Kreg Ettenger
Assistant Professor of Anthropology

Kreg canoeing on the EastMain River, Northern Quebec

Email: ettenger@usm.maine.edu

Biographical Sketch

      Kreg is a cultural/applied anthropologist with interests in environmental and resource management issues, indigenous and northern peoples, cultural heritage, and multimedia ethnography. Before coming to USM he was a consulting anthropologist working mainly for the Cree (Iyiyuuch) Nation of northern Quebec on various environmental, land use and cultural heritage projects. He moved to Maine from Syracuse, NY, and also spends time in Montreal and northern Quebec. He doesn't have a family, but shares a farmhouse in Parsonsfield with his dog and three cats, one of them a Maine Coon Cat he found as a kitten here in the woods of western Maine. He enjoys outdoor activities including running, hiking, snowshoeing, and paddling, which is one of the reasons he wanted to come to Maine.

Education

Syracuse University 2004, Anthropology, Ph.D.

Dissertation focused on how the traditional ecological knowledge of Cree elders has been used by their leaders and advisors to negotiate a series of legal and political agreements designed to protect Cree rights to land, resources and culture.

State University of New York, College of Environmental Science & Forestry, M.S. in Environmental Science, 1991.

The Pennsylvania State University, Geophysics, B.S. , 1985.

Courses Taught at USM
ANT 101J Anthropology: The Cultural View
ANT 220I North American Indians
ANT 315 Ethnographic Methods
ANT 301I Victims of Progress

Research Interests

"My research interests include the social, economic and cultural contexts of environmental knowledge and practice, focusing on indigenous peoples and rural communities. More specifically, I am interested in how people use, manage, and think about their environment, and how these patterns are affected by regional development and global change. Current and recent research projects include: A land use and occupancy study involving offshore islands in James and Hudson Bays, in support of a land claim by the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee); a study to assess the cultural significance of a mountain used for big game hunting by Cree families in southern James Bay, which led to the protection of the mountain from extensive logging; and a cultural heritage project designed to train young Crees in ethnographic and archaeological methods, and to collect and preserve local knowledge about an area to be flooded by a new reservoir. I am also interested in the use of digital media, including video, audio, and photography, to document local knowledge and produce DVDs and other products for educational purposes."

Publications
2005
"A 'New Relationship' Between Anthropologists and the Crees of Québec. Part Two: The Response." High Plains Applied Anthropologist, Vol. 25, No. 1, Spring.

2004
"A 'New Relationship' Between Anthropologists and the Crees of Québec. Part One: The Challenge." High Plains Applied Anthropologist, Vol. 24, No. 1, pp. 77-92.

2003
Nadoshtin Archaeology and Cultural Heritage Program (ACHP): Archaeological and Historical Potential Study (Summary Report). Val d'Or, Quebec. April, 2003.

2002
Cree Knowledge, Use and Management of Natural Resources in the Offshore Regions of James Bay and S.E. Hudson Bay. Community Reports for Chisasibi, Eastmain, Waskaganish, Wemindji, and Whapmagoostui (five volumes). Prepared for the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee) and the Cree Regional Authority, Montreal, Quebec.
     
Muskuuchii {Bear Mountain}: Protecting a Traditional Iyiyuuch Wildlife Preserve and Sacred Site. Consulting report prepared for the Forestry Working Group, Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee), Montreal, Quebec, December 2002.

2001
"Source Water Protection in Traditional Haudenosaunee Nations: Report on an SfAA/EPA Environmental Anthropology Fellowship." Practicing Anthropology 23(3):23-27.
     
"'Polishing the Kaswentha': A Haudenosaunee View of Environmental Cooperation." (with J. Ransom). Environmental Science & Policy 4(4/5):219-28.

2000
Local Source Water Assessment and Protection: The Experiences of Haudenosaunee Communities in New York State. Final Technical Report on the Community Dynamics of Source Water Protection Fellowship sponsored by the Office of Ground Water & Drinking Water, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Society for Applied Anthropology.

1998
"A River That Was Once So Strong and Deep: Local Reflections on the Eastmain Diversion, James Bay Hydroelectric Project." In Water, Culture, & Power: Local Struggles in a Global Context, ed. by J. Donahue and B. Johnston. Wash., D.C. and Covelo, Cal.: Island Press.       Community Assessment of Mercury Remedial Programs in Chisasibi, Wemindji, and Eastmain. Report prepared for the Cree Regional Authority, Montreal, Quebec.

Presentations

2003
Telling the Story of Bear Mountain. Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the American Anthropological Association, November 19-23, Chicago.
     
"The Devil's in the Details: Cultural and Institutional Obstacles to Implementing the Cree-Québec Agreement." Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the Society for Applied Anthropology, March 19-23, Portland, Oregon.

2002
"Cree Place Names and Myths as Evidence of Past Use and Occupancy: The Offshore Islands of Eastern James Bay." Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Ethnohistory, October 16-20, Quebec City, Quebec.
     
"Our Turn to Adapt: Anthropological Responses to Rapid Change in Eastern James Bay, Canada." Paper presented at 2002 Conference of the High Plains Society for Applied Anthropology, April 19-21, Estes Park, Colorado.
     
"Impacts of Global Environmental Change on Subsistence Activities of the Eastern James Bay Iyiyuu (Cree)." Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the Society for Applied Anthropology, March 6-10, Atlanta, Georgia.

2001
"Environmental Anthropology and Regional Indigenous Organizations: Contrasting Experiences in the U.S. and Canada." Paper prepared for the Annual Meetings of the Society for Applied Anthropology, March 13-18, Merida, Mexico.

2000
"Lessons from the Kaswentha: Creating Meaningful Partnerships for Environmental Protection" (with J. W. Ransom). Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the American Anthropological Association, Nov. 15-19, San Francisco, California.
     
"Each in Our Own Vessel: Haudenosaunee Approaches to Source Water Protection." Paper presented at Meetings of the Soc. for Applied Anthropology, Mar. 17-21, San Francisco, CA.

 

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