ABSTRACT
A 1976 issue of the International Family Planning Digest headlined a story "Development Alone May Spur Population Growth." The adaptedness of undisturbed cultures should be a tip-off that culture change is likely to upset the balance between population size and the local carrying capacity. Development upsets the balance between population and resources simply by doing away with the traditional values and customs that formerly controlled fertility. Study of the original Moravian accounts of the Inuit, written in German, convinced Scheffel that Inuit fertility also rose after a period of indoctrination by missionary teachings. Not surprisingly, temptations of the good life were irresistible, and traditional practices and incentives that limited fertility eroded. A population explosion, Inuit-scale, ensued. The survivors, however, are experiencing very rapid population growth even while their jungle habitat is wiped out by roads and deforestation. Epidemiologist Warren Hern makes a strong case that polygyny is one of the key mechanisms for limiting fertility in traditional cultures.
