ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on how the Cree learned to deal with the variability in caribou numbers and the fact that caribou are depletable. Caribou is the most important species of the North American subarctic and Arctic, just as its close relative, reindeer. The chapter discusses the historical evidence and contemporary observations of cultural evolution in action to build a picture of social learning. Indigenous hunters have highly unique ways of observing and learning from the environment. The caribou story illustrates the role that traditional stewards and elders play in providing leadership for collective decision-making. It shows why almost all traditional cultures consider elders so important. Elders provide corporate memory for the group, the wisdom to interpret uncommon or unusual events, and they help enforce the rules and ethical norms of the community. In the case of indigenous Canadian caribou hunters, there have been controversies between hunters and government authorities over caribou numbers.
