Masking subversion : neo-colonial embeddedness in anthropological accounts of indigenous management

In an exemplary enthographic study of an indigenous beaver trapper belonging to the Cree Nation, Whiteman and Cooper introduced the concept of ecological embeddedness. They argue that to be ecologically embedded as a manager is to identify personally with the land, to adhere to beliefs of ecological respect, reciprocity and caretaking, actively to gather ecological information and to be located physically in the ecosystem. This article provides a critique of Whiteman and Cooper's argument and explores the ways in which, at the same time as it is purportedly represented, indigenous thought is masked and thereby subverted. It is argued that much of their theorizing is rooted in neocolonial thought and despite the authors' claims, a so-called 'indigenous land ethic' has limited, if any, relevance to current management theory and practice. This is because such a land ethic is disembedded from the indigenous consciousness of their own economic, social, and political history.