The sociocultural importance of fur trapping in six northeastern states

• Main Author: Daigle, John Joseph
• Language: ENG
• Published: ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst 1997
• Subjects: Forestry|Social structure|Cultural anthropology
• Online Access: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9737515

Social, economic, and cultural components of trapping furbearers was studied in six Northeast states. In 1994, a 12 page mail-back questionnaire was sent to a sample of licensed trappers in Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and West Virginia. A total of 2,279 questionnaires was returned for an overall response rate of 65 percent for the six states combined. Factor analysis identified five underlying dimensions associated with the importance of reasons for trapping. The strongest reasons related to dimensions associated with "Lifestyle Orientation," and "Nature Appreciation," followed by "Wildlife Management." Other reasons related to "Affiliation with Other People," and "Self Sufficiency," though they did not rank as high in importance for the overall sample as did the previous three dimensions. To identify the existence, structure, and function of trapping-related networks of trappers, 92 fur trappers from the six states participated in face-to-face, in-depth interviews designed to gather data on their trapping-related social relationships and interactions. Participation in trapping-associated activities included cooperatively setting and checking traps; processing pelts; verbally sharing trapping experiences with others; giving, bartering, or selling pelts, products, meat, and trapping services; and participating in events such as a fur auction or rendezvous. These forms of interaction linked trappers to broader social network structures that included nuclear family, extended family, friends, workmates, neighbors, landowners, wildlife agency personnel, trapping association members, and fur buyers. Overall, respondents who trapped alone, primary alone, or with others, exhibited similar patterns of trapping-related ties and interactions with other people. These patterns included a high level of trapping-related interactions with nuclear family members, friends, participants at trapping association events, and fur buyers; and a moderate level of interaction with extended family, landowners, and wildlife agency personnel. Far fewer trappers reported trapping-related interactions with workmates and neighbors. Findings indicate women trappers exhibited much less of a tendency than men to have trapping-related ties with friends or with fur buyers. Results suggest network relationships act as 'social resources' that not only facilitate affective ties of sociability and companionship but also serve instrumental purposes such as sharing of information, social support, and exchanges of furbearer-related goods and services.