Modern food sharing networks and community integration in the Central Canadian Arctic

From June 1992 to July 1993, research on wildlife harvesting and subsistenc e relations was conducted among a sample of householders in the Inuit commu nity of Holman. In an earlier paper, the authors examined the involvement o f younger Inuit in subsistence hunting, noting that despite the sweeping po litical, social, and economic changes that have been experienced in Holman and across the Canadian North, hunting remained an important sociocultural and economic activity for some members of the sample group. This paper focu ses specifically on the informal socioeconomic aspects of subsistence in Ho lman. Using primary data from the 1992-93 sample, we examine the range of e conomic mechanisms employed by Holman Inuit for the distribution of wild re sources and compare the present range of such activity to that observed by Stefansson, Jenness, Rasmussen, and Damas in their work on Copper Inuit foo d sharing. These data indicate 1) that the sharing form most frequently cit ed ethnographically, obligatory seal-sharing partnerships, is more irregula r than formerly; and 2) that voluntary, nonpartnership-based sharing remain s an important element in the contemporary economic system.