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Hunter-gatherers and the behavioural ecology of human occupation
1Division of Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, Nishi Kyushu University, Saga, Japan. hudsonm@nisikyu-u.ac.jp
Background:
Despite growing interest in indigenous peoples within occupational therapy in Canada and elsewhere, there has been little consideration of hunter-gathering-an occupation that retains great material and symbolic significance for many indigenous groups.
Purpose:
A preliminary analysis of occupational behaviour amongst hunter-gatherers was conducted to aid understanding of the nature and evolution of human occupations and inform policy in indigenous occupational therapy.
Methods:
Human behavioural ecology was used to analyze four aspects of hunter-gatherer occupations: occupational diversification, the sexual "division of labour," the long dependence of juveniles on adult provisioning, and active foraging by postmenopausal women.
Findings:
It was concluded that many occupational adaptations of human foragers can be related to life-history traits, namely slow maturation, long lifespans, weaning before independent feeding, and postmenopausal longevity.
Implications:
Further research will help understand how our hunter-gatherer heritage has affected the evolution of occupational behaviour and to develop program designs using foraging occupations.
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