| Hunting is an activity which: (a) has played a central role in human biological and social evolution; (b) intimately connects humans to the physical environment; and (c) has been pursued by individuals residing in societies which span a diverse array of levels of technological development. Because of this, examination of this activity provides a particularly opportune window through which to view changing relationships between physical environments, technology, culture and social structure. In this dissertation I use co-evolutionary theory to identify the factors that constrained (or failed to constrain) the harvesting levels of deer hunters in the Michigan Great Lakes region across a thousand year period (11th--20th centuries).; Co-evolution refers to an evolutionary process based on the reciprocal responses of two (or more) closely interacting species. The "species" of central concern in this dissertation is that of hunting ethos. A hunting ethos is a changing complex of fundamental beliefs and values that underlies, permeates, and motivates major patterns of hunting thought and behavior. Three epochs exhibiting distinct sociocultural ecosystem dynamics, and distinct hunting ethoses, are identified: (1) sustainable harvesting among the indigenous Americans (11th--16th centuries); (2) invasion and succession by Euro-Americans, including two sub-epochs of invasion by, first, fur traders, and second, lumber harvesters (16th--19th centuries); and (3) an era of increased threat to the viability of hunting as an activity which I label the "squeeze" (20th century). Hunting ethoses in the first and third epochs encouraged hunter constraint, while hunting ethoses in the second epoch legitimated hunter excess. I address the question of what kinds of factors gave rise to more sustainable hunting ethoses by examining the relationship between hunting ethoses and other species implicated in the activity of deer hunting, including deer, hunting technology, Native Americans, European far-traders, Euro-American lumber harvesters, Euro-American settlers, industrial workers, and the state. |
