Western James Bay Research Articles

Dentine-Lead Levels and Dental Caries in First Nation Children from the Western James Bay Region of Northern Ontario, Canada

1 Department of Environment and Resource Studies, 200 University Avenue West, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada 2 Department of Geography, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, K7L 3N6, Canada 3 Department of Health Studies and Gerontology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada 4 Dental Department, Weeneebayko General Hospital, Moose Factory, Ontario P0L 1W0, Canada 5 Department of Biochemistry, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, L8N 3Z5, Canada

Endoparasites of Northern Sharp-tailed Grouse, <i>Tympanuchus phasianellus phasianellus</i>, as Related to Age and Position on the Lek

The only indication of endoparasites found in male sharp-tailed grouse collected during the breeding season from the western James Bay region of northern Ontario, Canada, were nematode eggs of an unknown species. Nematode egg loads of male sharp-tailed grouse that occupied central territories on leks (mating areas) were not significantly different from those of birds in peripheral territories, nor were they different between adult males and yearlings. Future studies of endoparasites in northern sharp-tailed grouse should consider nematodes, which have been shown to be important to survivorship of other grouse species.

Liver lead concentrations of several bird species from the western James bay region of northern Ontario, Canada: do the data support the Canadian nontoxic legislation?

Liver lead concentrations of several bird species from the western James bay region of northern Ontario, Canada: do the data support the Canadian nontoxic legislation?

Elevated dentine-lead levels in deciduous teeth collected from remote first nation communities located in the western James Bay region of northern Ontario, Canada.

Teeth were collected from First Nation schoolchildren inhabiting the remote western James Bay region of northern Ontario, Canada. Lead levels in dentine chips were determined by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry, for naturally exfoliated deciduous teeth. Within exfoliated teeth (one tooth supplied per person), no significant differences in lead concentrations between tooth type were found (P = 0.36). The mean lead concentration of exfoliated teeth of 9.2 microg g(-1) dry weight (N = 61) from this remote region was comparable to levels reported by others for children inhabiting urban centers or residing near smelters. Further, 24.6% (N = 15) had elevated dentine-lead levels ( > 10 microg g(-1)). Lead levels in soil, water, and air have been reported as being low and unimportant sources of exposure for people of the western James Bay area. Evidence is reviewed suggesting that lead contaminated game meat was one source of environmental lead exposure. Consumption data indicate that wildlife is still an important food source for First Nation people of the western James Bay region; 98% (46/47) of the children surveyed consumed some type of wild meat.

Lead Shot Contamination in Edible Portions of Game Birds and Its Dietary Implications

ABSTRACT Lead exposure for First Nation Cree of the Mushkegowuk region (western James Bay area of northern Ontario, Canada) through ingestion of game hunted with lead shot is of concern and was investigated in this study. All lead concentrations in tissues of mammals (n = 45) and fish (n = 30) harvested in the Mushkegowuk Territory were at a level below the guideline set by Health Canada for human consumption of fish protein (i.e., <0.5 μg/g wet weight [ww]). No guidelines exist for game birds and mammals. However, livers of 2% (5/233) of the game birds collected showed lead concentrations> 0.5 μg/g ww. Moreover, 9% (33/371) of the gizzard (striated muscle) tissue samples obtained through harvesting of waterbirds and upland game birds employing lead shot, showed lead levels greater than the indicated arbitrary guideline. The presence of lead was shown by radiography and atomic absorption spectrometry to be the result of lead pellets and/or lead fragments being embedded in the striated muscle. People who consume any game species harvested with lead shot risk exposure to this metal by way of ingestion of tissue‐embedded lead pellets and fragments. Although Canada will be banning the use of lead shot for all migratory bird hunting in 1999, its extension to all game hunting should be considered because of potential human health concerns.

Molt Migrant Canada Geese in Northern Ontario and Western James Bay

We undertook migration monitoring surveys and analysis of long-term banding data to determine if there was a significant premolt movement of Canada geese (Branta canadensis) from restored and reintro duced populations in southern Canada and midcontinent United States into northern Ontario and western James Bay. We examined migration chronology, origins, and demographic characteristics of molt migration of Canada geese in northern Ontario and on Akimiski Island, Northwest Territories. From 1985 to 1989, a conspicuous northward migration of large Canada geese was documented throughout northern Ontario from midMay to the end of June, well after the April migration of the subarctic nesting subspecies of Canada geese (B. c. interior); most nesting interior Canada geese in the Hudson Bay and James Bay lowlands were incubating eggs at this time. Summer-banded Canada geese originating from populations in 26 states and 6 Canadian provinces were captured in coastal areas of James Bay and Hudson Bay between the borders of Quebec and Manitoba. Morphometric discrimination indicated the presence of molting giant Canada geese (B. c. maxima) Most foreign, summer-banded birds were yearlings (53%) and 2-year-olds (17%), but birds up to 15 years old were captured. Approximately 58% of 2-15-year-old females had brood patches, which indicated a nesting attempt in the year of recapture. We suggest that increasing populations of giant Canada geese and declining habitat availability on northern brood-rearing areas will result in increasing levels of competition between populations of Canada geese. Presence of molt migrants on northern breeding areas will also complicate management of some Arctic and subaretic nesting populations of Canada geese.

