropology. I point out how essentialized perceptions of groups and their resource relations play a role in perpetuating the fishing conflicts. Resolving many of the conflict issues will depend on a willingness to revise these essentialized notions.</p>