Food Sharing in Human Societies

Dr. Nobuhiro Kishigami is a cultural anthropologist working at the National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka, Japan. Since the mid-1980s, he has conducted research on indigenous cultures and societies in the Arctic and Northwest Coast regions of North America as well as urban centers of Canada, with a focus upon the Inuit of Canada and Inupiat of Alaska. In recent years, his studies have extended from indigenous food-sharing systems to indigenous whaling in northwestern Alaska and Arctic Canada. Having an interest in indigenous cultures along the North Pacific Rim, he is carrying out a comparative research project of the history and sociocultural changes among indigenous peoples in the region. His main publication includes World Whaling: Historical and Contemporary Studies (2021), Anthropological Studies of Whaling (2013), Indigenous Use and Management of Marine Resources (2005), and The Social Economy of Sharing: Resource Allocation and Modern Hunter-Gatherers (2000) from the Senri Ethnological Studies Series, National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka, Japan.

“Kishigami does an admirable job in providing a very comprehensive and useful bibliography. For all the reasons noted above, plus more that I have not mentioned, Food Sharing in Human Societies: Anthropological Perspectives is an important volume and solid contribution to the literature on sharing that is useful to specialists and accessible to students.” (George W. Wenzel, anthrobookforum.americananthro.org, January 30, 2023)

• Food sharing in hunter-gatherer societies.- Food sharing in the Inuit society: A case study from Akulivik in Nunavik, Canada.- Food sharing among the Inupiat in Utqiaġvik, Alaska, USA.- Comparing food sharing in three hunter–gatherer societies.- Food sharing: Theoretical consideration.