Articles

Articles

Art and artistic processes bridge knowledge systems about social-ecological change: An empirical examination with Inuit artists from Nunavut, Canada by Kaitlyn J. Rathwell and Derek Armitage (2016)

• "The role of art and artistic processes is one fruitful yet underexplored area of social-ecological resilience. Art and art making can nurture Indigenous knowledge and at the same time bridge knowledge across generations and cultures (e.g., Inuit and scientific). Experiences in two Inuit communities in northern Canada (Cape Dorset and Pangnirtung, Nunavut) provide the context in which we empirically examine the mechanisms through which art and art making may bridge knowledge systems about social-ecological change. Art making and artworks create continuity between generations via symbols and skill development (e.g., seal skin stretching for a modern artistic mural) and by creating mobile and adaptive boundary objects that function as a shared reference point to connect different social worlds. Our results indicate how art and artistic processes may bridge knowledge systems through six mechanisms, and in so doing contribute to social-ecological resilience during change and uncertainty. These mechanisms are (1) embedding knowledge, practice and belief into art objects; (2) sharing knowledge using the language of art; (3) sharing of art making skills; (4) art as a contributor to monitoring social-ecological change; (5) the role of art in fostering continuity through time; and (6) art as a site of knowledge coproduction."

Glaciers and Climate Change: Perspectives from Oral Tradition by Julie Cruikshank (1991)

• "In northwestern North America, glaciers figure prominently in both indigenous oral traditions and narratives of geophysical sciences. These perspectives intersect in discussions about global warming, predicted to be extreme at Arctic and Subarctic latitudes and an area of concern for both local people and scientists. Indigenous people in northwestern North America have experienced climate variability associated with the latter phases of the Little Ice Age (approximately 1550-1850). This paper draws on oral traditions passed down from that period, some recorded between 1900 and the early 1950s in coastal Alaska Tlingit communities and others recorded more recently with elders from Yukon First Nations. The narratives concern human travel to the Gulf of Alaska foreshore at the end of the Little Ice Age from the Copper River, from the Alaska panhandle, and from the upper Alsek-Tatshenshini drainage, as well as observations about glacier advances, retreats, and surges. The paper addresses two large policy debates. One concerns the incorporation of local knowledge into scientific research. The second addresses the way in which oral tradition contributes another variety of historical understanding in areas of the world where written documents are relatively recent. Academic debates, whether in science or in history, too often evaluate local expertise as data or evidence, rather than as knowledge or theory that might contribute different perspectives to academic questions."

Adapting to Climate Change Social-Ecological Resilience in a Canadian Western Arctic Community by Fikret Berkes and Dyanna Jolly (2001)

• "Human adaptation remains an insufficiently studied part of the subject of climate change. This paper examines the questions of adaptation and change in terms of social-ecological resilience using lessons from a place-specific case study. The Inuvialuit people of the small community of Sachs Harbour in Canada's western Arctic have been tracking climate change throughout the 1990s. We analyze the adaptive capacity of this community to deal with climate change. Short-term responses to changes in land-based activities, which are identified as coping mechanisms, are one component of this adaptive capacity. The second component is related to cultural and ecological adaptations of the Inuvialuit for life in a highly variable and uncertain environment; these represent long-term adaptive strategies. These two types of strategies are, in fact, on a continuum in space and time. This study suggests new ways in which theory and practice can be combined by showing how societies may adapt to climate change at multiple scales. Switching species sting the “where, when, and how” of hunting are examples of shorter-term responses. On the other hand, adaptations such as flexibility in seasonal hunting patterns, traditional knowledge that allows the community to diversity hunting activities, networks for sharing food and other resources, and intercommunity trade are longer-term, culturally ingrained mechanisms. Individuals, households, and the community as a whole also provide feedback on their responses to change. Newly developing co-management institutions create additional linkages for feedback across different levels, enhancing the capacity for learning and self-organization of the local inhabitants and making it possible for them to transmit community concerns to regional, national, and international levels."

Community collaboration and climate change research in the Canadian Arctic by Tristan D. Pearce, et al. (2009)

• "Research on climate change impacts, vulnerability and adaptation, particularly projects aiming to contribute to practical adaptation initiatives, requires active involvement and collaboration with community members and local, regional and national organizations that use this research for policy‐making. Arctic communities are already experiencing and adapting to environmental and socio‐cultural changes, and researchers have a practical and ethical responsibility to engage with communities that are the focus of the research. This paper draws on the experiences of researchers working with communities across the Canadian Arctic, together with the expertise of Inuit organizations, Northern research institutes and community partners, to outline key considerations for effectively engaging Arctic communities in collaborative research. These considerations include: initiating early and ongoing communication with communities, and regional and national contacts; involving communities in research design and development; facilitating opportunities for local employment; and disseminating research findings. Examples of each consideration are drawn from climate change research conducted with communities in the Canadian Arctic."

