Although aware of the cultural differences between Athapaskan and Algonquian speaking Aboriginals, throughout this article, the authors point out the many similarities between the two linguistic groups that reside in the Shield and Mackenzie borderlands of Canada. This article theorizes that whether east or west, it is the sub-arctic environment that has impelled similar adaptations of survival among its Native inhabitants. Helm, Rogers, and Smith suggest that the common pattern of cultural response and change of the "subarctic Native" was also in large part due to the white/European relationship during the fur trade. It was this exchange (primarily, furs from the Natives for the products of western technology) that was the catalyst for the similarities and cultural evolution seen throughout sub-arctic Bands today. This article is extremely well written and covers eras from pre-contact to modern. It provides a trading post map and historic pictures that include traditional activities, native art, and Hudson Bay York boats. The writers make clear that, in spite of their sustained economic involvement with western society, Natives in this area continue their "man-to-nature" relationships, ancient skills of bush-craft, and an ethic of communal sharing and responsibility.