Political resistance in a contemporary hunter‐gatherer society: more about Bearlake Athapaskan knowledge and authority

Abstract

The northeastern Athapaskan‐speaking Bearlake Indians prefer experiential knowledge and primary epistemic reasons in the justification of beliefs. Bearlakers base local authority on such knowledge and justification, the epistemological and political significance of which derives historically from their hunter‐gatherer mode of production. In the 1970s, the association between primary knowledge and legitimate authority affected Bearlake opinion about and the form of their political opposition to proposed, externally controlled economic development. [hunter‐gatherers, Athapaskan, political resistance, knowledge, authority, trust]