ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a look into the worldview of one North American aboriginal group from the eastern Canadian boreal/sub arctic. According to the beliefs of the Cree of eastern James Bay, it is the animals, not people, who control the success of the hunt, a view that has parallels in many other indigenous groups such as the Inuit. The chapter focuses on group discussions with a volunteer, self-selected working group of senior hunters from the local Cree Trappers Association (CTA). The Chisasibi Cree view of the living environment as a "community of beings" is also shared by many other indigenous groups. Many other aboriginal groups of North America have similar beliefs as well. For example, writing of the Koyukon of Alaska, a Dene group culturally unrelated to the Cree, Nelson states that they regard the environment "as a community of entities that are intrinsically supernatural as well as natural.
