NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region

Tags: social sciences, co-management, traditional knowledge, history, protected area, national parks

Objective(s): The main objective of this historical research project is to examine how and why relations between indigenous groups and national park administrators in northern Canada and Alaska changed in the second half of the twentieth century. A secondary objective is to write a general history of national park establishment and management in these regions.

Project Description: The main objective of this historical research project is to examine how and why relations between indigenous groups and national park administrators in northern Canada and Alaska changed in the second half of the twentieth century. A secondary objective is to write a general history of national park establishment and management in these regions. The researcher will travel to and from the research site in Inuvik by commercial airplane. While in Inuvik, the researcher will travel by foot. The equipment required for this project is minimal: a laptop, tape recorder, and microphone (all owned by the researcher). The researcher will use two methods of data collection: archival/library research and oral interviewing. The number of interview subjects will not exceed 20. The results of this study will be communicated to individuals and communities in the NWT in several ways. First, if recorded, a typed transcript of each interview will be provided to each interview subject within 45 days of the date on which the interview was conducted. Second, within 90 days of the completion of the dissertation, interview subjects will be given copies of those dissertation chapters that draw substantially on their testimony. Third, if any informant wishes to view chapter drafts and comment upon them, the researcher will provide the individual with a copy of these drafts. Fourth, within 90 days of completion, a single copy of the dissertation will be given to each of the institutions that played key roles in facilitating this research, including the Inuvialuit Cultural Resource Center, the Joint Secretariat, the Aurora Research Institute, and the Western Arctic Field Unit of Parks Canada. Lastly, the researcher will arrange to conduct one or more public discussions of research findings at a suitable time and location in Inuvik during August, 2007. Residents of the Northwest Territories, especially Inuvik, will be provided with opportunities to participate in this project in several ways. First, they may participate as interview subjects by offering information to the researcher on the history of national parks in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region. Second, librarians, archivists, and records managers from several institutions located in Inuvik, including the Inuvialuit Cultural Resource Center, the Joint Secretariat, the Aurora Research Institute, and the Western Arctic Field Unit of Parks Canada, will be asked to assist the researcher in locating relevant research materials. Third, interested local groups and individuals will be encouraged to participate in the study by attending one or more public discussions of the project and its findings held in Inuvik in August, 2007. Fieldwork will be conducted from 21 July to 21 August, 2007 in the Town of Inuvik.