Nurit Bird-David on Hunter-Gatherers

[A]ll modern hunter-gatherers appear to have a distinct, if heterogeneous, mode of subsistence. ... Normally some members of the group pursue hunting and gathering. Their associates do not, but they keep in close contact with the former. The experiences of the former reinforce the common trust in the viability of hunting and gathering for everybody in the group. While not currently involved in hunting and gathering, the latter therefore do not fully commit themselves to their respective diverse activities. They shift between them on the basis of opportunities, and eventually take up hunting and gathering. Meanwhile, those who initially pursued hunting and gathering possibly shift now to other activities. Through their own direct experiences, they keep up the knowledge and skills which are prerequisite for a subsistence based on forest resources, while at the same time it is now their experiences which reinforce the common trust in the viability of hunting and gathering. What we have here, then, is a group of people who share the knowledge and skills of hunting and gathering, as well as a trust in its variability. They reproduce these among themselves. However, although they hunt and gather regularly, at any time only a core of people—whose composition constantly changes—actually engages in these activities.

Nurit Bird-David, "Beyond ‘the hunting and gathering mode of subsistence’: Culture-Sensitive observations on the Nayaka and other modern hunter-gatherers." Man 27 :41. 1992