David Natcher PhD

PhD, University of Alberta (1999)

MA, University of Alaska Fairbanks (1996)

BA, Mercyhurst University (1989)

Cultural and Economic Anthropology

Arctic Sustainable Development

Indigenous Subsistence Economies

Human Ecology

Resource Management

AREC 220: History of Indigenous Agriculture in Canada

This course traces the major development periods of Indigenous agriculture in Canada, from prehistory to the present. This course provides a comprehensive reference for students interested in the agricultural history of Canada’s First Peoples. This course is organized into three temporal/thematic sections.

Section I. Pre-Contact Agricultural Period - This section explores the role of agriculture in the pre-contact and historical periods of Canada. Lectures focus on climatic influences, plant domestications, and the origin of agriculture as captured in the archaeological record. This section further explores prominent examples of Indigenous agricultural systems, including the Three Sisters (corn, beans, squash) multi-cropping system, Manoomin (Wild Rice) harvesting, and the complex plants management practices used by Indigenous peoples of Canada’s northwest coast.

Section II. Colonial Agricultural Period - This section explores the impact of Settler societies on Indigenous populations with a specific focus on how agriculture was first promoted as an assimilationist tool by the Federal government and the church. This section then focuses on the agricultural provisions guaranteed in historic treaties, followed by the disempowering impacts of the Indian Act and other agricultural related policies (Peasant Farm Policies generally) that essentially excluded Indigenous peoples from the commercial agricultural sector. This section also review legacies that continue to challenge Indigenous farmers today, including land and credit/capital constraints, on-reserve land codes, leasing arrangements (Buckshee vs. Indian Act approvals), and market entry.

Section III. Revitalizing Indigenous Food Systems and Sovereignty - The third section of this course examines the strides and achievements being made by Indigenous communities/producers to gain entry into agricultural sectors. This will include discussions and case-studies of Indigenous food sovereignty movements and the revitalization of traditional Indigenous food systems across Canada and North America.

RRM 312: Indigenous Peoples and Natural Resource Management

This course explores the concepts, practices and issues associated with the management of land and resources by Canada's Indigenous peoples, as well as other resource dependent peoples. This course introduces students to traditional\local ecological knowledge and how these systems of knowledge are used by Indigenous and other resource dependent peoples to manage their uses of the environment. During the course we examine the premises underlying varying approaches to resource management, including Indigenous, state and co-management arrangements. This course will be of interest to those students who want to gain a more critical understanding of how different social, cultural, and political perspectives influence the allocation, use and management of natural resources. 

• University of the Arctic Research Chair - Water, Energy and Food (WEF) Security in the Arctic
• Canadian Representative to the Arctic International Science Committee – Social and Human Working Group https://iasc.info/working-groups/social-human
• Canadian Representative to the Social, Economic, Cultural Expert Group (SECEG), Sustainable Development Working Group, Arctic Council https://sdwg.org/what-we-do/experts/social-economic-and-cultural-expert-group/

Books (Recent)

• Natcher, David C. and Rolando Ramirez, 2023. Living Together: Communities and Protected Areas in Chile. National Forestry Service of Forest Promotion and Development.. Government of Chile Santiago.
• Southcott, Chris, Frances Abele, David Natcher and Brenda Parlee (eds.), 2022. Extractive Industries and the Sustainability of Canada’s Arctic Communities. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 400p.https://www.mqup.ca/extractive-industry-and-the-sustainability-of-canada---s-arctic-communities-products-9780228011552.php 
• Natcher, David C. and Timo Koivurova (eds.), 2022, Renewable Resource Economies in the Arctic. Routledge, Polar Studies Series, New York, 296 p. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003172406.
• Southcott, Chris, Frances Abele, David C. Natcher and Brenda Parlee (eds.), 2019. Resources and Sustainable Development in the Arctic. New York: Routledge Press, 297p. https://www.routledge.com/Resources-and-Sustainable-Development-in-the-Arctic/Southcott-Abele-Natcher-Parlee/p/book/9780367585549 

Journal Articles (2020-2024)

