This study has resulted in the identification of areas that would likely contain trails traditionally and contemporarily used for hunting and trapping activities. The methodology of this study aimed to incorporate social factors as equal contributions to the geographical factors used in identifying areas of high trail use. Further considerations that might be taken into account with future analysis include proximity to rivers, seasonality, diverse stories in oral tradition, refined definitions of slope, and redefined areas of animal habitat.

 

The criteria used to establish the designation of these areas were selected from a limited perspective of the conduct of contemporary hunting and trapping activities by aboriginal people in the Northwest Territories. Any future work would require collaboration with the Sahtu Dene to appropriately set the parameters of analysis. The goal of this project was to demonstrate the importance of incorporating multiple perspectives into the conceptualization of spatial analysis, and to demonstrate the limitations of current programs and institutional conventions to represent social and spatial data. Continuation of work on a model to accurately predict past and present movements of human populations is a source of research that can be applied to many areas of study outside of the scope of this project.