CONSERVATION, TERRITORY, AND TRADITIONAL BELIEFS - AN ANALYSIS OF GITKSAN AND WETSUWETEN SUBSISTENCE, NORTHWEST BRITISH-COLUMBIA, CANADA

Aspects of the culture, resource exploitation and beliefs of the Gitks an and Wet'suwet'en peoples of northwestern British Columbia are exami ned to explore the relationship of their cultural practices, land tenu re, and beliefs to resource conservation. Traditional Gitksan and Wet' suwet'en practices and beliefs contain a number of elements which acte d to promote conservation, including territoriality, prescribed burnin g, and proscription of waste, and other elements which are more diffic ult to reconcile with a biological model of conservation. The concept of humans as part of the natural world, and the requirement for respec t for all natural entities are the fundamental to mediating human inte ractions with other species in the Gitksan and Wet'suwet'en cultures.