1. Natcher, D. C., Olfert, R., & Ingram, S. (2024). The challenges of ethnic and racialized separation for truth and reconciliation in Canada. Human Organization, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/00187259.2024.2406024
2. Kuuwill, A., J.N. Kimengsi, D.C. Natcher, L. Agyepong, G. Acquaah, S. Ampomah, I. Dasmani, K.N. Darfor, and P.E. Ofori, 2024. Health Shocks and Rural Farmers Credit Access Shifts in Sub-Sahara Africa: Evidence from the Kwahu Plains South District, Ghana. Environmental Challenges, 15: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envc.2024.100924.
3. Madani, Zia and David Natcher, 2024. Water, Energy and Food (WEF) Nexus in the Changing Arctic: An International Law Analysis. Water 16, 835. https://doi.org/10.3390/w16060835.
4. Rahman, Tuihedur, Shawn Ingram, and David Natcher, 2024. Assessing the Cascading Disaster Risk of Water, Energy and Food Systems. Environmental Hazards https://doi.org/10.1080/17477891.2024.2323105.  
5. Xiaojing, Lu*, Naomi Owens-Beek, Ryan Mckay, Jim Webb, Xulin Guo, and David Natcher, 2024. Forecasting industrial tipping points in First Nations’ land use in northeast British Columbia. The Extractive Industries and Society, 17: 101415. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2024.101415  
6. Natcher, David, Shawn Ingram, Ana-Maria Bogdan, and Tuihedur Rahman, 2024. Understanding First Nations’ exposure and sensitivity to economic and ecological change in Canada. Hunter Gatherer Research, 7.1-2: 143-169 https://doi.org/10.3828/hgr.2021.2
7. Smith-Lopez, Chloe*, Ana-Maria Bogdan, Ken Belcher, and David Natcher, 2024. Advancing a WEF Nexus Security Index for Alaska: An Informed Starting Point for Policy Making. Polar Geography. https://doi.org/10.1080/1088937X.2024.2311785
8. Ayanwale, A.B., A.T. Orkaa, A.C. Adelekun, D.C. Natcher, I. Ogunwande, D.J. Oyedele, and C.O. Adebooye, 2023. Factors influencing adoption of post-harvest practices among underutilized vegetable producers in southeast Nigeria. European Journal of Horticultural Science, 88(2) 1611-4426 https://doi.org/10.17660/eJHS.2023/011.
9. Bogdan, Ana-Maria, Tayyab Shah, Michaela Sidloski, Xiaojin Lu, Meng Li, Shawn Ingram, and David Natcher, 2023. What Gets Measured Gets Done: Challenges in Monitoring Water, Energy, and Food Security in Northern Canada. Arctic (in press).
10. Geleta, Solomon, David Natcher, and Carol Henry, 2023. The Effect of Information Networks on the Scaling Out of New Agricultural Technologies: The Case of Pulse Variety Adoption in Southern Ethiopia. Journal of Rural Studies, 99: 153-166 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2023.02.012.
11. Mamun, Abdula and David Natcher, 2023. The Promise and Pitfalls of Community-based Monitoring with a Focus on Canadian Examples. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 195, 445 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-022-10841-y.
12. Yang, Yang, Jill Hobbs, and David Natcher, 2023. Consumer Trust in Arctic Foods Certification. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review http://DOI:10.22434/IFAMR2022.0111  
13. Natcher, David, Shawn Ingram and Ana-Maria Bogdan, 2022. Understanding the Nature of Country Food Sales Among First Nations in Alberta, Canada. Human Organization, Vol. 81(4): 367-378..
14. Ghaith, Ziad, Suren Kulshreshtha, and David Natcher, 2022. The Economic Impact of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership on Saskatchewan: A Subnational Computable General Equilibrium-Based Analysis. International Trade Journal http://DOI:10.1080/08853908.2022.2149639
15. Mirzaei, Omid and David Natcher, 2022. Recreational Tobacco Consumption and Food Insecurity Among First Nations in Canada. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 113: 703-712 https://doi.org/10.17269/s41997-022-00650-8.
16. Natcher, D.C., A.M. Bogdan and C. Southcott, 2022. Trends in Subsistence Research in Northern Canada: Systematic Literature Review. Arctic, 81(4): 320-329 https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic75673
17.  Natcher, D.C. and R. Ramirez, 2022. Consultative Councils in Chile: Participatory or Protectionist Management of the Fray Jorge National Park? Parks: The International Journal of Protected Areas and Conservation, Vol. 28(1): 51-60 http://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.CH.2022.PARKS-28-1DN.en.
18. Ingram, S., Bogdan, A.-M., Shah, T.Lu, X., Li, M., Sidloski, M., and Natcher, D. 2022. Unpacking the WEF Nexus Index: A Regional and Sub-Regional Analysis of Northern Canada. Sustainability, 13, 13338. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132313338
19. Mirzaei, Omid, David C. Natcher and Eric Micheels, 2021. Estimating the Economic Impacts of Specific Claims Settlements in Canada: The Case of Little Red River Cree Nation. Canadian Public Policy https://www.utpjournals.press/doi/epdf/10.3138/cpp.2020-118. 
20. Mirzaei, Omid and David C. Natcher, 2021. An Empirical Analysis of Food Expenditures by First Nation Households in Canada: Factors Affecting Household Food Security. Food Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 11(1): 15-31 https://doi.org/10.18848/2160-1933/CGP/v11i01/15-31