Spent lead shot in the western James Bay region of northern Ontario, Canada: Soil and plant chemistry of a heavily hunted wetland

This pilot study assessed elemental distribution of lead shot in a tidal marsh that has been used heavily for hunting for generations by First Nation Cree of the western James Bay region of northern Ontario, Canada. Soil and vegetation (live shoots and rhizomes separately) were sampled at 25 plots along a 480-m transect. Metal content of lead shot affected soils was at background levels compared to soils of rural Ontario with Pb 7.4±0.9 μg/g; As 3.7±0.6 μg/g; Sb <0.05 μg/kg; Cd 0.04±0.03 μg/g; Cr 37.1±2.0 μg/g; Cu 9.3±2.6 μg/g; and Mn 351±16 μg/g. A direct correlation between soil Pb and plant biomass was not evident, and Pb contents of shoots (3.1±0.8 μg/g) and rhizomes (2.8±0.6 μg/g) were at background levels, suggesting minimal uptake of Pb from the soil. The results suggest that Pb pellets were relatively inert in the alkaline soil of the western James Bay region (mean pH=7.7, range 7.4 to 7.9), being of limited consequence when considering environmental contamination.

Lead shot injestion in several species of birds in the western James Bay region of northern Ontario

Lead shot injestion in several species of birds in the western James Bay region of northern Ontario

Lead Pellet Ingestion in First Nation Cree of the Western James Bay Region of Northern Ontario, Canada: Implications for a Nontoxic Shot Alternative

Subsistence hunting for Cree of the western James Bay region of northern Ontario, Canada, is a way of life. In this study, it is shown that ∼15% of the radiographic charts examined had evidence of pellets contained in the gastrointestinal system, intraluminally, and/or in the appendix. It is assumed that the consumption of wildgame with lead shot embedded in the tissue was the source of the pellets. Because the presence of lead shot in the human gastrointestinal tract appears to increase the body burden of lead and considerable evidence is available on the occurrence of lead poisoning in waterfowl due to the ingestion of lead pellets,it is suggested that the use of lead shot should be discontinued nationwide in Canada. Although bismuth/tin shot has been growing in appeal because of several recent waterfowl studies demonstrating its nontoxic nature, caution is advised because of the uncertainty about the toxicity of bismuth in humans, especially when consumed as whole pellets or fragments in wildmeats. We maintain that the nontoxic alternative of choice at this time is steel shot.

Transmission of indigenous knowledge and bush skills among the Western James Bay Cree women of subarctic Canada

The transmission of 93 items of women's indigenous knowledge and bush skills was studied in two subarctic Omushkego (West Main) Cree Indian communities, Moose Factory and Peawanuck, Ontario, Canada. About half of all bush skills were still being transmitted at the “hands-on” learning stage. Some skills such as setting snares and fishnets, beadwork, smoking geese, and tanning moose and caribou hides were transmitted well. Many skills no longer essential for livelihoods, such as some fur preparation skills and food preservation techniques, were not. Loss of certain skills and incomplete transmission of others (a lower level of mastery than in older generations) were attributable to changes in the educational environment, diminished time available in the bush, problems related to learning bush skills at later ages, and changes in value systems. These factors seemed to impair the traditional mode of education based on participant observation and apprenticeship in the bush, which provided the essential self-disciplining educational environment. Policy measures to counteract these trends may include the institution of a hunters' income security program to provide incentives for family units to go on the land, rather than all-male hunting parties.

