Paper short abstract:

Starting from the theoretical frame developed by the ontological turn, this is an ethnographic description of the hunting practices of the Cree of Eeyou Istschee, focused on the small acts of everyday life as places of ontological engagement with animals seen as sentient beings.

Paper long abstract:

The hunting practices of the people of the subarctic have regularly been stressed as a fertile example of (the new) animism from authors identified - directly or indirectly - with the "ontological turn" (Hallowell, Descola, Ingold, Willerslev, Nadasdy, Harvey, Scott). Starting from and questioning this theoretical frame, this paper is an ethnographic contribution describing the contemporary hunting practices of the Cree of Eeyou Istschee. As the so-called ontological turn invites us to, I aim in this description at avoiding essentialism and at rendering the nuance of Cree various engagements with the world - in a context marked by rapid social change and major resource exploitation. To do so, I made the epistemological choice to focus on the everyday practices rather than on the ceremonial or symbolic aspects of hunting. Emerging from this focus on the small acts and thoughts of the everyday life in the bush, a true aesthetics of hunting appears, based on the conviction that animals are sentient and intelligent being that should be treated with respect. I will also stress how these ontological considerations and practices cohabit (sometimes with difficulties) with other forms of engagements with the natural world.