21. Adechian, S.A., Baco, M.N., Orlarinde, L.O., Moumouni, I.M., and Natcher, D.C., 2021. Social ties development as competitive strategies in vegetables marketing: evidence from small-scale farmers in Benin. The European Journal of Development Research (on-line first) https://doi.org/10.1057/s41287-021-00415-y.
22. Holen, D., L. Harrison, D.C. Natcher, R. Macdonald, A. Pilyasov, V. Kibenko, R. Biret, M.E. Sara, E.I. Turi, R.M.N. Buljo, A. Oskal, S.D. Mathiesen, I. Aslaksen, M.K. Poppel, B. Poppel and S. Gartler, 2021. Interdependency of subsistence and market economies in the Arctic. In  Glomsrød, S., G. Duhaime and I. Aslaksen (eds.), The Economy of the North – ECONOR 2020: p. 119-154  https://www.ssb.no/en/natur-og-miljo/artikler-og-publikasjoner/_attachment/454081?_ts=1797e6e7a00
23. Mirzaei, Omid, David Natcher, and Eric Micheels, 2021. A Spatial Model of Investment Behaviour for First Nation Governments. Spatial Economic Analysis (on-line first) https://doi.org/10.1080/17421772.2021.1921833
24. Natcher, David C., Naomi Owens-Beek, Ana-Maria Bogdan, Xiaojing Lu, Meng Li, Shawn Ingram, Ryan McKay and Abigael Rice, 2021. Scenario Planning Tools for Mitigating Industrial Impacts on First Nations Subsistence Economies in British Columbia, Canada. Sustainability Science (on-line first) https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-021-00969-0.
25. Natcher, David C., Shawn Ingram, Ray Solotki, Carl Burgess, Suren Kulshrehtha, and Lindsey Volt, 2021. Assessing the Constraints to the Adoption of Containerized Agriculture in Northern Canada. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 5:https://doi:10.3389/fsufs.2021.643366
26. Gaith, Ziad, Suren Kulshreshtha, David Natcher, and Bobby Cameron, 2021. Regional Computable General Equilibrium Models: A Review. Journal of Policy Modeling (on-line first).https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpolmod.2021.03.005
27. Natcher, David C. and Shawn Ingram, 2021. A Nexus Approach to Water, Energy and Food Security in Northern Canada. Arctic, 74(1): 1-11 https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic72045. 
28. Natcher, David C., Shawn Ingram, Ana-Maria Bogdan and Abigael Rice, 2021. Conservation and Indigenous Subsistence Hunting in the Peace River Region of Canada. Human Ecology, 49: 109-120 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-020-00210-z
29. Natcher, David C. and Nicholas Brunet, 2020. Indigenous Community-Based Monitory: Cooperation or Cooptation. The Extractive Industries and Society, 7: 1279-1282 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2020.10.005
30. Natcher, David C., Shawn Ingram, Nic Brunet and Ana-Maria Bogdan, 2020. Accounting for Intracultural Variability in First Nation Environmental Knowledge: A Requisite for Environmental Monitoring and Impact Assessments. Environmental Impact Assessment Review 85: 106465 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2020.106465 
31. Yang, Yang, Jill Hobbs and David C. Natcher, 2020. The Arctic as a Food Producing Region: Consumer Perceptions and Market Segments. Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics https://doi.org/10.1111/cjag.12255
32. Natcher, David, Nic Brunet, Ana-Maria Bogdan and Devan Tchir, 2020. Seeking Indigenous Consensus on the Impacts of Oil Sands Development in Alberta, Canada. The Extractive Industries and Societ, 7: 1330-1337 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2020.06.013 
33. Reed, Graeme, Nic Brunet, Sheri Longboat and David Natcher, 2020. Are Indigenous Guardians an Emerging Approach to Indigenous Environmental Governance? Conservation Biology https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13532 
34. Brunet, Nic, Jardin, Tim, Jones, Paul, McDermid, Findlay, Reed, Graeme, Bogdan, Ana-Maria, Tchir, Devan and Natcher, David, 2020. Indigenous Community-Led Monitoring of Fish in the Oil Sands Region of Canada: Lessons at the Intersection of Cultural Consensus and Fish Science.  The Extractive Industries and Society, 7: 1319-1329 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2020.06.014.
35. Reed, Graeme, Nic Brunet, David Natcher, 2020. Can Indigenous Community-based Monitoring Act as a Tool for Sustainable Self-determination? The Extractive Industries and Society, 7 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2020.04.006.
36. Natcher, David C., Ana Maria Bogdan, Angela Lieverse and Kent Spiers, 2020. Gender and Arctic Climate Change Science in Canada. Palgrave Communications, 6(32) https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-020-0407-6
37. Mirzaei, O, Natcher, D. C., and Micheels, E. T. 2020. Estimating the Regional Economic Impacts of First Nation Spending in Saskatchewan, Canada.  The Review of Regional Studies, 50: 53-69.
38. Yang, Yang, Jill Hobbs and David C. Natcher, 2020. Assessing Consumer Willingness to Pay for Arctic Food Products. Food Policy https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2020.101846