NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region

Tags: social sciences, traditional knowledge, land use, archaeology

Objective(s): The primary objective of this traditional knowledge project is to document Inuvialuit elders’ traditional knowledge of land use and occupancy on Banks Island, with a particular focus on the area in and around Aulavik National Park, where the study area for the archaeological component of the research is located.

Project Description: The primary objective of this traditional knowledge project is to document Inuvialuit elders’ traditional knowledge of land use and occupancy on Banks Island, with a particular focus on the area in and around Aulavik National Park, where the study area for the archaeological component of the research is located. Elders will be asked to map their knowledge of animal habitat, habitation sites, spiritual sites and archaeological sites. The purpose is not to test specific hypotheses, but to create a database of land use and occupancy knowledge to complement the land use information available in the archaeological record. Together, these two records will help the researchers to better understand long term patterns in land use by people and animals in the region. The researcher will conduct open-ended interviews with Inuvialuit elders from the community of Sachs Harbour on Banks Island. The elders will be asked about traditional land use and occupancy on the Island. Their information pertaining to the Aulavik region will be recorded (by the elders if they wish, or by the investigator if they require assistance) on 1:50 000 topographic maps for the area. The following kinds of information will be solicited in the interviews and documented on the maps: 1) places where animals are harvested for food, clothing, tools and other purposes, 2) ecological knowledge of habitats and sites critical to the survival of important animal populations, for instance, caribou migration corridors, calving areas, or rutting areas, 3) habitation sites, such as settlements, cabins, camps and burial grounds, 4) spiritual or sacred places such as birth and death sites, areas inhabited by non-human or supernatural beings, 4) legends and other accounts of specific places, 5) travel and trade routes, 6) Inuvialuktun place names, and 7) locations of archaeological sites and any associated stories. Elders may also be shown photographs of archaeological sites or features recorded during the 2008 field survey and asked to share their knowledge of them. The interviews will take place at the Parks Canada visitor centre in Sachs Harbour. Audio recordings will be made of the interviews, and video recordings may also be made. Elders may ask that the recording equipment be turned off at any time. Additional interviews will take place at archaeological sites in Aulavik National Park, but this aspect of the work will be covered under Hodgetts’ Parks Canada research permit. Based on the combined results of the archaeology and traditional knowledge components of the project, Hodgetts will work with Parks Canada to develop an educational module on cultural heritage that will be delivered by Parks Canada in schools within the ISR. Hodgetts will collaborate with Parks Canada to hold an open house in Sachs Harbour at the end of the field season in order to share the results with the community. Hodgetts will also give a community presentation in Inuvik in early July 2009 about the project’s goals and objectives, and results of the 2008 archaeological survey. Copies of all recordings, transcripts, reports and other outcomes from the project will be kept on file at the visitor centre in Sachs Harbour for public access. Copies will also be given to the IRC and PWNHC. Originals will be kept on file at the University of Western Ontario. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from July 09 to July 16, 2009. Interviews with Elders will take place in Sachs Harbour. The researcher will also helicopter into Aulavik National Park with 2 or 3 elders for one to two days to visit archaeological sites and record the elders' knowledge of those sites. This latter component will be covered by her Parks Canada research permit.