Keepers of the Game [antikvár]

Afew years ago, I received a manuscript to evaluate for publication, "The European Impact on the Culture of a Northeastern Algonquian Tribe: An Ecological Interpretation." (Subsequently, it was published in the William and Mary Quarterly in 1974.) I was completely enthralled by its novel thesis and cogent discussion which showed how pervasive alterations in an eastern Canadian ecosystem could be traced to the functional interplay of what might otherwise have appeared to be unrelated cultural and historical factors. The devastating effects of new diseases from Europe evoked doubts among the local Indians concerning their traditional religious beliefs and practices. In this apostatizing mood, they were ready converts to Christian missionary teaching which undercut all native rituals, including those which had served to maintain a harmonious relationship between the people and other life-forms in their natural environment. Unrestrained by sacred sanctions, the Indians responded to the demands of the fur trade with unremitting exploitation of game, especially beaver, thereby affecting the water system controlled by the beavers' activities to bring about complex and far-reaching ramifications destructive to the total environment.Who, I wondered, was this Calvin Martin who handled biological and historical data with such skill and originality. Why