NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Gwich'in Settlement Area

Tags: climate change, caribou, traditional knowledge, food security, public policy, traditional storytelling, whaling

Objective(s): To ensure that Gwich'in and Inuvialuit perspectives are incorporated into the principal investigators doctoral thesis research. This research looks at how northern communities and environmental groups have deployed “public storytelling” to influence public policy in two particular instances related to northern food security and climate change: (1) protection of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge lands as calving grounds of the Porcupine caribou herd and (2) regulation of industrial activities in the Arctic Ocean as these affect northern whales and whaling communities.

Project Description: This research looks at how northern communities and environmental groups have deployed “public storytelling” to influence public policy in two particular instances related to northern food security and climate change: (1) protection of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge lands as calving grounds of the Porcupine caribou herd and (2) regulation of industrial activities in the Arctic Ocean as these affect northern whales and whaling communities. Much of the research for this study will be or has been done outside the north. For the caribou case, the research team have traced the "Being Caribou" expedition from its beginnings through to the film being shown in festivals, on television, and at public gatherings and house parties that were part of campaigns to protect the calving grounds of the Porcupine caribou herd from drilling in the Arctic Refuge. This included gathering statistics on film viewership; gathering "grey literature" such as educational websites that included following the Being Caribou expedition in their work, and finding other published literature about the expedition; interviewing those involved with the film and book's production and distribution, including staff at major NGOs that were involved in the Arctic Refuge campaign. Finally, this research has involved attending Alaska Wilderness Week, a lobby week in Washington, and doing participant observation at the week as well as follow-up interviews with participants (still to be done). Further research on this end, such as interviewing foundation funders, remains to be done. In NWT, the principal researcher is hoping to speak with the groups that the Being Caribou team consulted with before setting up their project. This includes the Inuvik Hunter and Trapper’s Committee, the Gwich’in Renewable Resources Board and the local Gwich’in Renewable Resources Committee in Inuvik, and officials at Parks Canada and possibly NWT government biologists who advised the Being Caribou team about preparations for their journey. In the case of organizations representing Gwich’in and Inuvialuit people who hunt the Porcupine caribou, the principal researcher will ask questions not just about the Being Caribou expedition, but about these organization’s positions and activities as far as the protection of the calving grounds, general perspectives on how the caribou herd should be managed, and how this issue fits in with Gwich’in and Inuvialuit self-governance and decision making. The principal researcher will record mp3 files of such interviews, which is expected will range from about half an hour to an hour. The principal researcher also hopes while in Old Crow, Whitehorse, and Inuvik, to interview Gwich'in who acted as spokespeople on the Arctic Refuge issue, especially during the 2005-2006 period. These people include Gwich'in from Alaskan and Yukon communities, as well as from NWT. It is expected these interviews to be about an hour. They will be semi-structured, beginning with more focused questions as to how the interviewee has been involved in the Arctic Refuge campaign, and especially in speaking in public or telling his or her story to southern audience in various ways. The principal researcher will ask more general questions about Gwich'in communities and caribou, how the interviewees view their relationship to the Porcupine caribou herd, and what they think is the right way for people and governments to interact and make decisions affecting the herd. Additionally, the principal researcher hopes to gain approval to speak at least informally with a small number of Gwich’in and Inuvialuit youth; youth have an enormous stake in the future, and it is important to listen to and learn from their perspectives. The principal researcher will ask the consulting organizations as well as a few personal contacts, such as a teacher at Aurora College, if they could suggest youth that the researcher might be able to talk with. These youth will be over 18, to be sure that they are able as adults to give informed consent. This research concerning Arctic Ocean regulation is more exploratory in nature: because it is only in the last few years that Arctic resources have become more accessible via oceans (because of less ice and because of new technologies), conversations about how to regulate this activity have a shorter history. The principal researcher will be attending the IRC and Inuvik Hunters and Trappers’ Association sponsored Community Based Monitoring Knowledge Sharing workshop in order to learn about Inuvialuit community perspectives on whales and Arctic Ocean regulation. The researcher would also like to interview meeting attendees who are involved in community research projects about whales in Paulatuk and Tuktoyaktuk. These interviews will be semi-structured: they will be asked more about the projects that the interviewees discussed in the workshop, and ask some questions about the relationship that the interviewees and their communities have with whales and their experiences hunting whales. The researcher will also try to draw out perspectives on the increasing industrial activities on the water, such as more shipping and oil exploration, and what role interviewees feel their communities should have with regards to this development. How should these activities be governed? What are the possible benefits and concerns? Finally, the researcher would like to ask interviewees about their perspectives on environmental groups being involved in Arctic Ocean issues, and the experiences that they have had, both historically (anti-whaling campaigns) and in the present. Were they positive or negative? Do they see environmental groups as important contributors and partners, or as stumbling blocks? What is positive and what would they like to see changed? These interviews will be recorded, which is expected to take about an hour. The principal researcher will be attending a gathering to observe and learn and possibly interview a few participants. Additionally the researcher will ask to interview and see materials from a small number of relevant organizations, such as the Inuvik Hunter's and Trapper's Association. This scope is quite small. The main scope for local involvement is that local understandings and knowledge will feature more prominently in the analysis of this thesis research, and that the research results will be of use, as they will report on how northern communities and NGOs can successfully tell public stories about climate change and food security issues, and thus influence public policy. The results may also suggest what approaches are successful in helping NGOs and First Nations to build strong relationships on issues of mutual concern. The research team is working with the Inuvialuit Research Advisor to determine the most appropriate way to share this research. The plan is to work with the Inuvialuit research advisor to be sure that the research results are shared appropriately: this could include giving copies of the mp3s of interviews to Inuvialuit archives, writing a short plain language summary of the results of this research that could be circulated in a newsletter, and/or distributing a copy of the thesis. The principal researcher is also communicating with the Gwich’in Social and Cultural Institute to conclude a researcher agreement to ensure that this information is shared as appropriate with Gwich’in communities. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from December 7, 2013 to December 31, 2012.