Contributions of traditional knowledge to understanding climate change in the Canadian Arctic by Dyanna Riedlinger and Fikret Berkes (2001)

• "Despite much scientific research, a considerable amount of uncertainty exists concerning the rate and extent of climate change in the Arctic, and how change will affect regional climatic processes and northern ecosystems. Can an expanded scope of knowledge and inquiry augment understandings of climate change in the north? The extensive use of the land and the coastal ocean in Inuit communities provides a unique source of local environmental expertise that is guided by generations of experience. Environmental change associated with variations in weather and climate has not gone unnoticed by communities that are experiencing change firsthand. Little research has been done to explore the contributions of traditional knowledge to climate-change research. Based in part on a collaborative research project in Sachs Harbour, western Canadian Arctic, this paper discusses five areas in which traditional knowledge may complement scientific approaches to understanding climate change in the Canadian Arctic. These are the use of traditional knowledge as local-scale expertise; as a source of climate history and baseline data; in formulating research questions and hypotheses; as insight into impacts and adaptation in Arctic communities; and for long-term, communitybased monitoring. These five areas of potential convergence provide a conceptual framework for bridging the gap between traditional knowledge and western science, in the context of climate-change research."

Methodological consideration of story telling in qualitative research involving Indigenous Peoples by Susan Bird, et al. (2009)

• "The use of storytelling in qualitative research involving Inuit compliments the oral tradition of Inuit culture. The objective of the research was to explore the use of qualitative methods to gain understanding of the experience of living with diabetes, with the ultimate goal of better formulating health care delivery and health promotion among Inuit. In-depth interviews were analyzed and interpreted using thematic analysis, open coding, and structured narrative analysis. Inuit community members acted as partners through all stages of the research."

The Politics of Tek: Power and the "Integration" of Knowledge by Paul Nadasdy (1999)

• "This paper takes a critical look at the project of 'integrating' traditional knowledge and science. The project of integration has been and continues to be the cornerstone of efforts to involve norther aboriginal peoples in the processes of resource management and environmental impact assessment over the past 15 years. The idea of integration, however, contains the implicit assumption that the cultural beliefs and practices referred to as 'traditional knowledge' conform to western conceptions about 'knowledge.' It takes for granted existing power relations between aboriginal people and the state by assuming that traditional knowledge is simply a new form of 'data' to be incorporated into existing management bureaucracies and acted upon by scientists and resource managers. As a result, aboriginal people have been forced to express themselves in ways that conform to the institutions and practices of state management rather than their own beliefs, values, and practices. And, since it is scientists and resource managers, rather than aboriginal hunters and trappers, who will be using this new 'integrated' knowledge, the project of integration actually serves to concentrate power in administrative centers, rather than in the hands of aboriginal people."

Vulnerability to climate change in the Arctic: A case study from Arctic Bay, Canada by James D. Ford, et al. (2005)

• "This paper develops a vulnerability-based approach which is used to characterize the human implications of climate change in Arctic Bay, Canada. It focuses on community vulnerabilities and the processes through which people adapt to them in the context of livelihood assets, constraints, and outside influences. Inuit in Arctic Bay have demonstrated significant adaptability in the face of changing climate-related exposures. This adaptability is facilitated by traditional Inuit knowledge, strong social networks, flexibility in seasonal hunting cycles, and institutional support. Changing Inuit livelihoods, however, have undermined certain aspects of adaptive capacity, and have resulted in emerging vulnerabilities in certain sections of the community."

Ethnoscience, prevailing science, and arctic co-operation by Milton M. R. Freeman (1992)

• "This paper does not intend to attack science. But it does suggest that there may be alternative systems of knowing about those complex environmental realities that are the most difficult to comprehend using conventional scientific approaches...It is now becoming apparent that overemphasis on the scientific method and on rational, analytic thinking has led to attitudes that are profoundly anti-ecological. In truth, the understanding of ecosystems is hindered by the very nature of the rational mind. Rational thinking is linear, whereas ecological awareness arises from an intuition of non-linear systems.It is now becoming apparent that overemphasis on the scientific method and on rational, analytic thinking has led to attitudes that are profoundly anti-ecological. In truth, the understanding of ecosystems is hindered by the very nature of the rational mind. Rational thinking is linear, whereas ecological awareness arises from an intuition of non-linear systems."