Trends in Subsistence Research in Northern Canada: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

In this paper we present the results from a systematic literature review of subsistence research that was conducted in northern Canada between 1950 and 2019. Our analysis identified trends in subsistence research, including the breadth of research topics, influential scholars and scholarship, and the emergence of research networks. Our results identified 245 publications authored by a multidisciplinary network of 365 scholars. Research conducted through ArcticNet and the International Polar Year is responsible for 75% (n = 183 of 245) of all subsistence-related publications during this period. Subsistence publications cover a wide range of topics, including climate change, nutrition, and wildlife management, but Indigenous food culture and the roles of women in subsistence have received comparatively less scholarly attention. Given the profound changes occurring in northern Canada, whether a result of anthropogenic or non-anthropogenic disturbances, greater attention to the cultural and gendered dimensions of subsistence will be particularly valuable to northern scholarship and the public policies it can inform. This attention will be increasingly necessary in a time when critical thinking about the future of subsistence in northern Canada is of critical need.