Extractive industries and Indigenous subsistence economies: a complex and unresolved relationship

The relationship between Indigenous subsistence activities and extractive industries has been difficult to conceptualise. For many, the development of extractive industries in lands used by Indigenous peoples has a negative impact on traditional subsistence economies. Yet research on the relationship undertaken since the 1970s has often challenged this opinion. This article reviews the research on this question, discussing in particular new findings on the Canadian North. While this research does not find any large-scale decline in subsistence activities as a result of extractive industry development, questions do remain about the long-term impacts.