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Developing a polar bear co-management strategy in Ontario through the indigenous stewardship model

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2013

Matthew Kakekaspan ,
Brian Walmark ,
Raynald Harvey Lemelin ,
Martha Dowsley  and
Dawne Mowbray
Matthew Kakekaspan
Affiliation:
Fort Severn Cree Nation, Fort Severn, ON P0V 1W0, Canada
Brian Walmark
Affiliation:
Keewaytinook Okimakanak Research Institute (KORI), 216 South Algoma Street, Thunder Bay, Ontario P7B 3C2, Canada
Raynald Harvey Lemelin
Affiliation:
Centre for Northern Studies, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario, P7B 5E1, Canada (harvey.lemelin@lakeheadu.ca)
Martha Dowsley
Affiliation:
Centre for Northern Studies, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario, P7B 5E1, Canada (harvey.lemelin@lakeheadu.ca)
Dawne Mowbray
Affiliation:
Centre for Northern Studies, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario, P7B 5E1, Canada (harvey.lemelin@lakeheadu.ca)
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Abstract

On 27 January 2011, the Fort Severn Cree nation presented its perspectives on the management of wabusk (Cree term for polar bear meaning the great wandering one) or polar bear (Ursus maritimus) to the international community. The following article provides an overview of the events that have transpired since the Conférence internationale mondes polaires held in Paris, France, on 26–28 January 2011. It begins by discussing the current state of the southern Hudson Bay polar bear sub-population and describing Cree interactions with polar bears before highlighting how the Fort Severn Cree nation is developing a co-management strategy through the indigenous stewardship model for polar bear management in its traditional territory in northern Ontario, Canada.

Type
Research Article
Information
Polar Record , Volume 49 , Issue 3: THEMED SECTION: POLAR WORLDS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE 2011 , July 2013 , pp. 230 - 236
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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