Kindness, Kinship, and Tradition in Newfoundland/Alberta Migration

Migration between Newfoundland and Alberta is transforming the social and cultural landscape of Canada. Newfoundlanders involved in this migration overcome the many challenges it entails with countless acts of altruism; ranging from supplying a place to live and help in finding a job, to providing a familiar meal or a ride home for Christmas. Although such kindness is a familiar part of human behavior, social scientists have struggled to explain it because they adhere to the assumption that all human behavior is driven by hedonistic self-interest. As a result, most social scientists only succeed in explaining human kindness away by arguing that what appears to be altruistic is really only an investment that will lead to future selfish gains.

This book provides an alternative explanation of the kindness exhibited by Newfoundlanders as they overcome the obstacles inherent in migration. This new explanation incorporates cultural traditions into existing evolutionary explanations of altruism. This explanation, referred to as the descendant-leaving strategy hypothesis, explains human kindness as the result of our ancestors passing on cultural traditions encouraging each following generation of descendants to value the well-being of their kin as much as they value themselves. This hypothesis is supported by descriptions of how traditions of kindness, passed down through generations of Newfoundlanders, continue to influence the behavior of Newfoundlanders as they face the social and physical challenge of migrating to Alberta.

Craig T. Palmer earned his PhD in Cultural Anthropology from Arizona State University in 1988, and is currently an Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Missouri. His reserach has focused on incorporating cultural traditions into evolutionary explainations of human behavior. Much of his research has been performed in Newfoundland and Alberta. 

Emily K. Groom earned her MA in Anthropology and a Graduate Certificate in Conservation Biology from the University of Missouri in 2011. Her graduate research focused on the relationships between nature-tourism and the oil sands mining industry in northern Alberta, and also on the effect of migration on cultural traditions. She currently works for the National Park Service.

Jordan H. Brandon studied anthropology at the University of Missouri. His research focused on ecotourism and migration to Alberta on the Northern Peninsula and Northeast Coast of Newfoundland, Canada. He is now a registered nurse in St. Louis, MO.