NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Gwich'in Settlement Area

Tags: traditional knowledge, wildlife, land use planning, land use, history, land experience

Project Description: As part of developing a Draft Land Use Plan for the Peel River watershed region, the Peel Watershed Planning Commission proposes to carry out interviews to gain a better understanding of the Tetlit Gwich’in experience on the land, including the community’s knowledge of important wildlife areas within the region. Accordingly, the interviews will involve participants communicating information on key wildlife habitat and populations as well as historical and contemporary traditional land use in the region. Interview data will be recorded through project datasheet notation and polygon notation on 1:125, 000 or 1:250, 000 maps. The raw data will be analyzed by the Peel Watershed Planning Commission, in the context of land use planning, and will be part of a larger examination of historical and current traditional land use in the Peel watershed, which will include historical and current wildlife and land use knowledge from other sources in Mayo, Dawson City and Old Crow. The original/raw data will be under the ownership of the Gwich'in Tribal Council, who will be provided with digital copies of the datasheets and spatial data. Additional copies of the original/raw data will be also provided to the Tetlit Gwich'in Renewable Resource Council, upon request from the Gwich’in Tribal Council. The Tetlit Gwich'in Renewable Resource Council and interviewees will be asked to verify the interpretation of the workshop data before a final report is produced and circulated to all parties concerned, including the Gwich’in Social and Cultural Institute and the Gwich’in Land Use Planning Board. In addition to a final report being delivered to the Tetlit Gwich’in Renewable Resource Council and project interviewees, a summary of research findings will be presented to the community of Fort McPherson during the Peel Watershed Planning Commission's consultation sessions. Interviews will be conducted within the municipal bounds of the Hamlet of Fort McPherson from March 29-30, 2006.