A general research strategy for investigating the processes by which Chipewyan, Cree, Metis, and European populations adapted to the natural environment, to the EuroCanadian-organized fur trade economy, and to each other as competing/cooperating social groups in northcentral Canada is developed. An interpretive framework links local ecological relations with fur trade specialization and the nature of intergroup behavior and communication. The data base for assessing this framework was retrieved by a methodology combining participant and ethnoarchaeological observation of ongoing behavior with archaeological documentation of late historic sites. Special attention is given to the economic and social position of Chipewyan families in outpost and bush communities in northwestern Saskatchewan between 1890 and 1950.