Bringing Animals to the Motorhome: Cree Hunters’ Knowledge of and Communications with Moose

Since beginning ethnographic research in northern Alberta in 1996, I have discussed, participated in, and observed many aspects of moose hunting (including planning the hunt) and moose processing (including cooking and distributing food) among Cree households, and have interviewed elders and bush people about moose hunting, trapping, and life on the land. Through fieldwork since 2012, I have particularly set out to document knowledge of and communications with moose to examine aspects of these relationships in ethnographic and sociolinguistic terms. Especially through my work with Mike Beaver, I have learned much about the social, ecological, and ritual knowledge embedded in terminology about moose age and sex categories or body parts, and about the ontological and experiential knowledge embedded in Cree approaches to talking to and about animals. Presenting this new data on lexicons of knowledge, bodies of communicative practice, and instances of ritualized respect is the focus of the paper.