Sea breezes and advective effects in southwest James Bay

Observations from a transect extending 100 km inland during the Northern Wetlands Study (NOWES) in 1990 show that the sea breeze develops on approximately 25% of days during summer and may penetrate up to 100 km inland on occasions. The sea breeze exhibits a marked diurnal clockwise rotation as a result of the Coriolis effect along the unobstructed coastline. The marine advective effect is shown to depend on gradient wind direction. With northwesterly upper level flow the sea breeze tends to be northeasterly in direction and is associated with decreased temperatures and vapor pressure deficits (VPD). With southwesterly upper level flow the sea breeze tends to have a southeasterly direction and less effect on temperatures and VPD. This is attributed to shorter residence times of air parcels over water. For two cases, Colorado State University mesoscale model simulations show good agreement with surface wind observations and suggest that under northwesterly gradient flow, Bowen ratios are increased in the onshore flow along western James Bay, while during southwesterly gradient flow these effects are negligible. These results have implications for the interpretation of local climate, ecology, and hydrology as well as land‐based and airborne turbulent flux measurements made during NOWES.

Regional distribution of Macoma balthica and Hydrobia minuta on the subarctic coasts of Hudson Bay and James Bay, Ontario, Canada

The distribution of Macoma balthica and Hydrobia minuta was studied regionally along a 1000 km stretch of subarctic coast from latitude 52°N to 57°N in western James Bay and Hudson Bay, Ontario. Macoma balthica is widely distributed, but absent from estuaries of major rivers and from intertidal transects periodically inundated by fluvial waters. The frequency of occurrence of Macoma balthica is highly correlated with fine to very fine sand and silt. It thrives in the lower and middle parts of the tidal flats. The high tidal flats and lower marshes have fine silt deposits: they may however, develop anoxic conditions due to decomposition of algal mats, and they are toxic environments for the survival and development of Macoma spats. The frequency of occurrence of Hydrobia minuta does not correlate closely with the average grain size of the substratum. Hydrobia is found in large numbers where clay drapes develop in sheltered locations and where relatively low-salinity and higher-temperature environments occur, as in southern James Bay. Hydrobia minuta reaches the northern limits of its range in James Bay, very few specimens having been found north of Akimiski Island (latitude 53°15′N).

The Subarctic Fur Trade: Native Social and Economic Adaptations

Periodic shortages, native welfare and the Hudson's Bay Company 1670--1930 Arthur J. Ray The first century: adaptive changes among Western James Bay Cree between the early seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries Charles A. Bishop Economic and social accommodations of the James Bay Inlanders to the fur trade Toby Morantz Sakie, Esquawenoe and the foundation of the dual-native tradition at Moose Factory Carol M.

Sedimentology of the Ekwan Shoal, Akimiski Strait, James Bay, Canada

One of the steepest depositional coasts of western James Bay is found along the west shores of Akimiski Strait, north of the mouth of the Ekwan River. This shore receives considerable amounts of sediment during the spring break-up of the rivers. The sediments are stored on the steep narrow tidal flats and marshes, and in thinner (up to 80 cm) drapes on till-cored shoals that parallel and protect the coast. The low areas between the shoals and the mainland are swept and reworked by relatively powerful (2 m s −1) reversing currents due to flooding and ebbing of tides into the strait. A series of distinct environments and sedimentary facies develop on this western coast and its antecedent longshore shoal. The outer part of the shoal is characterized by tidal bedding, Macoma balthica burrows and considerable ice scour. The inner part of the shoal has winnowed sand, the greatest abundance of Macoma, and well-developed flaser bedding. The longshore tidal channel separating the shoal from the mainland has coarse sand lags in the shallower parts and silty sand in deeper protected areas. The steep tidal flats develop laminated silty sands locally saturated and slumping toward the channel. The high saturation of the sediments inhibits colonization of the flats by Macoma. The narrow marshes have characteristic vegetation zonation, with Puccinellia phryganodes colonizing the lower marsh. The sedimentary sequence of the marsh displays irregular, bioturbated laminated sequences of silt, silty sand and organic matter.

The Tide in Eastern and Western James Bay

The tide in eastern and western James Bay is reconstituted for the summers of 1947 and 1950, using recent cotidal charts, and the predictions are compared with some observations carried out during those years. The predictions and the observations are found to agree in general, thus confirming the validity of the cotidal charts.

Tidal Observations in Arctic Waters

Manning's notes on tides along the southern Hudson Bay and western James Bay coasts are those made by him in 1947 while canoeing from Moosonee to York Factory and around Akimiski Island; tidal observations at Resolute Bay on Cornwallis Island, July-Aug. 1949, and at Isachsen (78 47 N, 103 32 W) Aug. 31-Sept. 6, 1949 were made by R.W. Rae; editorial note supplements the Resolute Bay observations by mentioning measurements made in 1850-51 at Assistance Bay on Cornwallis Island during a Franklin search voyage and reported by P.C. Sutherland (in his Journal of a voyage, 1852).