Tracking Long-Term Resilience in Arctic Sociocultural-Ecological Systems

Introduction

Like many Indigenous peoples around the world, Inuit of Foxe Basin, central Arctic Canada, view hunting and the food security it provides to be a collective cornerstone of their cultural identity. However, much conflict exists between Inuit subsistence hunters and regulators over the population sizes of many animal species (e.g., caribou, walruses, and polar bears) and the continued sustainability of hunts. Inuit argue that government-sponsored stock estimates are too conservative, and that hunting quotas are too low. My aim is to better understand and navigate the cultural disjuncture between Western-scientific understandings of sustainability/conservation, and Inuit traditional knowledge about environmental health.

Research Objectives

My team and Inuit partners will, for the first time, generate and integrate different types of data on:

1. Present-day hunting patterns (through citizen science).
2. Past animal-resource use by Inuit in Foxe Basin, from ca. AD 1300 (through archaeological investigations).
3. Traditional knowledge about hunting and use of animal resources in the region (through ethnographic engagement).
4. Policy relating to modern and historical hunting regulation and conservation efforts.

A fifth work package will offer practical, data-driven solutions for better relationships between Inuit and policymakers and regulators through the creation of a multimedia Toolkit that can be used by rights-holders in cross-culturally framing, discussing, and ultimately, (re)affirming rights over the resources in their traditional territories.

Implications

TRACES will greatly further our archaeological and anthropological understanding of long-term animal use by Arctic Indigenous peoples and will have significant implications for how we categorize humans, animals, and whole biomes as being vulnerable to climate change. Ultimately, the project will serve as a model for environment-related Indigenous research and policy action elsewhere in the world.